Memorial to the French Moroccan Division at Vimy Ridge. The face commemorates the Division's victory at the Second Battle of Artois, in which the Moroccan Division broke the German front for the first time and took Hill 140, their objective.
Listed on the sides of the memorial are the sectors and battles where the Division fought:
1914
The Ardennes
August 28 — La Fosse a l'Eeau
August 30 — Bertoncourt
September 1 — Alincourt
The Marne
September 6 to 9 — Coizard, Mondement
December 30 — Ferme d'Alger
1915
Belgium
January 28 — Nieuport, la Grande Dune
Artois
May 9 — la Cote 140
June 16 — Ravin de Souchez
Champagne
September 25 — Butte de Souain, Bois Sabot
1916
the Somme
July 4 — Assevillers, Bellov en Santerre, Barleux
1917
Champagne
April 17 — Moronvilliers, Mont sans Nom, Auberive
Verdun
August 20 — Cumieres, Bois des Corbeaux, Forges Regnieville
1918
Lorraine
January 8 — Flirey
the Somme
April 26 — Villers-Bretonneux, Bois de Hangard
the Aisne
May 30 — Vauxbuin, Chazelle
June 12 — Ambleny
July 18 to 20 — Dommiers Chaudum
September 2 to 8 — Terny-Sorny, Moulin de Laffaux, Allemant
November 11 — Victory
November 17 — Entered Chateau-Salins © 2013, John M. Shea

Aux Morts de la Division Marocaine

Sans Peur Sans Pitié

A la mémoire

du Colonel Pein, Ct. de la 1re Brigade. du Colonel Cros, Ct. de la 2me Brigade

des Officiers, S/Officiers et Soldats de la Don Marocaine

Tombé ici glorieusement les 9, 10, & 11 Mai 1915

Le 9 Mai 1915 les Régiments de la Don Morocaine s'elancant a 10 Hres des tranchées de Berthonval et brisant de haute lutte la résistance des Allemands atteignirent d'un bond la cote 140, leur objectif, rompant pour la premiere fois le front ennemi



To the Dead of the Moroccan Division

Fearless Pitiless

To the Memory

of Colonel Pein, Commandant of the 1st Brigade, of Colonel Cros, Commandant of the 2nd Brigade,

of the Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Soldiers of the Moroccan Division

Gloriously fell here May 9, 10, & 11 1915

On May 9 1915 the Regiments of the Moroccan Division, darting at 10:00 hours from the Berthonval trenches, and breaking the resistance of the Germans in a hard-fought struggle, reached Hill 140, their object, breaking the enemy's front for the first time.

Other views: Detail, Left Side, Right Side

Sunday, June 6, 1915

"Daybreak. The sun rises, indifferent to the field of horror. Everywhere we see nothing but cadavers and shapeless human remains, pasturage for the rats which were more courageous than the crows, whose fear kept them away. . . .

But what is this? Has Hell opened up under our feet? Are we right at the rim of a furious volcano? The trench is filled with flames, with sparks, with bitter smoke, the air is unbreathable. I hear hissing, crackling, and alas, yes, the cries of pain. Sargeant Vergès has scorched eyes. At my feet two miserable creatures are rolling on the ground, their clothes, their hands, their faces on fire, like human torches. And in the trench everything is on fire — blankets, tent cloths, sandbags. The Germans had just fired some sort of incendiary liquid on us."

Quotation Context

French infantry Corporal Louis Barthas documented his war experiences in a series of notebooks. On June 6, 1915 he was fighting in the Second Battle of Artois when he turned into a trench that had just been subjected to a flamethrower attack, a weapon first used in February, 1915 by the Germans. Barthas remained in the same trench as two man burned in the attack, he and his men expecting the two to die shortly. One died the same night, the other lingered, sometimes delirious, before being taken to a first-aid station the next day.

Source

Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, pp. 77 & 80, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014

Tags

1915-06-06, 1915, June, flamethrower