List of World War I memorials and cemeteries in Champagne-Ardennes

In 1929, the Beaux-Arts administration organised a competition to select a suitable design for the memorial. Eventually, the commission went to the architect Paul Bigot who proposed Henri Bouchard for the main sculptural work. The monument was to take the form of a huge column to symbolise the significance of the German advance being halted, and at the top there would be a sculpture in relief of an "Angel of Victory" which would be assigned to Bouchard while bas-reliefs at the base would be assigned to established sculptors Alfred Bottiau, Albert Patrisse and René André Duparc.

In December 1933, the monument was completed, but there had been difficulty in raising funds to complete the sculpture. The monument remained covered in scaffolding until 1938 when its sculptural work was completed. The inauguration was set for 19 September 1939, but the outbreak of World War II delayed this until 23 September 1951.

The monument rises to a height of 35.5 metres (116 ft) and its concrete is pink in colour. The whole monument with its metal base and deep foundations weighed 2000 tonnes. The monument's scale evokes both power and defiance, as the designer had intended.

At the base, bas-reliefs featured depictions of all the main Generals involved in the battle, with Joseph Joffre in the centre, his arm around a French soldier. Around him, Joffre's generals are positioned in the geographical order (from Verdun to Senlis) that they held in the battle. From left to right they are Generals Sarrail (Third Army), Langle de Cary (Fourth Army), Foch (Ninth Army), Franchet d'Espèrey (Fifth Army), Field Marshal French (BEF), Manoury (Sixth Army) and Gallieni (The Army of Paris).

"A la voix de Joffre, l'armée française en pleine retraite s'arrêta et fit face à l'ennemi. alors se déchaîna la bataille de la Marne sur un front de soixante dix lieues de Verdun aux portes de Paris. Après plusieurs jours de luttes héroïques, l'ennemi de toutes parts battait en retraite et sur toute l'étendue du front, la VICTOIRE PASSAIT"

"Au moment où s'engage une bataille dont dépend le salut du pays, il importe de rappeler à tous que le moment n'est plus de regarder en arrière. Tous les efforts doivent être employés à attaquer et repousser l'ennemi. Toute troupe qui ne peut plus avancer devra coûte que coûte garder le terrain conquis et se faire tuer sur place plutôt que de reculer. Dans les circonstances actuelles, aucune défaillance ne peut être tolérée"

Other inscriptions cover the make-up of the different armies that were involved in the Allied formation and each face to the point where they were positioned at the start of the offensive. These were:

• The Army of Paris / General Gallieni
• The 6th Army of General Maunoury positioned from Betz to Meaux
• Battle place of the English Army positioned from Villiers-sur-Morin to Jouy-le-Châtel.
• The 5th Army of General Franchet d'Espèrey positioned from Provins to Sézanne
• The 9th Army of General Foch positioned from Sézanne to the camp at Mailly
• The 4th Army of General de Langle de Cary positioned from the camp at Mailly to Sermaize
• The 3rd Army of General Sarrail positioned from Revigny to Verdun.
• British expeditionary Force Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sir J.D.P. French.

Below each of these are listed the different Corps involved.

A tous ceux qui sur notre terre du plus lointain des âges dressèrent la borne contre l'envahisseur

During the occupation from 1940 to 1944, the Germans left the monument untouched. The local people call it the "Carrot".

"The VICTORY of the MARNE"

^[1]

Next to the chapel is a covered area and on the walls are recorded the names of the various regiments that were involved in both battles, and relief carvings of Joseph Joffre and Ferdinand Foch, Allied Army leaders of the 1914 and 1918 battles, respectively. Their achievements are recorded, stressing the significance of the battles.^[2]

Memorial Chapel and Lantern at Dormans

On the lower slope of the hill is a sculpture of a woman in a simple cloak carrying a shield on her left arm; she represents France and is walking forward and looking to the east. Behind her, are four long steps, representing the four years of the 1914–1918 war. These lead some 150 yards up the slope to the sculpture les fantômes. Its eight figures represent a young recruit, an engineer, a machine-gunner, a grenadier, a colonial soldier, an infantryman and a pilot, surrounding death who is leaving his shroud. The figures have their eyes closed; they are seeking their missing comrades.

