$135.00 CAD
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4 photos postcards with views of German trenches near of Ban-de-Sapt in the Vosges department, North Eastern France.
One photo of German soldiers outside reinforced bunker. Wooden post with unit information ‘1c….”
All are by Bavarian photographer Eduard Ertl. Stamped on back ‘Eduard Ertl, Bodenmais, Bayr. Wald. ‘
One is cut-down, all have some German text on back.
When the war broke out on August 3, 1914, the French troops stationed in the province were all situated 6.5 miles away from the border while the German troops moved forward and seized the crest marking the boundary between annexed Alsace and France. After a victorious but brief offensive on Mulhouse, the French moved backwards and the German armies took the passes of the Vosges from Mont Donon to the Bonhomme Pass, went down into the Vosges valleys and went on beyond Saint-Die, coming to within 12 miles of Epinal at the beginning of September 1914. Yet, most of the lost ground was regained at the time of the Marne victory. Very hard fighting still occurred in the Vosges all through the year 1915, especially around Ban-de-Sapt (near Saint-Die) between June 22 and July 8, 1915.
www.worldwar1.com/dbc/frapelle.htm
