Sapigneul
Sapigneul was a small village north of Reims in the Marne department . The rural settlement emerged from the medieval moated castle of Berry-au-Bac . Shortly before the First World War it had 91 inhabitants. During the First World War, Sapigneul was totally destroyed during the Battle of the Aisne . The area of the "ville detruit" Sapigneul lies in the rouge zone . It is now part of the Cormicy parish .
To the east of Sapigneul are height 108 and height 91. Both were considered strategically important points in the First World War by the Germans after the retreat from the Marne at the end of September 1914. The place Sapigneul was in the French front area, the heights in the German front area. Because this section was considered important, the place Sapigneul was mentioned in some German military documents of the First World War.
On April 4, 1917, the Germans attacked the French between Sapigneul and Le Godat. They took over 800 prisoners. Among the captured documents was a French order which contained details of the order to attack the French VII Corps and its neighbors for the upcoming battle of the Aisne.
The losses on both sides in dead and wounded were high in the attack on April 4 and the French counter-attacks up to April 12, totaling around 1,400 soldiers.
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Hugot: Sapigneul, mémoire d'un village disparu. Retrieved May 1, 2020 (French).
- ↑ The World War 1914-1918, Volume 12, The warfare in the spring of 1917, The double battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne, page 288.
- ↑ La vérité sur l'offensive du 16 avril 1917, 20 December 1919.