All along the first months of the conflict, especially in August and September 1914, the war of movement is predominant and troops keep crossing mountain chains and penetrating down valleys. The Tête des Faux, first, is a summit among others, but its geographical situation above the Bonhomme pass on which both camps focalise their attention soon reveals its importance.

On August 8, 1914, General Dubail (Commander of the 1^st French Army), orders the 21^st Army Corps to seize the Sainte-Marie and Bonhomme passes. This operation is to be carried out by elements of the 43^rd Infantry Division. General Pillot, who is in charge of the 85^th Brigade, is to lead the attack on the Bonhomme pass. Under his command are the 158^th Infantry Regiment, one group of the 12^th Artillery Regiment, and one squadron of the 4^th Cavalry Regiment ("Chasseurs à Cheval"). Those troops come from Fraize.

On August 9, at 11.00 a.m., they seize the pass and entrench themselves, opposite the elements of the German 39^th Infantry Division. The village of Le Bonhomme cannot be occupied by the French who are subjected to a violent bombardment of the German heavy artillery.

On August 13, the 14^th Army Corps (27^th and 28^th Divisions) tries to pierce the Sainte-Marie and Bonhomme passes so as to settle on starting bases with a view to a general offensive scheduled for August 14.

That offensive aims at a thrust of the 21^st Army Corps in the Bruche valley and a progression of the 14^th Army Corps towards Villé and Barr northward and Lapoutroie, then Kaysersberg, southward. The main goal of this offensive is to lock a wide part of the Vosges massif from the Champ du Feu (northernmost) to the Louschpach pass (southernmost). At the Bonhomme pass, the group of General Sorbet is made of two battalions of the 75^th Infantry Regiment, the 7^th Battalion of Alpine troops ("Chasseurs Alpins") and one group of artillery. Those units progress towards the Tête des Faux and Hill 933, north of the village of Le Bonhomme. They meet semi-permanent fortifications defended by explosive devices.

On August 28, as three Landwehr Brigades and one Abteilung progress up the valleys of the Fecht and the Weiss, General Bataille is forced to make his troops retreat on a line Lapoutroie, Giragoutte, Wihr-au-Val, Soultzbach.

On September 1, the German troops start their assault anew on a line Lapoutroie, Wihr-au-Val by the valleys and the crest Trois Epis, Hohnack. Generalmajor von Frech’s troops progress in the Munster valley up to the Schlucht pass while the 1^st and 2^nd L. Br. Under Generalmajor Eichhorn’s command move through Orbey and Lapoutroie towards the Bonhomme pass and Lac Blanc. The III./L.I.R. 12 enters Hachimette. 

On September 3rd, the Abteilung von Ferling is located between Lapoutroie and Fréland. The I./L.I.R. 12 is on the south-eastern slopes of the Tête des Faux.

On September 5 it strikes back a counter-attack led by the "Chasseurs" of the 28^th B.C.A. from the Immerlins wood. On the same day, the b. L.I.R. 1, supported by units of the Abteilung von Ferling, enters the village of Le Bonhomme without fighting ; artillery fire is aimed at the Tête des Faux.

On September 6, the b. L.I.R. 1 and 12 supported by artillery units (b. Ldst.Batt. 1 and 1/2. L.Fssa.B. 20), cavalry (b. L.Esk. 1), pioneers (b. Ldst.Pi.K. 1) receive the mission to seize the Bonhomme pass beside troops of the Abteilung von Ferling. Yet, so as to be able to take the pass, the German Staff wants to seize two summits that control the latter: the Rossberg and the Tête des Faux.

On September 7, the French form a special group (the "Groupe du Bonhomme") made of the 28^th and 30^th B.C.A., under Lieutenant-colonel Brissaud-Desmaillet’s command, to defend the Bonhomme pass. The Rossberg and the Tête des Faux are attacked on the same day.

