April 1916
Ville-s-Tourbe
Days at Rest: 20
Days in Trenches: 4
Training course: 6
Total Casualties (KIA): 5
« Le 315 reste en réserve d’armée jusqu’au 26 avril et après un court repos revient au secteur qu’il venait de quitter. Il en part le 28 juin et est envoyé à la MAIN DE MASSIGES. (ouest de VILLE SUR TOURBE) secteur du MONT TETU. Le régiment tient ce coin difficile jusqu’au 16 aout. En descendant des tranchées, il est passé en revue par le général WEYWADA, commandant la 7° DI »
Until the 26th April, the 315e stay in reverse before being sent to Ville-Sur-Tourber, where the 315 Regiment had been from late Oct 1915 to early Jan 1916.
1st April
7e DI JMO day review: Work from the previous day continues. Additional barbed wire added in front of the “Lacoste” and “Mussat” trench lines, to the left of the Sape du Calvaire
Tant de fatigues et mauvaise nourriture
1st april postcard
Jules postcard from the 1st April comments that the weather has improved and therefore has helped brighten the mood. However because the food supply situation patchy at best, many soldier including Jules are getting sick. As Jules comments with the amount and the quality of the food they are given coupled with physical fatigue, it is obvious that soldiers are going to ill and fast!
As an outside observer it is quite clear from the letters and postcards, that the supply and food situation was a struggle for the French army, ultimately you would expect the situation to be reviewed and improved. However this did not happen during 1916 and the army created a self inflicted wound on their men. If we take Jules as the average soldier being ill for 2 days on the scale of a regiment of 2,000 soldiers, with on average 50% getting ill once, then you have 2000 days or 5.5 years worth of sick leave being taken.
2nd April
7e DI JMO day review: Quiet day for the infantry apart from 3 Germans spotted during the night in no mans land in the “Calvaire” sector. German plane flew over the top of the sector around 6h and in the night around 1h00 the noise of Zeppelin was heard. Light enemy bombardment in the afternoon. 315e are out the frontline without incident and back into on another rest period at Neuville until 8th April
Ma fois nous en avons tous assez
Tonight 4e bat are leaving the trenches and that is good news, as Jules points it they have done 8 days straight and everybody had enough. During the night some Zeppelins crossed their trench on their way to bomb a distance town or city and during they day Jules and his section got a front row seat watching aircraft duelling in the sky
Letter – final day in the trenches
Casualties: 2 wounded by shrapnel
3rd April
Arrived back at Neuville at 04h00 for another rest period of 8 days
Les hommes murmurent bien fort
Finally out of the trenches this morning at in the early morning and arrived at Neuville at 4h00 to start their next rest period, where their has been a change to their accommodation, which is a nice improvement (now have a cellar).
No time to rest as today there is a review of the troops today, despite arriving at 4am this morning, which means sleep will have to wait. This news however has not been well received by Jules men and he comments that murmurs are going round the men, but he hopes the next 8 days of rest will help moral.
The positive is at least the weather is nice, leave will start again having been suspended since late February and Jules has his grenadier course which he previously missed to re attend, but Jules is pessimistic if it will happen…..
Letter – Start of Rest period Neuville
Casualties: 1 seriously wounded
4th April
At rest in Neuville, but does not mean they are safe as during the morning of the 4th April they had a heavy bombardment of around 50 heavy calibre shells.
As Jules mentions, they were lucky that their accommodation had changed as they are now staying in cellars. Fortunately no casualties have been reported within Jules compagnie, but there has been casualties reported amongst civilians.
His compagnie and battalions concern now, is that they had felt safe in Neuville, but the recent bombardment has shown how exposed they are even within a rest town, which had previously not been targeted. He finished is letter to mention, he is now off looking for essential items: postcards, but he cant promise they will be any good as the supply of postcards in Neuville is rather limited.
Letter – rest period Neuville: Bombardment
Below photo is from this period but precise date unknown date. It shows damage of Neuville church. Source is fellow 315e soldier Daniel Durand
Casaulties: 1 (Clement Alexandre Mercier)
Noted as “Disparu” after the 25th September 1915 Auberive offensive
Prisoner of war in Germany and deid 4th April 1916 of illness contracted during captivity
6th April
Today Jules writes he has finally arrived at his delayed Grenadier training course, near Dampierre, which will last for 6 days. The lodging they have been given are in large Adrian buildings, but nearby there is little else as all the civilians have left the nearby village. Good news for Jules is that he has found a “colleague” who is one of the instructors at the camp, so he sharing a room with him. As normal the food situation is poor in the camp, but his friend who an instructor will be able to sort them out with something better.
Letter – Grenadier course Day 1
Above is Jules postcard from the 7th April having just arrived back from training in the morning. The good news he notes is that the training is not too hard, as the course is from 8h to 11h and 13h to 17h and consist of theory and practice in throwing the grenade model. The assumption is that he is training on either or both the grenade F1 which in 1916 was updated and the VB grenade. Below is an extract from the Grenade training manual from 1916 courtesy of @butch2k
8th April
The whole of the 4e bat now arrive at Dampierre le Chateau (below a Picture from Chateau Dampierre Source: Daniel Durand 315e), where Jules is still doing his Grenadier course.
