Colonial Soldiers in Europe 1914 1945 Aliens in

Uniform in Wartime Societies 1st Edition Eric

Storm Ali Al Tuma download

https://ebookmeta.com/product/colonial-soldiers-in-
europe-1914-1945-aliens-in-uniform-in-wartime-societies-1st-
edition-eric-storm-ali-al-tuma/

Download full version ebook from https://ebookmeta.com

We believe these products will be a great fit for you. Click
the link to download now, or visit ebookmeta.com
to discover even more!

Ashura in the Thought of Ayatollah Ali al Khamanei 1st

Edition Sayyid Ali Khamanei

https://ebookmeta.com/product/ashura-in-the-thought-of-ayatollah-
ali-al-khamanei-1st-edition-sayyid-ali-khamanei/

Creole Societies in the Portuguese Colonial Empire 1st

Edition Philip J. Havik

https://ebookmeta.com/product/creole-societies-in-the-portuguese-
colonial-empire-1st-edition-philip-j-havik/

Daily Life in Wartime Japan 1940 1945 Modern War

Studies 1st Edition Samuel Hideo Yamashita

https://ebookmeta.com/product/daily-life-in-wartime-
japan-1940-1945-modern-war-studies-1st-edition-samuel-hideo-
yamashita/

Al Muhajiroun A Case Study in Contemporary Islamic

Activism 1st Edition Douglas Weeks

https://ebookmeta.com/product/al-muhajiroun-a-case-study-in-
contemporary-islamic-activism-1st-edition-douglas-weeks/
Single Domain Antibodies Greg Hussack Kevin A Henry

https://ebookmeta.com/product/single-domain-antibodies-greg-
hussack-kevin-a-henry/

Psychology: An Exploration 4th Edition Saundra K.

Ciccarelli

https://ebookmeta.com/product/psychology-an-exploration-4th-
edition-saundra-k-ciccarelli/

War and his Queen A Dark Secret Society Romance Amo

Jones

https://ebookmeta.com/product/war-and-his-queen-a-dark-secret-
society-romance-amo-jones/

Sweet as Candy A Professor Student Menage Taboo Romance

The Boyfriend Diaries Book 11 1st Edition S.E. Law
[Law

https://ebookmeta.com/product/sweet-as-candy-a-professor-student-
menage-taboo-romance-the-boyfriend-diaries-book-11-1st-edition-s-
e-law-law/

Like Real People Do Breakaway 1 1st Edition E. L.

Massey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/like-real-people-do-
breakaway-1-1st-edition-e-l-massey/
The Routledge Introduction to American War Literature
1st Edition Jennifer Haytock

https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-routledge-introduction-to-
american-war-literature-1st-edition-jennifer-haytock/
Colonial Soldiers in Europe,
1914–1945

During the first half of the twentieth century, European countries

witnessed the arrival of hundreds of thousands of colonial soldiers
fighting in European territory (First and Second World War and
Spanish Civil War) and coming into contact with European society
and culture. For many Europeans, these were the first instances in
which they met Asians or Africans, and the presence of Indian, Indo-
Chinese, Moluccan, Senegalese, Moroccan or Algerian soldiers in
Europe did not go unnoticed. This book explores this experience as it
relates to the returning soldiers—who often had difficulties
readapting to their subordinate status at home—and to European
authorities who for the first time had to accommodate large
numbers of foreigners in their own territories, which in some ways
would help shape later immigration policies.

Eric Storm lectures European History at Leiden University.

Ali Al Tuma is a Ph.D. candidate at Leiden University.

Routledge Studies in Modern History

1 Isolation
Places and practices of Exclusion
Edited by Carolyn Strange and Alison Bashford
2 From Slave Trade to Empire
European colonisation of Black Africa 1780s–1880s
Edited by Olivier Pétré Grenouilleau

3 Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Revisionism in

Postcolonial Africa
The case of Mozambique, 1975–1994
Alice Dinerman

4 Charity and Mutual Aid in Europe and North America Since

1800
Edited by Paul Bridgen and Bernard Harris

5 Churchill, Roosevelt and India

Propaganda during World War II
Auriol Weigold

6 Genocide and Fascism

The eliminationist drive in Fascist Europe
Aristotle Kallis

7 Scientific Research in World War II

What scientists did in the War
Edited by Ad Maas and Hans Hooijmaijers

8 Restoration and History

The search for a useable environmental past
Edited by Marcus Hall

9 Foundations of Modernity
Human agency and the imperial state
Isa Blumi

10 Transpacific Revolutionaries
The Chinese Revolution in Latin America
Matthew D. Rothwell
11 First World War Nursing
New perspectives
Edited by Alison S. Fell and Christine E. Hallett

12 The Ideological Cold War

The politics of neutrality in Austria and Finland
Johanna Rainio-Niemi

13 War and Displacement in the Twentieth Century

Global conflicts
Edited by Sandra Barkhof and Angela K. Smith

14 Longue Durée of the Far-Right

An international historical sociology
Edited by Richard Saul, Alexander Anievas, Neil Davidson and
Adam Fabry

