RUINS OF SERMAIZE
Affording a fine view of the Valley of the Saulx, the road enters Sermaize (61 km.).
The town was occupied on September 6 by the Fourth Division of the Sixth Corps. Violently attacked on the north and east, and threatened with being cut off from the rest of the French line by the German advance from the west, Sermaize, already set on fire by shells, was evacuated on the 7th by the French troops, who retired towards Maurupt and Cheminon. The Germans entered the little town and completed the work of the shells, but first they pillaged the houses. It was proved to the Enquiry Commission that "German Red-Cross nurses came with carts, in which they piled up the goods which the soldiers passed to them from the drapery and millinery establishment of M. Mathieu, a merchant serving with the colours." 505 houses were completely destroyed; only forty-four remained standing.
Numerous personal outrages were committed. About fifty hostages were taken; some, rigged out in cloaks and casques, were obliged thus to guard the bridges. Here is the declaration of the road-man of the district, Auguste Brocard: "My son and I, together with my grandson aged 5½ years, were led away on September 6 by the Germans, who shut us into the sugar factory, and kept us there under guard for four days. When they arrested us, my wife and my daughter-in-law, insane with fear, ran to drown themselves in the Saulx. I managed to run after them, and tried three times to rescue the unhappy creatures, but the Germans forced me away, and left the poor women struggling in the water. I ought to add that when we were set free four days afterwards, and went to find the corpses, the French soldiers who helped to bury them pointed out to us that both my wife and my daughter-in-law had bullet wounds in the head."
THE GRAND SQUARE, SERMAIZE
On arriving in the town, turn to the right. The street leads to the central square, which is adorned by a fountain (see below). The enormous rubbish heap which the town represented after the battle is gradually being cleared. The inhabitants have returned, and bravely set about the rebuilding of their homes. Helped by various organisations, French and foreign, and above all by bodies of Quakers known as the "Society of Friends," who have set up numerous wooden houses throughout the countryside, they are bringing this desolate region back to life.
