In April of 2004 my wife and I joined another Titan Tours battlefield tour with Professor Richard Holmes, this time to Verdun.

The battle of Verdun was the game-plan of General Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff, he wanted to knock the French sword from the English hand. To do that he decided that Germany should attack in a spot where the French would defend their ground, come what may; the French would ‘.. throw in every man they have.  If they do so the forces of France will bleed to death....’ Verdun was the chosen spot.

I do not intend to give an account of the battle, or the reasons for the importance of Verdun.  However, it is worth noticing that the British offensive that was launched on the Somme on the 1st July 1916 was done so to relieve pressure on the French who were having a bad time at Verdun. 

The Germans had launched their Verdun offensive on the 21st February and Haig had come under great pressure to start the British offensive and give some relief to the French.  We in England are well aware of the Somme, Ypres, the British involvement and the British casualties.  Because we did not take part at Verdun, we tend to know less about it. It is a place well worth visiting by anyone interested in WW1 history.

The scale of the casualties and destruction is outlined in Richard Holme’s book, “The Western Front”.

Richard on a gun mounting at Fort Douaumont

“At least 700,000 [casualties], and for 1916 alone: rather more than half the total casualties suffered by Britain and her Empire in the Second World War.  Nine villages, which had stood on those uplands for a thousand years, were destroyed and never rebuilt.  Woods and fields were so polluted by metal, high explosive and bodies that they were beyond cultivation. Declared zones rouges, red zones, they were cloaked in conifers and left to the recuperative powers of nature.”

Two excellent books on Verdun are Alistair Horne’s “The Price of Glory” and Malcolm Brown’s “Verdun, 1916”.

Those of us who had been on previous tours to the area of the Somme were struck by the state of the tree covered areas of the battlefield, they are completely (I mean completely) covered in shell holes and trenches. Almost every shell crater adjoins another crater.  Quite unbelievable.

There were 32 of us on the tour, the first night was spent in Reims, with the following two nights in Verdun.  On the final day of the tour after visiting the sites of Mort Homme and Cote 304, in gorgeous Spring sunshine, we returned home via a good lunch in Reims.  Some of the photos I have used will change when I get more films back from development.