Sees crowned (Verdun)

Military transport before the battle

The beginning of the XXe century is one industrial period of growth and of fast technological advance. The cars, which they are cars or trucks, are built at fast intervals and if the army is still primarily horse-drawn at the beginning of the conflict, the soldiers included/understood the crucial role which the car in this war will play.

In August 1914, the French Army counts only 170 motor vehicles, the requisition having to provide the other vehicles necessary.

The first rational experiment of the use of the cars dates from the September 1st, th and 2nd 1914, when it is necessary to evacuate Rheims because of the German advance. The setting-up of such an evacuation is achieved by the captain Doumenc (staff officer), who makes then his experiment profitable to release from it doctrines which quickly gain the adhesion of the GQG and which will be worth to him to be congratulated by Pétain on March 19th, 1916 like “officer of an exceptional value” then promoted ordering on June 29th, 1916.

These doctrines rest on two pillars: a great number of vehicles (for the “noria”) and of the correct roads. The maintenance of the roads is only spring of the State or army. As regards the vehicles, all depends on the production. The France put its economy on the war footing very quickly and the production of the trucks strongly increased; but it is not sufficient and of the massive imports take place, coming from Italy and of the the United States.

Doumenc imagines the creation of a strategic automobile reserve availability of the commander-in-chief. It is organized in section of 25 vehicles gathered in groups of four sections ( more one repair shop ), themselves forming of the groupings of five or six groups. Thus, a grouping of 600 trucks can remove in only once a brigade of infantry.

the 1st grouping is created in April 1915. It is quickly followed by others, since with the end of the year 1915, there are five, and thirteen in 1916….

The strategic and logistic situation

Verdun being located at the bottom of projecting formed in 1914, the strengthened area is not easy access, because the principal lines of communication which mênent there are cut.

With the beginning of the battle of February 21st 1916, the situation quickly becomes critical, as well as for the supply that for the changing of the troops or the evacuation of the casualties.

As often, it is the general Pétain who summarizes best the situation in his book on the Bataille of Verdun: it is not encumbered literature and with the synthetic spirit. Here first lines of its chapter on the problem of the transportation routes:

Towards the crossroads Regret-Verdun, bases advanced provisioning of the army, four ways arrived of the back:

the railroad coming from Commercy and descending the Meuse, unusable because passer by with Saint-Mihiel in the lines of the enemy;
the railroad of Holy-Menehould and Clermont-in-Argonne, often crossed by the shells with height of Aubréville and by which one could bring only part of the material of the genius;
the small railroad to narrow gauge railway, known as Meusien which was used for transport of the vivres and of part of the material;
the secondary road of Bar-le-Duc, on which circulated without interruption the automobile convoys leading to the battle the troops and the Munition S.

Thus, on four access roads, two are cut or under the fire of the enemy, and another has only one very reduced capacity. That thus limits the possibilities to only one road the main road of Bar-le-Duc to Verdun.

The situation the day before the battle

With regard to the railways, Verdun is, like wrote Pétain, in annoying posture. Meusien in the south, is out of reach Germans, but its traffic is reduced. The most important line is that of Holy-Menehould with Verdun. But, as the official story of the French Armies notes it, (it) is with range of the enemy gun which frequently cuts it, in particular towards Aubréville; a derivation was established in this point, but not more than the main road, she does not escape unfavourable fire. It is even of the way of 60, established in April 1915, which doubles it between Clermont and Dombasle. In the event of active operations, it is to be feared that the ruptures of the normal way are more serious and that circulation is stopped. Thus the Général of Langle has T it requested personal and hardware requirement from repairs and insisted that measures were taken in order to increase the output of Meusien. This output, initially very weak, increased following many work (garages, doubly between Sommaisnes and Beauzée on Aire) undertaken since October 1915; of a sufficient personnel and especially for lack of rolling stock, it does not reach yet at February 20th the 1 800 tons discounted. Until February 20th, the supply can be assured by the Holy-Menehould way , Verdun, the meusien being used only for part of the units in reserve in the area of Beauzée on Aire and Souilly. Vivres, ammunition, material of the genius are transferred onto the face by means of the bodies and the network of 60 of the old place of Verdun wide and ramified forwards.

To transport vivres and of the ammunition is a thing, but it was necessary to assume the transport of the great units called with the face.

Because of the threats weighing on Verdun as from the month of January 1916, the group of armies of the center requires of the General Joffre to make special provisions. Joffre answers favorably on January 29th, and warns GA it centers “that it could possibly lay out of the automobile reserve of transport " Rigoudias" in the area of Châlons and old automobile service of the 2nd army, stationed in the area of Vitry-le-François; these means could make it possible to transport the value of four divisions of infantry”.

