Day 7 - In the footsteps of heroes.

Since leaving Munster on Wednesday morning, we have literally been walking through history, in the footsteps of the German and French soldiers who fought in this region during WW1. Despite France’s effort to remove the physical reminders of the war in the 1920s; in Alsace it very much appears as if both armies simply walked away from the battlefields, leaving nature to reclaim the land.

Just north of Ban de Sapt, we climbed through the drizzle (our first of the trip) to ‘Hill 627’, where today a French Military cemetery sits squarely on the summit. All around it, the evidence of trench warfare is visible. This hill was strategically important as it protected the approaches to the Meurthe valley and provided an observation post over the Ban de Sapt plateau. On 23rd June 1915 the Germans attacked hill 627 forcing soldiers from 23rd French Infantry Regiment from the summit. Two weeks later the French counterattacked, retaking the hill, which remained in their hands until the end of the war. The fighting here was so devastating that 3 of the surrounding villages were destroyed and never rebuilt.

After passing through Senones, which was occupied by the Germans during WW1 (and still looks as if it has not been fully rebuilt) we headed up onto the Roche Mere Henry ridge line. Before setting off on our adventure we had been told not to expect much in the way of French observance to the war; however, we have found the cemeteries well maintained and information boards along the trails plentiful-no more so than on the Roche Mere Henry ridge. Here it is possible to understand the ebb and flow of the battle with ‘no man’s land’ clearly marked and the heavily fortified German line still evident today. From September to October 1914 viscious fighting erupted, with the French 363rd Infantry Regiment attacking west to east along the ridge capturing several German positions. Stalemate ensued, with the ridge, in stark contrast to today, stripped of vegetation.

The remaining few kilometres passed quickly, seeing us arrive in Cellos sur le Plaine at just after 5pm, where we enjoyed a welcome hot bath, fantastic meal and our first beer since arriving in France.