“ The Germans proclaimed with loud shouts the offensive that was to bring peace. At the end of July the newspapers, which had been extolling the German attack, started talking about defending themselves.
The people of Metz knew that they were certain of becoming French again. And now the battle drew near the fortress. With feverish haste the Germans manned and equipped the forts. Were they to undergo the devastation of a bombardment? Already American shells were falling on the south suburb of the town. "At what price shall we buy our liberty" was the feeling in every heart. ”

“ In reality, in the course of eleven months, eighty-two and a half German divisions (nearly 1,800,000 men) , took part in the attacks on Verdun, which they had expected to crush in a few days with ten to twelve divisions. The contrast between this formidable effort and the meagre results obtained is striking, and is a splendid testimony to the courage and tenacity of the defenders.
This battle, by using up the best troops the Germans could put into the field, had serious strategic results for the enemy. ”

“ A fatigue party en route for the front line in the Salient of Marie-Thérèse.
Every day saw the same fearful struggle in the depths of the forest: the rival trenches were hardly 30 metres apart, sometimes only 10, protected merely by line of barbed wire which could not be carried far out nor fixed down. Barricades of sandbags were built up in the communicating trenches, which often ran through the enemy lines, to mark the boundary, and, behind these, men kept watch. On each side the temptation was too strong to pay a surprise visit to this "no man's land" and to spring into the opposite trench. ”

“ This view magnetised the chasseurs and foot soldiers. A soldier waved a flag on the muzzle of his rifle, while another man, standing on the crest, madly sounded the charge.
But Douaumont fort was the prime objective and upon a Colonial regiment from Morocco, the one that captured Fleury, fell the glorious task of taking it.
Croll's battalion was to surround the fort, then go beyond and cut it off while Nicolay's battalion was to attack and enter it, drive out the enemy and take up their position there. However, in the thick fog, this battalion inclined too much to the West and was late. ”

“ The fate of Verdun, even of France, depended on this road. Disintegrated by frost and thaw, and subjected to the wild rush of transport which in the space of five days raised the fighting strength of the Verdun army from 150,000 to 800,000, this road visibly sank. When General Pétain took command of the battle on February 25th, his first care was to ensure that this road was firm and sound. All along the road 16,000 men divided into gangs were engaged upon the task of repairing it. ”

“ The front line is a string of shell holes and in these holes, one by one, the men are crouched. He leans over one of these pits of darkness, for the night was (p. 21) pitch black, and in a low voice so that the enemy may not hear asks: "How goes it?". There is no movement but a voice replies in muffled tones as though telling a secret: "All well, Colonel, they shall not pass". He goes on his way continuing his rounds "How goes it?" and from each dark shell-hole rises the same secret whisper.
At the aid post of the fort or Tavannes, two wounded men and a runner leaving the "furnace". ”

“ Vauquois is one of the famous points of the Argonne battlefield. The Germans took it in September, 1914, during a strong attack on the French 3rd Army, in their efforts to encircle Verdun. The ridge concealed their operations to the north of Varennes, covered the re-victualling of the Argonne front by the Four-de-Paris road, and in addition furnished their artillery with an excellent observation post. The importance of the position caused the Germans to convert it into a veritable fortress. Caves were made in the rock and connected by underground passages. ”

“ Here often a mug of water meant life or death to a man. This encircled zone was bounded by a narrow stretch of ground which the opposing artilleries tried to spare because the infantry were fighting there hand to hand, with bombs, machine guns, and flame-throwers; every square yard of ground being hotly disputed.
"In front of Verdun, one day, the O. C. of a new force asks the officer of the chasseurs whom he has just relieved: "Where does our line run here?—I'll show you. There where you will find on the ground my dead chasseurs, lying side by side, that is where our line runs". ”

“ THE BATTLE OF VERDUN
The fortress of Verdun, the basin of Briey, the fortress of Metz.
During 1915, Germany was particularly on the defensive, in Artois (May-June) and in Champagne (September-October) . Her successes in Serbia and Russia had not brought the final victory which could only be won on the Western front.
Germany feared an allied offensive and was anxious over the continual increase of their forces in men and material. To forestall this offensive would cause it to miscarry and keep the initiative in her own hands. ”

“ In the centre, Fleury village was outflanked. A battalion of the Alpine corps who had succeeded in crossing Bazil ravine before the lifting of the French barrage, hurled themselves against Fleury and gained a footing in the western outskirts.
Before Souville, fortunately, the main German attack was broken by the 307th Brigade (Colonel Bordeaux) . The 407th Infantry Regiment held the line on the wooded slopes of Vaux-Chapitre. The right held on without (p. 79) giving way, but on the left contact was broken through a gap being made: this enabled the Germans to fall upon the defenders in rear. ”

“ The plan was as follows: to carry out on the left a mass movement (6th Army under Maunoury) to outflank, at the propitious moment, the German right, while a general attack or at any rate a desperate resistance should take place on all the rest of the front, from Paris to the Vosges.
The enemy's objective was first of all to wipe out the allied forces, the right having instructions to pursue the French left and the English army, before turning upon Paris which was to be seized like a plum ready to be picked! ”

“ The eyes of the country are on you. You belong to those of whom it will be said: "They barred the road to Verdun!"
From March 11th to April 9th the aspect of the battle changed. Wide front attacks gave place to local actions, short, violent and limited in scope. On March 14th the enemy captured, from the 75th Brigade, Hill 265 forming the Western portion of Mort-Homme, but they failed to take the Eastern portion. On the 20th, Avocourt and Malancourt Woods fell into the hands of the Bavarians, and after a fierce struggle the village of Malancourt was lost, and then Bethincourt on April 8th. ”

