_Cross through Marre village, in ruins. Beyond the ruined church follow the right-hand road (photo above) to_ =Cumières=. _Half-way between Marre and Cumières are (on the right) the station of_ =Chattancourt=, _(on the left) the road leading to that village_.
Attacked on March 14th and destroyed by shell-fire on April 25th, =Cumières= was only captured by the Germans on the night of May 23rd. Three days later the French retook the eastern portion after a desperate combat. On May 29th and 30th, after two days of continual bombardment, they were momentarily driven back towards Chattancourt, but a vigorous counter-attack brought them back to the southern outskirts of the village. Caurettes Wood, to the S.W. of Cumières, remained, however, in the enemy’s hands.
PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE RIGHT BANK OF THE MEUSE SEEN FROM OIE HILL (_see_ Outline Map below).]
On August 20th, 1917, Cumières village and wood were retaken by a regiment of the Légion Étrangère, who attacked singing the famous popular song “La Madelon.”
[Illustration: CUMIÈRES IN AUGUST, 1917.]
_From_ =Cumières= _continue straight ahead to Oie Hill, from where the above panoramic view was taken_.
[Illustration: CHATTANCOURT ON MAY 16TH, 1916.
On the horizon: The slopes of Mort-Homme.]
III.—From Cumières to Chattancourt and Mort-Homme
_On leaving Cumières return to the Station of Chattancourt, and take on the right the road to_ =Chattancourt=, which is about 800 yards further on. This village was completely levelled (_photo below_).
Nothing remains of the houses and trees. The road seen in the above photo leads to Mort-Homme.]
[Illustration: THE GERMAN ATTACKS OF MARCH 5TH–14TH, 1916, ON THE LEFT BANK OF THE MEUSE]
_From Chattancourt the positions of_ =Mort-Homme= _may be visited by the road to Béthincourt (the lower photograph on p. 94 shows the beginning of this road)_.
_Motor-cars can go as far as the top of_ =Hill 295= _or_ =Mort-Homme=, _where it is necessary to turn the car round and return to Chattancourt, as the road is cut near Béthincourt by the Forges stream, which has entirely flooded the lower part of the village_.
=Mort-Homme.=—Like Hill 304, Mort-Homme was one of the most fiercely disputed positions on the left bank. It consists of twin hills: No. 265 (of which the Béthincourt-Cumières road skirts the summit) and No. 295 (the Mort-Homme proper, round which the road winds on the N.E.), and formed an excellent observation-post and artillery position in front of the real line of resistance.