15 Transnational Perspectives on Modern Irish History

Edited by Niall Whelehan

16 Ireland in the World

Comparative, Transnational, and Personal Perspectives
Edited by Angela McCarthy

17 The Global History of the Balfour Declaration

Declared Nation
Maryanne A. Rhett

18 Colonial Soldiers in Europe, 1914–1945

“Aliens in Uniform” in Wartime Societies
Edited by Eric Storm and Ali Al Tuma
Colonial Soldiers in Europe,
1914–1945
“Aliens in Uniform” in Wartime Societies

Edited by Eric Storm and Ali Al Tuma

First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2016 Taylor & Francis

The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered

trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Storm, Eric, 1966– editor. | Al Tuma, Ali, editor, author.
Title: Colonial soldiers in Europe, 1914–1945 : “aliens in uniform”
in wartime societies / edited by Eric Storm and Ali Al Tuma.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2016. | Series: Routledge studies in
modern history ; 18 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015041382 (print) | LCCN 2015047913 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781138999305 (alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315658414 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Sociology, Military—Europe—History—20th century. |
France. Armâee. Troupes coloniales—History—20th century. | Great
Britain. Army—Colonial forces—History—20th century. | Spain—
History—Civil War, 1936–1939—Participation, Moroccan. | Aliens—
Europe—History—20th century. | Europe—History, Military—
20th century.
Classification: LCC U21.5 .C655 2016 (print) | LCC U21.5 (ebook) |
DDC 355.3/5909409041—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041382

ISBN: 978-1-138-99930-5 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-65841-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents

List of Figures
List of Maps

Introduction: Colonial Soldiers in Europe, 1914–1945

ERIC STORM AND ALI AL TUMA

PART I The French Army

1 Islam in the French Army during the Great War: Between

Accommodation and Suspicion
RICHARD S. FOGARTY

2 French Colonial Prisoners in Germany and France during

the Second World War
RAFFAEL SCHECK

3 A Brief Account of Ivoirien Tirailleurs Sénégalais in the

Second World War, Mostly in Their Own Words
NANCY ELLEN LAWLER

4 Memory and Representation of War and Violence:

Moroccan Combatants in French Uniforms during the
Second World War
MOSHE GERSHOVICH

PART II The British Army

5 British Racial Attitudes towards Black People during the

Two World Wars, 1914–1945
 DAVID KILLINGRAY

6 The Indian Army in Europe, 1914–1918

DAVID OMISSI

7 The Long Road Home: Britain, Germany and the

Repatriation of Indian Prisoners of War after the First
World War
ANDREW T. JARBOE

PART III The Spanish and Dutch Armies

8 Moroccan Soldiers in the Spanish Civil War

MARÍA ROSA DE MADARIAGA

9 Muslim Soldiers in a Spanish Crusade: Tomás García

Figueras, Mulai Ahmed er Raisuni and the Ideological
Context of Spain’s Moroccan Soldiers
GEOFFREY JENSEN

10 ‘Moor No Eating, Moor No Sleeping, Moor Leaving’: A

Story of Moroccan Soldiers, Spanish Officers and Protest in
the Spanish Civil War
ALI AL TUMA

11 In and Out of Uniform: Moluccan Soldiers in the Dutch

Colonial Army
FRIDUS STEIJLEN
Contributors
Bibliography
Index
Figures

2.1 German soldiers posing with African prisoners. On first sight, the
picture may suggest strict guarding. In reality, the guards were
violating orders by having pictures taken with prisoners and by not
maintaining a clear physical distance from them.
2.2 Prisoners and guard in a camp in Laval, France. The atmosphere
seems relaxed and friendly.
2.3 African prisoners on a public works project in Laval, France. The
French colonial prisoners worked for many public and private
employers in France and had close contact with civilians.
6.1 ‘India for the King’.
9.1 Del Marruecos feudal by García Figueras.
11.1 Marechaussee Renjaan.
11.2 Ceremony around the annual allowance and medal of honour.
Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers hands over the calligraphic text of
the law concerning the allowance and medal to Rev. Samuël
Metiarij. On the front row, second from right sits Queen Beatrix.
The Hague, 25 November 1986.
Maps

4.1 Moroccan troops in the French Army from 1914–1945.

4.2 The advance of the French Expeditionary Force, May and June
1944. Scenes of the Marocchinate.
5.1 European empires in Africa on the eve of the First World War.
6.1 Martial races in British India and main recruiting regions for the
British Indian Army in 1914.
7.1 Western Front and German prison camps.
8.1 The Spanish Protectorate in Morocco.
8.2 Moroccan hospitals and brothels in Spain.
10.1 Scenes involving dissatisfaction and protests of Moroccan
troops in Spain.
11.1 The Moluccan Islands.
Introduction
Colonial Soldiers in Europe, 1914–1945

