Verdun

Verdun has the unhappy record of being the longest battle of the First World War. The statistics that surround the First World War’s longest battle are almost too staggering to believe. In the Germans’ nine-hour opening bombardment on 21st February 1916, they sent across 2.5 million artillery shells! While nature tries hard with the help of time to reclaim the landscape, it is understandably irreversibly changed.

Together we can explore original trench systems, huge fortifications and start to build a picture of what life would have been like under the intense shellfire that characterised this battle.

Must-See Sites

Douaumont Cemetery and Ossuary: No visit visit to Verdun is complete without going to the Douaumont Cemetery and Ossuary. The number of headstones here will take your breath away and you can’t help but walk around silently. Under the Ossuary are the bones of more than 120,000 men who were killed in the region. What happened here in 1916 casts a long shadow over France.

Butte de Vauquois: This image captures perfectly what I describe as a physical battlefield. The village that once sat on top of the hill was blown from existence by mining and counter-mining activity.

Fort Douaumont: One of a series of forts constructed after the Franco-Prussian War. The Germans assumed that there would be a bitter fight for the fort, but only a tiny number of the French were left to defend it. One German soldier found an open entrance, got in and captured the men inside with ease. Today you can walk through the fort’s tunnels and see living conditions.

Destroyed Village - Fleury: Before the war, the village of Fleury was home to around 400 people. By May 1916, the houses and shops were in ruins, and throughout the summer months the village changed hands 16 times. Today you can see the battered landscape and the white posts that are laid on the site of where houses once were.

Camp Marguerre: Is unlike anything you will have seen on the other First World War battlefields of Europe. It is a German experimental concrete camp, almost a mini village. Its purpose was to create somewhere for German troops to relax and try to forget the war when they were rotated out of the line. There are the remains of living quarters, a shop and other buildings created for entertainment. Inside the commandant’s house and living quarters the traces of wall decorations can still be seen, with decorative borders towards the tops of some walls. In 1918 the Germans abandoned the site. During the Second World War, the French Resistance used the buildings here as hideouts.

Bois des Caures: See where Colonel Driant and his troops held out for many hours before being overwhelmed. The Colonel’s command post and memorial are accessible.

Why is Verdun so Important?

The Battle of Verdun, 21 February-15 December 1916, was the German Army’s plan to destroy the French Army, to “bleed her white”. If France could no longer fight, Britain too would be unable to continue the fighting and Germany would become victors.

Where to Stay in Verdun?

Sophie’s Great War Tours stays at Les Jardins du Mess, a lovely modern hotel with fantastic facilities. You can stay in a room overlooking the River Meuse, and its location means you can easily stroll around town to explore and eat out.

If you’d love to explore this incredible landscape and understand the French experience of war, please get in touch today to discuss your private tour to Verdun.