The rulers of the Central Powers stumped by Verdun. Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and Czar Ferdinand of Bulgaria puzzle over a map labeled "Verdun." The ink and watercolor drawing is dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?The German assault on Verdun began on February 21, 1916 and continued through August.
Illustrated map labeled "Verdun." Drawing dated March 4, 1916. By R. DLC?
"Imagine, if you can, a storm, a tempest, growing steadily worse, in which the rain consists entirely of cobblestones, in which the hail is made up entirely of masonry blocks. Remember that a mere 120, at the point of impact, has gathered the same energy and releases, just as instantaneously, the same destructive force as an express train hitting the buffers at 90 kilometers an hour. . . . And we're underneath it, you follow? UNDERNEATH IT, as quiet as Baptists, smoking our pipes, waiting from moment to moment for the inevitable, fatal moment when our wretched carcasses are going to be squashed, flattened, ground instantly into dust."
Description of the bombardment that opened the Battle of Verdun on February 21, 1916 by Marc Stéphane, a French Corporal of the chasseurs à pied (light infantry), who had returned from sick leave on the 18th. His battalion was stationed in the Bois des Caures, in the northern tip of the Verdun salient. Along with the 120 mm guns Stéphane refers to, the German arsenal of over 1,000 guns included 150, 210, 305, 380, and 420 mm guns.
The Road to Verdun by Ian Ousby, pp. 82, 83, copyright © 2002 by The Estate of Ian Ousby, publisher: Anchor Books, publication date: 2003
1916-02-21, 1916, February, Verdun, Battle of Verdun, seige of Verdun
