Columns of the German 5th and 6th divisions in lorries and German artillery batteries, could be seen on the roads approaching the German front positions, from the Suippes at St Hilaire le Petit, Bethenville and Pont Faverger. X Corps (Général Vandenberg): 19th Division (Général Trouchaud), 20th Division (Général Hennocque), 131st Division (Général Broulard), (relieved the 45th Division on 22 April) and the 15th Division (Général Arbanère), 74th Division (Général de Lardemelle), 55th Division (Général Mangin) and the 132nd Division (Général Huguenot). [24], Aubérive redoubt fell at dawn, to attacks by the XII Corps divisions and at 3:30 p.m., Aubérive was found abandoned and swiftly occupied by detachments of the 24th Division, which had crossed from the right bank of the Suippes and by Territorials of the 75th Regiment; the Germans had withdrawn to a redoubt south of Vaudesincourt. The troops on the left were exposed by the repulse of the troops to the west, beyond the Thuizy–Nauroy road. Vaudesincourt was then to be captured and the right flank was to link with the centre, which was to take Côte 181 and Mont Sans Nom. [9], Most of the German observation posts on Mont Cornillet, Mont Haut and Le Téton, had been destroyed but many dugouts and buried telephone lines had remained intact, as did the German defences on the north slopes of the Mont Cornillet–Le Téton ridge and the tunnels under Mont Cornillet and Mont Perthois, which were still unknown to the French. To relieve the pressure, the 20th Regiment of the 33rd Division resumed the attack on Le Casque; Rendsburg and Göttingen trenches were captured and the French entered the wood on the hill, before reaching the summit of Le Casque at 6:00 p.m. and then being forced to retire by German counter-attacks. The three tunnels were up to 30 m (98 ft) underground and could contain up to 3 battalions which could be used for German counterattacks. More fighting took place on 5 September, at Le Teton and Le Casque. The village of Moronvilliers lay in a dip below the north crest of the main ridge. The main German defensive position was in the ruins of Bois de la Grille to the south-west of Mont Cornillet and west of the Thuizy–Nauroy road. French artillery replied with heavy bombardments on the peak and on Moronvilliers village, in the hollow beneath. The RMLE advanced through a downpour to Bouleaux Trench and then overran Le Golfe; early on 18 April, Byzance, Dardanelles and Prince Eitel trenches, to the south-west of Aubérive were captured. [10] West of the Suippes to the south of Aubérive, the Moroccan Division, a regiment of the Foreign Legion and the 185th Territorial Brigade were to take Aubérive, the German blockhouses at Vaudesincourt, Le Golfe and Mont Sans Nom. The main redoubt was intact and parts of Leopoldshöhe Trench were untouched. Your Lightboxes will appear here when you have created some. The 11th Regiment advanced quickly up Le Téton in the dawn sun and the German defenders fought hand-to-hand on the narrow summit. Counter-attacks against the 59th Regiment, from the neck between Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond and also from Mont Haut, were repulsed by small-arms fire and a bombing fight with hand-grenades. [25], The 33rd Division attacked the heights of Le Casque and Le Téton at 5:00 a.m. Despite the difficulties, the 95th Regiment, on the left flank, swiftly broke through the wood and entered Leopoldshöhe Trench. The highest point of Mont Haut is nearly as high as Vigie de Berru (270 m (870 ft), the highest hill overlooking Reims from the east. German infantry encampments, below the ridge on the north slope had been damaged and the roads from Nauroy, Mont Haut and Moronvilliers, to St Masmes, Pont Faverger, Betheniville and the Suippes valley north-west of St Hilaire-le-Petit, were blocked in places by shell craters. The trench ran below and Côte 181 and Mont Sans Nom. The French light field guns engaged the machine-guns and put them out of action, then fired at the entrances, while heavy artillery bombarded the slopes and tops of Le Casque and Le Téton, with high explosive shells; the 34th Division, on the right of VIII Corps, consolidated. [2], The capture of the German defences on the edge of the Châlons Plain above Aubérive, was necessary for an advance around Beine and an attack from the east of the Nogent l'Abbesse massif. The German positions on the hills overlooked the Plain of Châlons, giving an uninterrupted view of French movements between Reims and the Argonne. Après la bataille de la Marne en 1914, le front s’est immobilisé sur une ligne qui n’est pas due entièrement au hasard. [28], The French Fourth Army had casualties of 21,697 men. A fifth reserve position, the Suippesstellung lay further back. Jean-François indique 7 postes