96th Anniversary of Verdun (1 Viewer)

Rob

Rob

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Ninety six years ago today one of the most infamous battles in history began at Verdun, with staggering artillery barrages that obliterated whole areas of trenches and all those within.The battle, that became known as the ' mincing machine' as it chewed up regiment after regiment of French and German troops, went on to claim around 700,000 casualties of which over 260,000 were killed. The German threat to 'Bleed France white' did not happen as they suffered only slightly less casualties than France did. The phrase ' They shall not pass ' was hard earned in a manner rarely equalled in military history. There are still around 100,000 soldiers missing from both sides and today lie in fields around the area.

We have now lost all our WW1 veterans as we approach a four year period in which there will be many many such anniversaries, just thought I'd flag this one as a total WW1 nut.

Rob
 
Rob...

Thats why even though it had far far less casualties than many other wars it is, and always will be, the great war. As you say, these important anniversaries will come thick and fast in the coming months and years
Mitch
 
Slaughter on a unprecedented scale, as Sherman said ''War is hell". I would suggest that Verdun was a living hell for Frenchmen and Germans alike. As Mitch has said it was and should still be refered to as the ''Great War". As Rob I am also a Great war ''nut'', a period of history that has personal meaning as I have a Grandfather and two uncles buried in France and Belgium. Just think in two years it will one hundred years ago that the war started.
Wayne.imagesCADSQRBO.jpgimagesCAKM1ZUA.jpgimagesCAXRTKIM.jpg
 
The sacrifices made by that generation of young men, the flower of which lie buried under the fields of Flanders, are unparalleled in human history. May those 260,000 brave souls rest in peace.
 
Very sobering to see the skulls and bones through the windows of the mausoleum shown below. Chris
 
hi Guys,

A while back I had the great fortune to take a group of Officers there for a Terrain Walk. The battlefield is a sobering place and many of the areas off the beaten path are still much worse for the wear and look like the fighting stopped only a few years ago. From a military perspective the terrain was totally shredded by the amount of artillery and mines they employed and is still a mess today. Time hasnt undone all the damage yet. I will also tell you that many of the Officers on this tour were shocked by they way it looked and by the human remains we found in several areas. They have collection points through out the site for these so they may be brought to the ossuaire. There was also a lot of unexploded ordinance laying around so if you go there dont mess around off the trails. The Forts are amazing sites to see as well so if you have an opportunity I highly recommend a visit.

Dave
 
I can't look at the photos of the Ossuaire without dread. The architecture looks factory like and forbidding !

ossuaire-douaumont-verdun-ossuaire-douaumont-longueur-img.jpg
 
Well said Dave, worth remembering that this ordinance still claims the lives of the public and bomb disposal experts alike almost a hundred years on from this conflict. Trouble with it is that although its easy for the experts to identify type of shell, it is almost impossible just by looking at them to know which shells are ' duds' and simply will not go off and which are live and landed in deep mud and failed to explode, and after all these years just waiting for a bump or knock to go off. I remember the very first time myself and my wife went to the Somme we pulled up onto a verge near Lochnagar crater, there was a bump as we stopped. We had actually driven over one of these shells hidden in long grass!{eek3} Thank the Lord it must have been a dud!. You see them piled up everywhere and several times French or Belgian farmers have invited us into their yards to show us piles of Grenades and shells etc.

Another great danger is that some of these are now leaking gas, a lung full of that miles from the nearest hospital is not something you want to experience! {eek3}

Rob




DMNamiot said:
hi Guys,

A while back I had the great fortune to take a group of Officers there for a Terrain Walk. The battlefield is a sobering place and many of the areas off the beaten path are still much worse for the wear and look like the fighting stopped only a few years ago. From a military perspective the terrain was totally shredded by the amount of artillery and mines they employed and is still a mess today. Time hasnt undone all the damage yet. I will also tell you that many of the Officers on this tour were shocked by they way it looked and by the human remains we found in several areas. They have collection points through out the site for these so they may be brought to the ossuaire. There was also a lot of unexploded ordinance laying around so if you go there dont mess around off the trails. The Forts are amazing sites to see as well so if you have an opportunity I highly recommend a visit.

Dave
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Rob said:
..........I remember the very first time myself and my wife went to the Somme we pulled up onto a verge near Lochnagar crater, there was a bump as we stopped. We had actually driven over one of these shells hidden in long grass!{eek3} Thank the Lord it must have been a dud!. ..........
Rob
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Interesting Rob, I looked it up.

http://www.lochnagarcrater.org/
 
Scott said:
I can't look at the photos of the Ossuaire without dread. The architecture looks factory like and forbidding !


I drove and walked around the Verdun battlefield a few years ago - it was very, very cold at the time, although for a Brisbane boy who didn't see snow until he was twenty that may mean something different to me than to those of you used to real winters.

I had read previous to my forays into battlefield tourism that WW1 cemeteries almost reflect national experience, and after having visited so many, what seemed like a throwaway line at the time makes some sense.

The German cemeteries are stark and at least to an amateur looked very Tuetonic (or what I would think Tuetonic would look like, which is of course, a very different thing) with heavy dark rock (I'm thinking here of Langmark). It seemed to scream that the Germans were buried rather reluctantly in an alien land. The British Cemeteries are quite magnificent - ordered, manicured symbols of sacrifice and imperial bonds. The French cemeteries looked like a sea of white crosses and I am inclined to agree with the writer who felt that they almost symbolised the enormity of French grief and incomprehension at the losses she had suffered. It seemed trite when I read it, but at Verdun it seemed to make sense.

It might interest people to know that because our fallen are buried so far from home, there are more mounuments in Australia per particpant than in any other country - something like 1 for 30, with France second with 1 for 45. I read it in a book, so it must be true!
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We spend our Honeymoon at Gettysburg Remembrance Day. Some men get lucky.
 
Scott said:
Langemark cemetery. Thanks, I had to look.

View attachment 86542
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Thanks for posting this Scott. I've been to Langemark and Jack is quite right, German cemeteries do have a much darker sombre atmosphere than most allied ones. Lots of shade and dark granite. Also it always seems there are many more graves with four or five soldiers within rather than single graves.

Rob
 
Rob said:
Thanks for posting this Scott. I've been to Langemark and Jack is quite right, German cemeteries do have a much darker sombre atmosphere than most allied ones. Lots of shade and dark granite. Also it always seems there are many more graves with four or five soldiers within rather than single graves.

Rob
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Do Euopeans put Christmas/Holiday decorations on their soldier's graves?
 
I have seen some graves with poinsetta wreaths but, not anything that would make them look like the griswalds christmas home!!!!
Mitch
 
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