“FOUR-DE-PARIS.” FRONT-LINE DEFENCES (1916)
one point an opening was made and a few men got through to the edge of the German trench, only to be killed there. It was during this engagement, which cost the 2nd Battalion 30 dead, 17 missing, and 111 wounded, that Second-Lieutenant Bruno Garibaldi—a grandson of Giuseppe Garibaldi, “the old red bird” whom, in 1870, the Prussian General Werder confidently expected to “catch in his nest” in the Vosges, but failed in the attempt—was killed. Bruno Garibaldi, though in reserve, advanced to the assault with the 2nd Battalion, his sword drawn, his green tunic unfastened, showing the traditional and symbolic red shirt. Wounded in the hand, he went back to the trench to have it dressed, then returned immediately to the fight. Struck by a bullet he continued to urge his men forward, until another laid him low. Before dying, he embraced a wounded comrade near by, saying, “Kiss my brothers for me.” On January 5, 1915, further to the right, on the Courte-Chausse plateau, the 1st and 3rd Garibaldian Battalions had their revenge. Eight mines, the galleries of which, forty to fifty yards in length, ran under the German trench, were charged with about 6,000 lbs. of explosives during the night. At 7 a.m. the next morning the mines were fired, one after the other, after which, to the sound of bugles and drums, eight Garibaldian companies took the shattered enemy front line in a single charge, threw a German counter-attack into disorder, took and retook the second line, and penetrated into the third German line. This they were unable to hold, but they had nevertheless made an important advance, taken four machine-guns, two minenwerfer, and 200 prisoners of the 135th, 26th, and 24th German Regiments—most of them Pomeranians. By a strange coincidence it was the flag of a Pomeranian regiment—the LXIst—that had been taken in 1870 at the Battle of Dijon by Ricciotti Garibaldi, Bruno’s father. The Garibaldians’ losses that day were heavy. Among the dead was Adjutant-Chief Costante Garibaldi, Bruno’s brother. Some days later a violent battle took place in the Meurissons ravine. On January 7, after a half-hearted German attack, which was easily beaten off, rough trenches were dug on the plateau—in view of a possible retreat—by men belonging to the 46th French Regiment of the Line, who worked under heavy fire. General Gouraud, commanding the 10th Infantry Division, who came to examine the position, was wounded in the shoulder by a machine-gun bullet. On the following day a violent German artillery preparation began at dawn. At 7.30 a.m. three regiments of fresh enemy troops (Bavarian infantry) advanced to the attack. A trench held by men of the 89th Regiment of the Line was blown up, the French line was broken, and the Bavarians took on the flank the first and second lines held by troops of the 89th and 46th Regiments of the Line, who put up a fierce resistance. On the plateau the 11th Company of the 46th, which held the unfinished supporting trench, stopped the rush of the enemy. The Germans, unwilling to risk a frontal attack, turned the position on the right flank, and finally took the trench, but only after the gallant defenders had fired their last cartridges. The Germans penetrated into the ravine, capturing the regimental headquarters, and wounding the colonel and his staff. The 11th Company, however, still held on. On the crest, the cooks and the sick seized rifles and joined in the fight. At about 9.30 a.m. a blast of trumpets on the right announced the arrival of reinforcements. Units of the French 89th Regiment of the Line and 2nd Garibaldian Battalion charged through the undergrowth. A furious hand-to-hand struggle ensued in the copse-wood, no quarter being given. The French succeeded in saving their comrades of the 46th, and checked the enemy, who eventually evacuated the ravine. At dawn on the 9th, units of the 120th Regiment of the Line relieved the Garibaldians, who numbered among their dead the Regiment’s adopted child, Gaston Huet, a French boy of twelve, who had fought like a man. It was in vain that the Germans renewed their attacks; until nine o’clock in the evening they were repulsed and held. The remnant of the French 46th Regiment of the Line—some three hundred men—under the command of a captain clung for three days without supplies, to their positions. Their splendid resistance and sacrifice were not in vain, as reinforcements arrived in time to re-establish the position.
FOUR-DE-PARIS FARM IN 1915 (SUBSEQUENTLY RAZED TO THE GROUND), ON THE ROAD TO CHALADE
From March 9 to 19, several French attacks between Four-de-Paris and Bolante gave slight gains, in spite of enemy counter-attacks.