Tony Ring Posted 5 January , 2013 Share Posted 5 January , 2013 egbert I really enjoy viewing your photographs as it has completely changed my opinion of what took place in WW1. A most interesting history lesson and I thank you for that. I look forward to your next posts. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_Ellis Posted 6 January , 2013 Share Posted 6 January , 2013 Thank you Egbert for an amazing thread which has definitely opened my eyes to a part of the Great War I knew nothing about. I look forward to your next epic picture thread. Cheers David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 7 January , 2013 Author Share Posted 7 January , 2013 Thanx to the last 6 posters who showed their interest in the HWK and the thread. British interest in the HWK and the Vosges battlegrounds was much broader in 1915 than today as this image proves, when Brigadier Edward Spears from British Military Mission to the French War Office visits the places . Here he was photographed 14.7.1915 only 8 km away from HWK in the village of Moosch: picture courtesiy of Louis and Mike Sheil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frajohn Posted 7 January , 2013 Share Posted 7 January , 2013 Thank you Egbert. Like all of your threads I have enjoyed this one tremendously. I must admit I would not have believed how much work was carried out by the Germans in this area, almost like building a town underground. It was sad to see the latter posts relating to the German cemeteries. I hope you continue to educate and entertain with further threads on this area Kind regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 8 January , 2013 Share Posted 8 January , 2013 Would you be able to translate the memorial in post 587 please? Son of Germany bare your head, For you tread on hallowed ground; Graves by the storm exposed That proclaim with mighty sound The heroes, fallen here in battle For Germany's honour; that she might endure. Their names shall never be forgotten, Kept sacred, they will live for evermore. Dedicated to our fallen comrades 9th Company Landwehr Infantry Regiment 56 May 1916 In the best tradition of the forum, this is an Anglo-German co-production between Jack Sheldon, myself and Egbert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 8 January , 2013 Share Posted 8 January , 2013 An excellent piece of work gentleman. Thank you. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjk Posted 8 January , 2013 Share Posted 8 January , 2013 Certainly a vast improvement on what I got from Babelfish lol Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesa Posted 9 January , 2013 Share Posted 9 January , 2013 Dear Egbert, that you so much for a superb thread again. As others have mentioned, this is the first time that I have been made aware of the ferocity of the fighting in the Alsace during WW1. A question for those from the UK who have visited the HWK: would I be correct in assuming ~ a 5 hour drive from Calais ? Has anyone flown to Basel and driven from there? Many thanks Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 January , 2013 Author Share Posted 9 January , 2013 (edited) Charles, 5 hrs will easily make it. You can also fly in to Basel or Baden airport, all served by low cost carriers..... For the slow driver from Calais to Wattwiller at the foot of HWK, yah00 route planner shows exactly 6 hrs. Edited 10 January , 2013 by egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River97 Posted 9 January , 2013 Share Posted 9 January , 2013 Son of Germany bare your head, For you tread on hallowed ground; Graves by the storm exposed That proclaim with mighty sound The heroes, fallen here in battle For Germany's honour; that she might endure. Their names shall never be forgotten, Kept sacred, they will live for evermore. Dedicated to our fallen comrades 9th Company Landwehr Infantry Regiment 56 May 1916 In the best tradition of the forum, this is an Anglo-German co-production between Jack Sheldon, myself and Egbert. That's wonderful. Thank you for the translation. Tops off a stunning thread. Cheers Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 10 January , 2013 Share Posted 10 January , 2013 .A question for those from the UK who have visited the HWK: would I be correct in assuming ~ a 5 hour drive from Calais ? Five hours is impossible if you drive within the speed limits. I would say eight hours driving, plus stops. Le Vieil Armand / Hartmannswillerkopf is in the south of the area. I would expect to spend six hours driving to the mid-Vosges – I have done this dozens of times using the routes below – which isn’t the proposed final destination, so an overnight stop in