During the general mobilization of 2 August 1914, most of the active alpine hunter battalions were maneuvering in the Alps. But Italy, remaining neutral, on 8 August immediately embarked for the Vosges. They enter the Rhine plain, before being pushed back to the border by a violent German counterattack. They then entrenched themselves on the crest of the Vosges.
Reinforced by their reserve battalions, they then defend Lorraine between the end of August and the beginning of September. Some battalions of alpine hunters were even sent to the Somme, the Marne or the North during the “race to the sea”, in September-October 1914.
Lingekopf, in the Vosges, will remain the sinister tomb of the hunters
But it is the year 1915 which is the most terrible year for our Savoyard Alps ….