“ On the left bank, the hills fall sheer and are a natural defence: on the right, the hills are not so high but are strengthened by a line of forts. Likewise, by seeing them glistening in the distance, a better idea is gained of the many streams which encompass or pass through Metz: the Seille and the stream of Saint-Pierre, the stream of Noisseville, the stream of Châtel-Saint-Germain—the Moselle which the canal doubles and which is itself divided, forming in front of Metz the large island Saint-Symphorien, then, near the dam called Wadrineau, the smaller island of Saulcy. ”

“ On the summit of Mort-Homme, the 150th Infantry Regiment repulsed all the attacks of a determined enemy and held Hill 295.
In order to ensure a greater measure of security, orders were given to protect, by means of wire entanglements, the small defensive post at the top of the hill. As soon as night fell, a man volunteered to put the first entanglement in place and was immediately shot dead. A second man immediately took his dead comrade's place and carried on with the work. ”

“ The enemy too had fourteen railways at his disposal and Metz close at hand from which to bring up troops and supplies.
On the French side, there was only one broad gauge railway connecting Verdun, via Saint-Menehould, with the rest of France. This railway, too, was always liable to be cut off by shell-fire. (See illustration opposite) .
(p. 19) Geographical Sketch.
The table-lands of Verdun where the battle was to be fought are the last of the series of heights which form the top of the basin in which Paris lies. The Meuse which often overflows in winter divides them from North to South. ”

“ The village had been wiped out—only shell-holes, heaps of stones, bits of walls and shattered cellars remained. Throughout the next day the Germans shelled the defenders, (p. 148) who were armed only with rifles. Outflanked, the French were slowly forced back from shell-hole to shell-hole, fighting all the time, but their line of defence, organised under fire on the edge of the plateau, brought the enemy to a standstill. ”

“ The table-lands dominated by the two Mort-Homme hills are cut on the north by a ravine bounded at the bottom by Corbeaux wood. This was a favourable spot for the massing and launching of attacking troops to reach Hill 295. On March 6th, the French line was brought back to the northern edges of the wood. On the 7th, the enemy succeeded in getting a footing there, wild hand-to-hand fighting being accompanied with so much bloodshed that in many places the snow became red. On the 8th, the 92nd Infantry Regiment retook the wood in twenty minutes ”

“ No one can regard unaffectedly this battlefield, unique in the world, the furnace where for ten months millions of men fought face to face and nearly 700,000 laid down their lives.
To understand properly the battle which look place before Souville in June and July 1916, let us examine from left to right the vast panorama reproduced above.
On the left the horizon is bounded by the long Froideterre hill. (It was on this crest that the mortuary of Douaumont was afterwards built) . ”

“ Presently the order to charge with the bayonet was given: every man got ready. The leader rose and with a cry of "Advance" the Zouaves leapt forward. Disconcerted and wavering the Germans turned tail and raised their arms: those who resisted were run through and forty prisoners were sent back to the rear under charge of one man, for by this time Lieutenant Charles had only 7 Zouaves left. With his 7 Zouaves, 2 men and one sergeant of the 56th Lieutenant Charles held the recaptured line. In the middle of the night this handful of heroes was relieved by an entire battalion. ”

“ A furious attack was made along both banks by the Germans at noon on April 9th; on the left bank, five divisions were engaged, failing everywhere except at the Mort-Homme, where, despite the heroic resistance of the 42nd Division (Deville) , they gained a footing on the N. E. slopes; on the right bank, Poivre Hill was attacked but remained in French hands.
On the following day in his order of the day, General Pétain promulgated his famous message "Courage ... we shall beat them!" ”

“ The battalion commander, who had halted for a moment at the bottom of the moat to see the movement was correctly carried out, rejoins at this instant the head, and while paying homage to this sacred and unforgettable sight, he gives orders to attack the machine guns which start to fire from the bottom of the casemates. This first resistance is overcome, and everyone reaches his objective (the operation having been fully rehearsed before the attack) . All opposition from the turrets is likewise successively dealt with".
(p. 94) The moats of Douaumont fort in February, 1917. ”

“ On the crest of the hills, on the left, are the forts of Belleville, Saint-Michel and the Marceau barracks which were utterly destroyed. Here started the rear of the battlefield. Behind this crest the field kitchens of the units in the line were concealed. Every night, the fatigue parties, known as "cuistots", facing a thousand dangers started from here to take up food to the men in the line.
Follow the Route Nationale for about 6 km.; beyond the Cabaret Rouge Inn on the right, and the Valteline ravine on the left, the road ascends. ”

“ In front of Verdun, one day, a battalion commander being completely cut off sends twenty runners one after another, to the Colonel's headquarters. These runners are bound to follow a certain track to go and another to return. Not one comes back and on the next day he finds the bodies of all twenty, ten lying on the path there and ten on the path back. ”

“ Under an avalanche of heavy shells, which annihilated a large number of men in their dug-outs, the French gave ground, to avoid being overwhelmed or outflanked. The enemy patrols then crossed the second French line.
The reserves of the 5th Corps, 131st, 82nd, 89th Infantry Regiments and the 66th battalion of chasseurs were brought up along ravines infested with gas, to the counter-attack. Without artillery preparation, they deployed under heavy rifle fire and then proceeded to clear the forest at the point of the bayonet and retook part of the first position. ”