Still on course near Dampierre and we learn from Jules that the battalion maybe creating special “nettoyeurs de tranchées” unit, which Jules is potentially going to head up the team. The current grenadier course has around 32 sous officers from many different regiments and last night (7th) they had a concert amongst themselves, as a number of them are good singers.
Letter
From the letter we now know that Jules training course is for a very good reason which is to head up a Trench Cleaning unit, which the battalion is looking to create. What is interesting is Jules motivation for this new assignment:
“j’ai comme je le pense la chance d’en faire partie ce serait bon à prendre, car nous risquerions bien moins que les camarades, premièrement nous ne partons pas à l’attaque et comme chef d’équipe, nous passons derrière”
His motivation is that such a unit will not be in the first wave of an attack, therefore potentially a lot safer job than his current role, as his team would only go in the 2nd wave, and as a sous officer he would be one of the last to leave the trenches.
9th April
Notable event German forces launch a major attack on both sides of the Meuse at Verdun. The attack on the West plus the Germans close to capturing Le Mort Homme, but on the Eastern side of the Meuse the offensive gains little ground
Postcard from the 9th April indicates that the 4e Battalion (his) has suddenly left Dampierre, but to an unknown location and for how long Jules does not know. All newspapers have been banned …..
Que se passe -t-il, nous ne pouvons rien savoir
….Something is up, but they do not know what (in hindsight we now know it was the major German offensive at Verdun). Jules is therefore happy to still be on his training course, plus news has reached him that Neuville has been bombarded again by over 400 shells and that the civilians are now leaving the town.
10th April
The JMO states that the whole 315e Regiment (4e Bat has returned) has now arrived at Dampierre le Chateau (below a picture of 315e medic at Dampierre in April 16, Souce Daniel Durand)
As regiment records indicate the 315e arrived at Dampierre le Chateau, which Jules had been informed that they are less than 10km from his training course. So after his evening training he left to meet up with his regiment and of course pick up his letters. We also learnt that leave is still cancelled and seem unlikely to be started again any time soon, this is because there are fears of a German offensive in Champagne around the Auberive, which is rumoured to be the next destination for the 315e.
Letter – 10th April
Again an interest comment from Jules about a potential German offensive that is rumoured in the Champagne region around Auberive. Again this seem highly unlikely knowing that the Germans have just launched a large scale offensive at Verdun. We can assume that these are rumours with little substance.
12th April
Today is the last day of training and Jules is departing back to his compagnie, who are still nearby. Training went well and he may have another 6 days training soon in Chalons, but this has not yet been confirmed.
The nearby towns have civilians, which is good news for buying essentials items and postcards! The lodging is less favourable and they are housed in large barns with little to no straw to sleep on, but at least it is not too cold or it could be far worse
Letter – course finished
13th April
Quick postcard from the 13th April to say he has arrived back with his compagnie and the weather is terrible. Unfortunately the weather does not stop them having to go out on manoeuvres in the morning and afternoon, which is much to Jules displeasure
Quelle barbe vraiment
14th April
Nothing new, the weather has not improved and daily grind during rest period is already wearing thin after 2 days. Routine of being woken at 5h30 in the morning and exercise until 10h00 and then in the afternoon from 13h00 to 16h30. Jules is pleased that his signaleur course is back on, so he will be able to miss come of the exercises over the following days.
Letter – daily routine
15th April
Finally after a month of trying the ring made for Jeanne has finally been sent as the vaguemestre has finally accepted to take the parcel.
It is unclear if at this stage the rules have changed around objects sent from the front still being banned or that the vaguemestre is doing him a favour..
16th April
Adieu l’exercice avec le fusil car nous allons avoir des revolvers, mais la plus belle chose pour moi c’est que pour une attaque je passe après la 2em vague d’infanterie
Today Jules is excited that he is starting tomorrow the training of his “grenadier” team of trench cleaners, which means going forward no more rifle training and general training, as he can now use a revolver rather than a rifle. In reality the best part is that he will no longer be part of the 1st wave in an attack, that thought has given him a spring in his step today.
This evening they have a large musical concert by the 102e regiment and then a singing one.
17th April
Brief postcard on the 17th April to confirm that training started this with his new team. Rumours of a new offensive by the Germans have disappeared and there is hope leave will start again soon, but as Jules mentions they are so delayed in the process (see February 16 for details of the leave process) that it will be a while before he get his turn. Despite all the good news, one area remains bad and that is his pay….. as he asks again for 25f as money disappear so quickly at the front due to the price of goods.
18th April
Continuing training of his grenadier “trench cleaners”, which is now on the job training, by building some trenches, but the rain is make it hard work. The advantage Jules now has by training up this small team of trench cleaners is that he is now more independent within the compagnie especially during rest periods, plus they can tailor training to their requirements.
