The War Dames

Three battles were fought along the Chemin des Dames east-to-west ridge located to the north of Paris during the First World War.
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The speed of attack and the depth of the French objectives meant that there was no time to establish artillery observation posts overlooking the Ailette valley, in the areas where French infantry had reached the ridge.

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The tunnels and caves under the ridge nullified the destructive effect of the French artillery, which was also reduced by poor weather and by German air superiority, which made French artillery-observation aircraft even less effective. The rear edge of the German battle zone along the ridge had been reinforced with machine-gun posts and the German divisional commanders decided to hold the front line, rather than giving ground elastically; few of the Eingreif Divisions were needed to intervene in the battle.

In Wynne wrote that the French lost , casualties including 32, killed in the first few days but that the effect on military and civilian morale was worse than the casualties. Nicholson the Canadian Official Historian, recorded German losses of c.

Capital Dames

The advance of the Sixth Army was one of the largest made by a French army since trench warfare began. The German artillery was outnumbered about 3: Much of the German artillery was silenced before the French attack. Gas bombardments in the Ailette valley became so dense that the carriage of ammunition and supplies to the front was made impossible. The French took 11, prisoners, guns and heavy mortars. French losses were 2, men killed, 8, wounded and 1, missing from 23—26 October, 10 percent of the casualties of the attacks during the Nivelle Offensive.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the battle. For other battles of the Aisne, see Battle of the Aisne. Western Front, April Schneider CA1 and Saint-Chamond tank. Battle of the Hills. Fifth and Tenth army areas, Craonne and the eastern Chemin des Dames, The ruined village of Soupir , Battle of La Malmaison.

German retreat from the Chemin des Dames, November Der Weltkrieg bis Military Operations on Land]. French Strategy and Operations in the Great War. The Belknap Press of Harvard University. Military Operations France and Belgium, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery. Retrieved 10 October Rheims and the Battles for its Possession.

Retrieved 11 October Soissons Before and During the War English ed. Retrieved 4 July Spears, Sir Edward Prelude to Victory online ed.

Capital Dames - Cokie Roberts - Hardcover

Retrieved 13 May The First World War: The Nivelle Offensive and the Battle of the Aisne A Battlefield Guide to the Chemin des Dames. The Battle in Depth in the West repr. Encyclopaedias The Times History of the War. Retrieved 6 November The Times History of the War.

Retrieved 26 October Websites "Les Offensives d'avril ". Retrieved 1 November Military Operations France and Belgium Messines and Third Ypres Passchendaele. The First World War. The German Army in the Spring Offensives The War to End All Wars. World War I portal. Tsingtao German New Guinea and Samoa.

Retrieved from " https: Coordinates on Wikidata Articles containing French-language text Articles containing German-language text.

The War Dames

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From there you can navigate to the title you are interested in. Interest-specific online venues will often provide a book buying opportunity. Click here for a list of interest-specific sites grouped by category. If you are located outside the U. After the declaration of secession, many fascinating Southern women left the city, leaving their friends—such as Adele Cutts Douglas and Elizabeth Blair Lee—to grapple with questions of safety and sanitation as the capital was transformed into an immense Union army camp and later a hospital. With their husbands, brothers, and fathers marching off to war, either on the battlefield or in the halls of Congress, the women of Washington joined the cause as well.

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And more women went to the Capital City to enlist as nurses, supply organizers, relief workers, and journalists. Many risked their lives making munitions in a highly flammable arsenal, toiled at the Treasury Department printing greenbacks to finance the war, and plied their needlework skills at The Navy Yard—once the sole province of men—to sew canvas gunpowder bags for the troops.


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Cokie Roberts chronicles these women's increasing independence, their political empowerment, their indispensable role in keeping the Union unified through the war, and in helping heal it once the fighting was done. She concludes that the war not only changed Washington, it also forever changed the place of women. Sifting through newspaper articles, government records, and private letters and diaries—many never before published—Roberts brings the war-torn capital into focus through the lives of its formidable women.

Thanks for signing up! The route was used during Stage 6 of the Tour de France as part of the race's tribute to the men killed in the War. Approximately only half of those who are buried at Chemin des Dames cemeteries could be identified. The others were interred in ossuaries or into collective graves. The following list of national cemeteries does not include the names of municipal cemeteries in France holding burials of soldiers lost in the battles.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. August Learn how and when to remove this template message. The Chemin des Dames Cemeteries. Retrieved from " https: Articles needing additional references from August All articles needing additional references Coordinates on Wikidata. Views Read Edit View history. In other projects Wikimedia Commons.

This page was last edited on 23 May , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Craonnelle Crouy Oeuilly Pontavert. Sissonne Vailly British Cemetery. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chemin des Dames.