Remember Verdun

The Battle of Verdun started on 22nd February 1916 and lasted until late November. This was the German offensive that was to knock the French Army out of the war, to bleed France dry.

As the railway line had been cut by the Germans, soldiers had march to the front. There are stories of them bleating as they marched, like lambs to slaughter. General Petain established a system of rotation for service in the battlefield, the "Mill on the Meuse". Most regiments of the French Army did a tour in Verdun, many doing two or three.

Huge convoys of motor trucks were organised to supply the French Army.

At the end of November the French and German lines were back where they started. Both sides suffered around 300,000 casualties.

Verdun is now a national shrine.