Leave has also been established today, which has been welcomed by all the soldiers in the compagnie and regiment.
Letter – training of his “trench cleaners” unit
20th April
Nothing new to report. Another day another concert from the 102e and the weather is still wet and cold. Tomorrow Jules is going to be on guard duty in the nearby village, which means he is in for another long day
22nd April
JMO « arrivée des dépôts de MAMERS et d’ARGENTAN d’un renfort de 1 adjudant, 4 sergents et 67 caporaux et soldats » « Le 22, arrivée d’un renfort de 100 hommes du 40e RI et 10 hommes du 164e RI. »
New recuits arrive from Mamers and D’Arfentan between the 20th and 22nd April, they include 67 soldiers and 4 new sergents.
Cette fois ce sont des hommes instruits et ayant tous faits campagne
letter commenting on quality of reinforcements 22nd april
Today a large number of reinforcements have arrived, but the quality is fair better than at the start of the year, as they are seasoned soldiers, but they are all soldiers from “fantomes compagnies” which are compagnies that have need folded due to the high losses or whole regiments being dissolved. Tomorrow is Easter and therefore nothing is planned along with Monday.
Letter – new reinforcements
23rd April Postcard
24th April
Still no date for when they will be leaving, which many in the battalion do not mind. Today Jules was at the shooting range and tomorrow he will continue his training of his new grenadier trench cleaning section.
Tant mieux que nous y restions le plus longtemps possible, car quand nous partirons d’ici, nous serons plus mal sûrement
25th April
Today they are getting ready to leave, but they are unsure where too. Jules does not believe or know if the whole regiment will be leaving at the same time or if they are going to a new rest location or back to the front.
Unfortunately this means that it has cut short the trench clearing training with his section of men, but Jules is hopefully they can pick that up again during the next rest period.
Letter – leaving soon for an unknown location
26th April
The regiment is moving back to Ville sur Tourbe sector. The whole regiment finally arrive in sector on the afternoon of the 27th April. The first arrive and relieve the 101e RI are the 4e (Jules unit) and 6e Bats on the afternoon of the 26th at around 18h00
27th April
La marche était longue, aussi elle a été pénible
In the frontline trenches again tonight in their old sector of Ville-sur-Tourbe for 8 days and then 8 days at rest in Neuville, where last time they were there, they got bombarded.
The walk to Tourbe according to Jules was long a painful because with all their gear they got very hot, despite arriving at 7h00 in the morning. The rewards on arrival was that Jules found he had a basic straw bed at least to sleep on, because he in the officers accommodation. Jules for the next 8 days will be a an acting Sous Lieutenant due to the current SLT being on leave. In the meantime Jules is waiting to find out if this Grenadier section is going to be created, but in the meantime he is staying with the 4e compagnie.
Letter – acting SLT for the next 8 days
Below pictures from the museum in Peronne, which shows the amount of equipment a French soldier in 1916 would carry, which included personnel rucksack, clothes, spare socks, trench tools, weapons, personnel objects. All of the below equipment and items would have to be carried on soldiers backs during route marches and movement to and from the trenches. When you see the amount of equipment, you can understand Jules comment of being tired.
28th April
7e DI JMO day review
Postcard sent on the 28th April from the Tourbe trenches. The hand over during the night in the frontline trenches happened without incident. The walk from the “cantonnement” to the frontlines was long and during the night there was little time for rest with zepplins and aircraft buzzing the frontlines. The situation during the day is not much better due to warm weather and a lack of drinkable water and too lift the soldiers spirits even more…. leave has been suspended again …… as Jules comments “what a mess”.
Les permissions sont arrêtées, quel fourbi, il y a toujours quelque chose
Casualties: 1 (Ferdinand Georges Leon Bouthemy)
29th April
7e DI JMO day review: As the sector is quiet currently there is a lot of work throughout the division. The 315e are tasked with adding more barbed wire in their sector during the day of the 29th April. Light bombardment around Tourbe a 07h45 and in the afternoon around 15h30.
Entendre ce tapage infernal du canon, loin de ceux que l’on aime
letter 29th April
The weather now in late April is beautiful and warm and makes their stay in the trenches a little bit more bearable. The Germans are still shelling daily, but less frequent that in previous days. Jules work at the front is light with a half night watch every two days.
30th April
7e DI JMO day review: Multiple bombardment of the Tourbe area in the morning and afternoon
Notable event Petain takes command of Army Group Centre and is replaced at Verdun by Robert Nivelle
Les boches sont en train de nous bombarder sérieusement, gros et petits, quel tonnerre, nous avons des abris heureusement
Postcard from the 30th April, re confirms that leave that was suspended previously without any reason, is going to be lifted tomorrow. As Jules is writing the postcard he comment that the Germans are currently bombarding them with heavy artillery and its is making one hell of a noise, but he is glad that the shelters they in are solid.
Next Month: May
