Germans take Mézières
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Western Front
- Date:
- 27 August 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
On 27 August 1914, according to the British chronicle of the war, German troops occupied Mézières, an old fortress town on the Meuse in the French Ardennes. Today Mézières and neighbouring Charleville form a single town, Charleville-Mézières. Local French sources usually give 29 August as the beginning of the occupation of both towns.
After the defeat in the Battle of the Ardennes, the French 4th Army withdrew behind the Meuse and blew up most of the bridges. The Germans nevertheless forced the river in several places, and there was heavy fighting in the area of Mézières. The nearby Fort des Ayvelles, which covered Mézières from the south, ceased resistance after being shelled by German artillery on 26 and 27 August, and the Germans entered it on 29 August. By then the French were already conducting a general retreat to the south.
Mézières remained in German hands until November 1918. Because of its convenient railway connections and its position in the middle of the Western Front, the German Supreme Army Command was moved here at the end of September 1914. Emperor Wilhelm II also lived here.
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Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
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