CHARLES FAIR

The Reims Forts - Part2

Armed with the local IGN 1:100,000 map, we drove north and continued our anticlockwise circle round the city in an effort to find the other forts. They are sited on a semi-circle of low hills which dominate the northern and eastern approaches to the city. "An Alternative Guide To The Western Front" mentions these forts without going into details. The ruins of the forts at Nogent-l'Abbesse and Witry-les-Reims were inaccessible, being held by the French Army and a private landowner respectively. The Fort de Fresnes has been almost completely obliterated and the remaining heaps of earth show only the occasional piece of stonework as evidence.

However, the Fort de Brimont appears to be in better shape, but fenced off. In the woods on the hill on which this fort sits we found a complete German trench system and evidence of dugouts. Between September 1914 and October 1918 this fort remained just behind the German front lines. It withstood several assaults by the French Army since it completely dominates the area around. The 5th D.I. failed to take the hill and village between 13 and 19 September 1914 as the Germans stabilised the front after their withdrawal from the Marne. (See "Between Mutiny and Disobedience: the case of the French 5th Infantry Division in World War I" by Leonard V. Smith pub 1994, Princeton University Press.)

William Yorke Stevenson of Section No. 1, American Ambulance, referred to the fort in his memoir "From Poilu To Yank", pub 1918. His diary entry for 20 April 1917 at Muizon reads:

"We had a splendid view of the opposing lines in front of Reims and the famous Fort Brimont, which is still holding out. The French have practically surrounded it and the huge "320s" and "400s" are falling on it steadily. The Russians having failed to take it, their divisions are being brought back, and the Chasseurs Alpins, the best troops the French have, are going to attack. We saw the shifting going on, the roads being blocked with troops and artillery."

Lastly, we tried to find Fort de St Thierry, the last fort, which is NW of Reims. The ruins of this fort are described in the guide "Première Guerre Mondiale des Flandres a l'Alsace" as being hidden in the woods and difficult to find. In fact they are so well hidden that we failed to find the fort: better luck next time.

Post-war pictures of Forts de la Pompelle and de Brimont can be found in the Michelin Guide "Reims et les batailles pour Reims 1914-18". (I assume these photos also appear in the English language version of this guide.)

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