The units in charge of the attack on the Tête des Faux (I and II./L.I.R. 12 ; II./L.I.R. 1 ; and one detachment of the b. Ldst.Pi.K. 1) are gathered at Les Mérelles in the morning. The II./L.I.R. 3, which occupied Grand-Faudé, walks up to the Étang du Devin and progresses towards the Roche du Corbeau. Batteries of heavy artillery (1/2. L.Fssa.B. 20 and 4./R.Fssa.R. 14) shell the summit of the Tête des Faux from the Calblin and the Coq Hardi. The b. Ldst.Batt. 2 and the b. Ldst.PI.K. 2 await east of Tannach.

At that time, the sector of the Tête des Faux is held by a small French detachment stationed at the Lac Blanc. Under the command of Capitaine Regnault (28e B.C.A.), it is composed of one company of the 28^th B.C.A., a machine-gun company of the 28^th B.C.A. and three companies of the 256^th R.I. (Infantry Regiment). In the afternoon, the I./L.I.R. 12 settles at the Roche du Corbeau. One company of the b. L.I.R. 1 goes up to the summit of the Tête des Faux. From then on, the front line follows a line Sainte-Marie pass, Le Bonhomme, Tête des Faux, Orbey, Grand Hohnack. The Bavarians set an observatory at the top of the Tête des Faux, which allows them to guide the fire of their artillery.

On September 8, 1914, the German batteries violently bombard the Rossberg and the Bonhomme pass. General Bataille, so as to be aware of the situation, is on the battlefield, and he is killed with six of his staff officers, at the "ferme-auberge" of the Bonhomme pass. Lieutenant-colonel Gratier, being wounded, is replaced by Lieutenant-colonel Brissaud-Desmaillet at the head of the Alpine Group.

On September 10, Generalmajor Eichhorn orders the 1^st and 2^nd b. gem. L.Br. to hold the sector comprised between the northern heights of Le Bonhomme to the Grand-Hohnack. On that 15 km-wide front, the two brigades’ mission becomes defensive. Despite a harsh weather (cold, windy and rainy), an important work of fortification is started.

On September 11, Capitaine Regnault, with a company of the 28^th B.C.A., a company of the 12^th B.C.A., a machine-gun section, and a section of mountain artillery, is sent to the Tête des Faux and the côte de Grimaude. That detachment reaches the farms of Surcenordon the southern slopes of the côte de Grimaude, and faces the II./L.I.R. 1 stationed at the Roche du Corbeau.

On the 12^th of September, the French detachment suffers from violent artillery fire and is forced to get back to the Lac Blanc. A new French attempt is made on the 14^th, but remains unsuccessful. The French Staff then decides to progress slowly in this sector before launching a wide-range offensive.

On September 16, the French artillery bombs the Tête des Faux and the côte de Grimaude from the Tête des Immerlins. A shell destroys a Bavarian command post. On the French side, the 215^th R.I., 12^th, 30^th and 52^nd B.C.A. reinforce their positions. The Germans suffers from many typhus cases that spread into an epidemic, yet they intensify their patrols and organise the summit.

On October 31, Joffre sends a note to General Dubail regarding an offensive aimed at conquering the ground facing Colmar and Sélestat before the movement of forces from Belfort upward into the Alsatian plain to join those forces. The scheduled plan will finally be limited to the capture of the heights commanding the exits of the Bonhomme and Louschpach passes, i.e. the Tête des Faux and the côte de Grimaude.

The operation of the 2^nd and 3^rd of December, 1914

On December 2, Instruction n°55 issued by General Guerrier gives to the 132^nd Brigade (General Sarrade, 66^th Division, 34^th Corps) the mission to occupy the Tête des Faux and the côte de Grimaude. Four combat groups are constituted, under the commands of Commandant Duchesne, Capitaine Boquel, Commandant Bareilles and Capitaine Argence. At that time, the Tête des Faux is held by the b. L.I.R. 3 commanded by Oberst Hans Jordan.

At 2.00 a.m., amid a cold and foggy night, the "Groupe Regnault" leaves Plainfaing and climbs up the rocky paths leading towards the Tête des Faux. At daybreak, the men have a pause near the Reichberg farmhouse. The Tête des Faux is still in a thick fog.