Eric Storm and Ali Al Tuma1

When black prisoners of war arrived in Germany in the summer of

1940, whole villages went out to see these ‘aliens in uniform’. In
fact, most of the inhabitants only knew Africans from illustrated
magazines, human zoos or travelling shows with exotic peoples. Now
they could see them in person. During the major wars that raged
through Europe in the first half of the twentieth century, many other
Europeans also encountered inhabitants of African and Asian
colonies for the first time as hundreds of thousands of soldiers from
the Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Indochina and the West
Indies arrived to help their European overlords defend their
motherland. This was new and maybe even confusing for the
colonial soldiers and their ‘white’ superiors, but also for civilians, as
the traditional racial barriers of the colonial context seemed to have
become blurred in the new setting.
Obviously, native troops were already used for maintaining order
within the colonies themselves. During the early modern period, this
mostly happened through formal and informal alliances with native
princes or tribes, a form of collaboration that extended well into the
nineteenth century. Sometimes indigenous auxiliaries were also
employed directly.2 During the nineteenth century, with the effective
occupation of more territories and a general switch from indirect to
direct rule, more soldiers were needed. Thus almost all colonial
armies now began to draft natives directly into their ranks. Since
these troops were employed regularly, be it in small-scale conflicts or
major colonial wars, military authorities had already found a way to
deal with these native troops. In general, the colonial powers
showed a clear preference for recruiting soldiers among the so-called
‘martial races’, those peoples or tribes which, because of their living
conditions, physical abilities or peculiar traditions were seen as more
apt than others for serving in the army.3 Native forces were mostly
led by European officers, and often the army leadership preferred to
mix indigenous troops with a limited number of European soldiers.
This, it was hoped, would reinforce the discipline and fighting
capacities of these units.4 Provisions were also made to
accommodate religious needs and food preferences, which was
especially important in the case of Muslim soldiers.5
Because colonial troops were mostly employed in their native
countries no special measures were needed to regulate the mixing of
the indigenous troops with the local population. This, however,
would be different when those troops were transferred to Europe.
This had already happened during the nineteenth century, but only
on a very limited scale. Probably the first military leader to employ
colonial troops in Europe was Napoleon Bonaparte, who around
1800 brought a squadron of Egyptian Mamelukes, who fought with
distinction during the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. They also figure in
Francisco Goya’s famous depiction of the May 1808 uprising against
Napoleonic troops in Madrid. When the Spanish vacated their
possessions in Oran in 1792, they transferred to their African enclave
of Ceuta a company of North African Muslim soldiers, some of whom
participated, although marginally, in the Peninsular War.6 The French
also used colonial troops to suppress the Parisian workers’ revolt of
June 1848 and to fight the Prussians from 1870–1871. However,
these instances were brief, and the number of soldiers involved was
limited. This would be very different during the First and Second
World Wars, when not only the French but also the British used
hundreds of thousands of colonial troops on European soil. A lesser-
known war in which tens of thousands of colonial soldiers
participated was the Spanish Civil War; the rebellious generals led by
Francisco Franco heavily relied on troops recruited from the Spanish
Protectorate in the North of Morocco.
In Colonial Soldiers in Europe, we will ask how military and civilian
authorities managed the mass entry of colonial soldiers. How were
these alien soldiers accommodated? In what way were religious
differences taken into account, for example, in regard to
nourishment, dress and burying rituals? To what extent could they
interact with the civilian population? How did they experience their
stay themselves? And how was their role appreciated after the war
was over, both within Europe and by the colonial soldiers
themselves? In all of these issues, the authors of the different
chapters try to take into account the point of view of the civilian and
military authorities and the perceptions of the colonial soldiers
themselves.
Realistically speaking, their presence was not a short-lived
experience without any further consequences. It had a substantial
impact both on the returning soldiers, who often had difficulties
readapting to their subordinate status at home and in many cases
would be more assertive in asking for their rights (and pensions)
from the colonial authorities, and on European countries, which for
the first time had to accommodate large numbers of exotic
foreigners in their own territories. Significantly, the presence of
colonial soldiers in Europe had the effect of crossing the cultural
boundaries that the colonial powers tried to maintain between the
Europeans and the colonized peoples and therefore implicitly
undermined the racialized, hierarchical colonial order. The responses
of the European governments to the presence of these colonial
troops, moreover, in some ways helped shape later immigration
policies.