Alsace or the Vosges themselves before embarking on a visit to le Vieil Armand is the minimum I would plan. There is so much to see which is interesting, beautiful and worth stopping for that even a short holiday is very rewarding. The problem is that approaching from the west you have to get round, through or over the Vosges, and to reach le Vieil Armand you have to get round the Grand Ballon, which is a little under 1500m in height. These are mountain roads: they are indirect, steep, often forested, some narrow in parts, inclined to be wet, possibly foggy even in midsummer (at the top of Col de la Schlucht in mid-June last year I couldn’t see my car within ten metres of it). There are rarely places you can go fast. On through routes you can get stuck behind slow-moving trucks. If you go in winter some routes are closed. You’d see from a map that each of my suggestions involves traversing the mountains via a pass or a col. Travelling the whole way on motorway or motorway equivalent (via Strasbourg) is no quicker and it’s boring. Check the timing on Via Michelin, but I’m confident I’m right. Allow eight hours. Edit. Checked Via Michelin and yes. Route suggestion 1 Leave the motorway soon after Reims, near Chalons N4 to St-Dizier and then Toul E21 to Nancy A33 to Lunéville N59 to St-Dié St-Dié to Anould then a choice of routes: Anould – Plainfang - Col du Bonhomme – Orbey* area then various routes Anould - Col de la Schlucht – Munster* area then various routes Anould – Col de la Schlucht - Route des Crêtes via le Markstein to le Vieil Armand Alternatively – and this is not recommended: St-Dié to St-Marie aux Mines St-Marie to Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé to D83 junction near Colmar Colmar D83 south to Wattwiller Or: Route suggestion 2 Leave the motorway soon after Reims, near Chalons N4 to St-Dizier and then Toul E21 to Nancy N57 via Epinal to Thann and Cernay Cernay to Uffholtz D431 Route des Crêtes then north to le Vieil Armand Or: Route suggestion 3 Leave the motorway soon after Reims, near Chalons N4 to St-Dizier and then Toul E21 to Nancy N57 via Epinal to Willer-sur-Thur D13B to Route des Crêtes then south to le Vieil Armand *Orbey and Munster areas are both good bases with a lot to see, including WW1 sites. I have picture threads of my own elsewhere on the GWF which attempt to give a flavour of the Vosges and their war history. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlesa Posted 11 January , 2013 Share Posted 11 January , 2013 Gwyn, thank you so much for this. I agree, an overnight stop is the way to do it. Will report back on which route we take. Cheers Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 11 January , 2013 Share Posted 11 January , 2013 No problem; I had it as a .doc because people often ask me which way to go, so I just copied and pasted! I think I make the driving sound like a trial, but it isn't: it's a beautiful area and there are the inevitable photo stops... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz in Eastbourne Posted 11 January , 2013 Share Posted 11 January , 2013 Son of Germany bare your head, For you tread on hallowed ground; Graves by the storm exposed That proclaim with mighty sound The heroes, fallen here in battle For Germany's honour; that she might endure. Their names shall never be forgotten, Kept sacred, they will live for evermore. Dedicated to our fallen comrades 9th Company Landwehr Infantry Regiment 56 May 1916 In the best tradition of the forum, this is an Anglo-German co-production between Jack Sheldon, myself and Egbert. Congratulations all round. It's a moving epitaph. Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_oz Posted 14 January , 2013 Share Posted 14 January , 2013 Egbert I go away and come back to find that this thread just got better and better. Thank you so much for all your work on this it has really helped me get a feel for this mountain I hope you continue to share your photos. Tim B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 17 January , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 January , 2013 Son of Germany bare your head, For you tread on hallowed ground; Graves by the storm exposed That proclaim with mighty sound The heroes, fallen here in battle For Germany's honour; that she might endure. Their names shall never be forgotten, Kept sacred, they will live for evermore. Dedicated to our fallen comrades 9th Company Landwehr Infantry Regiment 56 May 1916 In the best tradition of the forum, this is an Anglo-German co-production between Jack Sheldon, myself and Egbert. And here we go for a French translation. I learned that the 1916 author is a German Alsatian