Ville-s-Tourbe & Melzicourt
Days at Rest: 15
Days in Trenches: 7
Leave: 9
Total Casualties (KIA): 5
1st January
Mes Meilleurs Vœux et souhaits de Bonne Année à tous.
Card 1st January
New Years 1916 was spent out of the trenches, but we get the feeling from the below letter that it was a fun evening and for once army regime and protocols were relaxed
New years eve was out of the Tourbe trenches, but they are due to go back into the frontline tomorrow, but intelligence has informed them that the Germans know their movements, dates and times, therefore they are now due to go into the frontline in 2 days time. The celebrations for New Years were with 14 other sous officiers and they had a little concert amongst themselves as many of them had hidden musical talents and for once the food was good and little to no duty time was done.
Letter & Postcard
Interesting side note to the above letter, is that Jules sent with it the New Years menu, which had all the trench names incorporated into the menu, but unfortunately this has not been found and we expect was lost.
2th January
7e DI JMO day review: 315e regiment record indicates “Le 02 janvier, arrivée d’un renfort venant de LA FLECHE et du MANS: 1 officier, 10 sous-officiers, 17 caporaux et 194 hommes”
On the 2nd of January a group of 194 soldiers and 11 officers and 17 caporals arrive from La Fleche. The 4e bat are relieved from the Tourbe area on the night of the 2nd to the 3rd January and move back to Neuville.
On the 4th January Jules sends a postcard that provides us with some insight into the experience of the new recruits. The answer is very clear that these recruits are very green, and in Jules words, do not even know how to use a rifle …
Si vous voyez le renfort que nous avons reçu c’est pitoyable, ils ne savent même pas ce que c’est qu’un fusil
4th Janauary postcard commenting on the poor quality of the new recruits
5th January
Still in rest period and will be for a couple more days. The main news from the 5th January is that Jules is due to go on leave in 25 to 30 days as he is now 3rd in line for leave. No other news other than Jules is happy to still be at rest as there has been heavy shelling of the Tourbe frontlines.
Postcard
The leave system as we will see over the days and months is like many aspects of the French Army, very complex and the only consistency is the inconsistency. To understand the “permission” system and how it could be used and abused is to understand its criteria’s.
In summer 1915 changes were made to open it up to more soldiers, but the way commanders would distribute leave and the priority was to be fixed through four key parameters :
- Solider with longest service duration……… easy enough?
- No….because this had to be off set by priority of “classe” year when a soldier started their military service
- Plus a final parameter of number of children the soldier had fathered
Understood? So if you were single and only did your military service in the 1910’s, then be prepared to wait a long time to get your 6 days off. The reality was that commander of each regiment and battalion had huge power to decide and priorities and therefore created an unfair system that, in some regiment would create huge dissatisfaction and be one of the catalyst for the 1917 mutiny.
Melizicourt (now called Servon-Melzicourt) is the frontline is in an arrow shape up towards the farm of Melizicourt (just south of the re built town), with Bois d’Hauzy (or Auzy) being the sub sector/reserve to the south, where Col Devaux command post is installed on a railway line, which is pictured further down. From Early January to March 1916, Jules and the 315e spent their time here, where the main features of this new sector would attract very few holiday makers, as the Aisne river, which provided fresh water, also created a swamp of a terrain. This geographical obstacle created a unique battlefield, which meant trenches had to be built upwards as mounts rather than downwards. Despite its lack of luxury features the sector was quiet, but for the men that did not make up for the water logged ground, that was made worse by the persistent cold and wet winter weather.
« subdivision MELZICOURT de l’AISNE à la SAPINIERE (2 Cie en 1ère ligne dont une très en flèche en avant du hameau de MELZICOURT, 2 cies en réserve) »
Nous partons seulement aux tranchées lundi soir et cette fois pour 8 jours, nous avons eu un bon repos, cette fois nous changeons de secteur
postcard 6th january
Confirmation on the 6th January that they will not being going into the trenches at Melzicourt until Monday, which is the 10th January
Below is the change order, that lead to the change of location for the 315e. Their new sector itself is divided up into 3 sub sectors.
These three sub sectors were called: Monhoven, Sebastopol and Chambord – see map below
9th January
The 315e RI receive their new orders on the 9th January and depart at 14h00 to Melzicourt sector, where they are to relieve the 102e RI. Jules 4e compagnie go into their new Frontline near Colombier which is near to Melzicourt farm, 5e Bat take Subdivision 42, 6e Bat take subdivision “canadiennes” until the 17th January.
Dans quelques heures je pars aux tranchées. J’espère que ces 8 jours se passeront bien
Lettter 9th January
“From the letter of the 9th January we get confirmation that the 4e Bat is marching to their new sector and frontlines at Melzicourt for 8 days. This is a new sector for the 315e and everybody hopes it will be quieter than Tourbe”
Letter final day of rest period
Early morning 10th Janaury
7e DI JMO day review: Calm day couple of shells and isolated rifle fire from the enemy
Je viens de réveiller des hommes pour aller à la soupe et j’ai bien peur qu’ils se perdent
“315e RI arrive during the night of the 9/10th of January. The handover is finished around 5h00 and went well, but due to the number of trees in the area, at night it is pitch black. It is so dark that Jules is worried some of his section will get lost going to get dinner. As Jules mentioned if we can’t even find our way to a kitchen to get food, how can we fight or spot the enemy”
Letter back into trenches
11th January
7e DI JMO review: calm day, couple of enemy engagements around pruneau trench and Calvaire, but none involving the 315e
The new 2e compagnie de mitrailleuses is created within the 315e, which is now to be headed up by Lt Goulon. Below is a photograph which is believed to be from 1916 and officer in the centre is Charles Goulon with fellow machine gun compagnie soldiers.