At 8.00 a.m., the "Groupe Bareilles" moves towards Orbey. The contact with the German outposts happens very soon, but after a brief firefight, the patrolmen of the 215^th R.I. reach their objectives. At 10.30, the "Groupe Duchesne", from its starting positions of hill 1118 in the Immerlins wood, charges towards the Petite Tête des Faux. They soon take the summit, then rush down the southern slopes of the côte de Grimaude and starts moving north-eastward but has to stop under fire. Commandant Duchesne is wounded but keeps his command.

At 10.30, the "Groupe Regnault" started its movement as well, under wood northward, progressing along the western slopes of the mountain. At 11.30, after a last advance over the northern slopes, its men face the eastern positions, their objective. Reinforced by a machine-gun platoon from the 28^th B.C.A., Company Touchon (the 6^th) walks farther north. The French artillery at the Rossberg and Pré de Raves is ready to intervene and, at 11.00, some 65 mm shells are sent onto the summit, alerting the German garrison of an imminent attack.

The other companies of the "Groupe Regnault", preceded by pioneers, move on up to the Tête des Faux. Strong curtains of barbed wire are to be trespassed, and the first losses occur as the pioneers undertake to cut them, becoming easy aims for the German riflemen. Under a heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, coming both from the top and La Verse, the Chasseurs move on, hiding behind rocks, creeping in the vegetation. Lieutenants d’Escodeca and de Pouydraguin (the General’s son) are both wounded. The Chasseurs fix their bayonets and push the Germans down their positions of the summit, then rush behind the Bavarians for 150 metres but have to stop in front of very strong defensive organisations. The Blue Devils try to dig trenches and set networks of barbed wire, before having to push back several Bavarian counter-attacks. So as to divert the Germans, the 52^nd B.C.A. occupies hill 660 and the eastern slopes of the Noirmont. The capture of the Tête des Faux, one month after that of Le Violu (near Sainte-Marie pass), gives the French the final mastery of the promontories that used to be a direct threat for the Saint-Dié area.

Christmas Eve’s attack

The German Staff cannot bear such a failure. The Tête des Faux is classified "special sector" and a "Kommandeur" is affected to its area, Generalmajor Dinkelacker.

On December 19, the 14^th Mecklemburg Jäger Battalion (M.J.B. 14) arrives in Colmar. That unit, specialised in mountainous operations, receives the mission to retake the Tête des Faux.

On December 22 the battalion reaches its positions.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1914, at 10.30 p.m., the cyclist company of the M.J.B. 14 (Radfahrer Kompagnie), under the command of Hauptmann von Chappuis, takes the offensive. A deep layer of snow hides the barbed wire fences that slow the progress of the men. The pioneers try to pierce the French defences but a thick fog sets in. At that moment, the French heavy fire drops down on the assailants. The survivors, through heaps of snow, try to go on to the French fortifications. Hauptmann von Chappuis falls down, seriously wounded, and the rest of the officers and NCO’s start falling as well, one after the other. The young soldiers who can carry on with the mission take over the first trench, but suddenly get lost among an unknown ground, surrounded by grenades and bombs. The 2^nd company and a fraction of the 1^st, try to hold the portion seized to the French. Almost 50 Chasseurs are covered with the bodies of the young Jägers shot down. The 4^th company, on the right wing, is stopped at the entrance of the woods and suffers severe losses; moreover, the men of that company, lying in the wind in the no man’s land at a temperature of 18 degrees below zero, start freezing. Meanwhile, the elements that could reach the top of the Tête des Faux are fired at from the front, the back, and both flanks. The reserves coming from the Felseneck are stopped by an artillery barrage, and the frost prevents the Germans from digging the trenches supposed to link their gained positions. For those surrounded in the middle of the French lines, ammunition and food supplies start lacking.

At 5.30 a.m., on Christmas Day, Generalmajor Dinkelacker orders the retreat to the former positions and the evacuation of the wounded. The 14^th Jäger, overwhelmed with tiredness, gets back to its original shelters, and is replaced by a battalion of the L.I.R. 121.

On both sides, the first months of 1915 are spent in organising the positions. Offensive operations have come to an end, even if the Bavarians try to retake the summit of the Tête des Faux on February 21, 1915, but unsuccessfully. In April, elements of the L.I.R. 12 attack on a line Beu, Creux d’Argent, Jeunes Champs; in May, men of the L.I.R. 3 supported by a Scharfschutzenkommando of the 14^th Jäger try to reach the Haute Roche.

