Private Tour WW1 Americans in Meuse Argonne Offensive 1918 (PRIVATE TOUR)

As you booked a Private tour, the driver guide will pick you up around 06:15 am at your hotel location in Paris.

You will travel aboard a comfortable and air-conditioning minivan (7 passengers max).

Expected time for being pickup at your hotel: From 06 :00 am till 06 :30 am

Due to new traffic rules in Paris which ban on the majority of vehicular traffic crossing the city center in 2022, Hotel Pick-up and Drop-off would be operated only in the following listed Paris districts: 75008, 75007, 75006, 75005, 75016, 75015 and 75014.

If your are staying in others Paris districts (instead of the listed ones above), the meeting point for the tour (pick-up and drop-off) will be done in front of the following adress:

LIDO DE PARIS 116 Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris

Enclosed a map of the new project regarding cars traffic in Paris for 2022.

This journey of one day trip in the Argonne forest in France will embarks you in the footsteps of the brave american soldiers who fought for our liberty so far away from their homelands.

Following the German retreat from the Marne River in July, Gen. Ferdinand Foch and the Allied high command designed a series of convergent and practically simultaneous offensives against the shaken German armies. One was a joint operation in the Meuse valley toward the Mézière and Sedan rail centre.

The Americans proceeded west of the Meuse River, the French west of the Argonne Forest. The Americans faced the most difficult natural obstacle, the dense Argonne Forest. Gen. John Pershing’s opening surprise attack advanced 5 miles (8 km) along the Meuse River but only 2 miles (3 km) in the difficult Argonne Forest sector.

Attack after attack edged deeper into the Germans’ defensive position. On the 11th day of the American offensive, the Germans recognized that they were outflanked and retreated to avoid capture. By October 31 the American forces had advanced 10 miles (16 km), the French had advanced 20 miles (32 km), and the Argonne had been cleared of German troops.

Hard fighting continued in the Meuse-Argonne sector during October. More than a million Americans participated in the battles, but the American Expeditionary Force’s casualties were heavy, and its largely inexperienced formations were becoming increasingly disorganized. On November 10 the Allies reached Sedan and cut the rail line there. The Armistice was declared (November 11) before a final offensive against Germany itself could begin.

In the small town of Binarville, a monument was unveiled Oct. 7 as a humble gesture of appreciation to 687 of these heroes best portrayed in the 2002 A&E movie "The Lost Battalion" starring Ricky Schroder.

The fame of the 77th, the "Statue of Liberty" Division, began in World War I with its Lost Battalion. On Oct. 2, 1918, Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 308th Infantry Regiment entered a narrow ravine in the Charlevaux area of France, just outside of the town of Binarville. That night the Germans quietly occupied the high ground around them, cutting the Lost Battalion off from its higher command. Five days later, 194 survivors walked out of the ravine and into legend.

The « U.S Meuse Argonne Offensive » were led by General of the Armies « John Pershing » (and Commander of The American Expeditionary Forces) from September 26, 1918 until the Armistice of November 11, 1918.

Impressives war memorial sites such as the «American Monument in Montfaucon » where traces of the war (ruined buildings and shell holes) are still visibles today.  

The Meuse-Argonne American Memorial (Montfaucon American Monument) is an American World War I memorial commemorating "the brilliant victory of the American First Army in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

This memorial was built by the American Battle Monuments Commission, a government agency in the USA which also maintains it. It has an overall height of 60 metres and is topped by a statue symbolising liberty. It stands opposite the front line occupied by the First American Army on the morning of 26 September 1918 when the attack was launched. Visitors can climb up to the observation platform (opening times are displayed outside) from which there is a magnificent view of almost all the ground captured during the offensive, the largest battle in American history at that time.

To end this very moving day and pay tribute to the Fallen soldiers, you will visit the beautiful and very well maintained «  Meuse Argonne American Cemetery » which is the largest US Military Cemetery in Europe with more than 14000 graves.

WW1 American Cemetery Within the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in France, which covers 130.5 acres, rest the largest number of our military dead in Europe, a total of 14,246. Most of those buried here lost their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I. The immense array of headstones rises in long regular rows upward beyond a wide central pool to the chapel that crowns the ridge. While walking along row upon row of white grave headstones, your historian guide will share with you stories of soldiers who fought in the vicinities and then were awarded for gallantry the highest miltary decorations.

The Chapel A beautiful bronze screen separates the chapel foyer from the interior, which is decorated with stained-glass windows portraying American unit insignia; behind the altar are flags of the principal Allied nations. On either side of the chapel are memorial loggias. One panel of the west loggia contains a map of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Inscribed on the remaining panels of both loggias are Tablets of the Missing with 954 names, including those from the U.S. expedition to northern Russia in 1918-1919. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

Visitor Centre A renovated, 1,600-square-foot center visitor center reopened in November 2016. Through interpretive exhibits that incorporate personal stories, photographs, films, and interactive displays, visitors will gain a better understanding of the critical importance of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive as it fits into the Great War.