To the left and right of the memorial are two carved stone tablets. That on the left records the events of the battle and that on the right lists the Allied Generals who took part in the battle under Commander in Chief of the Allied Armies, Ferdinand Foch.

"Le 15 juillet 1918, l'ennemi engage la bataille en Champagne contre les IVème, Vème et VIème armées – Le 17, ses efforts sont brisés de Château-Thierry à l'Argonne. A l'aube du 18 juillet, entre Nouvron et la Marne, les Xème et Vème armées s'élancent à l'assaut sur le flanc de l'ennemi, atteignent le soir le front Pernant-Torcy, progressent sans arrêt les jours suivants et enlèvent la butte de Chalmont (25 et 26 juillet), succès décisif qui repousse l'ennemi sur les plateaux du tardenois. Il tente en vain de résister au nord de l'Ourcq – combats du Grand-Rozoy – il est rejeté sur la Vesle. Soissons est délivré, 30.000 prisonniers et un matériel considérable sont capturés. Le front est raccourci de 50 km, la voie Paris-Chalons rétablie, la menace contre Paris levée. Après trois semaines de durs combats, auxquels participèrent des divisions américaines, britanniques et italiennes, la seconde bataille de la Marne se terminait victorieusement. L'initiative des opérations passait aux mains des alliés"

^[3]

To the glory of God and the lasting memory of 3888 British officers and men whose graves are not known who landed in France in the month of August 1914 and between then and October fought at Mons and Le Cateau and on the Marne and the Aisne.

The La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial was unveiled on 4 November 1928. The English and French military officers present at the dedication ceremony included Ferdinand Foch, Maxime Weygand, George Milne and William Pulteney Pulteney. The ceremony also commemorated the contributions of Joseph Joffre, John French, and Michel-Joseph Maunoury, the commanders of the armies who had fought in the area.^[4] Near the main memorial at La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, and on each bank of the river and on either side of the nearby bridge, are two identical memorials commemorating the efforts of Royal Engineers who built, while under fire from the Germans, a floating bridge at this location in 1914.^[5]

The memorial was designed by George H. Goldsmith, a decorated veteran of the Western Front. The sculptor has not been identified, but much has been written about the fact that a tin helmet was wrongly included in the sculpture given that the tin helmet was not worn in 1914 and was not then standard issue.^[6]

La Ferté-sous-Jouarre memorial

When the French Armies held and drove back the enemy from the Aisne and the Marne between May and July 1918 the 8th, 15th, 19th, 21st, 25th, 34th, 50th, 51st and 62nd divisions of the British Armies served in the line with them and shared the common sacrifice. Here are recorded the names of 3,987 officers and men of those divisions to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.

The three servicemen who are the central feature of Eric Kennington's composition

"Pensée accomplissant son effort de résurrection"

There are reliefs on either side of this central figure. The relief on the left is entitled "1914 le sacrifice" and is dedicated to the families of the dead ("Aux familles des morts pour exalter la grandeur de leur sacrifice.") while that on the right bears the legend "1918 la leçon du passé" and speaks to future generations reminding them not to forget the sacrifices of their parents ("Aux generations nouvelles pour qu'elles sachent et se souviennent"). A list of the names of the dead was sealed up with one of the memorial's bricks and there is a book in the Reims town hall which also contains this information.

"Enfants de Reims tombes au champ d'honneur que ce monument edifie par votre ville meurtrie exprime à jamais son deuil et sa fierte"

The statue at the centre of the Reims monument aux morts. A youth is deep in thought.

Aux morts des 132e et 332e Régiments d'infanterie et du 46e Régiment territorial d'infanterie

Monument to the 132nd French Infantry Regiment in Reims.