From then on, the war moves southward to Le Linge, Metzeral, the Hilsenfirst and the Hartmannswillerkopf. On both sides, Jägers and Chasseurs will observe and spy each other, build or reinforce organisations (especially the Germans) until the end of the war…

Many places of the massif were organised by both armies, but it is mainly on the eastern slopes that a most impressive number of vestiges can be seen. The German sector is by far the more interesting of the two, especially for what regards the techniques of building used and the size of the fortifications still visible.

The German positions consist in a defensive fortress hanging to the opposite slope, and built in 4 years. The first shelters are built from mid-September 1914 on. From December 2, 1914 onward, an almost permanent building site is set up. Its activities are intensified after the combats of the first winter of war and the installation of the cableway from April 1915 on. The Bavarians only occupy a tiny part of the summit of the Tête des Faux, and huge works are undertaken so as to allow the Jägers hold their positions. The role of these fortifications is to safeguard those soldiers while helping reduce their losses and counterbalance the low strength of the troops, and yet provide them with a minimum comfort in the trenches. Such an effort in building and reinforcing defences concerns the whole front line of the Vosges, and is aimed at saving the "Menschenmaterial", as the need for young men is high on other sectors of the western front.

Detail of the German fort. The concrete
'sandbags' are original. Concrete sandbags can
be seen throughout the Western Front, but
these are mostly post-war conservation attempts
(see 'Vimy Ridge' and 'Trench of Death').

The fortress of the Tête des Faux soon becomes one of the major stoppers of the defence system of Central Alsace. For the German forces, losing that massif would result in being threatened throughout the whole valley of Kaysersberg, and open a flank to a French manoeuvre on Le Linge or Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. Thus, building numerous and varied fortifications, sometimes very complex like the "Bastion" or the large underground shelters, is undertaken in harsh conditions so as to lock that sector and possibly be able to retake the summit. Pioneers –the 26^th Bavarian Pioneer Battalion for instance– get involved in the constructions. The improvement of the fortified system of the whole site, was and still remains remarkable (this explains the visit paid by Generalinspekteur der Pionier Erz. von Claer of A.D.K. in Autumn 1915). Considering the tactical importance of the Tête des Faux, the German Staff takes the decision to build a cableway between Lapoutroie and the "Bastion", so as to transport troops, food and ammunition supplies and equipment. Its trail is decided on April 8, 1915.

The building site is made up in three steps corresponding to the three sections of the line.

The first section is completed between April 18 and 28, 1915 by two specialised units: the Festungseisenbahnbaukompagnie 7 of Oberleutnant Poltz, and the Armierungskompagnie Stockach. This section starts on the marketplace of Lapoutroie and goes up to hill 1,000. A concrete-made station is built in front of the church in the village (it will be destroyed after the war). This cableway was an electric traction, direct current one, and the transport was made by individual nacelles (for the troops) and cablecars (for the  supplies).

Construction sign on one of the German works.

The second section consisted in a mini cableway leaving hill 1,000 at a transfer station and going up to the Roche du Corbeau. That intermediary station, in which sorting was carried out, is situated above the Mérelles on the path linking the Etang du Devin to Surcenord. The loading ramps and engine room are still visible today. Most of the supplies of all types, destined to the first lines of the Rabenbühl and defensive triangle, transited through that second section (twinned to a serpentine way).

The third section linked the station at Le Corbeau ("Gare du Corbeau" in French) to a small arrival station called "Endstation Buchenkopf", situated some 100 metres down the summit, whose huge metallic wheel is still visible.

 The installation of an underground funicular ("Rollbahn") then seemed necessary, as the small pass separating the "Gare du Corbeau" from the nearest positions of the triangle could be seen by the French from the summit and even from the Rossberg once all trees had been destroyed. A 500-metre-long underground railway tunnel ("Rollbahntunnel") was then built, which actually consisted in a deep concrete-made trench, covered with rails, corrugated iron, wood and sandbags. The type 1 gauge was made of 5-metre-long rails with welded metallic sleepers. On the other hand, there existed an underground pedestrian trench ("Fussgängertunnel") which allowed quick and unseen movements between the Rabenbühl and the fortress. The latter was activated on December 28, 1915, allowing a link between the defensive triangle and the German troops of the opposite slopes.

