110 years ago today, German soldiers walked in to and captured the ‘jewel in France’s defensive crown’, Fort Douaumont.
Largely, it was a major propaganda coup for the Germans, but would cost an awful lot of French blood to try and recapture it over the next 8 mos.
#Verdun110 #FWW #WW1 #gwg #SGWT
Killed on this day, 110 years ago: Lt-Col Emile Driant.
Soldier, politician, author.
Frequently warned France’s high command about the vulnerability of the #Verdun defences and reprimanded for his efforts.
Finally listened to when it was too late.
#Verdun110 #FWW #WW1 #gwg #SGWT
“It was all over in a second. He had hardly time to realise that he had been hit, that the pain was hideous, that he was done for.”
- Jules Romains, ‘Verdun’
#Verdun110 #FWW #WW1 #gwg #SGWT
#Verdun110 #1GM Le grand tourniquet. A chaque corps d'Armée, son passage, sa période verdunoise.
Rive gauche, rive droite, les pertes sont nombreuses.
Today is the 110th anniversary of the Battle of #Verdun in 1916. I took this photo one morning at Cote 304 in 2016: Ancient Sunlight peaking through the dark forest, lighting the crumbling trenches of the Great War landscape below. #Verdun110
7:15am
German bombardment begins.
The Battle of Verdun starts.
~300 days of fighting.
~70% of the French Army rotated through
16,142 French soldiers lie at Douaumont
130,000 French and German in the Ossuary
“One of the saddest places I know.” Richard Holmes ✍️
#Verdun110
1,225 pieces of artillery, including the dreaded 420mm howitzers.
2.5 million shells, transported by 1,300 ammunition trains.
The German Imperial Army putting in an immense effort for tomorrow 110 years ago.
#verdun110
Source: Olaf Jessen Verdun 1916
@thegreatwargroup.bsky.social
420,000 stick hand grenades
18,000 wire cutters
24,000 infantry protective shields
560,000 signal flares
52,500 spades
52,500 pick axes
21,000 axes
1,100 tons of barbed wire
55 tons of connecting wire
14,000 chevaux de frise
105,000 m³ of boards and planks
2.1m sandbags
...
#verdun110
