_Pass under the Rheims-Laon railway by a very sharp double turning._ =Pierquin Farm=, entirely destroyed, _stood on the right a short distance further on_. The only remaining trace is the torn shapeless carcass of a large iron shed.
The railway embankment south of Pierquin Farm was fiercely disputed from September 18, 1914, onwards. Several enemy attacks against it broke down before the French 75's. During the offensive of May, 1918, the whole of this region was the scene of desperate fighting. La Neuvillette was taken on May 30, and Pierquin Farm on the 31st. On August 4, the French, after crossing the Aisne Canal, advanced to La Neuvillette, where the enemy made a desperate stand. At the beginning of October they advanced to the north of La Neuvillette, which the enemy was eventually compelled to abandon. The last inhabitants had left the locality on July 12, 1916.
_The tourist enters Rheims by the Rue de Neufchâtel and the Avenue de Laon._
_On reaching the Avenue de Laon, the tourist, instead of entering Rheims, may turn to the right and go northwards as far as the_ village and cemetery of La Neuvillette.
The cemetery of La Neuvillette _is on the right of the road, between the last houses of Rheims and the village_. It was completely cut up by a network of first-line trenches (_photos, p. 159_).
The village of La Neuvillette, now in ruins, was the scene of desperate fighting during the German offensive of May, 1918.
Nothing remains of the 12th century church of John-the-Baptist.
The glass-works north-west of the village, by the side of the canal, are now a heap of ruins (_photo, p. 159_).
[Illustration: THE ROAD TO RHEIMS AT NEUVILLETTE]
[Illustration: THE GLASS-WORKS AT NEUVILLETTE]
[Illustration: DRESSING-STATION AT NEUVILLETTE]
[Illustration: THE CEMETERY AT NEUVILLETTE]
=FRESNES FORT--WITRY-LES-REIMS--BERRU--NOGENT L'ABBESSE--BEINE=
(_See complete Itineraries, p. 121, and map on p. 154._)
_This Itinerary will lead the tourist through the region of the_ Forts to the north-east of Rheims, which formed the rear of the German lines during the stabilisation period of 1914-1918.
It was this line of forts that, in the German hands, held the French in check after the first Battle of the Marne. Practically the whole of these works were but little damaged by the relatively light bombardments, and have retained traces of the German organisation.