FRANCE - Lorraine - Douaumont
Verdun Battlefied
The Battle of Verdun was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. An historian gave French casualties (21 February to 20 December 1916) as 377,231 men; 16 percent of the casualties at Verdun were fatal, 56 percent were wounded and 28 percent missing, many of whom were eventually presumed dead. Fighting in such a small area devastated the land, resulting in miserable conditions for troops on both sides. Rain and the constant artillery bombardments turned the clayey soil into a wasteland of mud full of debris and human remains. A French lieutenant wrote, "Humanity is mad. It must be mad to do what it is doing. What a massacre! What scenes of horror and carnage! I cannot find words to translate my impressions. Hell cannot be so terrible. Men are mad!" (Diary 23 May 1916).
BEST TIME to VISIT VERDUN
BEST TIME to TRAVEL to FRANCE
From June to September
The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont within the Verdun battlefield and surrounded by thousands of graves.
Fort-de-Vaux was the second fort to fall in the Battle of Verdun after Fort Douaumont. The defence of Fort Vaux was marked by the heroism and endurance of the garrison.
landscape aroud Fort-de-Vaux
Mémorial de Verdun is located in Douaumont
The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont within the Verdun battlefield and surrounded by thousands of graves.
village
The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont within the Verdun battlefield and surrounded by thousands of graves.
Fleury-devant-Douaumont was completely destroyed in 1916 during the World War I like many others. Today the limits of the village, with the mention "Destroyed village", are still there for memory and a memorial is standing in each village.
Douaoumont - Mémorial de Verdun
around Douaoumont - map of the battlefield
The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont within the Verdun battlefield and surrounded by thousands of graves.
memorial in the forest
around Douaumont - Bunker
around Douaoumont - The defence of Fort-de-Vaux was marked by the heroism and endurance of the garrison.
landscape around Fort-de-Vaux
Graves around the Douaumont ossuary
The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont within the Verdun battlefield and surrounded by thousands of graves.
Inside the Douaumont ossuary - Photo was made on "pause" and the real color inside is not so red
Inside the Douaumont ossuary - Photo was made on "pause" and the real color inside is not so red
Inside the Douaumont ossuary - Photo was made on "pause" and the real color inside is not so red
