Chapelotte pass WW1 battle, Lorraine

The col de Chapelotte (Chapelotte pass) is 447m high only. It is a major communication axis between Lorraine and the first Vosges valley.

On the 22th August 1914, the Zeppelin observation N°8 from Strasbourg is destroyed at the Chapelotte.

After the German pull-back in September 1914, the front is established on a line going through Badonviller, the Chapelotte pass and Senones. For the German, who are still in French territory, the position is only defensive. They settle "comfortably" with concrete shelters and expect.

On the side French side, on the contrary, the strategy is to get back to the "Holy Nation territory" : this offensive will result in costly and unnecessary fights. The Côte 542 became one of the most violent points of the war in the whole Vosges mountains.

Due to the fighting in surface (bombing, gas, spear-flame, machine guns...) the soldiers began to dig galleries under enemy lines, and then filled them with explosives, causing huge explosions.

The first German mine exploded at Côte 542 on the 8th June 1915. Till the end of the battle, hundreds of meters galleries and wells have been dug. 55 mines, including 38 French exploded on a 300 metres large front, using more than 300 tons of explosives.

The last French Gallery was 120 metres deep : the greatest depth reached in this type of fight on all the Great War fronts.

For lovers of history, an episode of the mine war :
http://souterrains.vestiges.free.fr...

The pass and the surrounding summits still keep all those fightings stigma.