[Illustration: RUINS OF BRAS CHURCH, WHOSE TOWER COLLAPSED
_From Bras continue northwards to_ Vacherauville and Samogneux, where the first German attacks at the beginning of the battle of Verdun took place, (_see Itinerary p. 57._)
[Illustration: THE GERMAN ADVANCE ON FEB. 24TH, 1916]
=Vacherauville=, entirely destroyed, _is reached soon afterwards. Leave on the right the road to Beaumont and take, a little further on, that leading to Champneuville, which brings the tourist to the top of_ =Talou Hill=, _from where the panoramic view on pp. 86 and 87 was taken_.
Situated in a long bend of the Meuse, =Talou Hill= gradually slopes down to the water’s edge. On February 25th the enemy reached this hill which, caught between the fire from both banks, became equally untenable for the French and Germans, and from February 27th was considered as a neutral zone. It was retaken by the French in their offensive of August 20th, 1917, at the same time as the villages of Neuville, Champneuville and Champ.
=Samogneux= _may be reached from Talou Hill, either by continuing, via Champneuville (see outline map, p. 87), or by returning to the_ R. N. 64.
[Illustration: VACHERAUVILLE. THE APPROACHES TO THE VILLAGE ON DEC. 20TH, 1916]
Subjected to an infernal shell-fire on February 22nd and 23rd =Samogneux= had to be abandoned by the French on the evening of the latter date. It was retaken by the 126th D. I. on August 21st, during the French offensive of August, 1917, _i.e._ two days in advance of the scheduled date (_see p. 23_).
[Illustration: THE CENTRE OF SAMOGNEUX VILLAGE ON THE N. 46, IN MAY, 1919.
E. of Samogneux and dominating the road from Vacherauville to Beaumont rises =Hill 344=, which, together with Samogneux and Beaumont, fell into the hands of the enemy in 1916. It was retaken during the French offensive of August 20th, 1917, by regiments belonging to the 123rd and 126th D.I. These were almost immediately relieved by the 14th D.I., which for three weeks withstood violent enemy counter-attacks without flinching. On September 9th, in particular, it repulsed an attack by several German divisions which had orders to retake Hill 344 at all costs.
[Illustration: SAMOGNEUX CHURCH IN AUG., 1915.]