Battle of Verdun

battle_name=Battle of Verdun

Battle

Verdun was poorly defended, but good intelligence, and a delay in the German attack due to bad weather, gave the French time to rush two divisions to the area.

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The battle began on 21 February 1916 with a nine-hour artillery bombardment by 1,200 guns on a front of 40 km, followed by an attack by three army corps (the 3rd, 7th, and 18th). The Germans used flamethrowers for the first time to clear the French trenches. By 23 February the Germans had advanced three miles, captured the Bois des Caures, and pushed the French defenders back to Samogneux, Beaumont, and Ornes. Poor communications meant that only now did the French command realise the seriousness of the attack.

Related Topics:
21 February - 1916 - Flamethrower

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On 24 February the French defenders fell back again from their second line of defence, but were saved from disaster by the appearance of the 20th Corps under General Balfourier. Intended as relief, the new arrivals were thrown into combat immediately. On 25 February the 24th Brandenburg Division captured a centre-piece of France's fortifications — Fort Douaumont — with hardly a shot being fired.

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With the Germans now within reach of Verdun, the French teetered on the edge of disaster. The chief of staff of the French army, General de Castelnau, appointed General Philippe Pétain commander of the Verdun area and ordered Pétain's French 2nd Corps to Verdun. The German attack was slowed down by tenacious defence of the village of Douaumont by the French 33rd infantry regiment and heavy snowfall. This gave the French time to bring up 90,000 men and 23,000 tonnes of ammunition from the railhead at Bar-le-Duc to Verdun.

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As in so many other offensives on the Western Front, by advancing the German troops had lost effective artillery cover. With the battlefield turned into a sea of mud through continual shelling it was very hard to move guns forward. The advance also brought the Germans into range of French artillery on the west bank of the Meuse. Each new advance thus became costlier than the previous one. When the village of Douaumont was finally captured on 2 March 1916 four German regiments had been destroyed.

Related Topics:
Meuse - 2 March - 1916

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Unable to make any further progress against Verdun frontally, the Germans turned to the flanks, attacking the hill of Le Mort Homme on 6 March and Fort Vaux on 8 March. In three months of savage fighting the Germans captured the villages of Cumières and Chattancourt to the west of Verdun, and Fort Vaux to the east surrendered on 7 June. The losses were terrible on both sides. Pétain attempted to spare his troops by remaining on the defensive, but he was relieved on 1 May and replaced with the more attack-minded General Robert Nivelle.

Related Topics:
6 March - 8 March - 7 June - 1 May - Robert Nivelle

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The Germans' next objective was Fort Souville. On 22 June 1916 they shelled the French defences with the poison gas diphosgene, and attacked the next day with 60,000 men, taking the battery of Thiaumont and the village of Fleury. But they were unable to capture Souville, though the fighting around it continued until 6 September.

Related Topics:
22 June - 1916 - Poison gas - Diphosgene - 6 September

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The opening of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916 forced the Germans to withdraw some of their artillery from Verdun to counter the combined Anglo-French offensive to the north.

Related Topics:
Battle of the Somme - 1 July - 1916

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By the autumn, the German soldiers were exhausted and Falkenhayn had been replaced as chief of staff by Paul von Hindenburg and as commander at Verdun by General Erich Ludendorff.

Related Topics:
Paul von Hindenburg - Erich Ludendorff

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The French launched a counter-offensive on 21 October 1916, using the technique of the creeping barrage for the first time. Fort Douaumont was bombarded with new 400 mm guns (brought up on rails and directed by spotter planes), and captured on 24 October. On 2 November the Germans abandoned Fort Vaux and retreated. A final French offensive beginning on 11 December drove the Germans back to their starting positions.

Related Topics:
21 October - 1916 - Creeping barrage - 24 October - 2 November - 11 December

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