Schlacht am Ourcq 1914

Eine unumgängliche Sammlung über den Ersten Weltkrieg.Mit einer Sammlung von fast 70 000 Objekten und Dokumenten, die die Wege des täglichen und militärischen Lebens im Ersten Weltkrieg nachzeichnen, ist das Musée de la Grande Guerre, das am 11. November 2011 auf dem Gebiet der Ersten Marne-Schlacht in Meaux eröffnet wurde, das größte Museum Europas über den Ersten Weltkrieg. Es zeigt auf 3.000 m² eine der reichsten und vielfältigsten Sammlungen zum Ersten Weltkrieg inmitten einer attraktiven und innovativen Szenografie. Das Museum des Ersten Weltkriegs ist ein idealer Ort für einen Besuch mit der ganzen Familie. Ein wahrer pädagogischer Schatz durch die Sammlung: sehen, hören, berühren, manipulieren..... Ein spielerischer Parcours, der ab 5 Jahren zugänglich ist: Projektionen von Archivbildern, Rekonstruktionen von Schützengräben, ein Videoraum, in dem die Besucher unter die Soldaten in den Schützengräben oder auf dem Schlachtfeld eintauchen, Spiele, um die Zusammensetzung von Uniformen, die Geräusche des Krieges, die geografische Entwicklung der Konfliktzonen usw. zu entdecken. Mehrere Klangstrecken sind kostenlos auf Ihrem Mobiltelefon oder Tablet verfügbar, fragen Sie am Empfang nach den Anweisungen.

On the 5th of September 1914, the Germans are at the gates of Paris, and battles are raging in the surrounding countryside of Meaux.It is on the hill between Chauconin Neufmontiers and Villeroy that Lieutenan Charles Péguy rush forward his troops in order to save their Moroccan comrades, struggling against the Germans not far from here. The fights are violent and an important number of men are killed. A large proportion of these men are now buried in the “Great Tomb”, not far from the place they died. After the war, the bodies are taken back to military cemeteries. The Great Tomb is thus one of the last collective tombs in France, in which soldiers and officers are buried.

In the night of the 5 and 6 of September 1914, Germans are withdrawing from their position of the previous day and take refuge in Chambry, where they besiege the cemetery.They dig loopholes in these thick walls to try and repel, in vain, the counter-attack of the French army. Early in the morning, the French officers send Moroccan soldiers for an offensive on Chambry. At 10AM, the Turcos attack the cemetery, where the Germans are entrenched. Reports mention that Moroccan soldiers seized the cemetery in the afternoon, but had to retreat almost immediately under the fire of German cannons. The 7th of September, the Zouaves finally take back the village from the Germans army around 4PM, but also take an heavy toll in this attack. German loopholes, records of these violent battles of September 1914 are still visible today.

Durant la Bataille de la Marne, cette demeure appartenant à l’industriel Eugène Boch, mécène et ami de nombreux peintres, servira de Poste de Commandement à plusieurs généraux français.La villa la Grimpette était la demeure du peintre et poète Eugène Boch issu d’une riche famille d’industriels faïenciers. Elle abrita le poste de commandement du général de Lamaze, commandant le 5e Groupe de Divisions de Réserve françaises. Du balcon supérieur, il était possible de voir, à la jumelle, les plaines de Saint-Soupplets à Penchard. La villa reçut la visite du général Gallieni le 7 septembre 1914. Il la quitta dans l’après-midi pour superviser l’attaque française sur les flancs de l’armée allemande.

On the road between Barcy and Varreddes, and at close proximity of the national necropolis of Chambry, a small cemetery gathers the remains of German soldiers fallen during the Battle of the Marne of 1914.Set up in 1924, this cemetery gathers around 1030 bodies in a rather small perimeter. The fact is that 998 of these soldiers (among whom 985 are still unidentified) are buried in a large mass grave. Furthermore, under each cross present in this cemetery, rest two to four German soldiers. Indeed, military cemeteries constitute national territories. Thus, after the war, the goal was not to give up too much land to the Germans.

Created in 1920, this necropolis gather the individual tombs dug right the battlegrounds of the Meaux region after the first battle of the Marne.Almost 990 soldiers who died in 1914 are gathered here. Among them, 940 are still unidentified. They have been regrouped in 4 boneyards. The 341 individual tombs are, for about half of them, the ones of French soldiers killed between June and July of 1918 during the second battle of the Marne in the North of Seine-et-Marne. Most of the men buried in ossuaries are soldiers and officers of infantry troops, Zouaves regiments, and regiments of Moroccan and Algerian infantrymen who served during the first battle of the Marne. Metropolitan soldiers who took part in the first battle of the Marne, such as Charles Peguy’s men, the 276th Infantry Regiment are, for the most part, from the region. Those who could be identified were then generally buried in a civil grave, in their town’s cemetery.

This historical landmark was the theater of violent battles between the 6th and 9th of September 1914. This strategic ground, which was then invaded by German general Von Kluck – who had installed his general staff on site – had to be reconquered.After the first battle of the Marne, His Grace Marbeau, bishop of Meaux, made a vow so the city of Meaux could be spared and decided to erect a memorial at the very place where the German advance was stopped. This religious and patriotic monument was inaugurated in 1924 and has been a pilgrimage site in memory of the “Miracle of the Marne.” The monument is made of granite and cast iron and represents the Virgin Mary with the inscription “You will not go farther.”

On the 5th of September 1914, only a few hours after the first Battle of the Marne started, the author and poet Charles Peguy is shot down with a bullet in the head, as he bravely leads his troops attacking German positionsAround 16:30, under a scorching heat, the 276th Infantry Regiment to which he belongs storms towards Monthyon’s mound in order to cover the retreat of Moroccan infantrymen fighting with the Germans. Exposed, in a field deprived of any shelter, men are falling one by one under German machine gun’s fire. This memorial stone pays tribute to this monument of French literature, who fell in the first moments of the battle. At the base of the cross, some verses remind us of the work of this great author and his patriotic sentiments. “Blessed are those who died for carnal earth. Provided it was in a just war. Blessed are those who died for a plot of ground. Blessed are those who died a solemn death. Blessed are those who died in great battles. Stretched out on the ground in the face of God. Blessed are those who died on a final high place, Amid all the pomp of grandiose funerals. Blessed are those who died, for they have returned Into primeval clay and primeval earth. Blessed are those who died in a just war. Blessed is the wheat that is ripe and the wheat that is gathered in sheaves.” Charles Péguy – Eve (1913) – Excerpt