I was at Verdun a few years ago and visited the museum and cemetery. Beyond the huge loss of live I was astonished at the number of allied forces that fought with the French. There is a cemetery there containing almost 15000 Americans. In fact the biggest American military cemetery in Europe. Murray NZ > > 1916 : New German attacks at Verdun: Battle of the Flanks > During a punishing snowstorm, the German army launches a new attack > against > French forces on the high ground of Mort-Homme, on the left bank of the > Meuse River, near the fortress city of Verdun, France, on this day in > 1916. > The Battle of Verdun began February 21, 1916, with a German bombardment on > the symbolic city of Verdun, the last French stronghold to fall during the > Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Though the Germans had advanced speedily > since the start of their advance, capturing Verdun’s major protective > fort, > Fort Douaumont, on February 25, the French were by no means ready to give > way, and the battle soon settled into a stalemate, with heavy casualties > on > both sides. On the night of Douaumont’s capture, General Philippe Petain > took over the French command of the Verdun sector, vowing to hold the fort > at all costs and inflict the maximum number of German casualties in the > process. The German objective was similar: in the words of General Erich > von > Falkenhayn, chief of the general staff, they aimed to bleed the French > white > > Knowing the Allies planned to launch a major offensive at the Somme River > that July, the German high command was determined to keep French troops > and > resources devoted to the defense of Verdun throughout the spring. To do > this > Falkenhayn determined that he needed to change the focus of the German > attacks, shifting them from Verdun and the inner ring of forts that > protected it—the core of Petain’s defensive strategy—to the flanks of the > French lines surrounding the city. > To that end, on March 6, after receiving fresh artillery supplies, the > Germans attacked along the west bank of the Meuse, beginning the so-called > Battle of the Flanks with a preliminary artillery bombardment every bit as > intense as the one of February 21. Although under heavy fire from French > artillery positions, the Germans managed to cross the river at Brabant and > Champneuville to step up their assault on Mort-Homme, which held, though 1 > 200 French soldiers were captured over the course of two days’ fighting. > The > Germans made good progress in the area in general, however, capturing > nearby > positions before the French began their aggressive counterattacks. The > struggle for Mort-Homme itself went on for more than a month, with > thousands > dying on both sides of the line, but the Germans never captured the > position > > Fighting at Verdun would continue for 10 months, making it the longest > battle of World War I. Paul von Hindenburg—who replaced Falkenhayn that > summer—finally called a halt to the German attacks on December 18, after > more than a million total casualties had been suffered by German and > French > troops. > > Sally Rolls Pavia > [email protected] > List Owner: [email protected] > Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index > "Our Soldiers are one of our greatest assets!" > > > ***************************** > If you wish additional information about the Bunker Family Association, > please visit http://www.bunkerfamilyassn.org. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message