Serrouville – Moulin-au-Bois – Then and Now –
Fighting of the Infanterie-Regiment 67 (67th Infantry Regiment) around Fillières on August 22, 1914
In the valley of the Crusnes stream between the villages of Fillières and Serrouville (today’s D 16), there is a wayside shrine (calvary) erected in 1859. The inconspicuous structure can tell an interesting story from the early days of the First World War.
Starting on August 18, 1914, the German advance against France began. Since the French with their Plan XVII as well as the Germans with the Schlieffen Plan pursued an offensive strategy despite their clear military inferiority, initial, partly fierce fighting occurred in the formerly Franco-German border region as well as on Belgian territory. This went down in history as the so-called border battles. They resulted in thousands of casualties. There were German war crimes against the civilian population.
On August 21, 1914, the 5. Armee (Fifth Army) of the German Crown Prince Wilhelm belonging to the XVI. Armeekorps (XVI Corps) (33. Infanterie-Division (33rd Infantry Division) and 34. Infanterie-Division (34th Infantry Division)) under the command of General von Mudra in the Aumetz area, approx. 15 kilometers west of the formerly German fortress city of Diedenhofen, today’s Thionville. The goal was to reach the Meuse with an energetic advance and to overcome the suspected French resistance in the area of the village of Mercy-le-Bas first.
The 33. Infanterie-Division was to advance left via Joppécourt directly against Mercy-le-Bas. The 34. Infanterie-Division received the order to take the village of Fillières, located on a plateau, via Errouville and Serrouville first. After the villages of Errouville and Serrouville had fallen without a fight, advancing patrols reported that the village of Fillières was occupied by French troops. The French had occupied strong forward positions east of Fillières and on the edge of the village. A machine gun post had been set up on the church tower.
On the morning of August 22, 1914, the attack was to begin. The capture of the village was assigned to the Infanterie-Regiment 67 from Magdeburg belonging to the 34th Division. Starting from Serrouville, the companies marched through the valley of the Crusnes stream and climbed the heights east of Fillières.
As they stepped out of the forest about 400 meters east of the village edge, they were immediately showered with massed fire from French infantry and machine guns. The village was defended by the French 154th Infantry Regiment (154e RI), which had been brought up by forced marches. Only after a prolonged firefight could the French position be taken by storm, and the German troops entered the village. Here, fierce close combat ensued. After some time, the French cleared their positions and retreated to their main position west of Fillières. Now the Germans in the village came under the fire of the concealed French artillery pieces. Further casualties occurred because it took about an hour for the French artillery positions to be knocked out.
Not until around 20:00 in the evening, with the aid of reserves, was the French main position taken and Fillières finally captured. The village and its surroundings presented a scene of horror. Everywhere in the partly burning ruins lay fallen and wounded soldiers from both sides as well as civilians. Surviving inhabitants crouched frightened in the cellars, ran about in distress, or knelt praying on the streets. Here, too, looting and executions of residents by German soldiers took place. The military success of the day was the repulse of the French defense at and across the Chiers River into the area around the town of Longuyon.
In the former mill of Serrouville near the roadside shrine, which the French called Moulin-au-Bois, the Germans had established a dressing station. According to accounts by comrades-in-arms from both sides, about 1,000 wounded, Germans and French, were cared for here with the active assistance of the miller’s family. Today, only mounds of rubble remain of the mill.
After the fighting ended, several officers and enlisted men from both sides were temporarily buried by German soldiers in the area of the roadside shrine. From Infanterie-Regiment 67 (67th Infantry Regiment), these included Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) Weber, commander of the 10th Company, as well as the commander of the 2nd Battalion, Major Fritz von Schlieben. The circumstances of their death are briefly treated in the regimental history. Olt. Weber (cf. page 14) was said to have been fatally struck by a shrapnel ball west of Fillières while advancing on the village. Major von Schlieben (cf. page 13) was said to have fallen as one of the first soldiers when he was fatally hit in the forehead by a French infantry round while lighting a cigarette during the issuance of orders at the edge of the forest east of Fillières.
On one of the postcards below, the grave of a French officer can also be recognized. This was Lieutenant Rollet, commander of the 12th Company of the French 154th Infantry Regiment (154e RI). The personnel file (cf. pages 7 f.) shows that he fell into German hands along with other officers and his fate—whether killed or wounded—initially remained unclear. He died of his injuries in the area of the Serrouville mill and was buried on August 24, 1914, at the roadside shrine with another French soldier.
The whereabouts of Oberleutnants Weber and the French lieutenant Rollet could not yet be determined. It is reported that the wife of Oberleutnants Weber inspected the grave after the fighting and was pleased with the tasteful design. For Major Fritz von Schlieben, on his birthday, September 19, 1914, a more ornate cross was erected by his wife, which bore the inscription: “To the faithful husband and father Major v. Schlieben, who fell for the Fatherland. On his birthday, 19. 9. 14”. Von Schlieben rests today at the German war cemetery Berlin-Zehlendorf I, grave 56.
After the advance of the front toward the west, Serrouville, like almost all other places in eastern France, became part of the German rear area. Further contemporary photographs exist from the town, showing the life of the German soldiers.
were AI-edited (notice pursuant to Art. 50 Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).