Mourmelon-le-Grand


Mourmelon-le-Grand is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.

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 and opened August 30, 1857 during the Second French Empire.
The Russian Expeditionary Force in 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.
It was also selected to host the shooting events for the 1924 Summer Olympics in neighbouring Paris
In October 1944 during WWII it served as Army quarters for the 501st 101st Airborne division recovering from the fights in the South of Holland, waiting and training the new replacements for the battles to come. Just before the Battle of Bastogne, where they play an important part in the outcome.