“ The eyes of the country are on you. You belong to those of whom it will be said: ‘They barred the road to Verdun.’ ”
[Pg 14]
THE GERMAN GENERAL ATTACK ON BOTH BANKS OF THE MEUSE. The Central Attack which was to capture Verdun and force back the French wings failed. The Germans, caught on the flank by French artillery posted on the left bank of the Meuse, attacked alternately on both sides of the river. The struggle continued desperately at Mort-Homme, Hill 304, Cumières, Fleury, and as far as the approaches of Souville Fort—extreme limit of the German Advance in June, 1916. ”

“ The granitic soil, carpeted with yellow-gorse and shaded with the deep green of countless oaks, has bred a hardy race of sailors and fishermen, who combine strange pagan superstitions with the Roman faith. In historic and pre-historic memories, it is one of the richest lands in the world. ”

“ Corbeaux Wood.—The plateaux dominated by the two Mort-Homme Hills are cut into on the north of the high road by a ravine bordered by Corbeaux Wood. This wood offers favourable cover for the massing of attacking troops. It was by this fiercely disputed route that the enemy tried to reach Hill 295. On March 6th the French line was brought back in front of the wood. On the 7th the enemy, after bombarding it, succeeded in getting a footing there, but on the following day the 92nd Infantry Regiment, in a magnificent counter-attack, retook the wood in twenty minutes. ”

“ In 1917 the sector was often the scene of violent combats, especially on January 25th, and March 18th, 20th and 29th. After many efforts and at heavy cost the Germans succeeded in occupying Hill 265 and the crest of Hill 295, where they organised formidable defences, including deep shell-proof tunnels.
On August 20th, 1917, during the French attack along the entire Verdun front, the 31st D.I. carried all the German defences and recaptured the Mort-Homme and its tunnels, including the one known as the “Crown-Prince,” which was “cleaned out” by the Foreign Legion. ”

“ The huge numbers of troops which the Germans were compelled to engage brings out very clearly the immensity of their effort and the different phases of the struggle.
The first and shortest phase (February 21st–March 1st) was that of the surprise attack by a large concentration of specially trained troops.
To the six German divisions which had been holding the Verdun sector since the Battle of the Marne, were added nine full divisions, rested and trained for attack. ”

“ It was there that the Germans sought to outflank the fort on the west to reach Souville, but they were held in check during May. From June, 1916, these woods were subjected to bombardments of incredible intensity. A powerful German attack on June 23rd failed, but another on July 12th enabled the Germans to get a footing in Fumin Wood. In August and September frequent enemy attacks gave them temporary local gains. On October 24th and 25th, and again at the end of the month, French counter-attacks captured the enemy strongholds and cleared the woods completely. ”

“ In the afternoon a desperate battle was engaged on the positions covering the redoubtable ridge of Montfaucon, the most important enemy observation-post in the region of Verdun. The Americans wisely turned the ridge on the right, advancing as far as Septsarges. By evening Montfaucon was surrounded. The advance, now slower, continued on the 27th and 28th, despite German counter-attacks. To the west of Montfaucon, Ivoiry and Epinouville were captured, and thus the ridge fell. The Americans took 8,000 prisoners and 100 guns. ”

“ Long live France!” Nevertheless, the fort continued to hold out and refused to surrender. On the night of the 6th reinforcements tried to relieve it and reached the moat of the counter-scarp, but after losing nearly all their officers they were compelled to fall back. The Germans gained a footing in the ruins of the superstructure, and eventually succeeded in driving the French out of the casemates by lowering baskets of grenades with retarded fuses and by using liquid fire and poison gas. Driven back into the underground passages, the French continued the fight with grenades and bayonets. ”

“ During the late War, the Citadelle was often a target for the German heavy guns, but its deep underground vaults provided secure shelter for the population before the general evacuation, as also for the public services and reinforcements. Most of the regiments which took part in the battles of 1916 passed through the Citadelle.
It was in one of the casemates that the President of France, M. Poincaré, handed to the Municipal Authorities of Verdun, on September 13th, 1916, the decorations conferred on that City by the Chiefs of State of the Allied countries (see p. 30) . ”

