MAP OF THE OPERATIONS FROM OULCHY-LE-CHÂTEAU TO LONGPONT.
The roads indicated by the two continuous lines are those to be followed by the tourist.
The entire region just passed through (from Oulchy to Longpont), was occupied and ravaged by the Germans after May 30, 1918, and reconquered by General Mangin’s army from July 18 onwards.
On May 30, a German army under General Winkler (1st Guards, 33rd Infantry and 10th Reserves) attacked the two villages of Oulchy from the east, but were stubbornly opposed. Advancing beyond them on the 31st, the Germans (28th Reserves) took Longpont, while Corcy was captured by the 1st Guards. After fierce fighting, Chouy, Ancienville, and Faverolles also fell. Two days later, after furious combats, the French recaptured Longpont and Corcy, but Faverolles, after changing hands several times, was kept by the Germans. On June 3, the enemy made a violent attack on Villers-Cotterets Wood, the fighting around Longpont and Faverolles being of the fiercest. However, they failed to gain a footing in the Wood, and the French re-took Faverolles. For more than a month the battle continued to rage without appreciably modifying the situation. From July 11 the Allies became increasingly active, retaking Corcy and Longpont, and crossing the Savières on the 13th, south of that village. On the 18th, the tanks and Franco-American troops (1st and 2nd American Divisions) under General Mangin debouched from the forest in the Great Counter-Offensive. The valley of the Savières was cleared of the enemy, and on the 19th, progress made beyond Chouy. On the 20th and 21st, the outskirts of Oulchy-la-Ville and Oulchy-le-Château were reached. Here the enemy offered a vigorous resistance, and the battle continued to rage until the beginning of August. German prisoners belonging to the 51st Reserves and 6th Guards (Ersatz) declared that their orders on July 30 were to fight to the last man. On August 1 the Germans attacked Oulchy unsuccessfully early in the morning. Finally, the entire region was cleared of the enemy, the Americans taking part in the recapture of Chouy and the two villages of Oulchy.