The creation of the regulating Commission of transport

February 19th, 1916, whereas the German offensive is imminent and that the French staff is well persuaded of it, a very important meeting is taken place with Bar-the-Duke. The Doumenc captain, who represents the automobile service, is charged to set up an organism in charge of transport in direction of Verdun. The following day is created the automobile regulating Commission, which must convey 2000 tons per day bound for Verdun, at the same time as 15 000 with 20 000 men. The French thus take vital measures before even the release of the German offensive. Contrary to what could be retained speech of certain historians, the battle of Verdun is not summarized with a fight between the industrial war of the Germans and the chests of the French. It is well the scientific and industrial organization of the effort of French war which will make it possible to stop the Germans.

The automobile regulating Commission sticks to the secondary road of Bar-le-Duc with Verdun, that Maurice Barrès will call soon the Sacred way, grandiloquent term but which has the merit to insist on its central role in the defense of Verdun and on the sacrifice of the men who passed there.

Only the motor vehicles have access to this road. To avoid any congestion, Any nontowing broken down vehicle is thorough at once in the ditch. On the model of what is done in the railroads, the road is divided into six cantons placed under the control of a security service. With the head of each canton, an officer responsible for circulation has a personnel of prévôté. With each crossings, a service of piloting makes pass the columns of infantry or horse-drawn in the intervals of the automobile convoys, according to the needs.

The automobile regulating Commission deals neither with the Artillerie, neither of the horse-drawn convoys, nor even of the vivres, whose transport is done primarily by the “Meusien”. On the other hand, the automobile service must convey all the remainder with Verdun: Infantry, ammunition and material various. All this arrives in the area of Bar-le-Duc and in particular with the station of Baudonvilliers by rail. The chief town of the Meuse is used as starting point with the Sacred way, which walks on then on 75 kilometers to the crossroads of the Mill flaring. The road is sinuous and its macadamization leaves something to be desired, but its width at summer increased to seven meters in 1915. The regulating Commission is ready to function on February 22nd, i.e. before arrived of the general Pétain at Souilly. It is ordered by the commander Girard. Is this to say that Pétain has nothing to do with its operation? Not, because if all functions well until February 28th, a weather event calls all into question to this date.

The maintenance of the road

Pétain thus describes in its book the battle of Verdun the problems encountered starting from February 28th, 1916:

“When, on February 28th, began the thaw, the road became suddenly impracticable, it was necessary to find without delay a process of repairing, question of life or of died of the 2nd army. As we could not seek materials with far, which had required too much time and had worsened the problem of transport, I made open between Bar-le-Duc and Verdun a great number of tender stone quarries of the country, teams of civilians and territorial exploited them at once. Other teams, divided in the six cantons, inlassablement threw on the roadway materials arriving of the careers, the file of trucks acted as rollers compresseur'”.

Serrigny says some a little longer in its memories.

“On its side Barrescut (chief of staff of the 2nd army) studied the back realized well quickly which the fate of the battle was going to depend entirely on the flow that one could obtain from the road of Bar-le-Duc, the railroad to narrow gauge railway was likely indeed only of one very reduced traffic. That of the road was already formidable the 26, the rising or downward convoys followed one another almost without interruption and it was necessary to envisage for the following days an intensification even larger of these movements”

The problem is posed, remains to find the solution. Most delicate is to find a means of repairing the roadway without never stopping circulation. The remedy is provided by the commander Richard, chief of the service of the roads.

“Richard who was in times of peace a brilliance civil engineer sought a solution which was not certainly convenient to find. He was gifted fortunately of an observant and inventive spirit. By studying the question on the spot he realized that if one dug the ground of the fields bordering the road of a few centimetres only one would find stones insufficient limestones for a normal macadamization, but likely however to temporarily ensure the roadway resistance necessary. There was thus the matter, but how to use it? No roller was had, one at his disposal had some which had had to be given up employing them being given impossibility or one was to stop circulation. Richard then proposed to spread out all along the road of the teams of territorial armed with shovels and invited continuously to throw these gravels on the roadway, the cars were to be given the responsability to transform them into ballast. Thus during weeks and months, thousands of men spaced of a few meters only launched day and night of the stone shovelfuls without never wearying itself and maintained finally the Sacred way in state. If the battle of Verdun finished with our advantage it is thus above all thanks to the ingeniousness of the commander Richard”, concerning logistics.

Vehicles put to the test

The solution of the commander Richard makes it possible to maintain permanently the road practicable, which is essential, but the material used is really poor quality.

Let us leave again the word to the general Pétain:

“But we had to face another crisis, because bindings of the wheels of the trucks were shredded on the insufficiently crushed stones and the engines tired terribly. The direction of transport showed of a remarkable zeal and an ingeniousness: the car fleets of Bar-le-Duc and Troyes improved their tools quickly; the hydraulic tyre presses rubber functioned night and day; one succeeds in improvising the manufacture of the spare parts; one set up of the sections of breakdown service, and the trucks could continue to be followed on the road, with a flow which reached the average of a car by 14 seconds” .

This sustained rhythm is possible only thanks to the quantity of the trucks available. As of on February 29th, the regulating commission has in the sector 3000 trucks approximately, without counting the Parisian buses of transport of fresh meat and the medical ones. With most extremely of the battle, more than 8000 vehicles circulate on the Sacred way. They represent a beautiful set of all that is done as regards trucks, in France like abroad.