Memory and Historiography

Although the arrival of colonial troops in Europe caused concern in

France and Great Britain, in 1914–1918 and 1939–1945, there were
threats that more than justified this exceptional move. After all,
these African, Asian and Caribbean peoples came to help defend or
even liberate the motherland from an attack by Germany and its
allies. This situation was quite different for their enemies, those who
were confronted with these alien soldiers. Surprisingly, more than
the actual fighting, it was the contact between these colonials and
the civilian population, and more in particular between ‘black’
soldiers from a victorious army and ‘white’ women from the defeated
nation, that was seen as most frightening. Thus when the French
Army employed several tens of thousands of African soldiers (both
from the Maghreb and West Africa) during the occupation of the
Rhineland after the First World War, this was seen as a further
humiliation by the defeated Germans. It was a terrible shock that
African ‘savages’ could now terrorize a ‘civilized’ white people within
Europe. Central in a protracted Black Shame campaign by large parts
of the German press was the accusation that German women were
raped on a massive scale by black soldiers. Although Allied
investigations found no evidence for this allegation, these messages
and their alarmist tone spread abroad as well and not only in the
yellow press. Questions were asked in various parliaments, whereas
prominent intellectuals such as Bertrand Russell, a number of prime
ministers and even Pope Benedict XV voiced their concern.7
Another event that would make a lasting impression on the
European imagination was the conquest of Monte Cassino after three
months of Allied attacks. After the capture of this fortress, some
ninety kilometres south of Rome, in May 1944, French General
Alphonse Juin allegedly gave his Moroccan Goums (auxiliary units
attached to the French Army) two days for pillaging the surrounding
area. According to some Italian sources, this led to the rape of
thousands of women of nearly all ages, while hundreds of men who
tried to protect their mothers, wives and daughters were brutally
slaughtered. This event is remembered simply by the term
Marocchinate or Moroccan deeds (see also chapter 4 by Gershovich),
which was considered so disturbing that it made the Allied Forces
Headquarters hesitate in deploying the Goums in France.8 That
European commanders sometimes openly used colonial soldiers to
instil fear among the population is made clear by General Queipo de
Llano during the early months of the Spanish Civil War. In his daily
talks on the radio, broadcast from the Nationalist stronghold of
Seville in the late summer of 1936, he encouraged the Moroccan
troops to show the ‘reds’, and particularly their wives, what real
masculinity meant.9 Again, the Republican opponents made much of
the mass killings, rapes and other atrocities that were attributed to
these utterly foreign soldiers, and sometimes resorted to fantasy and
the expression of overt racism.10 As a consequence, in the European
imagination, these colonial soldiers were connected primarily with
some of the most traumatic experiences of the wars, whereas their
positive contribution—especially to the Allied victory—was largely
forgotten.
Although the First World War, the Spanish Civil War and the
Second World War belong to the most-investigated military conflicts
in history, colonial soldiers have not received much attention. If they
made their appearance in more general studies, it was either a short
mention—mostly of numbers of participating troops—as if their
participation had no immediate effect on the fighting, or they were
highlighted particularly for the ‘savage’ atrocities attributed to them.
This is possibly best exemplified in the historiography of the Spanish
Civil War, where the military impact of about eighty thousand
Moroccan soldiers could not be ignored. In the decades after the
war, most influential studies were written by followers or
sympathizers of the left-wing Popular Front Government of the
Second Republic, which finally lost the war against General Franco
and his troops. As a consequence, they did not feel any empathy
towards the Moroccan troops that had been brought to Spain to help
overthrow the Republican regime. And although a large number of
in-depth studies of other foreign players in the conflict—such as the
International Brigades and the Soviet advisors on the Republican
side and the thousands of experts from Nazi Germany and fascist
‘volunteers’ from Italy on the Nationalist side—have been published,
it would not be until the early 1990s that the first publications
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
 VAUX FORT. THE MOATS IN JUNE, 1916

From March to June 2nd, the fort and its surroundings received
no less than 8,000 large calibre shells daily. Only one entrance was
left, i.e. the north-west postern, which enemy artillery fire rendered
unserviceable. The commander of the fort (Raynal) and his men
were imprisoned in the underground chambers of the fort, being no
longer able to hold their ground outside. To economise food and
water, the surplus contingents were ordered to leave the fort. On the
night of the 4th a first detachment made its escape under the
direction of Aspirant Buffet, who returned to the fort the next
evening with orders. The same night 100 more men managed to get
away. Carrier pigeons and optical signals now furnished the only
means of communication with the French lines. On the 4th, the last
pigeon was released. On the morning of the 5th, thanks to two
signalmen who volunteered to change a signal post which the
Commandant had difficulty in observing, communications were
maintained. The same night the Commandant sent his last message
that could be read in its entirety, and which ended: “We have
reached the limit, officers and soldiers have done their duty. Long
live France!” Nevertheless, the fort continued to hold out and
refused to surrender. On the night of the 6th reinforcements tried to
relieve it and reached the moat of the counter-scarp, but after losing
nearly all their officers they were compelled to fall back. The
Germans gained a footing in the ruins of the superstructure, and
eventually succeeded in driving the French out of the casemates by
lowering baskets of grenades with retarded fuses and by using liquid
fire and poison gas. Driven back into the underground passages, the
French continued the fight with grenades and bayonets. The
2nd regiment of Zouaves and the Colonial regiment of Morocco
made a last effort on the morning of the 8th to relieve the garrison.
They reached the approaches of the fort, from which clouds of thick
black smoke, caused by a violent explosion in one of the casemates,
were pouring. Exposed to the fire of the enemy machine-guns
installed in the superstructure of the fort and attacked by constantly
increasing reinforcements, they were unable to hold their ground.
 THE APPROACHES TO VAUX FORT IN MARCH, 1916
The Fort is on the left at the back

When, on the night of June 8th, after seven days and nights of
continual fighting, the heroic defenders of the fort were at last
overpowered, the unwounded among them had not tasted a drop of
water for two days.
Five months later (November 2nd) the Germans were driven out
of the fort, which they hurriedly evacuated (see pp. 63–64).
THE SOUTH-WEST SIDE OF VAUX FORT
 THE OLD ENTRANCE TO SOUVILLE FORT (Sept. 1916)

III.—From Vaux Fort to Souville Fort

On leaving Vaux Fort return along the same road to the fork
(photo, p. 60) and turn to the right. About one kilometer from the
fork, on the left, the escarpments of Souville Fort border the road.
Go to the fort on foot (about 200 yards from the road).
Souville Fort, which stands as high as that of Douaumont,
commands the background of the Douaumont—Vaux line. After
taking this line, the enemy, from June 15th to 22nd, undertook the
destruction of the fort. On the 23rd the entire CIIIrd German
Division attacked, but was repulsed with very heavy losses in front of
the French second line trenches. The attack was renewed by two
divisions on July 11th and 12th, but failed to reach the moats of the
fort.
 SOUVILLE FORT (March 1917).