Il fait toujours mauvais, la pluie, le vent, le canon tout s’en mêle
Letter 11th january
“The weather has taken a turn for the worst. The wind and the rain along with the occasional artillery is making for a wonderful soundtrack. Jules confirms again that this sector is a step up in comfort and cleanliness from Tourbe. Here he has his own shelter with a chair and table. Plus he has a small basic cooker/heater and a “bed”. The bed make shift and is made from corrugated iron laid on wooden stakes and the mattress is made out of hay, which create an illusion of being in bed, but is far better than sleeping on the floor!”
Letter – Trench Day 2: description of a “luxury trench bed”
12th January
7e DI JMO day review: calm enough day apart from a bombardment of around 150 shells directed at he Bois d’Hauzy between 16h-17h and a couple of rifle exchanges in the front lines.
“Day three for the 4e Bat on the frontline. Jules mentions that for the last two days their old sector in Tourbe has become a hot spot with continuous shelling being heard. In contrast the Melizcourt sector is quiet, cold and foggy. On the 13th January the 4e Bat and 16e compagnie are going to be moving out of the frontline into the reserve trenches”
Letter – Trench Day 3
Casualties: 3 wounded (from the afternoon bombardment)
13th January
7e DI JMO day review: Some activity from French artillery, but minimal from the Germans, therefore a calm day and night. Enhancements made to the barbed wire in front of the trenches around Melzicourt along with other defence work.
Je n’ai guère dormi car j’ai fait une patrouille avec le Lieutenant qui a duré 5h
letter 13th January
“On the evening of the 13th January after 4 days in the frontline in the wind and rain, the 4e Bat and 16e compagnie move into the reserve trenches, where they will spend another 4 days. The rain followed them into the reserve trenches. Jules mentions in his letter that this morning he was a bit lazy and stay in bed until 11h00, but for good reason as that night he had undertaken a 5 hour patrol with the lieutenant
Letter – Trench Day 4: move to reserve trenches
We assume the patrol was with one of the two lieutenant of the 16e compagnie -which would have been either Verret or Schindler. Below is a picture of Verret from the 16eme compagnie time at Melzicourt (trees being a characteristic of the sector)
14th January
7e DI JMO day review: Calm day, Gas drill done by the 315e regiment to check alertness
Jules this morning was in a rush this morning as he is leading chores
The morning of the 14th seems to be very busy for Jules with him leading chores and another un named work. Health is good and they are now out of the frontlines since yesterday evening. This new sector is far better than Tourbe as there is more shelter and less bombardments.
Postcard – Calm new sector, any news of Dole
Je pense que vous avez revu Dôle mais il est bien paresseux pour m’écrire sans doute n’a -t-il pas le temps !
A final note in the postcard about Jeanne having seen his friend Dole, to which Jules notes that Doles is rather lazy as he never writes to him. This is a trait of many of Jules friends throughout 1916 where Jules hears very little back from them despite him writing. We do not have Dole first name, but from the below records we can see he was a Gardien de la Paix and the same rank as Jules and he was recorded below as wounded in 1916.
Casaulties: 1 KIA (Marcel Leon Lenoir)
Born: 22/10/1876 Paris
Died of Wounds aged 39
Buried Necropole Nationale St Thomas en Argonne: Tombe 1384
15th January
7e DI JMO day review: Calm day, trench improvement work on going with improves to the barbed work around PP no2 and PP no4-5 and “2 Poiriers” (below is a picture of the two Poirers sector and the barbed wire in no man land)
16th January
7e DI JMO day review: Quiet day on the front lines, but heavy bombardment of the Bois D’Hauzy. Improvement to defences around the “2 Poiriers” trenches continue
C’est un silence de mort depuis deux jours plus rien, pas un coup de canon
As the compagnie near the end of their frontline tour, the fatigue of the daily routine has started to bite and boredom has set in. As Jules puts it, only one more day. The sense of routine is compounded by the silence on the battlefield for the last 2 days, where there has been little to no action.
letter 16th january
17th January
7e DI JMO day review: Calm day with some enemy aircraft activity and 50+ plus shells falling during the morning and the afternoon at 13h00.
The 315e are relieved by the 102e RI during the day and without incident and 4e and 5e Bat go back to Neuville for a rest period, whilst the 6e Bat go to Charmeresse.
18th January
Ce soir nous allons être vaccinés
“Confirmation in the letter that the 16e compagnie is now back at Neuville in houses for their rest period. Side note that the 4e Bat are getting vaccinated this evening, we assume against Typhoid”
Letter – Rest period: vaccinations
Jules Andre Destrignville is then on Leave from 22nd to the 1st February
25th January to 2nd February Frontline tour at Melzicourt for the 4e Bat and 6e Bat at Sub 42 and 5e “Canadiennes sector”
Next month: February
