Location 4 – Le Ligne (Lignekopf)

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Brief History

Directions – Take a left turn almost immediately after the cemetery onto the D11.VI sign-posted to Hohrodberg and Le Ligne. Shortly you will leave the forest and enter a grassy clearing. As you traverse this area you will pass an obelisk memorial on your right to French troops of the 47th, 66th and 129th Infantry Divisions who attacked Le Ligne from here. Once across the clearing you will again enter the trees – drive up the hill and the car park for Le Ligne is on your left.

Practical Information – In addition to the preserved trenches and concrete emplacements there is a superb museum here and, although much of the explanation is in French, the maps, dioramas and photographs will provide the visitor with a good background on the key events here and on the neighbouring peaks. It is worth noting that the site usually closes for lunch from 12:30pm to 2pm so it is worth timing your visit for the 2pm re-opening.

Historical Notes - For five months in 1915 this seemingly insignificant ridge was the scene of one of the great struggles of the Alsace fighting. Since early 1915, the French had been trying to advance along the valleys leading into Munster from the west and, indeed had gained five kilometres of ground up to the suburbs of Metzeral. However, the Seventh Army commander, General de Maud'huy, ordered that any future attacks should be made in the mountains to the north of Munster to try and outflank the German defences. Unfortunately, this plan meant the French would have to assault one of the strongest parts of the line. Here German troops of the 1st Bavarian Landwehr Brigade had been strengthening their defences for many months, hollowing trenches out of the rock and reinforcing them with concrete parapets and shelters.

To attack Le Ligne and its two, more southerly neighbours, Schratzmännelé and Barrenkopf, de Maud'huy brought up three divisions, the 47th under General Pouydraguin, the 66th and the 129th, a new division consisting of chiefly raw recruits commended by General Nollet with orders to take Le Ligne itself.

At 14:00hrs on 20th July 1915, following a preparatory bombardment from the French artillery, the attack went in. The assault troops on the Le Ligne and the Schratzmännelé came from the 3rd Brigade of 129th Division commanded by Colonel Brissaud-Desmaillet, specifically the 14th and 54th Battalion Chasseurs Alpins (BCA). The 54th BCA headed to the right of the Le Ligne positions and moved up the Schratzmännelé before it was stopped dead in its tracks by heavy machine gun fire. The 14th BCA leaving the woods on the slopes of Le Ligne was hit by a German counter-barrage and then decimated by German machine guns. Four companies sent in to reinforce the assault battalions were likewise pinned down by German fire unable to make any headway.

After spending the 22nd July reorganising their battered units, the 129th Division, reinforced by units from the 47th Division (which had failed in a diversionary attack on the heights south of Munster) tried again. At 10:30 hours, the men of 3rd Brigade swept through the trees up to Le Ligne, but were again met by ferocious fire from the German defenders. The advance ground to a halt. The reason for the failure was clear – the French artillery was unable to penetrate the German fortifications.

The next attack was delayed until 26th July, and, this time, aided by thick mist and driving rain, a French evening assault managed to gain all the trenches within the German position at Le Ligne, although at heavy cost. All but 12 officers of the 14th and 30th BCA's are killed. Attempts to make further progress by gaining the neighbouring Schratzmännelé were thwarted by heavy German artillery fire. Throughout the night of 26th and into the next day, repeated German counter-attacks tried to regain Le Ligne. Meanwhile French units of 5th Brigade managed to gain the summit of the Barrenkopf but were thrown back in confusion.

For a week the French held the summit of Le Ligne under increasing German pressure culminating in a massive bombardment on 4th August when over 40,000 shells were fired against the Le Ligne- Schratzmännelé-Barrenkopf front. Throughout August and September the struggle continued with attack and counter-attack being launched and casualties for this small area of front reaching terrifying levels. By the middle of October the Germans at last edged the French from the crest of La Ligne and gradually the flashpoint moved to the Hartmannswillerkopf to the south.

So confused and savage was the fighting at Le Ligne that no reliable casualty figures are available. The French, however, maintain that at least 10,000 men from the 47th, 66th and 129th Divisions perished on the slopes of the ridge and, indeed, many are still regularly discovered to this day as evidenced by the white crosses which litter the hillside.