PANORAMA SEEN FROM THE CROSS-ROADS AT THE CHAPEL OF ST. FINE (entirely
destroyed).

[The left-hand side of the above Panorama.]

[Labels, from left to right: Heights on left bank, Froide-
Terre Redoubt, Froide-Terre Hill, Road to Douaumont,
Thiaumont Redoubt, Road to Douaumont]
 [The right-hand side of the above Panorama]
[Labels, from left to right: Douaumont Fort,
Hardoumont Wood, Vaux Ravine, Hill 349, Chapitre Wood,
Vaux Fort]

The “+” on the sketch-map above shows the spot

from where the panorama should be viewed. The
car in the photo came from Souville Fort, turning
to the right towards Vaux Village.

After visiting the village return to the cross-roads and take the
road on the right to Douaumont, seen on the left half of the above
panorama (p. 66). The bombardments have left no trace of St. Fine
Chapel.

IV.—From Souville Fort to Vaux Village and Pond

After visiting Souville Fort return to the cross-ways at St. Fine

Chapel, seen in the above photo.

ATTACKING WAVES OF INFANTRY CROSSING FUMIN WOOD (Oct. 1916).

It was the ruins of this chapel that the enemy reached on

July 12th, 1916, and that the 2nd regiment of Zouaves, at the order
of General Mangin, recaptured in order to relieve Souville Fort.
At the cross-roads, take the I. C. 12 on the right to Vaux village.
The road dips down into a gorge between the woods of Le Chapitre
and Fumin.
Chapitre and Fumin Woods.—To the west and east of the road
leading to Vaux village, these two woods cover the flanks of the
plateau which dominates Vaux Ravine and supports Vaux Fort. It
was there that the Germans sought to outflank the fort on the west
to reach Souville, but they were held in check during May. From
June, 1916, these woods were subjected to bombardments of
incredible intensity. A powerful German attack on June 23rd failed,
but another on July 12th enabled the Germans to get a footing in
Fumin Wood. In August and September frequent enemy attacks
gave them temporary local gains. On October 24th and 25th, and
again at the end of the month, French counter-attacks captured the
enemy strongholds and cleared the woods completely.
The defence of the “R” outworks by the 101st line regiment was
intimately connected with the attacks on Fumin Wood and Vaux Fort.
These outworks were at the foot of the slopes of Fumin Wood, about
half-way between the village and fort of Vaux. Bombarded by heavy
guns on June 1st and 2nd, it was unsuccessfully attacked by the
enemy at 8 p.m. on the evening of the 2nd. Twice on the 3rd and
once on the 4th the French, reinforced by a few units, although
deprived of water and subjected to machine-gun fire on the flank,
repulsed new German attacks. A company of the 298th which, on
the night of the 5th, relieved that of the 101st (reduced to 39 men),
held out three days more under increasingly difficult conditions, and
was only overpowered on the night of the 8th after the capture of
the fort of Vaux. These positions were recaptured during the French
offensive of October 2nd. 1916. The works known as the “Petit
Dépôt,” “Fulda Boyau,” and “Sablière,” bristling with machine-guns
and scarcely touched by the French artillery preparation, offered a
stubborn resistance, and were only captured by the 74th Division in
the evening after a whole day of exceedingly hard fighting.
DEFENCE WORKS IN VAUX VILLAGE (January, 1916).
 WHERE VAUX VILLAGE (entirely destroyed) STOOD BEFORE THE WAR.
(Photo, April 20th, 1917.)

Vaux-les-Damloup.—From March 8th the Germans sought to

enter this village from the Woevre. The 1st battalion of their
XIXth regiment of Reserves, believing it to be empty, was well-nigh
exterminated. On the 10th, after a nine-hour night bombardment
with torpedoes, units of the XVth and XVIIIth C.A. attacked the
village. Although numbering more than six to one, it was only after
four successive attacks that they gained a footing in the ruins of a
block of houses behind the church. Soon after they advanced as far
as the ruins of the church. Five times they sought to debouch, but
were each time literally mowed down by the fire of the French
machine-guns and mountain batteries. After two costly checks on
March 16th and 18th the Germans again attacked on the evening of
the 30th, but it was only three days later and at the cost of very
heavy casualties that they were able to take and keep the village.

VAUX POND (March 1917).

The road comes to an end at Vaux Pond. The village extended

beyond the wooden foot-bridge seen in the photo. No trace of it is
left, and the tourist will look in vain for any indication in the desolate
waste around him of this erstwhile picturesque and flourishing
village. It has literally been wiped out.
Turn the car round 100 yards from the pond, at the place where a
narrow-gauge rail-track formerly ran (see photo below).
VAUX POND IS THE EXTREME POINT WHICH CAN BE REACHED BY MOTOR-CARS.
 THE SOUTHERN OUTSKIRTS OF FLEURY AFTER THE FRENCH
COUNTER-ATTACK OF JUNE 25TH, 1916.