“ From the 24th to the 26th the Germans tried in vain to advance. On June 1st they engaged two and a half divisions before they were able to occupy the greater part of Caillette Wood. Moreover, their success was only temporary, for on October 24th the French Division of General Passaga (“La Gauloise”) drove them definitely out of Caillette Wood and partly from that of Hardaumont. Nearly two enemy divisions were put out of action and seventeen field guns, twenty-five heavy guns, including two of long range, and numerous trench mortars were captured. ”

“ On the 10th, Corbeaux Wood was taken by the Germans and the French withdrew to the line Béthincourt, Mort-Homme, south of Corbeaux and Cumières Wood and Cumières village. The battle continued in the village and in front of Vaux Fort, strongly held by the French. The enemy temporarily ceased his massed attacks. In reality their offensive had failed, while their losses in men and munitions had been exceptionally heavy. On March 10th Joffre was able to say to the soldiers of Verdun: “For three weeks you have withstood the most formidable attack which the enemy has yet made. ”

“ Wide front attacks gave place to local actions, short, violent and limited in scope. On March 14th the Germans captured Hill 265, forming the western portion of the Mort-Homme position, from the 75th French Brigade, whose commander Colonel Garçon, fell, rifle in hand, but they failed to take the eastern part, Hill 295. On the 20th, Avocourt and Malancourt Woods fell to the Bavarians, and after a fierce struggle the village of Malancourt was lost on March 31st, Haucourt on April 5th, and Béthincourt on April 8th. ”

“ At the beginning of the battle, the first French lines were on the left bank, from Avocourt Wood to Forges, via the slopes in front of Malancourt and Béthincourt; on the right bank, from Brabant-sur-Meuse to Fromézey, via Haumont, Haumont Wood, Caures Wood, La Ville Wood, Herbébois, Ornes and Maucourt. On the morning of February 21st and simultaneously with a bombardment of the entire French front, the enemy began the systematic shelling of Verdun, whose last residents were evacuated on the 25th at noon. ”

“ On the 23rd, after an uninterrupted bombardment, begun the day before, the Germans launched their greatest attack. Seventeen regiments were hurled simultaneously against the Thiaumont—Fleury—Souville front, resulting in the capture of the Thiaumont redoubt and the gaining of a footing in the village of Fleury, but failing to take the fort of Souville. [Pg 19] Froide-Terre Hill, momentarily invaded, was cleared of the enemy by a grenade and bayonet attack. ”

“ In 1914, during the battle of the Marne, the army under General Sarrail, resting on Verdun, formed the pivot for Marshal Joffre’s manœuvre (see the Michelin Guide: “The Battle of the Marne,” part III.,“The Revigny Pass”) .
VERDUN—PIVOT OF THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE.
After the battle of the Marne, the Crown Prince established his positions of resistance north of the fortress, on the line Malancourt—Brabant—Haumont—Maucourt. On September 15th, General Sarrail slipped in from this side the 6th C.A. and 72nd R.D., which were sent beyond the advance forts. ”

“ Talou Hill, the villages of Champ, Neuville and Champneuville, Hill 344, parts of Fosses Wood, Chaume Wood and Mormont Farm, on the right bank, were captured by the French, who, the next day, also took Samogneux and Regnéville. Hill 304, which had thus far resisted, was likewise captured. On the 26th a further attack from Mormont Redoubt to Chaume Wood brought the French to the southern outskirts of Beaumont. From the 20th to the 26th August the captures include 9,500 prisoners, thirty guns, 100 trench mortars and 242 machine-guns. ”

“ By sacrificing men and material on a lavish scale the enemy counted on rapidly overcoming all obstacles, level the French trenches, crush the centres of resistance under a deluge of 17-inch, 15-inch and 12-inch shells, isolate them with barrage fire from 8-inch guns and poison-gas shells, [Pg 9] and occupy the destroyed positions—such were to be the German tactics. ”

“ Motor-cars can go as far as the top of Hill 295 or Mort-Homme, where it is necessary to turn the car round and return to Chattancourt, as the road is cut near Béthincourt by the Forges stream, which has entirely flooded the lower part of the village. ”