sur son profil. Next day, the French 33rd Division captured Le Téton and the capture of Aubérive was completed by the 24th Division and the Territorial battalions. Two tunnels, capable of accommodating several battalions of infantry, had been dug under the north slope of Mont Cornillet and the north-east side of Mont Perthois. Some companies were sent to outflank the Konstanzlager from the west. North of Aubérive on the left bank was the fortified village of Vaudesincourt on the St Martin-l'Heureux road. The French attacked again from 17 to 22 April and despite German counter-attacks on 19 and 23 April, advanced slightly on the Heights of Moronvilliers. The French spent 18 April consolidating and the 45th Division pushed up to the southern edge of Mont Haut. This tunnel … The crests of the hills had been fortified on the south and north sides; on the northern slope of Mont Cornillet and the north-east side of Mont Perthois, were the defensive tunnels. Plusieurs décennies furent nécessaires pour qu'on se rappelle les 400 cadavres murés dans l'une des trois. On the western flank, the French had been repulsed west of the Thuizy–Nauroy road. Terms and conditions  ~   The troops near the redoubt dug in but the troops on the right flank, advanced close to the summit of the ridge. On 20 April, French troops got onto the summit of Le Casque and on 22 April, the eastern and lower summit of Mont Haut was secured by the 45th Division. [31] On 10 May, a French attack took a small amount of ground north-east of Mont Haut and a big German attack on Mont Téton was repulsed. On 28 September, German raids were repulsed west of Navarin Farm, north-west of Tahure and at the Four-de-Paris in the Argonne. On 14 September, the French raided west of Navarin Farm and next day attacked in the area of Mt Haut. Le tunnel du mont Cornillet. The advance towards Bois-en-Escalier in the centre began well and several field-gun batteries stood by to follow the advance, after a short delay at the German first line in Bois-en-Escalier, where the Germans were outflanked from the north and killed or captured. The Main Boyau was entered, which made the redoubt south of Vaudesincourt untenable, which was captured with the 75th Territorial Regiment and part of the 185th Territorial Brigade on 22 April. At 9:00 a.m., the flanks of the 95th Regiment were counter-attacked and the French driven back from Leopoldshöhe Trench, into Bois de la Grille until noon, when the French survivors ran out of hand-grenades and withdrew to the shell-holes, along the trace of the German first position. The Germans had dug several lines of trenches from north to south, on the west and east slopes of the hills, the trenches on the west running north and west of Nauroy. This image is no longer for sale. The front line at various stages in the battle, with the Battle of the Hills on the right of the image. [21] Field artillery moved forward and engaged the Konstanzlager from near Bois-en-Escalier but the reinforced concrete structure was so resilient, that the attack on the redoubt and dug-outs was postponed, until a bombardment by heavy howitzers could be arranged next day. On the right flank, the French were only able to enter the German front trench and Baden-Baden Trench further to the north but surprised the German defenders nearer the river and advanced much further along the riverbank. South of Le Casque and Le Téton, it became graben du Bois du Chien, Landtag Trench and then Landsturm Trench, to the positions on the east slope of the hills. The French gained the crest after a costly advance and broke up into groups, which bombed and bayonetted their way through the German shell-hole positions and pillboxes, against enfilade fire from machine-guns in Flensburg Trench and the west slopes of Mont Blond. [5][d] The Aéronautique Militaire on the Fourth Army front had 22 Escadrilles (squadrons) of aircraft and eleven balloon companies, the artillery had 1,600 guns. Der Mont Cornillet gehört zu einer Kette von fünf Bergen nordöstlich von Reims. With them go the deep affection, the proud confidence, the high hopes of … On 12 September, east of the St Hilaire–St Souplet road and north-east of Aubérive, more skirmishing took place. B. Dumas) west of the Suippes, had three divisions and some additional troops. After a big bombardment on the day before, the French attack began at 4:30 a.m. in good weather, from south of Mont Cornillet to the north of Le Téton, with the main objective at the summit of Mont Cornillet. Sources in English about the French operations of the Nivelle Offensive are rare and most were written soon after the war or lack detail. The 20th Regiment attacked Le Casque, under machine-gun fire from the woods, on the western slopes of Mont Perthois. Certains tron- “Mont Cornillet” à