The monument to the 24th, 28th and 133rd was inaugurated on 14 October 1923. This monument has deteriorated over the years, and a number of the inscriptions are now no longer legible.^[11]

The 14 French Military cemeteries located in the Chemin des Dames area are:

• Berry-au-Bac French National cemetery – Contains 3,971 bodies of which 3,933 are French, 31 British (2 from World War II), 6 Russian and 1 Belgian. Of the French graves, 2,014 soldiers are in individual graves and 1,958 rest in two ossuaries.^[15] There is a monument in the cemetery dedicated to the 19/3 Engineering Company, part of the 2nd Engineers.^[16]
• Braine French National cemetery – Contains the bodies of 1,583 French soldiers. 1,088 of these are in individual and collective graves and another 495 are buried in ossuaries.^[17]
• Cerny-en-Laonnois French National cemetery – Contains the bodies of 5,150 French soldiers and 54 Russian soldiers. Of the French graves 2,764 are in individual and collective graves and another 2,386 soldiers were buried in ossuaries.^[18]
• Craonnelle French National cemetery – Contains the bodies of 3,910 French soldiers, 1,884 of whom are in ossuaries. There are 24 graves of British soldiers scattered between the French ones and only 7 of these could be identified.^[19]
• Crouy French National cemetery – Contains the bodies of 2,994 soldiers. 2,941 of these are French soldiers of which 1,465 are buried in individual graves and 1,476 rest in ossuaries.^[20]
• Oeuilly French National cemetery – Contains the bodies of 1,159 French soldiers in individual and collective graves. There is also a memorial to the 163rd French Infantry.^[21]
• Pontavert French National cemetery – Contains the bodies of 6,815 soldiers. There are 6,694 French soldiers buried in individual graves and 1,364 in ossuaries. The cemetery also holds 67 British graves and those of 54 Russians.^[22]
• Soupir No. 1 French National cemetery – Contains 7,808 bodies of which 3,088 lie in three ossuaries. This military cemetery also has 4 communal graves, which contains 266 bodies coming from sites of Veil-Arcy, Athies-sous-Laon, Glennes and Pargny-Filain; as well as the grave of a Belgian soldier and of a Russian soldier.^[23]
• Soupir No. 2 French National cemetery – Contains the graves of 1,966 French soldiers with another 250 laid in ossuaries, Also holds 2 British, 5 Belgian, 27 Russian and 1 German grave.^[24]
• Vailly-sur-Aisne French National cemetery – Holds the graves of 1,576 French soldiers.^[25]
• Vauxaillon French National cemetery – Contains the graves of 1,909 French soldiers.^[26]
• Vauxbuin French National cemetery – Holds the graves of 4,916 soldiers.^[27]

There are 9 German cemeteries in the area. Some of these cemeteries were laid out by the German Army during the war (Veslud, Laon-Bousson and Montaigu in particular) and the others were built by the French authorities in the beginning of the 1920s in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, which had stated that the victorious countries had the exclusive right to organise the German graves. Bodies in individual graves scattered around the area were concentrated into these 9 cemeteries. In 1966, management and care of the cemeteries was passed to the "Service d'Entretien des Sépultures militaries", the French subsidiary of the German Volksbund Deutsche Krieggräberfürsorge. These cemeteries are:

• Cerny-en-Laonnois German cemetery – Cemetery holds 7,526 graves. 3,533 soldiers have individual graves and 3,993 rest in an ossuary.^[28]
• Laon-Champ de Manœuvre German cemetery
• Laon-Bousson German cemetery – Holds the graves of 2,653 German soldiers.^[29]
• Montaigu No. 1 German cemetery – Holds 7,192 German soldiers with 5,402 of these buried in individual and collective graves and 1,790 laid to rest in an ossuary.^[30]
• Montaigu No. 2 German cemetery – Holds the graves of 633 German soldiers.^[31]
• Mons-en-Laonnois German cemetery – 1,753 bodies were buried in two ossuaries.^[32]
• Soupir German cemetery – A large cemetery holding 11,089 German soldiers, of which 5,955 were laid to rest in an ossuary.^[33]
• Sissonne German cemetery – Another large cemetery with 14,694 burials of which 3,995 are held in two ossuaries.^[34]
• Veslud German cemetery – Holds 1,704 German soldier's graves.^[35]
• Vauxbuin German Cemetery – 9,229 German soldiers are buried here, 5,557 of which rest in four ossuaries.^[36]

