Mourmelon-le-Grand () 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

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nether ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in north-eastern France.

Population

Camp de Châlons

The ''camp de Châlons'', also known as ''camp de Mourmelon'', is a military camp of circa 10,000 hectares near Mourmelon-le-Grand. It was created at the behest of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and opened August 30, 1857 during the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930 ...

. The

Russian Expeditionary Force in France The Russian Expeditionary Force EF(french: Corps Expéditionnaire Russe en France, russian: Экспедиционный корпус Русской армии во Франции и Греции) was a World War I military force sent to France ...

was stationed here in September 1916. The camp is used for military manoeuvres, and cavalry training, along with the neighbouring 2,500 hectare large

Camp de Moronvilliers In 1911, the small village of Moronvilliers had 86 inhabitants. thumb On 2 September 1914, in the first month of World War I, the village, only 15 kilometers north-east from Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most popul ...

. It was also selected to host the

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles c ...

events for the 1924 Summer Olympics in neighbouring

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, it served as the quarters for the US Army's 501st Infantry Regiment,

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

- who was recovering from the fighting in Holland and waiting on replacements. The regiment would soon play a crucial role in the

Battle of Bastogne The siege of Bastogne () was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to re ...

References

Mourmelonlegrand {{Marne-geo-stub

Population

Camp de Châlons

See also

References