The French Army at VerdunIn four and a half years of fighting on the Western Front during the First World War a few battles stand out from the rest. They had a decisive impact on the course of the conflict, and they still define the war for us today. For the French, the Battle of Verdun, fought between February and December 1916, was one of the greatest of these. That is why the selection of contemporary photographs Ian Sumner has brought together for this volume in the Images of War series is so important and revealing. They show the strained, sometimes shocked faces of the soldiers, record the shattered landscape in which they fought, and give us an insight into the sheer intensity of the fighting.At the time, and ever since, the battle has been portrayed as a triumph of French tenacity and heroism that is encapsulated in the famous phrase They shall not pass. These photographs remind us, in the most graphic way, what that slogan meant in terms of the devastating personal experience of the men on the Verdun battlefield. |
Contents
Stopping the Enemy at All Costs | |
The Road Must Hold | |
We are Gaining the Upper Hand | |
Sacrifice and Glory | |
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21 February 25 October Abri aid post ammunition April arrived assault August Avocourt balloon Bar-le-Duc battalions batteries battle of Verdun Belleville Béthincourt Bois des Caures Bois Fumin bombardment Brigade Caillette capture casemates casualties Chasseurs commander Corps Côte counter-attack December Division Douaumont dug-out Dugny enemy evacuate fighting fire Fleury Fort Douaumont Fort Vaux fortification line fortress French positions front line front-line Fumin German German attack ground gunners Heavy Artillery Henry Bordeaux Herr Infantry January Joffre Joseph Joffre July June killed later left bank Lieutenant lorries machine-gun March matériel Meuse Meusien Mort-Homme Moulainville Nivelle Nixéville offensive Ouvrage de Froideterre Ouvrage de Thiaumont Pétain railway recalled recaptured regiment remained Revigny-sur-Ornain RICM ridge right bank Robert Nivelle Second Army shells shelter soldier Somme Souilly Sous-lieutenant Souville squadron Tavannes Territorials throughout the battle troops turret Vadelaincourt Vaux Verdun defences Verdun forts village Voie Sacrée wounded XI Corps XXX Corps Zouaves