World War I Memorials and Cemeteries in Alsace

Building up to the Mulhouse battle, the French offensive had started on 7 August, with an attack in Haute-Alsace and the seizure of the border town of Altkirch and very soon Bonneau's troops had taken Mulhouse. The French success was short-lived however and the Germans retook the city on 10 August after reserves had been rushed down from Strasbourg. Joseph Joffre, the French Commander-in-Chief, had also despatched a reserve division to assist Bonneau but they had arrived too late to save Mulhouse from recapture. Bonneau withdrew towards Belfort, the only fort incidentally to have held out during the Franco-Prussian War, on 10 August in order to escape German encirclement.

Bonneau's withdrawal to Belfort angered Joffre and he Immediately relieved him of his command. Joffre added four more divisions to the so-called 'Army of Alsace' and now placed it under the command of General Pau.

All this was humiliating for the French but for a short time they had been euphoric and when they had entered Mulhouse, Joffre was moved to declare

"CHILDREN of ALSACE! After forty-four years of sorrowful waiting, French soldiers once more tread the soil of your noble country. They are the pioneers in the great work of revenge. For them what emotions it calls forth, and what pride! To complete the work they have made the sacrifice of their lives. The French nation unanimously urges them on, and in the folds of their flag are inscribed the magic words, "Right and Liberty.". Long live Alsace. Long live France"

The French were by no means finished with, despite the 10 August failure, and a counter-attack followed on 19 August in the wealthy Mulhouse suburb of Dornach which forced the Germans to retreat to Ensisheim, 20 km to the north. However, on 24 August the French again withdrew from Mulhouse and, in a short time, after an unsuccessful contribution to the fighting at Morhange-Sarrebourg. Pau’s army was dissolved and its troops deployed northwards to participate in the Battle of the Marne. Joffre sent Pau to join Bonneau in "retirement".

When the French finally left Mulhouse, the front line was beginning to take shape and now ran roughly on a line from Pfetterhouse - Altkirch - Thann - Hartmannswillerkopf - Munster - Col du Linge- Col du Bonhomme. Only on 17 November 1918 were the French soldiers to march back into Mulhouse led by General Hirschauer.

There is also a German cemetery at Saulcy-sur-Meurthe.

The slopes of the ridge at Linge, with its passes and peaks such as the Col du Wettstein and the Schratzmännele saw continuous fighting from mid February to mid October 1915 and it would be fair to say that the actual front line was not clearly defined before this period and until it finished.

"Passant souviens-toi de nos braves chasseurs libérateurs de 1914-18. Accordez Seigneur à tous pardon et paix"

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The village of Le Bonhomme itself suffered from artillery bombardments when the Germans were firing at the Tête-des-Faux. This is another area heavily fortified by the Germans and they constructed a tunnel on the Tête des Faux with a length of 1 kilometre, hewn from the rock of the mountain from the Corbeau Rock to the Mont Bonhomme peak. The village was occupied by French forces on 15 August 1914 and was later taken by the Germans.

From August 1914, the Germans had installed themselves on the summit of the Tête des Faux from where they were able to use their artillery to fire on the Bonhomme pass. On 2 December 1914, the 28th Chasseurs attacked the Tête des Faux and ousted the soldiers of the Bayerische Landwehr Infanterie Regiment and on 18 December 28 BCA were relieved by the 30th BCA. They were joined by the 229th French Infantry and part of the 51st Territorials. Other men from the 51st took up positions in the pass and two companies of the 30th were kept in reserve. The weather worsened from 21 December 1914 onwards with heavy snow. On 24 December 1914, the French positions came under artillery fire and in the subsequent fighting the Germans, whilst taking heavy losses, made some progress. The Germans launched a further attack on 21 February 1915. but finally there was stalemate and at the finish the French held the sumnmit and the German dug in on one of the slopes and built formidable fortifications thereafter. The front line was to change little here until the end of the war.

