Rouvres Wood – Rouvres-Wald

The Rouvres Forest lies east of Etain. The Germans generally used this designation to refer to the entire forest area between Eton, Gondrecourt, and Rouvres-en-Woevre. Occasionally, parts of the forest area were also referred to as Sachsenwald, the forest of Gondrecourt, Eton-Wald, or Großer Gemeindewald.

In and around the Rouvres-Wald, there were several German camp areas, such as the Rouvres-Wald-Lager, Sachsen-Lager, Eton-Wald-Lager, MG-Lager, Syrie-Lager, and Schwaben-Lager. Furthermore, starting in 1917, the area was located at the junction between the Kriemhild and Michel II positions. Strong fortifications, including many bunkers, had been erected in its western sector.

South of the D 906 in the les Bouvrettes district lay outlying parts of the Schwaben Camp as well as the large forest cemetery of Infanterie-Regiments 126 (126th Infantry Regiment). Remnants of individual graves and enclosures can still be found. North of the D 167a at the edge of the forest in the area called the Eichen-Wäldchen by the Germans, there are three well-preserved, closely spaced bunkers that belonged to the Kriemhild-Stellung. These are standard structures that were erected from 1917 onwards. Present are a machine gun dugout, a double artillery observer post, as well as a radio station. The function of these installations remains puzzling due to their location and arrangement. Possibly they were experimental structures or facilities for training purposes, since the actual camp area began immediately behind the bunkers.

Update (March 2016): The machine gun position belonging to the aforementioned bunker group in the Bois de Rouvres (oak grove) area was partially uncovered in March 2016 by the French military historian Frédéric Radet, owner and operator of the tourist-developed Ouvrage de la Falouse located south of Verdun. Interesting photos of this exist on Facebook.

In the area of the Syrie Camp just south of the D 906, the Barbara Memorial can be found in a meadow. It was probably erected in the first half of 1916 by members of Feldartillerie-Regiment 80 (80th Field Artillery Regiment). Barbara of Nicomedia, a Christian saint from the 3rd century AD whose existence is not certain, has been venerated since the Middle Ages as the patron saint of artillery, among other things. A French expression for powder chamber is “Sainte-Barbe”. On German warships, the ring-shaped substructure of the gun turrets was called “Barbette”, meaning “Little Barbara”. Both trace back to Saint Barbara. Today, the Barbara Memorial in the area of the former Syrie Camp is unfortunately in a very deplorable state.