V.—From Vaux Village to Douaumont Fort

After turning the car round at Vaux Pond, return by the same
road to the cross-ways at St. Fine Chapel (see pp. 66 and 67),
continue another fifty yards, then take on the right the road to
Douaumont.
About 500 yards farther on is the site of what was the village of
Fleury-devant-Douaumont.
From June 21st to September 30th, 1916, the village was often
disputed. After violently bombarding it from June 21st to 23rd, four
German Alpine regiments carried it, pushing forward to the south of
the Fleury-Vaux railway where the French 75’s checked them with
very heavy loss. On the 24th–25th the French reoccupied the
eastern part of the village. On the 27th two battalions of the French
241st line regiment entered Fleury, but were soon driven out, after
which they clung to the southern and western parts. The enemy
bombardment of July 9th–10th levelled the village. On the 11th,
picked German troops attacked and outflanked it on the south.
French counter-attacks succeeded on the following days in driving
the Germans back somewhat, 800 prisoners being taken in ten days.
On August 2nd–3rd the village was reoccupied and 1,350 more
prisoners taken. It was lost, then partly retaken on August 5th at the
point of the bayonet. Two weeks of constant grenade fighting, from
hole to hole, by battalions of Alpine Chasseurs from Alsace, carried
all that remained of the trenches adjoining the positions “Trois
Arbres” and “Montbrison.” On August 17th the Moroccan Colonial
Regiment finished the conquest of the village with their usual dash.
 FLEURY. THE GRANDE RUE IN JULY, 1916.

In the ruins of Fleury, on the right, there is a road which, after

passing through Caillette Wood, comes to an end about 400 yards
from Douaumont Fort. The latter can be reached from here on
foot.
One kilometer after the ruins of Fleury the road divides. Take the
right-hand one, the other leads to Bras by the northern slopes of
Froide-Terre Hill.
The uphill road follows the ridge, at the end of which is
Douaumont Fort, then passes south of Thiaumont Redoubt.
 FLEURY IN RUINS, OCTOBER, 1916.

Thiaumont Redoubt, S.W. of Douaumont Fort, dominating

Froide-Terre Hill and the Bras road to the W., and the Fleury road to
the S., formed the left extremity of the last but one line of resistance
which passed in front of Verdun, via the village of Fleury and the
forts of Souville and Tavannes. For five months (May–September,
1916), which saw some of the hardest fighting in the battle of
Verdun, the Germans wore themselves down against this line.
Neither the repeated furious attacks, nor poison gas, nor the
incredibly intense bombardments could break the resistance of the
French, who clung desperately to their positions.
A little further on the road passes the site of Thiaumont Farm,
all traces of which were swept away by the battle.
Thiaumont Farm, captured on June 1st, was reconquered on
the 2nd. The enemy occupied the ruins on the 9th, after their big
attack of the previous day. On the 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th they
sustained four serious checks in front of the defences. Exasperated
at the French resistance, they deluged the positions and those of
Froide-Terre, on the 21st, with poison gas and more than 100,000
shells. At 6 o’clock on the morning of the 23rd five Bavarian
regiments attacked, but although they reached the defences of
Froide-Terre, they were unable to hold them. However, those of
Thiaumont remained in their hands. In a magnificent attack on
June 30th, and despite enemy cross-fire, the French 248th line
regiment reoccupied Thiaumont at noon, lost it at four o’clock, but
recaptured it again the next day and kept it until relieved, in spite of
furious German counter-attacks. From July 4th to 9th Thiaumont
was retaken and lost four times by the Germans, but a fifth attack
enabled them to hold it. Fighting around the defences was continual
during the rest of the month. From August 1st to 4th the French
96th line regiment, supported by the 122nd, reconquered Thiaumont
and its approaches. From the 4th to the 8th it was defended by the
81st, but on the evening of the 8th, after losing and retaking it, they
were driven out by a powerful German attack. Since June 23rd
Thiaumont had changed hands sixteen times.
 THIAUMONT REDOUBT OCCUPIED BY THE FRENCH IN MAY, 1916

The Central Shelter having been pierced by a shell on

May 6th, the Redoubt was afterwards only used as an
Artillery Observation-Post. The Entrance Trench in the
foreground was each day levelled by enemy shells, only
to be re-made during the night.

From the middle of August the French command changed their

tactics. Abandoning the costly direct attacks, the redoubt was
gradually encircled. On October 24th Moroccan Colonial troops,
Zouaves and Tirailleurs, in a dashing grenade and bayonet attack,
recaptured Douaumont, the Farm and Redoubt of Thiaumont and
the Dame and neighbouring ravines.
THIAUMONT REDOUBT IN RUINS OCCUPIED BY THE GERMANS A MONTH LATER
BARBED-WIRE ENTANGLEMENT IN FRONT OF THE FRENCH LINE
 THE APPROACHES TO DOUAUMONT FORT AND VILLAGE.

a The upper photo on p. 78, Dame Ravine, was taken from here.

b The lower photo on p. 80, Helly Ravine, was taken from here.

Leave the car at Thiaumont Farm and go on foot to Douaumont

Fort, following the temporary narrow-gauge line for about 1,300
yards. These rails follow the old road which was entirely destroyed.

DOUAUMONT FORT
(See photo, p. 29.)
 This modern stronghold, which the Crown Prince called “the N.E.
angular pillar of the permanent fortifications of Verdun,” occupies at
Hill 388 the culminating point of the hard limestone plateau which
forms the region of Verdun. Lying between Bras Ravine (which
descends towards the W. and the Meuse) and Vaux or Bazil Ravine
(extending towards the E. and the Woevre), the fort dominates the
entire region. As the key of the battlefield it was fiercely disputed.
Before the battle of 1916 it was only bombarded twice by the
German artillery. Of the 250 shells fired at it early in November,
1914, 170 reached the mark without, however, causing serious
damage. The few 8-inch shells received on March 29th, 1915, did no
damage whatever.