There are 5 British military cemeteries in the Chemin des Dames area, although many British graves remain within Chemin des Dames communal cemeteries, and some of the British dead from the Chemin des Dames are buried in Grand-Seraucourt British military cemetery, near St-Quentin, and in Montcornet British cemetery. The graves of many British and Irish soldiers can also be found in French military cemeteries, in particular in Vauxbuin French military cemetery, Berry-au-Bac military cemetery and in Crouy French military cemetery,

The British Cemeteries are:

• Grand-Seraucourt British cemetery – Almost 2,000 British soldiers are buried here.^[37]
• La Ville-aux-Bois-les-Pontavert British cemetery – 564 British and 1 New Zealand soldiers graves are in this cemetery. It was in this area that the British 8th, 21st and 50th Divisions were resting in the spring of 1918 when on 27 May 1918 Ludendorff launched his "Spring Offensive". In this cemetery is a monument dedicated to the Devonshire Regiment who took part in the subsequent fighting against Ludendorff's soldiers.^[38]
• Montcornet British Cemetery – 119 British and 1 Canadian servicemen are buried here.^[39]
• Sissonne British cemetery – 291 Commonwealth soldiers are buried here.^[40]
• Soupir British cemetery – Contains 36 Commonwealth soldier's graves.^[41]
• Vendresse British cemetery – Holds 728 British graves.^[42]
• Vailly-sur-Aisne British Cemetery – Holds 674 British graves, 1 Canadian, 1 French and 1 German grave.^[43]

Seringes-et-Nesles Oise-Aisne American Cemetery entrance

There is also a Danish cemetery at Braine, near the French military cemetery, which contains the graves of 79 Danish soldiers. They were from Schleswig, a territory annexed by Prussia in 1886, and had no choice but to serve in the German ranks. To commemorate their loss, a monument designed by Danish architect Gundlach-Petersen was unveiled in the cemetery on 7 May 1934.^[44]

Calvaire érigé le 14 septembre 1924 par souscription nationale pour perpétuer la mémoire de nos vaillants soldats tombés au Chemin des Dames et dans les combats de la Malmaison

There is also a plaque on the calvary dedicated to those who served in the 165th and 365th French Infantry as well as plaques remembering Claudius Champromis and Lieutenant René de Wismes. ^[45]

Regiment d'élite sous l'énergique commandement du lieutenant-colonel Debailleul a, le 23 octobre 1917, par une manoeuvre audacieuse difficile et remarquablement exécutée, encerclé et enlevé de haute lutte les carrières de la Bohéry, s'est emparé ensuite des lignes de tranchées du Chemin des Dames que la garde prussienne avait l'ordre de défendre à tout prix, puis progressant encore sous un feu violent d'artillerie et de mitrailleuses sur une profondeur de plus de deux kilomètres et demi malgré des pertes sensibles, a atteint avec un entrain admirable tous les objectifs, infligeant à l'ennemi de lourdes pertes, capturant 950 prisonniers dont 14 officiers, 10 canons, de 8 de gros calibre, et un nombreux matériel de guerre

Le 31ème R.I. a enlevé très brillamment les 16, 17 et 18 avril 1917 tous les objectifs qui lui avaient été assignés, et, par un combat opiniâtre, est parvenu à réaliser un gain de terrain de 3 kilomètres en profondeur faisant à lui seul 1.500 prisonniers dont 34 officiers et 170 sous-officiers, et capturant 6 canons, plusieurs minenwerfer, 50 mitrailleuses et un important matériel de toute nature. Régiment d'élite de la plus haute valeur offensive. Ordre général n°172du 1er mai 1917 du général commandant la Vè Armée

^[50]

"Le 23 octobre 1917, la 38ème Division comprenant le 4ème Régiment Zouaves, le R.I.C.M. (Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale du Maroc), le 4ème Régiment mixte Zouaves-Tirailleurs, le 8ème Régiment Tirailleurs Tunisiens, le 32ème Régiment d'Artillerie de campagne, part à l'attaque. D'un seul élan, le 4ème Zouaves s'empare du Fort de la Malmaison et de tous ses objectifs, faisant les 23-24-25 octobre 600 prisonniers, capturant 17 canons et de nombreuses mitrailleuses, obtenant sa 6ème citation à l'ordre de l'Armée"

^[54]