proximité de Reims escalier d’accès menant au chemin çons non effondrés ont fait l’objet d’un (Marne) mérite d’être évoqué. Sie trennen die Ebene von Chalons vom Moronvilliers-Massiv ab. Oct 28, 2013 - Explore Erica Calmon's board "World War 1" on Pinterest. [37] At dawn on 2 May, German attacks began at Le Téton and the French positions further east and gained temporary footholds in the French positions, before counter-attacks forced the German infantry back. The centre and right regiments attacked again and took Wahn Trench but German counter-attacks prevented a further advance. [f] With reinforcements, there were four divisions on the flanks and the Moronvilliers massif in between and four divisions in close reserve. The 5th and 6th divisions were further back, under the authority of Army Group German Crown Prince. [11], The high ground from Mont Cornillet to the west, ran north-east to the height of Mont Blond, on to Mont Haut and then descended by Le Casque to Le Téton. Erfurt Trench was overrun and then the Konstanzlager was attacked from the west. 1 53 11, Mt Cornillet, La Releve 11, Mont Cornillet, Over) Undated 1 54 Aux Éparges , 1918, l’assout du s avril (Éparges ,1918, assault of April) 1915 1 55 Solente Batterie Courde en action (Solente Courde Battery in action) Undated 1 56 1000 A L'assaut Mont Des Singes (1000, The assault, Mount of … You cannot download or purchase for any new licenses. On 16th May 1917, a 400 pound shell fell on a ventilation shaft and blocked one of the principal galleries. On 30 September, a raid was repulsed east of Aubérive, as the French were penetrating the German lines west of Mt Cornillet. In early 1917, German divisions had three regiments, with three infantry battalions of about, Régiment de marche de la Légion étrangère, "Historiques des Regiments 14/18 et ses 5000 Photos: Les Offensives d'avril 1917", La bataille des Monts de Champagne (in French), Second Battle of Aisne/Battle of the Mountains (in French), Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Hills&oldid=961118513, Battles of the Western Front (World War I), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 6 June 2020, at 18:05. More German attacks were made at nightfall but French field and heavy artillery fire, repulsed the German infantry, except for a short time on the left flank. The Moronvilliers massif was a group of hills, densely wooded before 1914, to the west of the Suippes river. Mont Cornillet 206 m (676 ft), Mont-Blond 211 m (692 ft), Mont-Haut 257 m (843 ft), Mont Perthois 232 m (761 ft), Mont Casque 246 m (807 ft), Mont Téton 237 m (778 ft), Mont-Sans-Nom 210 m (690 ft) and Côte 181 to the east. [23] German infantry massed in the woods between Monronvilliers and Nauroy, opposite the VIII Corps front and after a preliminary bombardment, attacked Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The rest of the regiment occupied the pill-boxes and blockhouses on the summit and the north slope. Ludendorff called the loss of the heights a "severe blow" and sixteen counter-attacks were made against the French positions along the heights in the next ten days, with little success. (On 20 April, the 11th Regiment was relieved but the rest of the 33rd Division remained until 1 May. At 5:45 a.m., the French took the east end of Erfurt Trench, despite delays as some redoubts held out, reached the edge of Bois de Mont Perthois by noon and then repulsed four German counter-attacks before nightfall. Le tunnel du mont Cornillet vendredi 23 novembre 2007, par JFW. [3], On the right flank, the XII Corps contributed the 24th Division to the attack and the XVII Corps (General J. [18] On 21 and 22 April, fighting for the redoubt and the observation posts continued and on 21 April, the Legionnaires, on the right flank of the Moroccan Division, stormed the German defences in front of the Main Boyau. The Battle of the Hills (French: Bataille des Monts) also known as the Battle of the Hills of Champagne and the Third Battle of Champagne, was a battle of the First World War that was fought from April–May 1917. The German defence was based on zones 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi) deep; the first position lay at the foot of the forward slope with three trench lines K1, K2 and K3; the Zwischen-Stellung (Intermediate Position, also Riegel I Stellung) had been built on the reverse slopes connected by tunnels. The loss of Fort Brimont would make the German positions on the low ground south of the Aisne, from Berméricourt north-west to the mouth of the Suippes, vulnerable to another attack. German losses in dead and wounded were considerable; in the Cornillet tunnel, more than 600 corpses were found. The number of communication trenches in the defensive zones had been increased, trenches and dugouts