At the top of the Tête des Faux there are the remains of a French look-out post and a small memorial which reads

"Ici sont tombés pour la France le 6 juillet 1916, le capitaine Demmler, le docteur Espagne, Jean-François Bouvier, Jean-Marie Renaud du 62e BCA". Probablement les victimes d'un obus tombé sur un abri situé à cet endroit"

In the pass that separates the two peaks of the Têtes des Faux is the cemetery at Duchesne and In this cemetery there is a monument with the inscriptions

"Mes frères d'armes pour la Patrie. Le 14e BCA - juin 1915"

and

"Au commandant J. Duchesne, chef de bataillon 215e, mort pour la Patrie le 2 XII 14 à l'assaut de Grimaude"

Duchesne had been killed in the December 1914 assault on the Têtes des Faux at Grimaude.^[6]

The district of Orbey occupies the valley of the river Weiss and the area includes both Lake Blanc and Lake Noire. The area is dominated by the peaks of the Linge, the Gazon du Faing and the Tetes des Faux. Lake Blanc is the source of the Weiss river. Orbey is made up of several small villages and farms on the slopes of the mountains. There is a museum in the area, the Musée mémorial du Linge.

It was a bloody encounter with gas and flame throwers being used. Approximately 10,000 Frenchmen and 7,000 Germans were to be killed but after the fighting the front line positions were to remain much the same until the end of the war in November 1918. The Germans had made the first moves on 19 February 1915 when they attacked some of the smaller peaks on the Linge ridge including the Kleinkopf, the Barrenkopf, and the Schratzmännele but heavy snow storms meant that they could only reach the Barrenkopf and the Schratzmännele. In March 1915, the French launched their own offensive and fighting continued week by week and in July, after a heavy artillery bombardment the French Chasseurs à Pied, Chasseurs Alpins,and Infantry Regiments attacked the Barrenkopf, the Schratzmännele, and the Collet du Linge but without success.
Attacks and counterattacks continued and on 29 July the French took the Barrenkopf and the Schratzmännele but by the end of August the Germans retook these peaks but left the lower western slopes to the French. From August until October 1915 the attacks and counterattacks would go on without much gain for both parties.
Part of the battlefield area has been conserved and one can still see bunkers and fortified trenches. The terrain of the Linge was not ideal for fighting with numerous trees and bushes and rocky escarpments and the Germans had used their time on the ridge from late 1914 to build substantial defences including bunkers, blockhouses for their artillery and machine gun emplacements and to add barbed wire which was often difficult to see amongst the bushes and rocks.^[7][8]

The Ridge at Linge

The memorial is dominated by a large cross with the word "PAX" inscribed at the centre, the original wooden cross is set into the cross further down and the body of a chasseur lies at its foot. It also bears the inscription "AUX MORTS DU LINGE". Beneath the sculpture of the soldier is a plaque reading

""Les Diables Rouges du 15-2 aux Diables Bleus tombés en Alsace".

This then is a tribute from the "Red Devils" of the 152nd to the "Blue Devils".

Depiction of a dead soldier at the foot of a giant cross in the French Military Cemetery at the Col de Wettstein.

The main memorial dedicated to this battle is to be found in this cemetery. It depicts a dead "Chasseur" who lies prostrate beneath a large cross. It seems that a young officer in the Chasseurs had made a wooden cross from some pine trees damaged by gunfire and this was replaced at a later stage by a cross carved from granite, It was inaugurated by General Gamelin in 1939.

The original wooden cross has been kept and is fixed to the monument with the inscription

"La croix de bois ci-dessus a été confectionnée avec les débris de la croix primitive érigée à cet emplacement par les combattants du Linge en avril 1915"

It also has a plaque which lists all the units of Chasseurs who fought at Linge.

