Trenches, Fortifications & Bones of Dead Soldiers - Discovering the horrors of WW1

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The girls were studying WW1 in school and Kee was really fascinated that she was going to see the trenches and forts that were used in the war. Excitement was replaced by sadness as we relived the horrors of the war. The fortifications were impressive, but we could only see the parts of them that were above the ground - and for me that was not enough. I wanted to go inside, but Ben said it was not allowed and besides now with the snow it was just too dangerous😞
I was really disappointed! But Ben said there was a fort that was turned into a musuem and he would take us there so we could get an impression of what it was like inside the fort - but no such luck - the fort/museum was closed due to the bad weather. More disappointment. I really wanted to go inside the fort and now there was no way cos the weather did not seem likely to clear up by tomorrow!!! The graves of the soldiers that died in WW1 brought tears to all our eyes and then to see the bones was even more heart wrenching.
Our last stop before heading back, was a quaint little church in which I found a peace that I had not found in any of the other churches and cathedrals I had visited thus far in Europe.

Tomorrow we leave for Luxembourgh. The girls were not happy. They wanted to stay longer with the Agostinis but I, as usual, wanted to stick to the itinerary and move on - but of course Ben had other plans and wanted us to stay an extra day. He said there was no way we were coming all the way to Verdun and not being able to see what a fort looked like. He even phoned our hosts in Luxembourgh to tell them we were going to be arriving one day later than planned. He said he had a surprise for me. Good Gosh Ben I can't wait...

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Photos

The part of the fort
that was above the ground

Remants of trenches that
the soldiers lived/fought/died in

These idiiers replaying the events of the war
hiding in the trenches like the soldiers did

This fort was now turned into a museum
ufortunately ...

little did I know that Ben
had a surprise for me...

The fort is underground but the gunfire
came from where Kris is and the eyes to give the go ahead to fire is where Kee is

Graves of millions of unidentified soldiers
This was just so sad

Higher ranking officers were
buried seperately

Ossuary of Douaumont
fort in the shape of the Sword Excalibur where bones were stored

As we walked around the musuem/ossuary
we looked thru...

the windows and what we saw
was heart wrenching

Stacks and stacks of Bones
of Dead Soldiers

A memorial for the Muslim soldiers
was built much later as they were considered not so important

The memorial for the Jewish soldiers
was also built much later...sad:(

The church grounds
no tourists...so peaceful...

Streets of Verdun at night
boootiful

WW1 Victory Memorial even tho
nobody won the war