Côte 165 - Hill 165

On the night of 4 October 1914 Bavarian Infantry took possession of the the hill which had been left almost defenceless by the French.

From there on the area around Notre Dame de Lorette would be hotly contested. A place of prayer and contemplation was about to be renamed - the bloody hill, the mound of death.

On the northern side the slope is gentle but to the south there are five separate fingers interlaced with narrow and very steep valleys. Driving up to the top via the back road from Ablain St-Nazaire gives you an immediate idea as to what was faced in trying to conquer the ground. Once gained, Lorette overlooks the important ridge of Vimy about five kilometres away.

Each of these spurs (éperon) had a name, starting from the left (French side) Mathis, Grand éperon, Arabes, and Blanchevoye.

Attack! Attack!

The policy of outright attack was the philosophy of the period within the French Army and during the opening months they had already lost about a quarter of their casualties for the entire four years of the war.

Arriving at the 10th Army's Headquarters Foch insisted that General de Maud'huy reverse the encroaching tide of German advances.

The 17 December 1914 was set as the date of a French counter-attack, with the objectives of the ridge between Carency and La Targette on the first day, the main Souchez Road on the second and finally Hill 165, Notre Dame de Lorette on the third.

On the 16th the French 58th Division launched a distracting assault on the railway lines near Vermelles slightly to the north (and in the rear of what for the British would be the Loos battlefield).

When travelling in this area it can be quite eye opening to realise that all these battlefields are on top of each other. The British would fight at Loos in September 1915 in order to support further French advances against Vimy.

The great mining tips at Loos, Basilica of Notre Dame de Lorette and Canadian Monument at Vimy are all easily seen, one from the other.

The French attack met with little success and only gained a few hundred metres of territory. The Division settled down for the night and waited for the battle proper, to commence in the morning.

A change of plans

General Maud'huy had established his Command Post in the village of Cambligneul and was joined by General Foch who had overall command of this group of armies.

Foch was troubled that the French Artillery was insufficient to prepare the way for an advance as ambitious as previously conceived.

He decided that the 21st Corps under General Maistre would go ahead with the assault against Aix Noulette and the Ridge of Notre Dame de Lorette. Once they had achieved their objectives the 33rd Corps (Which included the Moroccan Division and Foreign Legion) would then strike at Carency and Berthonval Farm.

The attempt against La Targette by the 10th Corps would have to be put on hold.

After what was considered a ferocious bombardment the assault was launched at 13:10 hours.

Struggling out of the thick mud of their own trenches the French advanced, only to be cut down by the German's second line machine guns, which had been left unscathed by the preparatory bombardment.

The Battalions of Chasseurs (Light Infantry) had taken most of the German front line in the wood at Aix Noulette but that was as far as they could get.

The British talk about the mud of the Somme and Ieper, but here in Artois, the trenches were seemingly forever under water and the ground at this time of the year is very heavy going.

With the weight of all their equipment it could take minutes just to wade a hundred metres. Having done so soldiers found that there rifles were so choked with mud they didn't function.

The great war of movement, dash and regiments of mounted troops to carry the day was, if not already dead, becoming literally bogged down in the soggy remnants of shattered fields turned not by the plough but by artillery shells.

The war would not be over by Christmas, the war was going to last much longer.

The two sides dug in further, however, it should be remembered that this is the beginning of the war. Well planned trench systems are still in the future. For the moment, digging in means making use of shell holes and the rudiments of a trench system.

A visit to the museum at Notre Dame de Lorette offers numerous photos of the fighting here.

In January 1915 the 21st Corps managed to gain a foothold on the éperon de Mathis.

On 15 March 1915 further attacks by the 21st Corps were met by stubborn resistance and bloody counter-attacks but the French managed to gain the Grand éperon and hang on to it.

After these preliminary attacks had yielded up half of the ridge Maistre was ordered during the coming May attacks to take the remainder of the ridge including what was now, the formidable fortress of the chapel.

The 2nd Battle of Artois

The six lines of German trenches were well constructed, in depth and situated around the chapel. The small park in the museum area behind the cemetery is situated on ground fought over by the two sides. The Germans had taken every opportunity over the previous six months to reinforce their position with concrete, machine gun posts and a forest of barbed wire and other obstacles.

Behind them, beyond Vimy Ridge, the Germans were supported by a formidable array of artillery with observers well placed on the Vimy Ridge to direct counter barrages.

Three Regiments of Infantry and three battalions of Chasseurs advanced against the German lines at 10:00 hours on 9 May. Their charges took the first of five lines of German defences but were forced to ground in the face of continuous machine gun fire. Companies were cut to shreds and many reduced to being led by sergeants.

In the face of such fire the French soldiers scrambled forward from shell hole to shell hole, fighting with bayonets and their hands. Despite their losses the Chasseurs hung on for the infantry to catch them up.

The attacks were pressed night and day until finally on the 12th the chapel - or what was left of it - fell to the French. Their ordeal had not finished though as they were still an easy target for the German artillery on the far side of the Vimy Ridge, and some of the sweeping up left a lot to be desired. Some of the German dugouts had been very deep and machine gun batteries had been missed in the fighting.

In front of them the Germans still controlled the Blanchevoie Spur (Which is the one you drive up if you approach by the ruined church in Ablain St Nazaire). As can be seen in the photograph taken from the opposite ridge, the further the French advanced the easier it was to put down an accurate counter bombardment.

The encroaching tide of French soldiers slowly swept around the sides of the hill despite the most tenacious of struggles by the German defenders for every house and basement in the villages.

It would not be until the 22 May that the French could safely say that they held Lorette and Ablain St-Nazaire, but they still had the remainder of the descent down into the valley to take and that would only be done in September during the 3rd Battle of Artois.

As you drive up from Souchez towards the chapel and General Maistre's statue, look at the fields, in particular if the season is right and they are freshly ploughed. Then try and consider the state of this pastoral drive after almost a year of fighting and the one and a half million shells that the French rained onto this gentle slope as they forced there way down into the valley in September.

As you reach the General's statue look behind you at the Canadian monument on the ridge opposite and the great crassiers of the Loos-Lens mining fields. Just below you is Souchez which ceased to exist and just to the right within the trees is Carleul château (marked Carieul on maps these days).

Away to the right is Cabaret Rouge CWGC Cemetery with its white domed entrance. It is reckoned that about a quarter of a million men died fighting in this small area. When you visit Notre Dame de Lorette, don't just note the sea of white crosses, look at the mass graves hidden in the trees by the Muslim Plot and in front of the lantern. The resting place of the unknown, they lie by the thousand.

The Museum

For an excellent presentation on the fighting here don't forget to visit the small museum behind the cemetery.

If you haven't already used it (and you are in a car - not campervan) return to Ablain via the narrow descent at the corner of the Muslim Plot. It gives a good view of just how difficult the terrain was for the French to conquer.

In the area

Arras Town
Canadians at Vimy
La Targette
Souchez
Battlefield of Loos
Cabaret Rouge CWGC
Maison Blanche Soldatenfriedhof