la voie sacrée
It was cold, wet and miserable at Verdun. The Hymer is parked up opposite the national museum of Verdun with a range of field ordinance used in the battle. There were French pieces with date plates from 1884 making these 72 mm guns look rather modern. The number of casualties, men deployed, shells fired, bread baked, fuel oil used were simply staggering - and one really could walk round the whole battlefield today in a day. The museum explains all of that well in images, stories, official histories, artefacts and sound.
The ossuary containing the bones of unknown dead is being cleaned and re-faced. Architecturally it is a pretty grim monument within which gentlemen are requested to remove their hats. Some do not do this. There are photographs of Verdun survivors too - and examples from nearly all the allied armies.
We moved on a kilometre to fort Douaumont, once a vast complex of galleries, heavy gun emplacements and observatories. It was fought over back and forth with staggering loss of life and is completely shelled to bits. The shell craters are so obvious, the remaining barbed wire entanglements so hideous that it's a repelling sight.
Some defence systems appear medieval. Below, that has to be the 90-odd year old remains of shell fire on the steel
pancourt I think it was called. There was a squad of cadet soldiers visiting, laughing and joking, teasing the tourists. I guess they have the right to take it like that, being in line so to speak.
It was cold, wet and miserable at Verdun. The Hymer is parked up opposite the national museum of Verdun with a range of field ordinance used in the battle. There were French pieces with date plates from 1884 making these 72 mm guns look rather modern. The number of casualties, men deployed, shells fired, bread baked, fuel oil used were simply staggering - and one really could walk round the whole battlefield today in a day. The museum explains all of that well in images, stories, official histories, artefacts and sound.
The ossuary containing the bones of unknown dead is being cleaned and re-faced. Architecturally it is a pretty grim monument within which gentlemen are requested to remove their hats. Some do not do this. There are photographs of Verdun survivors too - and examples from nearly all the allied armies.
We moved on a kilometre to fort Douaumont, once a vast complex of galleries, heavy gun emplacements and observatories. It was fought over back and forth with staggering loss of life and is completely shelled to bits. The shell craters are so obvious, the remaining barbed wire entanglements so hideous that it's a repelling sight.
Some defence systems appear medieval. Below, that has to be the 90-odd year old remains of shell fire on the steel pancourt I think it was called. There was a squad of cadet soldiers visiting, laughing and joking, teasing the tourists. I guess they have the right to take it like that, being in line so to speak.
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