DOUAUMONT FORT IN JANUARY, 1916.

On February 25th, 1916, almost at the beginning of the battle,

units of the German XXIVth Infantry Regiment (IIIrd
Brandenburgers), wearing French Zouave uniforms, surprised and
occupied the fort. On the morning of the 26th the French 153rd D.I.
(20th C.) counter-attacked fiercely five times, advancing their line
beyond the fort and surrounding the enemy on three sides. Thanks,
however, to a communicating trench connecting up with their lines,
the enemy were able to keep their ground. From the 26th to the
29th they furiously attacked the approaches of the fort without being
able to surround it. A redoubt, 200 yards E. of the fort, was
alternately lost and recaptured three times on the 26th. From
March 8th to May 19th the fighting continued with varying fortune.

THE FRONT ON THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 26TH (26/2),

AFTER THE GERMANS HAD OCCUPIED THE FORT BY
SURPRISE, AND ON THE MORNING OF THE 27TH
(27/2), AFTER THE FRENCH COUNTER-ATTACK.
 THE ENTRANCE TO DOUAUMONT FORT IN JANUARY, 1916.

From the 19th to the 22nd French heavy guns bombarded the
fort, the explosion of a shell on the 20th causing hundreds of
victims. To hamper the enemy Intelligence Service six of their
observation balloons were destroyed by a French flying squadron on
the morning of the 22nd. At 11.50 the 10th Brigade (5th D.I.)
attacked the fort and its approaches. At noon the 129th line
regiment occupied the N. and N.W. corners of the fort. The
74th regiment was unable to take the N.E. corner, but the 36th
succeeded in capturing all the trenches west of the Fort. During the
night and all the next day the enemy intensified their bombardment
and increased the number of their counter-attacks, without breaking
through the defences of the 10th Brigade, which maintained all its
gains until relieved on the night of the 23rd. Exasperated at this
check, the Germans, on the 24th, engaged no less than an army
corps of reinforcements and retook the fort.
 THE INTERIOR OF THE FORT ON MAY 22ND, 1916,
THREE HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK.
French Infantry and Sappers in a trench hurriedly made
around an outwork
of masonry still held by the enemy with machine-guns.

Five months later (October 24th) they lost it again after a heavy
bombardment and attack, during which a French 16-inch shell
pierced the superstructure of the fort and started a fire. A dense fog
overhung the fort when, at 11.40 a.m., the signal for the attack,
directed by General Mangin, was given. When, at about 2.30 p.m.
the fog lifted, French observers perceived the Moroccan Colonials of
the Nicolaï battalion scaling the ruins of the fort. On arriving there,
the latter found units of the 321st line regiment which, operating in
liaison on their right, had preceded them and already hoisted the
French flag on the ruins of the fort. Two sappers of the 19-2 Co. of
Engineers slipped into the basement of the fort, and with the aid of
four Colonials captured twenty-four German soldiers, four officers,
two guns and three machine-guns in one of the counter-scarp
shelters. Other enemy soldiers in one of the casemates surrendered,
with the German commander of the fort, on the night of the 24th.
The next morning the entire fort, together with a great quantity of
arms, munitions and foodstuffs, was in the hands of the French.
Four enemy counter-attacks on the 26th failed to retake it.

SOLDIERS OF THE MOROCCAN COLONIAL REGT.

OCCUPYING THE MOATS OF THE RECONQUERED FORT
(photographed on the morning of Oct. 25th, 1916, the
day after the victory)
 On the night of the 24th a sergeant of the 4th Zouaves captured,
unaided, a German company and six officers. Returning from
revictualling duty, he was taken prisoner by some Germans
occupying a shelter near the fort Coolly informing them that
Douaumont and Damloup Battery had fallen, he called on them to
surrender. The attitude of the sergeant was so convincing that after
some hesitation they laid down their arms and were brought into the
French lines.
Douaumont was entirely cleared on December 15th by the
37th D.I., which fought a hard battle in the woods before the village.
Having learned the time of the attack, the Germans were on their
guard, but after a furious combat the 2nd Tirailleurs drove back the
VIth Prussian Grenadiers and crossed Helly Ravine ((photo, p. 80).

Hardaumont and Caillette Woods and Douaumont Village

may be visited, on foot from the fort of Douaumont.

The plateau E. and S.E. of Douaumont Fort ends in wooded

slopes, which overhang Vaux (Basil) Ravine. That furthest to the E.
contains Hardaumont Wood, while on the most western slope is
Caillette Wood. The Germans who, on March 8th and 9th, had taken
Hardaumont Redoubt, only entered Caillette Wood on April 2nd,
after four days’ attacks with asphyxiating gas and liquid fire. Despite
a night march of eleven miles, the 74th line regiment (5th D.I.)
attacked the enemy vigorously on the morning of April 3rd. On
April 3rd, 4th and 5th the French retook the wood, bit by bit. On the
15th three battalions of the 36th line regiment and units of the
120th threw back the enemy between Caillette and Fausse-Côte
ravines, while on the 19th the 81st Brigade enlarged these gains.
From the 24th to the 26th the Germans tried in vain to advance. On
June 1st they engaged two and a half divisions before they were
able to occupy the greater part of Caillette Wood. Moreover, their
success was only temporary, for on October 24th the French Division
of General Passaga (“La Gauloise”) drove them definitely out of
Caillette Wood and partly from that of Hardaumont. Nearly two
enemy divisions were put out of action and seventeen field guns,
twenty-five heavy guns, including two of long range, and numerous
trench mortars were captured. The reconquest of Hardaumont Wood
was completed on December 15th by the same division which
captured “Lorient” and Hardaumont Redoubts.