named Ernest Schmitt from Soultz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjk Posted 22 January , 2013 Share Posted 22 January , 2013 While sorting through my mass of WW1-related literature, I came across a publication I had forgotten about. I must have purchased it during my trip to the Vosges in 2007. It is a foolscap-sized booklet, about 100 pages, produced by ‘Les Amis du Hartmannswillerkopf’ called : ‘Chronique de l’Hartmann 1914-1915 Tome 1’ It is in French, and contains a commentary on activities in the area during the first year of the war, also a host of photographs and postcards, some of them taken during the war and others post-war. There are also several maps of the area. Altogether, a very interesting and useful booklet. Investigation via Google revealed that they have a website http://www.ahwk.fr/ where this booklet, Tome 2, and several other books and maps can be purchased at very reasonable prices. There is also a Forum, plus a lot of information about the HWK, and a wealth of photographs. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjk Posted 27 January , 2013 Share Posted 27 January , 2013 I am posting this here as it will be of interest to anyone following this thread. Thanks to the generosity of fellow GWF member Mebu, I have just found a very good two-part description of the Vosges fighting in 1914 and 1915, in the WFA Bulletin issues 31 and 32. It is by Christian de Saint Julien and covers the French strategy in the Vosges, the dreadful conditions in the winter of 1914-15, and of course the terrible losses suffered by both sides. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 January , 2013 Author Share Posted 30 January , 2013 A stone's throw away from cemetery L.I.R. 124 is another enchanted cemetery, that of the Uhlans. The bodies have been relocated to concentration cemeteries sometime between 1920 and 1922. I was just informed from the French Amis du Hartmannsweillerkopf (AHWK) about the last clean-up of Uhlanenfriedhof (-cemetery), accomplished by these German Army military in 2012 source: http://www.ahwk.fr/retrospective-2012-ruckblick/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjk Posted 30 January , 2013 Share Posted 30 January , 2013 Egbert, very good to see that they still care. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 11 February , 2013 Author Share Posted 11 February , 2013 (edited) Today 70 cm snow on HWK. Inaccessible, everything up there rests under a white blanket in silence and peace. A friend tried to climb up today, but had to return at 600m alt., "Lippische Schweiz" (pictures see in this thread). All the trenches shown here in the thread are completely filled up and covered with snow and there is absolutely nothing recognizable, even the underground galleries can not be reached. Edited 11 February , 2013 by egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 11 February , 2013 Share Posted 11 February , 2013 That's the weather in Alsace !!! you never know what's coming !!! Meanwhile, I've got six month left here and I still was not there BUT .... I'm not giving up !!!! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 11 February , 2013 Share Posted 11 February , 2013 Travelling the whole way on motorway or motorway equivalent (via Strasbourg) is no quicker and it’s boring. Have to object here ... if you drive via strasbourg, you just make a stop to visit this marvellous city, my present-time hometown (of which I'm very proud...) and you'll see ot's NOT boring!!! For those who need more info, or help, just holler !!!! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 11 February , 2013 Share Posted 11 February , 2013 I did not say Strasbourg was boring. If I ever had to live in a city in mainland Europe, I would wish to choose Strasbourg. I've been there in winter, in summer, in spring and in autumn, have stayed there many times, have eaten at lots of restaurants, many of which were recommended by a family member who was a member of a European body and knew the city very well, and I have been there most Christmases for goodness knows how long. It is indeed the most fabulous city. My post said that travelling the whole way from Calais to Alsace on the motorway is boring. It is. I also said that it isn't any quicker to go the whole way on the autoroute; it certainly isn't direct. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 17 February , 2013 Author Share Posted 17 February , 2013 Bend no. 4 of HWK war road, Eastern slope. Note the 2 shelter holes on the uphill road. Picture from post war 1920s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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