1914-1918 Douaumont, Fort de Vaux, Voie Sacree

1916 : the war is stagnant. Determined to terminate it, the Germans hope to attract the major part of the French troops in Verdun. The atrocious battle starts on February 21, 1916 at dawn, under a continuous flood of fire and iron : 300 days and 300 nights, 26 000 000 shells, 300 000 missing soldiers. On February 25, the Germans seize the Fort of Douaumont and a few months later the Fort of Vaux. From March to July 1916 Verdun is in hell. The poilus [1] in the trenches are tortured by gas, mud, fear and cold, bodies shredded, martyrized, broken. However, the French regain land and in December 1916 horror comes to an end.

In devastated Douaumont, the Ossuary is erected from 1920 to 1932. Its 46 meters high tower has the shape of a sword stuck deep down in the earth [2] [3]. Inside the cloister 18 cells shelter each 2 granite tombs. Each tomb represents a precise section of the battlefield. Under these tombs, burial vaults contain the bones of 130 000 unidentified soldiers. In front of this sanctuary, the Douaumont appalling military cemetery aligns more than 16 000 tombs and as many rose trees [4] [5].

Vaux remains a symbol of heroism. The atmosphere there is heavy, absorbing, terrifying. The tour of the Fort, outside and inside, blockhouses, guns, dormitories [6] [7] [8], gives rise to a sort of distress that becomes unbearable when walking through the martyr villages (9 were totally destroyed among which Fleury sous Douaumont, only memorial chapels remain). The Tranchee des Baionnettes has not been photographed. (this entrenched position was part of the terrain which the Germans wanted to take before launching their main offensive. The artillery fire on the position annihilated the 137th Regiment)

In the heart of the Battle of Verdun in 1916 one and only one road is still open to supply the French troops : it links Bar le Duc to Verdun [9]. An uninterrupted flow of trucks (every fifteen seconds) carry equipment, fresh troops, reinforcements. Broken, bumpy, muddy, constantly fixed, the road remains open. Renamed Holy Road (la Voie Sacree), it is a National Monument. Its milestones bear the helmet of a poilu and the crown of martyrdom [10] [11]. The memorial was erected at Moulin Brule point [12].

The Great War lasted four years. Eight million men died, from every nationality and background : Europe, North America, Commonwealth nations and colonised peoples : India, Indochina and Africa.

See also : Vauquois Verdun and : Haute-Chevauchee - Kaiser Tunnel

More information :

» Related Escapades

Marville and the Saint-Hilaire graveyard
Marville (civil architecture of the 16 and 17 th centuries) and its Saint-Hilaire graveyard (15 to 18th c. tombstones) stand 12 km South-East of Montmedy.

» Useful websites

» » Search also Francerama directory