Molliens-au-Bois () is a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
in the
Somme department in
Hauts-de-France in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Geography
The commune is situated on the D30 and D78 road junction, some northeast of
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
.
History
During the
Battle of Amiens in August 1918, the divisional HQ of the U.S
33rd Infantry Division was set up in the chateau at Molliens-au-Bois. During that period, King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
went to the castle and awarded medals to
General Pershing and other troops. General Bell was the C.O of the division.
On the night of August 8–9, 1918, as three Battalions of
Doughboy
Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in ...
s from the 33rd U.S. Division were joining the Allied offensive during the
Battle of Amiens, American
war poet
A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...
Lieut.
John Allan Wyeth and Lieut. Thomas J. Cochrane were assigned to deliver sealed orders from Division HQ at Molliens-au-Bois to the Field Headquarters of all three Battalions engaged in the attack. The location of each Battalion was unknown, but they were believed to be along the northern bank of the
Somme River
The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France.
The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geolog ...
, near the village of
Sailly-le-Sec. Wyeth would later describe the mission in detail in his six interlinked "
Chipilly Ridge sonnets."
[B.J. Omanson (2019), ''Before the Clangor of the Gun: The First World War Poetry of John Allan Wyeth'', pages 36-49.]
Population
See also
*
Communes of the Somme department
References
External links
World War I and Molliens-au-Bois
World War I sites in France
Communes of Somme (department)
{{Amiens-geo-stub