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The Butte de Vauquois

The summit of the Butte de Vauquois on a somber and wet February day in 2016.

The photos in this post are from February of 2016, when my stepson Lee and I took a week to be in France for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Verdun. On a rainy and misty weekend day, we took a tour of the Meuse-Argonne region to visit some of the more salient points of interest. One of them was the Butte de Vauquois.

The road up to the Butte de Vauquois.
  • A kiosk in the parking lot offers a history of the long struggle for the hill.
These kiosks typically offer text in French, German, and English.

At the time I didn’t know too much about Vauquois, only that mine warfare had dominated this sector of the front and that this hill was a hinge on the Verdun salient’s western side. I had seen photos on the Web, of course, and knew the barest details of the wartime history of the hill. I knew there would be some mine craters.

When you get close you see the hill is now wooded, and even in winter this obscures the true state of the butte today. Coming up the road to the hilltop battlefield, you are coming in from the rear of the French lines. The parking lot is on the western end of the hill, and here there are numerous artifacts related to the struggle for Vauquois Hill displayed at the edges of the lot. There is a visitor center that appears to be a former dugout, and it’s a great little place full of weapons, tools, and other artifacts used in the Vauquois sector and beyond.

At the upper edge of the lot are steps that lead up to the summit of the hill, and it’s a good walk to get up there.

The first thing you will see as you clear the trees is a massive mine crater. It’s like a giant dug his hand into the hill and tore out a huge chunk of it. It’s a hole big enough to fit a house in–literally, and I mean “literally” in the real sense of the word. This is the result of the May 14, 1916 mine set off by the Germans, where 60 tons of Westfalit explosives were used in an attempt to rupture the French lines.

The massive mine crater created on May 14, 1916 when the Germans detonated a mine packed with 60 tons of explosives. 108 French Poilus were killed in the blast.

This isn’t the only crater like this. Get to the top of the hill–now some eighteen feet shorter due to the First World War–and you will see a chain of massive holes that bisect the Butte de Vauquois. Not only has six meters of earth and an ancient village been wiped off the top of the hill, but the heart of it has been ripped out, too.

The heart of this hill has been ripped out. Check out the two visitors in the distance for an idea of scale.

This first time on Vauquois my brain was boggled by what my eyes were showing me. Holes of this size simply could not exist, even though I was looking at them and a short while later in them. I mean, a two-story home could fit comfortably in these craters with room to spare. To see these mine craters and know that these were man-made creations was startling.

Black and white gives a little more depth, and can give a better idea of the depth and breadth of these craters.
Looking from the French (southern) side of the hill.
A deep mine crater on Vauquois, looking from the French side east to west, roughly. .
The craters show that the heart of the Butte de Vauquois has been ripped out.
  • The heart of the hill, torn open and exposed to the world.
  • The ground shows unmistakable evidence of the terrible events that happened here a century ago.
  • These mine craters are hard for the mind to comprehend.
  • Looking from the German lines.
A picture of the butte, and the hilltop village before the war.
Your humble podcaster standing in the middle of a monstrous crater.
In the German trenches. The Germans incorporated the remains of the village into their defensive works.
The French monument on Vauquois, sculpted by Marius Roussel, himself a veteran of the French 10th Division. It features scenes recalling the vicious fighting of 1915, with a dead Frenchman buried in the side of a mine gallery. A resolute brother soldier stands at the ready next to the corpse, and over both men are the remains of the chestnut tree that used to stand next to Vauquois’ church.
Looking from behind the German wire towards the French side. The trench lines were so close that conventional infantry attacks were suicidal; mine warfare was the only way to effectively attack the enemy here.
  • Entrance to a dugout on the Butte de Vauquois.
  • Yours truly.
  • “Know the darkness.” A future post will show what lies beneath.
This was why the hill was fought over so ferociously: its heights offered dominating views over the surrounding countryside.

St. Mihiel Salient Tour – City Sites

On the 10th of August, we had a truly remarkable day: a full day of battlefield tours with our guide Christophe and his daughter. We started in the town itself, visiting the medieval cathedrals of Saint Michel and Saint Etienne and then walking through the streets of this old city.

During our walk, Christophe stopped us frequently to show us several old buildings, many of which were connected to the First World War. He also showed us some interesting architecture along the way.

If you’ve never had a day’s tour with a guide, I highly recommend it–and I highly recommend Christophe and his American friend Mike who linked us up! These two gentlemen are incredibly knowledgeable on the Meuse region of France, and they will make your day as active as you want it to be. The attention Christophe and Mike gave to our day was nothing short of impressive: about a week ahead of time I started receiving emails with photos and maps of the St. Mihiel area in preparation for our visit. The day of the tour was a full day: visiting the city, and then heading out to get into the former front line trenches, dugouts, and machine gun nests.

There will be more posts (we took some 2,200 photos in France collectively over 10 days), but let’s get started with the sights from the town itself.

Courtesy of Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/92684034/

The war memorial in St. Mihiel from the back, where German soldiers are shown marching French civilians into captivity.

The old city hall in St. Mihiel. The German command was located here during the occupation years in 1914-1918.

Ligier Richier (1500-1567) was a sculptor from St. Mihiel.

Saint Stephen’s Cathedral.

One of Richier’s best known sculptures, The Entombment. During WW1 the Germans built up sandbag defenses around the sculpture in order to protect it.

A better photo of The Entombment, courtesy of http://www.meusetourism.com/en/things-to-do/visit/monuments-and-gardens/F818001070_the-ligier-richier-trail-saint-mihiel.html.

The town hall in St. Mihiel held an exhibition of the WW1 years at the end of June 2018.

The former slaughterhouse in St. Mihiel.

 

German Cemetery at Belleau, France

Just got back from 10 days in France, and I’ve decided to actually start using this website for more posts.

Right after we landed in Paris and got our car, we headed right out for Belleau Wood. A little over an hour northeast of the City of Light, this was the first battle area we visited. It was some 95 degrees (F) out that day, but it was so moving to see the wheat fields over which the US Marines attacked in June 1918, and to walk in the wood itself.

One spot where we stopped was the German cemetery at Belleau, where some 8,000 Germans rest in peace now. Many of the dates of death center in 1918, the time of the German Kaiserschlacht offensives.