Ils prennent le vol comme des aigles. Ils courent et ne se lassent point. (Isaïe) Ils marchent et ne se fatiguent point. Que chacun de vous mette au service des autres le don qu'il a reçu (Pierre IV, 20)

English: They fly like eagles. They run and never grow tired (Isaiah). They walk and don't tire themselves. Let each of you put at the others' disposal the gift you have received (Peter 4:20).^[57]

On 8 July 1962, during a private visit to the German Cemetery, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was met by President Charles de Gaulle in what became a precursor to the Franco-German Treaty of 1963.^[58]

The Chapel at Cerny-en-Laonnois

"Aux Morts de l'Artillerie de Tranchee – Les Crapouillots"

Ce monument érigé en 1933 pour honorer la mémoire des 12 000 crapouillots artilleurs de tranchée tombés de 1914 à 1918 sur les fronts de France et d'Orient, mutilé par le feu de la batille de juin 1940, a été reconstruit afin de perpétuer le souvenir de ceux qui sont morts pour le salut de la France. 22 juin 1958

French soldiers handling trench mortar bombs

The inscription refers to the fighting which took place on 6 September 1914.^[60]

The survivors dug-in on the slopes of the Chemin des Dames and held these positions until relieved by 1st East Yorks on 19 September 1914. The 1st Loyals remained on the Aisne until mid-October, when they were moved north to take part in the fighting in Flanders. They lost their third commanding officer, Major A.J. Carter DSO, at Ypres in November 1914.

In memory of the Officers, Warrant and non-commissioned Officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment who laid down their lives on active service 1914–1919

^[62][63]

The 1st Loyal North Lancashire formed part in September 1914 of the 2nd Brigade, First Division commanded by Brigadier General Bulfin which acted as the advance-guard of Sir Douglas Haig's First Corps in the battle of September 14th 1914. The battalion, together with the whole of the 2nd Brigade, distinguished itself greatly by its attack on the portion of the Chemin des Dames, north of Vendress, Troyon and the services of the Brigade were warmly acknowledged both in the Divisional reports and in the published dispatches. There would be ample justification of the erection of a monument by the 1st Loyal North Lancashires at this spot...

The Germans struck either side of Reims, in what was to be their last offensive of the war. The attack on the eastern side of Reims against General Gouraud's First Army came to a grinding halt on its first day. The western prong against Degoutte's Sixth Army made better progress and established some semblance of a breakthrough. Reinforcements from the French Ninth Army plus British, American, and the two Italian Divisions were all used to shore up the front. The German offensive was brought to a halt and then pushed back. On 20 July 1918, the Germans ordered a retreat and by 3 August 1918 they were back at their initial positions. Following their participation in this success, the 2nd Italian Corps was positioned on the river Aisne, just south of Soupir below the Chemin des Dames, on 22 September 1918. On 1 October, they took Soupir and spent the remainder of the month fighting along the Chemin des Dames as the Germans were slowly pushed north.

During the course of the war, the 2nd Italian Corps lost 4,375 killed and 10,000 wounded. The cemetery at Soupir contains the bodies of 593 Italian soldiers, the majority of whom fell in fighting along the Chemin des Dames. From April to November 1918, the 2nd Italian Army Corps, made up of the 3rd and 8th Divisions (The Brescia and Alpi Infantry Brigades), fought in the Reims sector between Vrigny and Jaulgonne in the Ardennes sector, and in the Aisne to the east of Soissons, fighting under the 5th, 10th and the 3rd French Armies. The Italian forces commanded by General Alberico Albricci suffered more than 9,000 soldiers killed during its victorious campaigns. 592 of them rest in this Military Cemetery created and maintained by the Italian Ministry of Defence. The entrance to the cemetery at Soupir in shown here.^[64]

The Italian Cemetery at Soupir

Inaugurated in 1930, the monument was constructed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), designed by architect Paul Philippe Cret with sculptures by Alfred-Alphonse Bottiau. It comprises a double colonnade standing on a long terrace, with two figures on the west face representing France and the United States. An enormous eagle and shield stand in front of the east face of the monument. The monument also includes a map showing the battle area.^[67]

The Memorial Chapel is in the French Romanesque architecture style, with sculptural work by Alfred-Alphonse Bottiau on designs by William F. Ross and Company^[69] (with memorial features designed by Cram and Ferguson). It was constructed on the site of front-line battle trenches. A crusader in armour is central in a relief on the tympanum above the chapel entrance, flanked by shields of the US and France intertwined with branches of oak, a symbol of unity between the two countries. Scenes from the trenches are carved on the columns to either side of the entrance. Above the inside door is the inscription: "The [1,060] names recorded on these walls are those of American soldiers who fought in this region and who sleep in unknown graves."