The existence of multiple ways of communication to the rear is one of the main characteristics of the German defence system. The Etang du Devin was used as a logistic base grouping a forge and one unit specialised in the production of electric current, an underground hospital and command post, a pumping station harnessing several springs at the bottom of the pond supplying all the positions of the defensive triangle with water, all the works necessary to help troops and repair equipment, a shelter devoted to the listening posts, a kitchen, several depots, two cemeteries, a drilling field.

The French start carrying out works as soon as Autumn 1914, but digging the rocky soil is very difficult. In winter, it is all the more difficult because of the frost. That’s the reason why defences are made of "Azibert" shields and sandbags. The plateau of the top (more than 1,200 metres high) has been occupied by the men of the 28^th and 30^th B.C.A. since December 2, 1914. The French troops dominate the German positions. Yet, according to the offensive doctrine cherished by the French Staff, the occupation of the Tête des Faux can only be temporary. That’s why, paradoxically enough, a defensive complex is imagined, both solid and temporary, so as not to get stuck on a front line too long.

In the first months of 1915, in the cold and snow, the Chasseurs Alpins of the 14^th B.C.A. start digging trenches, build shelters and light defences. From the spring on, the priority is given to other sectors and the zone of the Tête des Faux becomes a defensive one for the French. The latter thus carry on with their work of fortifying and consolidating their positions. By the end of November 1915, all portions of the French lines are organised, the objective being to save troops at the Tête des Faux in order to get them involved elsewhere in offensive actions (at the Hartmannswillerkopf mainly).

Compared with other sectors, the French positions at the Tête des Faux are quite comfortable and well made (heating being available in most of the shelters). Yet, the lightness of the defences –contrary to the German system– explains why a quick erosion has attacked them. Consequently, most of the vestiges are heaps of stones or craters, that sometimes reveal barbed wire, corrugated iron or a rail.

Globally speaking, the whole of the summit’s defensive system forms a resistance centre grouping several support posts, the latter grouping several active segments. Such an organisational system was common and used on other battlefields. It seems that there was no real organisation on the Tête des Faux, with a thorough and minute defence plan, and the keywords to define that battlefield remain "adapting" and "improvising". All in all, that system proved itself quite coherent, as it was light but efficient, especially in comparison with the German system.

As the main objective was to hold the summit, priority was given to the first lines, and especially the support lines. Movement and swiftness are sought, and the line of defences is complex, built up like a labyrinth so as to blur the vision of German observers and to create a sort of hard to seize mouse-trap. The links with the rear echelon is an obsession for the French, as the first real village, Plainfaing, is located more than 10 kilometres down the valley through mountain paths.

In such a mountainous zone, the Chasseurs Alpins essentially use their mules for the supply. Their animals are much more numerous than the Germans’, coming from requisitions in farmhouses of Maurienne or Chartreuse.

The French rear bases, numerous and varied in size, are situated on and around the Hautes-Chaumes (the grassy upper-part of the mountain chain of the Vosges). Plank-made barracks are built at Louschpach and beside the farm of Reichsberg. The largest base, located at the Lac Noir, gathered three camps where 2,400 men and the H.Q. of the 47^th Division could be billeted. A road of good quality linked the Lac Noir to the Calvaire du Lac Blanc, where the main logistic centre for the Tête des Faux was. It hosted an equipment, food and ammunition depot, mules stables, and plank-made barracks for 600 men. As soon as the front got stabilised, the logistic interest of the Calvaire du Lac Blanc became clear and by the end of November 1914, to prepare the offensive of December 2, the supplies for troops were directed and stocked there. The Hôtel Freppel, close to the lake, hosted men. From the Calvaire, paths were organised, which led to the Camp de Tinfronce (800 men could be billeted there) and then to the last rear base of the Tête des Faux, called Carrefour Duchesne. There could be found a cemetery, a command post, a series of depots, a laundry, and a telephone central.

An Unfortunate Region 2004