GERMAN FIRST-LINE POSITIONS BÉTHENY PLAIN
(see sketch-map below)
Photographed at 7,000 ft. from aeroplane, August 6, 1916, at 10 a.m.
THE GERMAN FIRST-LINE DEFENCES IN THE PLAIN OF BÉTHENY
The tourist passes through this region on returning to Rheims, shortly before coming to the bridge under the railway. The sketch map explains the photograph above.
Pass under the Rheims-Laon railway by a very sharp double turning. Pierquin Farm, entirely destroyed, stood on the right a short distance further on. The only remaining trace is the torn shapeless carcass of a large iron shed.
The railway embankment south of Pierquin Farm was fiercely disputed from September 18, 1914, onwards. Several enemy attacks against it broke down before the French 75's. During the offensive of May, 1918, the whole of this region was the scene of desperate fighting. La Neuvillette was taken on May 30, and Pierquin Farm on the 31st. On August 4, the French, after crossing the Aisne Canal, advanced to La Neuvillette, where the enemy made a desperate stand. At the beginning of October they advanced to the north of La Neuvillette, which the enemy was eventually compelled to abandon. The last inhabitants had left the locality on July 12, 1916.
The tourist enters Rheims by the Rue de Neufchâtel and the Avenue de Laon.