deepened and huge amounts of concrete used, to reinforce the fortifications against French artillery-fire. Later in the morning, the reserve battalions of the 34th Division captured part of the south end of the Düsseldorf communication trench and all of Offenburg Trench but were repulsed from Hönig Trench. [e] Just in front of Mont Haut was Mont Perthois, at about the same height as Mont Cornillet. Further west, the French had a tenuous hold on the two summits of Mont Haut, had consolidated the top of Mont Blond and gained a foothold on Mont Cornillet. The tunnel under Mont Perthois was less elaborate but had many machine-gun posts and exits, from which a French attack on Le Casque and Le Téton, could be engaged and used as a jumping-off points for counter-attacks. )[18] The 16th Division on the left of VIII Corps, consolidated during 18 April. The capture of Mont Sans Nom and the Moronvilliers Ridge would threaten the German hold on the Beine basin and the Nogent l'Abbesse massif; the loss of these would make the German positions on the Fresne and Brimont heights untenable. During the afternoon and evening, companies on the left flank made some progress westwards. On April 18 and 19, and May 4 and 5, the fighting was spasmodic and finally ceased. The ridge dominated the plain of Châlons and there was a parallel, lower ridge about 130 m (430 ft) high, which met the main ridge at the village of Beine; the two ridges declined steeply to the south. Most of the German defences on the southern slopes of Mont Cornillet, Mont Blond, Mont Haut and Mont Perthois had been badly damaged but many intermediate strong points, machine-gun nests remained. If Le Téton had not been captured, the troops in the French centre, were to drive the Germans from Bois de Côte 144 and attack the hill from the east. [18] The 24th Division with ​4.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px;white-space:nowrap} 1⁄2 battalions, attacked on a line from the salient at Bois des Abatis, west to the Suippes, north of Bois des Sapins. Ce vaste opposé à la ligne de front. [14], The first German line in the south of this defensive zone, comprised several parallel trenches connected by communication trenches, with numerous dug-outs, concrete blockhouses and pill-boxes. On the left of the Fourth Army, the VIII Corps (General Hely d'Oissel) had two divisions and one regiment. On the whole, the French offensive failed, and Rheims continued to remain under enemy gun-fire. In the afternoon, a German attack on the summit of Le Casque and more attacks at dusk on Le Casque and Le Téton failed, as did an attempt at dawn on 28 May; a raid against the French on Mont Blond and a fresh attack on Mont Blond on 30 May, also failed. On 30 October, at the northern edge of the Moronvilliers heights, French troops raided east of Le Téton and repulsed two German counter-attacks but the third counter-attack recaptured the area.[39]. Special shells, used for this purpose, continued the destruction. In the west, from Bois de la Grille to Tranchée du Bois du Chien, the bombardment was less effective and the German defences in Bois de la Grille and Leopoldshöhe Trench behind it and Erfurt Trench to the east, were not destroyed. The 20th Regiment captured redoubts around Bois du Chien, after fighting all day and then began preparing a dawn attack Le Casque. [23] The 83rd Regiment managed a costly advance to the summit of Mont Cornillet but German machine-guns on the ridge between Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, slowed the advance. [13] The third position was on the north slope of the second ridge and the fourth position lay along the foot of the reverse slope. To reach the crest of Mont Cornillet, the French had to advance 230 m (250 yd) up a steep slope swept by machine-gun fire. (On 17 May, Infantry Regiment 173 of the German 223rd Division had been relieved by Infantry Regiment 476 of the 242nd Division.) The preparatory artillery strikes targeted the forts of Brimont, Witry-lès-Reims, and Berru, as well as tunnels and shelters under Mount Cornillet and Mont-sans-nom. The French division now here (the 169th) was in the first attack at Mont Cornillet. In front of Nauroy was another trench, which linked the defences on top of Mont Cornillet. [10], At dawn on 18 April, the German counter-attack in the XII Corps area, reached Constantinople Trench, only for the infantry to be surrounded and taken prisoner. An advance down the right bank of the Suippes, towards Dontrien and St Martin-l'Heureux and the Bazancourt to Somme-Py and Apremont railway, was obstructed by a trench system east of Aubérive and Bois de la Côte 152. [24], The 16th Division (General Le Gallais), attacked on the extreme left flank, west of the Thuizy–Nauroy road against Bois de la Grille and