BOUSTON François 53 Bataillon de Chasseurs Alpins Mort Pour La France; Langerfeld, Alsace, 19.06.1915
Cette bataille se déroule sur un front secondaire de la « Grande Guerre » mais la violence
des combats et la rigueur du climat des hautes Vosges l'ont rendue aussi terrifiante que celles plus célèbres de la Marne de la Meuse ou de la Somme.
Au mois de juin 1915, la VII ème armée (général de Maud'huy) était chargée de mener
dans les Hautes Vosges une vaste opération offensive qui, partant des contreforts es du Hohneck et des épaulements nord du Grand-Ballon, devait aboutir à la plaine d'
Alsace dans la région de Colmar.
The Linge ridge is located in the Vosges in Alsace and with a height
of 1,000 metres it separates the Orbey and Munster valleys and the
Germans had taken up positions along the ridge in 1914 when, being
the aggressor, they were able to pick and choose where they wanted
to place their guns and men and, as we have seen so often always went
for the high ground. One objective here was to cut off French access
to Colmar. From the beginning of 1915 the position of the front line
in this whole area was ill-defined and the French, certainly influenced
by the need to improve their positions and using their "Chasseurs Alpins"
launched an attack with the ensuing battle lasting from 20 July to 15 October.
It was a bloody encounter with gas and flame throwers being used.
Approximately 10,000 Frenchmen and 7,000 Germans were to be killed but
after the fighting the front line positions were to remain much the same
until the end of the war in November 1918. The Germans had made the first
moves on 19 February 1915 when they attacked some of the smaller peaks on
the Linge ridge including the Kleinkopf, the Barrenkopf, and the Schratzmännele
but heavy snow storms meant that they could only reach the Barrenkopf and the
Schratzmännele. In March 1915, the French launched their own offensive and
fighting continued week by week and in July, after a heavy artillery bombardment
the French Chasseurs à Pied, Chasseurs Alpins,and Infantry Regiments attacked
the Barrenkopf, the Schratzmännele, and the Collet du Linge but without success.
Attacks and counterattacks continued and on 29 July the French took the
Barrenkopf and the Schratzmännele but by the end of August the Germans retook
these peaks but left the lower western slopes to the French.
