THE BATTLES OF METZERAL AND THE LINGE - VOSGES 1915

After overly easy successes in Alsace at the start of 1914, the French army was rapidly pushed back into the Vosges, towards the ridge line, where the front stabilised at the end of 1914, with a few villages remaining unoccupied in the deepest valleys. Such was the case with the Fecht valley at Metzeral, west of Munster.

In February 1915, the Germans launched an offensive and seized Metzeral and several other villages, and above all the heights surrounding them. The French high command, fearing for the ridge line, ordered their recapture. Thus began the offensive for Metzeral, which ended in June 1915 with its conquest.

General Joffre was seeking a more notable success, with the capture of Munster "via the heights", in order to open the road to Colmar. It was therefore decided to break open the bottleneck at the Collet du Linge. Extremely costly attacks were launched in July 1915, with negligible results. The Germans retook part of the lost ground in August and the battle ended in a series of small, very costly minor operations.

Due to the extremely heavy losses suffered in July 1915, the Linge has since been known as "the graveyard of the chasseurs." It stands above all as a symbol of the futile and murderous attacks of 1915.