Leopoldshöhe Trench. [36], After the defeats of 20 May, the Germans counter-attacked the next day and were repulsed. German defences in the Plain of Bétheny, 1916, French territorial gains in Champagne, April–May 1917, Operations at Mont Cornilllet and Mont Blond, 21 June 1917. Just inside the tunnel, heaps of German dead were found, apparently having panicked and made a rush for the exit. The VIII Corps (General Hely d'Oissel), was to capture Mont Cornillot and Mont Blond, Flensburg Trench and the next one behind, which connected the defences of the summits, Mont Blond, Mont Cornillot, Bois de la Grille and Leopoldshöhe Trench. EVENING. After a lull, the French attacked again on 30 April and ended the offensive on 20 May. The 3rd Army positions were divided into five sectors, from Béthény to Prosnes, Prosnes to Sainte-Marie-à-Py, Sainte-Marie-à-Py to Tahure, Tahure to Rouvroy and Rouvroy to Argonne, with 17 divisions, including Eingreif divisions and fresh units, which had been transferred from other parts of the Western Front. creusé dans les flancs du Mont Cornillet, piton occidental de l'alignement des Monts de Champagne. A German counter-attack from the tunnel repulsed the attack except on the right, where the French captured an artillery battery and penetrated some way down the northern slope of Mont Blond. 206 likes. A second line higher up the ridge, was joined to the first by the Leopoldshöhe Trench, a fortified approach from the north of Bois de la Grille to the Thuizy–Nauroy road. Hi all, I hope this subject is in the right place. At dusk, the French consolidated the craters on the northern crest; near midnight some German soldiers were captured as they headed for Nauroy, who turned out to be from the tunnel garrison and disclosed the main entrance. The 83rd Regiment resumed the advance on Mont Cornillet and the 59th Regiment attacked Mont Blond the 34th Division took nearly all of its objectives on Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, at the west end of the Moronvilliers massif. On the right, the French had reached the summit of Le Téton and were just below the crest of Le Casque. Les bouteilles graduées de penois notamment dans le tunnel du Mont Cornillet concentré de vinaigre apparaissent en 1875 et le type avec (Marne) qui abritait plus de 600 soldats allemands. [30] In 1940, Cyril Falls, the British official historian, wrote that the Fourth Army attacks took 3,550 prisoners and 27 guns on the first day. Tunnels driven through the chalk connected the foremost German positions with the rear. The German equivalents for the first five peaks from west to east were Cornillet. The entrance of the tunnel was discovered in 1933. We made some prisoners, including an officer. The attacks on 20 May were the final stage of the Nivelle Offensive, in which most of the Chemin des Dames plateau, Bois des Buttes, Ville-aux-Bois, Bois des Boches and the German first and second lines, from the heights to the Aisne had been captured. [29] Among the German casualties, 6,120 prisoners were taken. 600 corpses were found, most of them had been asphyxiated. galeries du tunnel et que le gouvernement ouest-allemand, en accord avec les autorités françaises, The Cornillet Tunnel had three galleries, with light railways along two of the galleries, a transverse connecting tunnel and air shafts up to the top of the hill. [22] On 18 April, the 45th Division on the right, completed the capture of the Konstanzlager and dug-outs nearby, the 34th Division consolidated and the 83rd Regiment was relieved by the 88th Regiment. Jul 25, 2019 - Various Rail Mounted Artillery and Anti-Aircraft Guns. XVII Corps (Général Dumas) [24th Division (Général Mordacq), attached to the XVII Corps], Division Marocaine (Général Degoutte), 33rd Division (Général Eon), 45th Division (Général Naulin), VIII Corps (Général Hely d'Oissel): 34th Division (Général Lobit), 16th Division (Général Le Gallais), 128th Division (Général Riberpray), 169th Division. Having gained its objectives, the division was to face west and north, to guard the rear of the 34th Division to the east, as it attacked Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond. Findbuch M 472 Kriegsstammrolle Band 19 Bild 149 16.04.1917 zur MGK versetzt 20.05.1917 vermisst bei den Kämpfen am Cornilett Infolge Gasvergiftung gestorben Totenkartei Beerdigt: Oktober 1917 Tunnel du Mont Cornillet Stanzer / ledig Johannes Sohn Mont-Cornillet-Tunnel. Siehe Brief des Majors Georg Wintterlin. Sorry this image isn’t available for license in your territory, please contact us for more information. [23] At 1:00 a.m. on 18/19 April, another counter-attack was repulsed on the right of the VIII Corps area by the 34th Division. [4], The second line, half-way up the slopes of the Moronvilliers hills, was destroyed from south of Mont Perthois to the Suippes, barbed-wire in the woods to the north-east of Mont Sans Nom was partially cut, making an attack on the German position on the ridges above the Suippes practicable. A survivor was rescued and the tunnel cleared and occupied until a German shell started a fire and the new garrison retired. