View from the Observation Tower on Californie Plateau, Chemin des Dames, France.
"The entire French front, from Verdun to St. Quentin, was violently bombarded during the night of July 19th in preparation for the German attack on the Craonne and 'Winterburg' Plateaux. Since Verdun, there had been no artillery attack comparable to this in intensity.Early on the morning of the 20th, the German troops moved out from the Ailette Valley in the direction of the eastern slopes of Craonne, expecting easily to reach the Chemin-des-Dames objective on the crest. At a fearful cost—so appalling in fact that the Germans have never cared to reveal the actual figures—they made a slight advance along a front of half a mile on the lower slopes of Craonne. But never a German soldier could attain the French lines on the summit."
The Californie Plateau — called the 'Winterburg' by the German forces — is at the eastern end of the Chemin des Dames in Craonne, France. It was retaken by the French between May 4 to 6, 1917 in one of the last actions of the Second Battle of the Aisne, the Battle of Chemin des Dames.
King's Complete History of the World War by W.C. King, page 332, copyright © 1922, by W.C. King, publisher: The History Associates, publication date: 1922
1917-07-20, 1917, July, Observation Tower on Californie Plateau, Chemin des Dames, Californie Plateau