RUINS OF DOUAUMONT VILLAGE AND CHURCH.

Douaumont Village, situated below and 500 yards to the W. of

the fort, was almost encircled on the evening of February 25th, but
Zouaves and Tirailleurs extricated it. From the 25th to the 28th the
Vth German D.I. made five furious attacks, but were unable to break
down the resistance of the 95th line regiment and units of the
153rd D.I. which were defending the village. On March 2nd, after a
preliminary bombardment which destroyed the village and isolated
the battalion holding it, the CXIIIth German D.I., wearing French
helmets, attacked at 1.15 p.m. on the N. and E. The French
machine-gunners soon discovered the trick, however, and mowed
them down. After a second bombardment the enemy again attacked,
overwhelming the defenders, one company of whom resisted to the
last man.
The remains of the French battalion took their stand fifty yards
S.W. of the village and prevented the enemy from debouching. On
the 3rd two battalions of the 172nd and 174th line regiments retook
the village at the point of the bayonet. During the night the Germans
counter-attacked twice unsuccessfully with heavy loss, 800 dead
being counted in front of one of the French trenches. On the 4th a
third and more powerful counter-attack succeeded in driving the
French from the village, but broke down against new positions 200
yards to the south. The French were compelled to fall back in May
and June, but returned victorious to the ruined village on
October 24th.
 DAME RAVINE.
The road from Thiaumont to Bras follows it, ending at
Haudromont Quarries (see Itinerary, p. 57). The tree-
stumps in the foreground formed part of Chauffour Wood.
POSITION OF GERMAN BATTERY DESTROYED IN CHAUFFOUR WOOD.
 HAUDROMONT QUARRIES IN SEPTEMBER, 1917.

VI.—From Douaumont Fort to Bras and Samogneux

A down-hill road leads direct from Douaumont Village to

Thiaumont Farm, where the tourist will take his car again.
Follow the road, which turns to the left and passes through Dame
Ravine. On all sides the chaotic waste testifies to the terrible
hammering which this region received from the guns (see photo,
p. 78, and map, p. 73).
The tourist leaves Chauffour Wood on his right (photos, p. 78).
This wood extends to the north of the road and approaches to
within a few hundred yards of Douaumont on the west. The CVth
German Infantry was cut to pieces here on the morning of
February 26th, 1916, and on March 2nd the XXIst German Division
suffered a similar fate there. During a powerful attack around
Douaumont on April 16th the Germans occupied a small salient S. of
the wood, but were soon after partially driven out, while on
December 17th the wood was entirely cleared of them by the
Zouaves and Tirailleurs of the 38th D.I. The enemy’s efforts to
retake it and Albain Wood to the S.W. were unsuccessful.

Continue to descend; Haudromont Quarries will be reached

shortly afterwards.

Around these positions, which dominate the ravine debouching at

the stream near Bras, furious indecisive fighting took place, more
especially on March 18th, April 22nd and May 8th, 9th, 10th, 22nd,
26th and 27th, 1916. They were finally taken on October 24th by the
French 11th line regiment.
Fighting was very bitter around the quarries, which form a rough
oblong 200 to 300 yards long, fifty to sixty yards wide, visible from
afar on account of their white colour. The enemy had cut galleries,
casemates and shelters in the chalky soil, the whole forming a
redoubtable position. After encircling the quarries, the French
captured them with grenades.

HAUDROMONT WOOD IN MARCH, 1917

At the bottom of the hill, opposite and below Haudromont

Quarries, tourists desirous of visiting Helly Ravine (see photo
below, and map, map, p. 73), which was the scene of terrible
fighting during the offensive of December, 1916 (pp. 20–21), should
turn to the right for about 300 yards.

Return to the starting-point and continue straight along the Bras

Road.

On the right the tourist comes to the uphill road to Louvemont,

which crosses the southern slopes of Poivre Hill. This road is
impracticable for carriages beyond Louvemont.
HELLY RAVINE (photographed in May, 1919).
 ROAD FROM LOUVEMONT TO ORNES
(Farthest point accessible to motor-cars in May, 1919)

Louvemont and Poivre Hill

At 2.20 p.m. on February 24th, strong enemy forces debouched

between Louvemont and Hill 347. During the night the first
French reinforcements, belonging to the 20th C.A., repulsed them.
On the 25th, the enemy, in dense formation, outflanked the village
on the W. and E. They were checked several times by units of the
37th D.I. and artillery fire, but succeeded in entering the village at
3 p.m., after having practically levelled it by shell fire.
LOUVEMONT VILLAGE IN APRIL, 1917.

FROIDE-TERRE REDOUBT IN 1915