The struggle was a fierce one, and hand-to-hand fighting frequent. Finally the constant inflow of German reserves forced back the French who, on May 29, had to abandon the position, to which the enemy afterwards clung for four months. On October 1 the Germans, beaten on the previous evening by the French 5th Army on the high ground between the Aisne and Rheims, was forced to retreat. The French regained possession of Merfy and St. Thierry, and advanced as far as the outskirts of the Fort of St. Thierry, which, with Thil and Villers-Franqueux, Hermonville, Courcy and Cormicy, fell into their hands in the course of the next few days (_see map above_).
[Illustration: DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE CANAL, NEAR LE GODAT]
_Pass straight through Cormicy, leaving the church on the left. Take G.C. 32 to the Rheims-Laon road (N. 44), where turn to the right. Rather less than a mile further on, near the_ Maison Blanche, _is a road leading to_ =Godat Farm=. _Cars can only go as far as the canal_, the destroyed bridge (_photo above_) not having yet been rebuilt. The lock-keeper's house _seen in the photograph below_ was completely destroyed.
[Illustration: THE LOCK-KEEPER'S HOUSE AT LE GODAT (_Now destroyed._)]
_Cross the canal on foot to reach Godat Farm, situated about 300 yards further on._
=Le Godat=, formerly a small fief with a castle and chapel (destroyed during the Revolution in 1793), was merely a farm and a plain country house when the war broke out. By reason of its position, north of the Aisne Canal, this bridgehead was, throughout the war, one of the most fiercely disputed points in the sector north-west of Rheims, even during the period of trench-warfare. At the time of the French offensive of April, 1917, the 44th Infantry Regiment advanced beyond Le Godat, where the French held their ground until the powerful German push of May 27, 1918.
The farm is now a mere heap of ruins. Shelters still exist in the basements.
_Return to the National Road, and turn to the left._
_The road crosses_ numerous boyaux which provided access to the front-line trenches down the hill on the right.
_Follow the National Road to_ =Chauffour Farm= (in ruins), _where take the road on the left to_ =Loivre=.