German officers with Gaede Helmets, gas-masks, respirators and hand-grenades posing for a photograph in the Vosges mountains, Winter 1915.

German officers with Gaede Helmets, gas-masks, respirators and hand-grenades posing for a photograph in the Vosges mountains, Winter 1915.

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First photograph belonging to 'Wooway1' on Flickr and colourised by In Colore Veritas 

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Today 109 years ago, on July 20, 1915, the Battle of Le Linge began in the Vosges mountains on the Western Front.

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Le Linge (Lignekopf in German) and its neighboring Collet du Linge, Shratzmännelé, Barrenkopf and Kleinkopf were all ridges in the Vosges mountains in Alsace on the French-German border, held by the French by the end of 1914.

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In February 1915 the Germans launched an offensive for the ridges and captured them, including Le Linge. Afterwards they consolidated and fortified their defenses. French Commander-in-Chief Joffre sought to launch an invasion of Germany in Alsace, and on June 15, 1915, the French attacked further south at Münster, advancing 5 km by June 19 before being halted at Le Linge.

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Joffre decided to call off this offensive and prepare for a major one targeting Le Linge instead. On July 20, 1915, the French Chasseurs Alpins (Mountain Hunters) attacked the German positions at Le Linge and the neighboring Shratzmännelé.

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Attacking uphill through dense woods, the French were initially repulsed with high losses, but a renewed attack on July 26 captured the Linge and the Collet du Linge.

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On July 27, the German artillery bombarded Le Linge, inflicting heavy casualties on the French Chasseurs Alpin defenders. The German counter-attacks on Le Linge which followed were bloody and failed, but a French attack on the Shratzmännelé and at Barrenkopf was also repulsed.

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On August 4, following an artillery bombardment of 40,000 shells along just a 3 km front, the Germans attacked again and recaptured Le Linge, and repulsed costly French counter-attacks. After an artillery bombardment the French finally captured the Shratzmännelé and Barrenkopf on August 22, though Le Linge stayed under German control.