CHAULNES WOOD. GERMAN BLOCKHOUSE.
Chaulnes
Chaulnes Wood is crossed 1 km. this side of Chaulnes. Violent attacks were delivered by the French in the vicinity of this wood. The large number of soldiers' graves along both sides of the road form an impressive sight.
Several hundred yards beyond the fork formed in the road by the junction with G.C. 206 coming from Lihons, turn to the left, and enter Chaulnes in front of the ruins of the large eighteenth century church. A few fragments of crumbling walls are all that remain (photos, p. [130]).
Chaulnes, the chief town of one of the "cantons" in the "Département" of the Somme, was situated at the junction of several railroads. In 1914, the Germans turned the place into a fortress, and made it the chief strong-point of their system of defence-works south of the Somme. Traces of the powerful fortifications—the first lines of which were only carried in 1916—may still be seen along and near G.C. 206, amidst the churned-up ground.
CHAULNES WOOD. FRENCH MILITARY GRAVES.