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. German infantry could fire until the last moment then retire through them to the northern slopes. The left flank of the 59th Regiment was stopped by the Germans at Flensburg Trench, which connected the German defences of Mont Cornillet and Mont Blond, losing touch with the 83rd Regiment. The French Fourth Army offensive against the German 4th Army was to support the Groupe d'armées du Nord (GAN, Northern Army Group) along the Chemin des Dames, in the Second Battle of the Aisne. ... Galeries allemandes du mont Cornillet et du mont Perthois, tunnels du camp de (...) > Lieux > Champagne Où l’on parle à nouveau du tunnel du fort de la Malmaison ... mardi 12 février 2008, par Eric L. Even knowledge of the arrival of more guns was not conclusive, because the quantity of guns and munitions held by the Allies had become so enormous, that even the presence of a thousand guns and the expenditure of millions of shells could be a feint. Le mont Cornillet est un sommet du département français de la Marne culminant à 206 mètres d'altitude sur la commune de Prosnes, à l'est de Reims.. Il constitue un site de combats de la Première Guerre mondiale, en Champagne.En effet, cette position stratégique est occupée dès la fin de la première bataille de la Marne par les Allemands qui la fortifient puissamment. [19] On 25 April, the 34th Division was relieved by the 19th Division. German machine-guns to the east, in the Hexenkessel strong points and Bois en V, on the west slope of Mont Sans Nom, fired into the flank of the French attack and the rest of the day was spent capturing the German defences in these areas. ), which is a place in Champagne (approximatively 20 kms in the east of Reims) where german pioniers have dug a tunnel. [9] The fortified village of Vaudesincourt to the north, on the banks of the Suippes and the maze of trenches on the right bank, had been badly damaged but much of the wire was uncut and blockhouses and pill-boxes had not been destroyed. [15], By the beginning of April, the German Higher Command expected a French offensive from the Ailette to Reims but the quiescence of the French artillery east of Reims, led to no serious operation against Nogent l'Abbesse or Moronvilliers being anticipated. Mais c’est plus particulièrement en Picardie, dans le secteur d’Arras, où l’analyse spatiale, en n . La complexité du site fait dire aux soldats de la 34 e DI qu’ils ne voient pas l’assaut du mont Cornillet autrement que « … French casualties were so high that Vandenbergh postponed operations against Mont Cornillet and Flensburg trench. [18], At 4:00 p.m., two German battalions attacked the summit, which was recaptured and lost twice. [19] The attack achieved a measure of surprise but the German defence on the left flank, held up the French advance at Levant Trench and in Bois Allonge, which were eventually captured, before the advance resumed on Landsturm Trench. By clicking OK, you are confirming that this image is only to be used for the rights in the existing license. tunnel de liaison, C ... (Mont Cornillet, Mont Sans Nom ; Guillaume, 1918). Later in the day, reserves from the 34th Division were sent forward and when part of Erfurt Trench fell, the Konstanzlager was attacked from the east. A French reserve battalion was committed and soon French units dissolved into a mass of individuals, who fought on their own initiative. Défilé sur les 2 Km 800 entre Nauroy et le mont Cornillet et son tristement célèbre tunnel . The German attack was defeated by small-arms fire and another German counter-attack on 20 April, was repulsed but a resumption of the French advance was cancelled. [16], Heavy rain fell and snowstorms continued throughout the night of 16 to 17 April. The highest point of the massif on the eastern summit of Mont Haut, was captured at 8:00 p.m. The adjacent Group Prosnes of the 3rd and Group Reims of the 7th Army further west, were later put under the command of the 1st Army headquarters, which moved down from the Somme front. The new commander was unwilling to risk his men being bottled up in the Mont Cornillet tunnel and reduced the garrison from a regiment to six infantry companies, two machine-gun companies and 320 pioneers, fewer than 1,000 troops. The Cornillet tunnel had three galleries with Décauville (light) railways along two of the galleries, with a transverse connecting tunnel and air shafts dug up to the top of the hill.