“ On the 24th–25th the French reoccupied the eastern part of the village. On the 27th two battalions of the French 241st line regiment entered Fleury, but were soon driven out, after which they clung to the southern and western parts. The enemy bombardment of July 9th–10th levelled the village. On the 11th, picked German troops attacked and outflanked it on the south. [Pg 71] French counter-attacks succeeded on the following days in driving the Germans back somewhat, 800 prisoners being taken in ten days. ”

“ From May 4th to 24th the Germans attacked furiously around Mort-Homme. On the 4th they captured the northern slopes of Hill 304, where desperate combats took place on the 5th and 6th. By a powerful attack on the 7th they forced the French to abandon the crest of Hill 304, which, however, they were unable to occupy on account of the violence of the bombardment. ”

“ When the Saxon troops, about 10,000 in number, appeared to the east of the town, the garrison of the latter comprised only 1,500 regular troops, including fifty artillerymen, 2,000 “mobiles” (newly levied men) and 1,400 men of the National Sedentary Guard, while its armament consisted of twenty mortars, two howitzers and ninety-six guns, of which only forty-six were rifled. Under the command of General Guérin de Waldersbach, seconded by General Marmier, this small garrison repulsed an attack on August 24th, and refused to surrender. ”

“ In this ebook the image of each of these maps has a double border and is followed by larger images of its left-hand and right-hand pages. If you are reading the HTML version of this book then clicking on a two-page map will open a larger image of it. In the source book some photographs are placed side by side on opposing pages to form a panorama. In this ebook they are shown side by side in a single figure so you can see the panoramic view. Each of these photographs is also shown on its own so that some details that are obscure in the panorama figure can be seen more easily. ”

“ In 1917, hard fighting continued in this region with varying fortune. Powerful German attacks gave the enemy a little ground between Avocourt and Hill 304, and in Avocourt Wood. On August 20th, the French 25th D.I. drove the enemy from the S. part of the wood, advancing 1,200 yards and capturing 750 prisoners, thirty machine guns and ten trench mortars. ”

“ From the 19th to the 22nd French heavy guns bombarded the fort, the explosion of a shell on the 20th causing hundreds of victims. To hamper the enemy Intelligence Service six of their observation balloons were destroyed by a French flying squadron on the morning of the 22nd. ”

“ THE SOUTH GALLERY OF THE CLOISTER BEFORE THE WAR Its present state is shown in the previous photograph
[Pg 52]
On leaving the Cathedral, the tourist arrives almost immediately at the small Place Châtel, the highest point of the town. Take, the Rue Châtel to the Châtel Gate.
CHÂTEL GATE. BEHIND THE CATHEDRAL.
From the ancient “Fermeté” rampart, only this machicolated gate (formerly called “Champenoise”) is visible near the small “Place Châtel.”
On leaving the Châtel Gate, go down the Rue des Hauts Fins to the corner of the Rue Montgaud: Blockhouse for four machine-guns to defend the town. ”

“ On the 14th, after a five-hours bombardment with shells of every kind and size, sometimes at the rate of 120 a minute, the enemy’s Infantry attack on Mort-Homme began. The Germans took and kept Hill 265, but the French Infantry and Zouaves, after a magnificent defence, held their ground on Hill 295—the key to the entire position—and in night counter-attacks drove back the assailants to the N.W. counter-slopes. ”

“ Their three regiments, on March 20th to 22nd, lost from fifty to sixty per cent. of their effective strength, without gain. On April 9th, before Hill 287, the first German attacking wave succeeded in crossing the French first-line trench, practically destroyed by bombardment. They were running towards the French supporting trench when the survivors of the front-line trench, coming out of their shelters in the upheaved ground among the dead, exterminated them to the last man. ”

“ Veritable bastion, overlooking the Beaumont road and flanking the entire German line, the village could only be captured by surprise, and the latter was complete. German officers were taken in their shelters while dressing. The attack had not been expected before noon or later than 2 p.m. The village was conquered in ten minutes, and Poivre Hill in seven minutes, in a single rush.
From Bras continue northwards to Vacherauville and Samogneux, where the first German attacks at the beginning of the battle of Verdun took place, (see Itinerary p. 57.) ”