Caures-Wald – Bois des Caures –
Late 1914 – Early 1916 – Infanterie-Regiment 155 (155th Infantry Regiment)
As early as late September 1914, heavy fighting occurred near the city of Verdun. The German advance from the northeast was halted by the French. Likewise, with the withdrawal of German troops from the Marne, efforts to cut off Verdun from the west and south failed.
Following the siege of the Belgian fortresses Liège, Namur and the French fortress city of Maubeuge, a reassessment of their own defense concept had emerged among the French. The fortified areas created after the end of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, such as Belfort or indeed Verdun, no longer fit into a modern defensive strategy given the progress in artillery. In Belgium, it had been shown that even strong forts like those around the city of Liège could be smashed within a short time by modern siege guns.
Based on these experiences, the French created echeloned infantry and artillery positions east and north of Verdun starting in early September 1914 to enable an elastic defense in depth. Part of these new defense lines were the French positions in the area of Bois des Caures and the forest areas of Bois de Ville and Herbebois adjoining to the east, as well as Bois de Haumont and Bois de Consenvoye to the west. In the area of these positions, heavy fighting was to occur during the advance of German troops in February 1916.
From November 1914, the Caures Wood lay within the operational area of the 7. Westpreußisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 155 (7th West Prussian Infantry Regiment No. 155) as part of the reinforced 77. Infanterie-Brigade (77th Infantry Brigade). The regiment had to occupy a wide sector which, facing south, ran from Moirey via Crépion and subsequently along the southern edge of the woods of Crépion, Wavrille, and Etraye.
The I Battalion was located on the eastern flank and had established several outposts further forward. Following a French burial site located there for several fallen soldiers from the actions in 1914, one of these outposts was named „Franzosengrab“. It was located south of Flabas at the exit of today’s D 125 from the Bois Juré, where the German assault departure position for the attack in February 1916 was later situated. The open area adjoining to the south was designated as „Müllerplatz“, named after Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) Müller, the leader of the 4th Company of the Koblenzer Pionier-Bataillons 30 (30th Pioneer Battalion). The pioneers, alongside IR 155, were deployed in the area there until mid-1915.
The regimental history of IR 155 reports considerable difficulties encountered by the troops. There was no continuous trench line that deserved the name position. In the forward trenches, there were no dugouts that could have offered protection against artillery or shrapnel fire. To the nearest position of the adjoining Reserve-Infanterie-Regiments 98 (98th Reserve Infantry Regiment) (10. Reserve-Division (10th Reserve Division)) there was a gap of about one and a half kilometers. There it would have been possible for the French to outflank the entire German sector unnoticed and with strong forces. In addition, there were only inadequate accommodations exposed to artillery fire in the forested area in the form of simple wooden or mud huts as well as sparse, damp dugouts. The sector was therefore given the name „6. geflickte Hose“ by the German soldiers.
Due to its exposed position, the expansion of the „Franzosengrab“ area to the left and right of the D 125 to accommodate two complete platoons was ordered in November 1914. In addition, the gap to the units of the 10. Reserve-Division adjoining to the east towards Ville-devant-Chaumont was to be secured. The leader of the 2nd Company of IR 155, Hauptmann (captain) Rotzoll, later commander of the I Battalion, was tasked with directing these works. The finished stronghold was christened „Rotzoll-Feste“ and the strip of forest south of Flabas, today called „le Miroir“, was named „Rotzoll-Wäldchen“. In the following weeks, the positions were pushed further forward, resulting by the end of November 1914 in a continuous line in the sector of the 77. Infanterie-Brigade, which extended from the Ormont Wood in the northwest across the Haumont Wood, the sector of IR 155 south of Flabas, to the eastern edge of today’s Bois le Comte on the D 905.
The German position system was continuously strengthened. As was frequently the case, designations were used for individual prominent positions that had a geographical or personal connection to the deployed units. For the position sectors “Neu Ostrowo” and “Neu Pleschen”, the place names of two garrison towns of IR 155 (155th Infantry Regiment) were used. Other points received the names of officers such as “Preußkers Wunsch”, “Fadenseck” or “Ravensteingraben”. Some of these names were retained even after responsibilities for the sector had changed. Names like those of the “Rotzoll-Wäldchen” or the “Müllerplatz” are still common terrain designations today in military-historical studies or during corresponding excursions.
Throughout the month of December 1914, the French repeatedly attempted to push the German positions back from the plateau of the Caures Forest toward the east. In particular, they had targeted Hill 322 east of Flabas (la Tanière), which up to that point had been insufficiently secured. From there, they would have been able to look deep into the German rear area. Heavy artillery attacks and mutual operations ensued, during which the French succeeded in the insufficiently secured eastern part of the sector at positions “Fadenseck” and “Waltersruh” in establishing themselves in the flank of the “Franzosengrab-Stellung”. Despite these localized successes and at times significant losses on both sides, the German defense held firm against the French attack efforts.
Particular problems were caused for the German troops by a French artillery unit stationed in the Haumont Forest, which was mockingly called the “Eselsbatterie” (Donkey Battery). These were field guns whose location could not be pinpointed despite intensive efforts and which over the coming months were able to severely affect the German positions in the Caures Forest.
At the beginning of 1915, the German side decided to straighten the section of the position beginning east of the Franzosengrab (D 125) and to advance it overall to the edge of the forest. At the same time, the French positions at Fadenseck and Waltersruh, which represented a constant flank threat, were to be eliminated. Since no prospects of success were seen for an assault, the decision was made in favor of sap attacks. This strenuous and costly method of warfare lasted into February 1915 and was accompanied by reciprocal patrol raids as well as fierce artillery duels. Ultimately, a continuous line was created—albeit still thin in the eastern section—along the edge of the forest to the left and right of where the D 125 emerges from the forest at Müllerplatz, and then eastwards beyond the height of the Bois le Comte to the positions of the neighboring units. The course of the front lines achieved in February 1915 was to remain essentially unchanged for a year and serve as the German assault staging position during the attack on Verdun starting on February 21, 1916.
In the following weeks, combat activity subsided. French and Germans concentrated on the construction of positions as well as the improvement of the rear camp complexes in the villages and forests. A large rest camp was established in the Bois de Merles, in the area of which the remains of a concrete water tower can still be found today. Concrete Minenwerfer (trench mortar), observation, and machine gun positions were built in the front positions of the Caures Forest.
In June 1915, the units of PiB 30 (30th Pioneer Battalion) were withdrawn from the front and deployed in the Argonne as well as the eastern Champagne. The further expansion of the positions was now carried out independently by the units of IR 155 (155th Infantry Regiment), who had acquired construction skills from the pioneers. In the fall of 1915, under the direction of Leutnants d. L. Paul Eichelkraut, an architect in civilian life, Feste Kronprinz was erected east of the D 125—a large, heavily reinforced and concrete installation complete with machine gun and observation posts. Remains of the installation as well as other concrete and masonry position areas can still be found in that area.
were AI-edited (notice pursuant to Art. 50 Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).