On the belfry columns are 11 carvings representing various units involved in the war, which are repeated on each side of the chapel. The arches of the belfry openings carry additional carvings, of small arms ammunition and other objects of war. Below the belfry openings and on each side of the chapel are sculpted heads: a French soldier, a French nurse, a US aviator, a Scottish soldier, a Russian soldier, a Portuguese soldier, a Canadian aviator, and a British Women's Army Corps driver. The exterior steps, walls, and tartar are of native limestone.^[70]

Near this memorial is another dedicated to the martyrs of the Resistance. It is a Cross of Lorraine (a symbol of French patriotism) upon which are carved the faces of three of those deported by the Germans and the names of 8 people who died while deported.^[73]

Monument aux morts at Sillery

Ossuary at Aubérive

The Polish cemetery at Aubérive is situated southeast of Reims and is a part of the French cemetery at Le Bois du Puits. It contains the graves of 129 Polish soldiers killed in World War I (and 256 killed in World War II). Many of these volunteered for the French Foreign Legion. At the cemetery is a memorial to these 129 men, composed of an obelisk surmounted by a cross. There is also a monument to the 1st and 2nd divisions of Polish Infantry, formed in 1917 and known as the Blue Army.^[75]

The Polish monument in the Bois du Puits cemetery

The German cemetery at Aubérive lies to the rear of the French cemetery at Le Bois du Puits. 5,359 German soldiers were buried here; 3,124 could not be identified and their bodies were laid in an ossuary. Many of the soldiers were Thüringian.

French and Germans fighting in an Aubérive trench.

Aux Héros du 103e RI qui sont tombés glorieusement pour la france en Septembre–Octobre 1915

In memoriam Guerre 1914–18 103ème Régiment d'infanterie 80 officiers 7,000 sous-officiers et soldats morts pour la France.

There is also the monument Borne No. 77, one of the series created by Paul Moreau-Vauthier to mark the furthest points of German advance along the Western Front. Those bornes (stone markers) in France were made from pink granite from Andlau in Alsace. This borne bears the inscription: "Ici fut repoussé l’envahisseur Juillet 1918", corresponding to the liberation of Château-Thierry.^[77]

Ici le 17 avril 1917 au trente-troisième mois d'une guerre impitoyable des soldats français sont tombés par milliers pour la reprise des Monts de Champagne. Eux aussi, ils aimaient la vie. Ils ont souffert et ils sont morts dans l'espoir que leur sacrifice assurerait la paix entre les hommes-PASSANT N'OUBLIE PAS

En mémoire des soldats tombés héroïquement pour la défense du secteur Septembre 1914 – Octobre 1918

^[79]

Photograph showing the damage done to the Fort de la Pompelle after constant bombardment

Monument in memory of the soldiers who were killed defending the Fort de la Pompelle

The monument itself was the work of two Parisiens: sculptor Paul Moreau-Vauthier and architect Auguste Bluysen. It comprised a pedestal 4 metres (13 ft) in height upon which were carved the names of the principal battles in which African troops participated. On top of the pedestal was a 3-metre (10 ft) bronze sculpture depicting a group of four soldiers of the colonial armies gathered around a white officer holding the French National flag.

During WWII, German occupiers pulled the monument down and took it from Reims in a railway wagon, possibly to melt down the bronze for armaments. With the end of the Algerian war, thoughts turned to building a replacement and a competition was organised to choose a design. On 6 October 1963, the new monument was unveiled by Minister of War Pierre Messmer. It is modern in design and two columns in limestone represent the union of African and French soldiers and the block upon which these columns stand was intended to represent Reims' resistance in WWI.

