Bois Brûlé – Field Fortification

The Bois Brûlé is an eastern spur of the Bois d’Apremont and, in the area of the St. Mihiel salient, one of the best-known front sectors. During the war, it was one of the most fiercely contested positions on the entire Western Front. Between September 1914 and February 1915, in the eastern part of the forest over an area of about 4 square kilometers, a fierce struggle raged for a single French earthwork. German and French soldiers alike, who later fought in the Battle of Verdun, unanimously reported after the World War that the severity and hardships of the fighting in the Bois Brûlé were incomparably worse than anything experienced before Verdun.

Since the forts of the Toul-Verdun line were far apart in some places and, due to geographical conditions, could only poorly flank each other, the gaps had already been supplemented before the war by so-called earthworks, in French “les redoutes”. Two of these installations were built in the Bois d’Apremont, in the immediate vicinity of the D 907 between St. Mihiel and Apremont. One of the works, which was called “Altes Erdwerk” by the Germans, lay directly north of the paved access road to the German war cemetery in the Gobessart-Wald on the D 907. Another earthwork, around which fierce fighting was to develop, lay a bit further south of the D 907 in the Bois Brûlé.

The actual fighting for the earthwork developed when the 10. K.B. Infanterie-Brigade (10th Bavarian Infantry Brigade) with Regiments 7 and 19 occupied Apremont-la-Forêt on September 24, 1914, without enemy contact. By September 26, 1914, the troops there and in the surrounding forest areas were exposed to massive French attacks by artillery and infantry. On that day, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the K.B. Infanterie-Regiments 7 (7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment), Hauptmann (captain) Otto Staubwasser, was killed. In the Bois de Gobessart, a stone grave monument in the shape of a 42 cm shell was erected for him. On this grave monument, his rank is given as Major. The officer had indeed been slated for the corresponding promotion. However, Staubwasser died before it could be conferred. The rank of Major was posthumously awarded to him on November 5, 1914. Therefore, the rank designation Hauptmann on the grave cross and in the occupancy register of the German war cemetery in the Gobessart Forest, where he found his final resting place, is not correct.

Between September 28 and October 3, 1914, K.B. Infanterie-Regiment 7 (7th Bavarian Infantry Regiment) attempted in vain during several attacks to capture the earthwork. Massive losses exceeding 70% of the troop strength occurred. The unit was no longer combat-effective. It was withdrawn and replaced by K.B. Infanterie-Regiment 21 (21st Bavarian Infantry Regiment). From October 4, 1914, onwards, K.B. Infanterie-Regiment 14 (14th Bavarian Infantry Regiment) was also deployed, but likewise failed to bring about a turnaround. Further attack attempts failed with heavy losses.

On October 10, 1914, a major German attack on the earthwork took place. Suffering heavy casualties, units of Regiments 14 and 21 succeeded in scaling the curtain wall and advancing into the workyard. There, the troops were met by French machine guns and cut down. Only isolated groups around the few surviving officers managed to hold their ground. These officers included the Leutnante (second lieutenant) Sauer (IR 14) and Wörner (IR 21). The wounded were brought into one of the dugouts in the curtain. From this dugout, the Germans dug a tunnel to the north side of the curtain with painstaking manual labor. Through this tunnel, the earthwork was accessible under cover for the first time, and it was possible to evacuate the wounded.

The southern part of the earthwork as well as the northern bastion were still in French hands at this time. The hostile troops faced each other at a distance of only a few meters in shallow trenches, shell craters, and depressions. The Germans gradually reinforced their own position system and proceeded to sap attacks, which lasted until the end of December 1914. On New Year’s Day 1915, the Bavarian 14th and 21st Regiments, along with attached pioneer units, succeeded in capturing the entire area of the earthwork and driving the French out of the work yard. The Germans were heavily shelled by the artillery of Forts de Liouville, Gironville, and the St. Agnand battery until about February 1915. Approximately 2,000 rounds of all calibers were counted per day. Nevertheless, they succeeded in advancing the positions southwards out of the area of the work yard through sapping and in establishing a continuous line connecting with the units located to the west in Bois d’Apremont and Bois d’Ailly.

When viewing the small area of this battlefield in the Bois Brûlé, it is hard to imagine what brutal fighting with such heavy casualties took place there. Until the end of the war, the Bois Brûlé remained the sector with the highest number of fallen soldiers on both sides per time and area on the entire Western Front. It is estimated that in the fighting for the earthwork alone between September 1914 and February 1915, in an area of about four square kilometers, at least 7,000 men suffered casualties on both the German and French sides.

Update: Deforestation measures in early 2020

In January 2020, extensive logging operations were carried out east of the Croix des Redoutes due to bark beetle infestation. Work was carried out very carefully and without heavy equipment, so that the fire trenches, concrete structures, and dugout systems suffered hardly any damage. The now treeless terrain provides a uniquely authentic view of the former position system, which is rarely found and, given the intended reforestation, will likely only be temporary here.