The Battlefield of Verdun

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Today I visited the WWI battlefield of Verdun. The day was overcast and rainy and that seemed appropriate. The Battle of Verdun lasted for 300 days and nights throughout most of 1916 (from February until December). Hundreds of thousands died and, in the end, the front line was very nearly where it had been at the beginning. Unlike my visit to the Somme battlefield, there is a large area set aside for the Verdun site with many monuments and a large cemetery. As a result of this, the craters and hillocks caused by the shells are still clearly visible. Now, of course, there is grass and new-growth trees, but one has some sense of what the battlefield looked like (see picture). The Ossuary houses the bones of many thousands of young men from both sides many of whose remains were never identified (see picture). It sits above a huge field of white crosses marking the graves of French dead who were identified (see picture). I visited Fort Douaumont which was held alternately by the French and the Germans during the long battle (see picture). The top of it has gun emplacements (see picture) and one can tour the underground passageways (see picture). It was cold and wet down there, but at least there was reliable light and no one was shelling the place today! It must have been miserable, as well as terrifying, to be stationed there. Altogether it was a sobering visit and I am glad that I got to visit the WWI museum at Péronne when I was in the Somme region because the museum at a Verdun is closed until it's grand reopening for the centennial next year. I wish I had a lighthearted picture to end on. I will just say that I am now in Reims and will be visiting less somber sights tomorrow.

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