Location 2 – Tete des Faux

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Brief History

Directions – Leave the car park at the Col du Bonhomme and take the D148 (Route des Crêtes) sign-posted to Le Lac Blanc. Continue for about 6 kilometres until you reach a junction at a tight hairpin bend with a restaurant, the Auberge des Crêtes, through the trees on the right. Park in the car park next to the restaurant.

Practical Information – The walk to the Tete des Faux and the Duchesne French Military Cemetery is a long but, ultimately, rewarding one which will take roughly two and a half hours there and back. It is a good idea to ensure you have got some water and supplies with you before you make the ascent. The route to the cemetery is only a gradual climb, but the path from the cemetery to the summit is quite challenging and energy-sapping. The author would only recommend attempting it if you have good levels of physical fitness. The path starts the other side of the junction just to the left of a stone cross memorial. Follow the path for around 40 minutes until you reach a fork. Take the left fork and soon you will see the Duchesne Military Cemetery. The path to the summit leads from the rear of the cemetery.

Historical Notes and Sites – As one walks along the pathway away from the road, it is worth reflecting on the nature of the fighting here. Much of it occurred during the winter of 1914/15 with the French holding the summit under almost constant German attack. Specialist mountain troops were used such as the French Chasseurs Alpin, and the frequent signs denoting ski-paths attest to the freezing conditions that would have prevailed during these winter months. Even worse, would have been the struggle to get wounded men down from these hillsides to receive medical care and their sufferings as they were stretchered down by man and mule must have been terrible. Eventually, as winter turned to spring the Germans gave up their attacks and focused on consolidating their positions on the slopes. Fighting shifted to the heights of Le Ligne and Hartmannsweilerkopf to the south.

The Duchesne French Military Cemetery is the highest anywhere on the Western Front at an altitude of 1,121 metres (higher than Mount Snowdon in Wales). The cemetery is named after Commandant Henri Duchesne who was killed near here on 2nd December 1914. Most of the French graves date from the winter fighting of 1914/15.

As one ascends the track behind the cemetery which leads to the summit of the Tete des Faux, the scars and debris of war become ever more apparent. The route, such as it is at this point, was constructed as a mule track and one can only wonder at the sheer effort required to move around at this altitude, let alone fight! When it seems like the mountain track will go on forever, the summit is reached and is marked by a large cross. The views from here are spectacular and the Black Forest of Germany can be seen on a clear day across the Rhine. After having accomplished the feat, one is left with a huge admiration for the soldiers of both sides who lived, fought and died here.