"3e B.C.P. 5e B.C.P. 6e B.C.A. 7e B.C.A. 11e B.C.A. 12e B.C.A. 13e B.C.A. 14e B.C.A. 15e B.C.P. 22e B.C.A. 23e B.C.A. 24e B.C.A. 25e B.C.P. 26e B.C.P. 27e B.C.A. 28e B.C.A. 29e B.C.P. 30e B.C.A. 42e B.C.P. 45e B.C.P. 46e B.C.A. 47e B.C.A. 51e B.C.A. 52e B.C.A. 54e B.C.A. 62e B.C.A. 63e B.C.A. 64e B.C.A. 65e B.C.P. 67e B.C.A. 68e B.C.A. 70e B.C.A. 106e B.C.P. 107e B.C.P. 114e B.C.A. 115e B.C.A. 120e B.C.P. 121e B.C.P. 122e B.C.P. 4e B.C.T. 1ere Cie Skieurs du 28e B.C.A."

A second plaque lists the Infantry, Artillery and other units who fought at Linge.

"Infanterie : 35e R.I. 37e R.I. 43e R.I. 59e R.I. 79e R.I. 152e R.I. 155e R.I. 159e R.I. 213e R.I. 215e R.I. 371e R.I. 372e R.I. Artillerie : 1er Rt. 2e Rt. 5e Rt. 6e Rt. 8e Rt. 9e Rt. 15e Rt. 21e Rt. 31e Rt. 37e Rt. 41e Rt. 42e Rt. 44e Rt. 47e Rt. 49e Rt. 56e Rt. 103e C.R.A.P. Dragons : 10e Rt. 11e Rt. 15e Rt. 18e Rt. 19e Rt. 20e Rt. 26e Rt. Hussards : 10e Rt. 16e R Chasseurs à cheval ; 11e Rt. 22e Rt. Génie : 1er Rt. 2e Rt. 7e Rt. 11e Rt. 28e Rt. Brancardiers : 51e Gr

7e E.T.E.M. 15e E.T.E.M."

Apart from the main memorial to the dead of the Linge fighting there are other memorials in the area dedicated to individual units.

"Aux 10 000 Morts Français dont le sang a imprégné cette terre - 1915-1918"

and around the memorial are various white crosses which indicates points were bodies were found and exhumed.

The museum at Linge was built between 1973 and 1981 by an association called the "Mémorial du Linge" and just by the museum there is a small memorial called "Armistice". It was the idea of Gerard Ambroselli and carries the text of a poem by André Piot who had fought in the war.^[10]

"À la mémoire des commandants Colardelle tué en tête du bataillon à l'Hilsenfirst le 21/6/1915 et BARBEROT tué ici même le 4/8/1915, des 48 officiers et des 2160 sous-officiers, caporaux et chasseurs du 5ème B.C.P. morts ou disparus au cours de la Grande Guerre. Aux officiers, sous-officiers, caporaux et chasseurs du 45ème B.C.P. morts pour la France. Aux officiers, sous-officiers, caporaux et chasseurs du 107ème B.C.P. morts pour la France. L'envahisseur avait voulu détruire ce monument. Depuis 1950, il se dresse à nouveau sur cette terre fidèle pour glorifier ceux qui en tous lieux tombèrent au 5ème bataillon et honorer les chasseurs de tous les temps"

and so remembers the Chief of the 5th Battalion of the Chasseurs a Pied Colardelle and an officer called Barberot killed in June and August 1915 as well as 48 officers and 2,160 other soldiers all killed in the area. Seems the monument was damaged by the Germans during the occupation but restored in 1950.

"Aux Chasseurs et aux vaillants des 46e 66e et 129e Div. d'Infanterie qui ont lutté qui ont souffert et qui sont morts pour la France au Lingekopf 1914-1918"

"L'Alsacienne" - 66e division de Chasseurs dont le sang a coulé sur cette terre d'Alsace et à son dernier chef le général Brissaud-Desmaillets"

At the foot of the monument are Joffre's words of 24 November 1914.