Here marks met between Bar-le-Duc and Verdun: Ariès, Barron-Vialle, Berliet *, Cottin-Desgouttes, Delaunay-Belleville, of Dion Button, Buire, Latil, Lorraine, Luc Short, Packard, Panhard, Peugeot, Pierce Arrow, Renault, Ratchet-Schneider, To smoke, Schneider, Vermorel, White. (* a Berliet truck of the Sacred way, is preserved at the Museum Mémorial of Fleury)

The importance of the battle of Verdun is well illustrated by the quantity of vehicles necessary for the maintenance of the French Army in its singular combat against the German army: with most extremely of the battle, the C.R.A has 24 groups of transport of personnel and 28 groups of material, which represents the quarter of the manpower of the automobile service of the time.

Life on the road

The living conditions of the drivers are not ideal. With the beginning, the drivers must hold with the wheel 18 hours per day and take only a few hours of sleep in the content of their truck. This infernal rate/rhythm can last up to 10 days of at a stretch.

A discipline of very strict control is imposed by prévoté. It is interdict with the trucks to circulate differently than in groups or convoys regularly made up. Nobody has the right to double, with share the medical vehicles and the private cars, i.e. those of staff. He is of course interdict to double in the villages. Maximum speeds are imposed: the vans are fastest, they can run to 25 km/h. For the trucks, the speed limit is of 15 km/h. The heavy artillery tractors are limited to 4 km/h, or 8 km/h if they are with vacuum. It is not useless to recall that the Sacred way is a two-way road, of a width of seven meters in its best places.

In the authorized zones, i.e. far from the face, night lighting is done by lanterns, of the lamps or the white headlights. Elsewhere, it is necessary to have recourse to blue fires, less visible.

It is strictly interdict to stop without serious reason. And as we saw, the broken down vehicles not being able to be towed are thrown on the sides. The groups of trucks have their own badges. One thus finds the swan, clover, the cock, etc…

And other means of transport? What is it indeed horse-drawn convoys and infantrymen who move with foot? Or do they pass? One speaks about it very seldom, but there exists in fact two other roads, narrower and sinuous, which are parallel to the Sacred way, the east and the west.

The assessment

That only one and single road, only empierrée and with stones of bad quality, could transport men so much and of material holds literally of the miracle. The figures give the giddiness. Thus, between on February 22nd and on March 4th, that is to say during the first two weeks of existence of the regulating commission, not less than 132 battalions are transferred onto the Sacred way, just as 20 700 tons of ammunition and 1 300 tons of vivres. In March, whereas the general Pétain succeeds in establishing " the assiette" 2nd army, one counts until 6 000 passages of trucks per day, is every 14 seconds like wrote Pétain, but as it is about an average, this figure reaches a vehicle by five seconds.

According to Gerard Canini, “ordering it Girard was assisted (in addition to the captain Doumenc) of 19 officers and 250 warrant officers and soldiers. During the battle of Verdun, the 51 groups (close to 9 000 vehicles, of which 6000 rolled unceasingly along this noria) transported per week 90 000 men, 50 000 tons of material by covering on the whole a million kilometers. Seven automobile groupings were thus with the spot. If one adds average the organics of the armies to it, ambulances, etc, it is a total of 8 000 vehicles which followed one another of Bar-le-Duc Verdun. During March in June 1916, the monthly traffic exceeded 500 000 tons and 400 000 men without counting the 200 000 wounded evacuees by the sanitary service”. Never, throughout the war, such an effort was not accomplished so a long time on only one and single road.

The Sacred way and the posterity

It is Maurice Barrès who him finds the name of Sacred way in April 1916. It is not the only honor which it receives.

Each one of its 75 kilometers is marked out of a terminal of great dimension and the circuit is inaugurated by Raymond Poincaré (President of the Republic) on August 21st, 1922. It is classified trunk road on December 30th, 1923. As for the system developped at the point by the Doumenc captain, he is repeated during the conflict. On the Somme, in fact automobile transport makes load of all the supplies and all the changings.

In November 1917, during the battle of Cambric, the French command decides to carry reserves behind the face Britannique; in 24 hours the displacement of three is assembled divide out of 140 kilometers.

In 1918, the automobile service plays a leading role to hold head with the various offensives of Ludendorff. The number of trucks does not cease increasing and in July 1918, the automobile service transports the figure record of 1.200.000 tons of material and 1.000.000 men. The 170 motor vehicles in possession of the French Army in August 1914 are nothing any more but one to remember.

In January 2006, the road was displaced in RD1916 . Nevertheless, its name of national crowned Voie reaffirmed.

See too

Internal bonds

Odonyme celebrates

External bonds

Site on the sacred way
Exposed on the Theory of the Pressures applied to the First World War
Article of '' Humanity '' for the defense of the Sacred way
Site to the two sacred ways, that of 1916 and that of 1944
Localization of the monument of the Sacred way in Googlemaps

Sources

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