The old Reims memorial to Black Soldiers

The new memorial in Reims to African soldiers who fought for France in 1914–1918

Erected by the United States of America to commemorate the achievements of her soldiers and those of France who fought in this region during World War I

The monument is in the form of a tower. Visible within, through the grill in the door, is a brief summary of US operations in the area. When open to visitors, it is possible to climb to an observation platform at the top of the tower.^[81]

American Memorial at Sommepy Tahure

Ossuary at Sommepy-Tahure French Military Cemetery

The French Military cemetery of Sommepy-Tahure contains the remains of 2,201 French soldiers, of whom 704 lie in an ossuary shown here. The cemetery was created in 1920 for bodies exhumed in the area east of Reims.^[82]

The inscription reminds visitors that many men of the 60th French Infantry Regiment fell fighting in the woods of Courmont, Bonval and Cohette and the area around Ville-en-Tardenois in the attacks against the Germans from 26 July to 2 August 1918.

Near to the village of Souhain is a Celtic cross marking the memorial to the French 28th Infantry Brigade and also the imposing monument of the "Ferme de Navarin". It is a combined monument and ossuary, within which lie the remains of 10,000 soldiers who fell on the plains of Champagne. The monument is a pyramid-like structure surmounted by a sculpture by Maxime Real del Sarte of three soldiers. The middle figure is meant to portray Gouraud; the soldier on the right represents Quentin Roosevelt who was killed in Cambrai on 14 July 1918; and the figure on the left represents del Sarte's brother who was killed in Champagne. At the base of the monument are listed the numerous divisions who fought in Champagne.

Among the 10,000 soldiers in the crypt are the four sons of Paul Doumer. When General Gouraud died in 1946, he had asked to be buried with his men in the "Ferme de Navarin" and his tomb has pride of place in the crypt.^[83]

Ferme de Navarin War Memorial

Ferme de Navarin

In honour of their fallen, the survivors opened this Russian cemetery and later added a chapel, built in the Russian Orthodox style. The cemetery contains the bodies of 915 Russian soldiers either buried in ossuaries or individual graves (included in the gallery at the end of this article is a picture of a typical headstone and the marker for one of the ossuaries in the cemetery).^[84]

Plaque in the Russian Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand acknowledging the efforts of the Russian Expeditionary Force

Chapel in Russian Cemetery at Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand

From 25 to 30 September 1915, the 28th Brigade fought in this area and lost 1,133 men including 39 officers. After the war, the chaplain of the 28th Brigade and several volunteers returned to the battlefield to locate and bury the rest of their comrades, and the monument and cemetery were inaugurated on 25 September 1919. This cemetery is officially named the "Nécropole nationale de Souain – 28e Brigade".

There is a smaller memorial next to the "Wacques Cross" dedicated to the men of the 44th Infantry, which carries the inscription: "Aux camarades tombés pendant les journées du 25-26-27-28-29 Septembre 1915. Etat-Major". Nearby, a memorial to the 60th Infantry is inscribed: "Aux morts du 60e RI Attaques des 25 au 29 - 09 - 1915"^[85]

For many years, Maupas' wife, Blanche Maupas, and others fought to have the men pardoned. In 1923, Blanche succeeded in having her husband's remains taken from the grave in Suippes and moved to the communal cemetery of Sartilly in La Manche. In 1925, a monument by Paul Moreau-Vauthier was erected over Maupas' grave at Sartilly, commemorating the four corporals of Souhain. In 1934, the four corporals were given a formal pardon by a special tribunal which came to the conclusion that the order they received was unreasonable. The Souain corporals affair was considered most controversial in France; the 1957 Stanley Kubrick film Paths of Glory, based on the events at Souhain, was banned in France until 1975 and was not shown on television until 1982. In 1962, Blanche Maupas died and was buried alongside her husband.

A monument honouring the four corporals stands in Suippes, facing the town hall where the military tribunal sentenced them to execution. It was inaugurated on 1 December 2007, with the inscription reading: "À la mémoire des caporaux de Souain Theophile Maupas, Louis Girard, Lucien Lechat et Louis Lefoulon Fusillés pour l'exemple, à Suippes, le 17 mars 1915".^[86]

Memorial to four corporals executed at Suippes