THE BATTLE IN THE FOREST
In January, 1915, the line crossed the Melzicourt Ford, a little upstream from Servon, and the Servon-Vienne-le-Château road to the north of Fontaine-la-Houyette, running thence, with numerous salients and re-entrants, through Gruerie Wood, as far as Fontaines-aux-Charmes and the outskirts of Bagatelle. From there it went south through Fontaine-Madame to within three-quarters of a mile north of La Harazée, then north towards St. Hubert, then south again, crossing the Meurissons Stream, to within 300 yards of Four-de-Paris, finally turning eastwards across the Woods of Bolante and Courte-Chausse, to the Valley of the Aire between Neuvilly and Boureuilles.
For almost a year the struggle on this line continued with unabated desperateness. It is impossible to enumerate here all the battles fought almost daily in the sectors of Fontaine-aux-Charmes, Bagatelle, Marie-Thérèse, Fontaine-Madame, St. Hubert, Four-de-Paris, Les Meurissons, Bolante Wood, Courte-Chausse and Haute-Chevauchée. The most important are referred to later, in the Itinerary. On the whole, the French troops, with whom the Garibaldian Regiment co-operated for a short time, made some progress and inflicted bitter defeats on the enemy. To the east, in the Valley of the Aire, though they failed against Boureuilles, they succeeded in March, after numerous attacks, in taking Vauquois.
During 1915, the Germans several times resorted to massed attacks on an extended front, especially in June and July. From June 20 to July 14 the Crown Prince launched an offensive in great force, employing as much as an entire army corps for a single thrust. On June 20, after an intense bombardment with gas shells, his troops attacked on both sides of the Binarville-Vienne-le-Château road. Gassed and almost buried in their shattered trenches, the French could not stop the enemy, but on June 24 counter-attacks regained almost all the lost ground.
On the 26th, the Crown Prince renewed and developed the attack, which, on the 29th, extended from the Four-de-Paris to about two miles beyond the Binarville-Vienne-le-Château road. After a three days’ bombardment, he hurled at least 40,000 men into action, three times in succession. Against the salient from Bagatelle to the north of Four-de-Paris alone, on a front of about five miles, he launched two divisions. Thanks to a hail of shells and gas bombs, the enemy advanced and, through the corridor of the Biesme, came within five miles of their objective, the railway station of Les Islettes. The fire of the 75’s, however, barred the road, and the French reserves subsequently counter-attacked and retook the lost ground covered with enemy dead.
After some local attacks on July 2 and 7, the Germans launched a fresh general attack on the 13th, from the Binarville-Vienne-le-Château road, as far as the Haute-Chevauchée. After a bombardment with more than 45,000 shells, five regiments of the XVIth Corps rushed the shattered trenches. It was a powerful thrust, especially on the east, where a few trenches were lost; but in the course of several days’ fighting the enemy was held, and on the 14th the French counter-attacked on the west, pushed the Germans back north of the Servon road, and held for a short time the Beaurain Wood to the west of this road. On September 7, the enemy once more threw two divisions against the western side of the forest; but in this attempt, as in the first, they failed to break through.