"Notre retour est définitif. Vous êtes Français pour toujours. La France vous apporte, avec les libertés qu'elle a toujours représentées, le respect de vos libertés à vous, des libertés alsaciennes, de vos traditions, de vos convictions, de vos moeurs. Je suis la France. Vous êtes l'Alsace. Je vous apporte le baiser de la France"

"AUX DIABLES BLEUS"

which was the nickname of the Chasseurs Alpin. A little further on there is a 1960s reconstruction of the 1927 memorial with a bronze by the sculptor Pierre Bouret. It depicts a Chasseur Alpin in winter outfit including of course the famous beret. A photograph of the 1960s replica is shown below.

Monument on Grand Ballon

There was not however the appalling loss of life that marked the Hartmannswillerkopf. The two front trenches in this area were often very close; the distance between the first lines of barbed wire and high voltage entanglements was at some points not more than 100 metres. The French 7th Infantry Regiment and the 5th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins occupied the summit and the German Reserve Jäger Bataillon 8 was positioned on the southern slopes of the Sudel.^[11]

"This chapel is dedicated to JEANNE d’ARC and has been erected in 1951 by SOUVENIR FRANCAIS, in memory to the French soldiers, who died during the 1st World War on this ridge bathed in floods of blood, who served at the observation post for the 7th Infantry Regiment and the 5th Battalion of “Chasseurs”, who defended the access to the valley of Thann. "For us the memory of their immortality.”

The chapel at Sudelkopf

" A la mémoire de Paul Amic 1889-1915, Capitaine au 15e Bataillon de Chasseurs, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Croix de Guerre, Mort pour la France à la tête de sa compagnie à l'assaut de l'Hartmannswillerkopf le 21 décembre 1915. Si je meurs mes amis d'espoirs et de misère, vous m'ensevelirez près du front dans la terre sous la croix de sapin près du clocher flambé, mais gardez-moi le sol où je serai tombé. - Paul Amic, Moosch 1915 - Le Souvenir Français"

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From the Col Amic we move to the Col du Siberloch and the Hartmannswillkopf or Vieil Armand.

In order to supply their troops on the Hartmannswillerkopf, the Germans built several camps on the Alsatian plain with many blockhouses and the area from Mulhouse to Hartmannswillerkopf is littered with the remains of German fortifications.

Monument dedicated to the "Diables Rouges" ("Red Devils") as the 152nd Infantry Regiment were known

The National Monument of the Hartmannswillerkopf was inaugurated on 9 October 1932. It consists of a crypt carved out of the bedrock. The entrance is approached by a cutting from the road and is flanked by two bronze representations of victory by the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. Inside the crypt and covered by a large bronze shield is an ossuary which contains the remains of 12,000 unidentified soldiers. There are also Protestant and Jewish altars and a Catholic chapel. On the esplanade, which is situated above the crypt, is the Altar de la Patrie. This symbolises the raising of volunteers en masse for the defence of France and the Republic. It bears on its sides the names of the cities which contributed to the building of the memorial.

Behind this crypt is a French Military Cemetery which contains 1,640 soldiers of whom the remains of 384 are in six ossuaries. Near to this cemetery is the monument dedicated to the "Diables Rouges" ("Red Devils") as the 152nd Infantry Regiment were known. This bronze depicts five larger-than-life-size soldiers all in attacking mode. The sculpture is mounted on a sheer rock face so that the figures can appear to be looking out over the Alsace plain.

German soldier on Hartmannsweilerkopf

General Serret commanded the 66th Mountain Infantry (Infanterie de Montagne) which fought at Hartmannswillerkopf. He was killed on 6 January 1916. ^[13]

General Serret

The main inscription reads

"A "L'Alsacienne" - 66e division de Chasseurs dont le sang a coulé sur cette terre d'Alsace et à son dernier chef le général Brissaud-Desmaillets"

Also inscribed on the monument are the words spoken by Joffre at Thann on 24 November 1914

""Notre retour est définitif. Vous êtes Français pour toujours. La France vous apporte, avec les libertés qu'elle a toujours représentées, le respect de vos libertés à vous, des libertés alsaciennes, de vos traditions, de vos convictions, de vos moeurs. Je suis la France. Vous êtes l'Alsace. Je vous apporte le baiser de la France"