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French soldiers in Fromeréville-les-Vallons, France, in the Verdun sector, west of the city, February, 1916.
'December snow.' Hand-painted watercolor calendar for December 1917 by Schima Martos. Particulates from a smoking kerosene lamp overspread the days of December, and are labeled 'December höra,' 'December snow.' The first five days or nights of the month show a couple at, sitting down to, or rising from a lamp-lit table. The rest of the month the nights are dark, other than four in which the quarter of the moon shows through a window, or Christmas, when the couple stands in the light of a Christmas tree.
An illustration of the French 75 mm. field artillery cannon in action with portraits of its developers, Deport and Sainte Claire Deville. The sender of the card credits it with the victory of the Marne. Illustration by A. Chrimona [?] Ehrmann [?]. Thanks to kgwbreadcrumbs.blogspot.com/2015/07/briefly-along-western-front.html for clarifying some of the text.
Headstone of Private A.C. Thomas of the Royal Welch Fusiliers in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, France. Thomas died July 20, 1916, aged 23. © 2014 John M. Shea
A French Nieuport fighter plane in flight, possibly a Nieuport 17, but possibly another model up to the Nieuport 27, with machine guns both above the upper wing, and along the fuselage.The V struts, machine gun mounted above the upper wing, circular cowling, upward sweep of the tail, the tail itself, all mark the plane as a Nieuport.
"After five days of battle, and much slaughter, the battle [of Verdun] was to go on. Douaumont remained in German hands, but continued ferocious German shelling and daily assaults, while they savaged the French defenders, failed to give the Germans their entry into the city. In the week beginning on February 27 [1916], the French brought to Verdun, along the Voie Sacrée, 190,000 men and 23,000 tons of ammunition. That same week an unexpected spring thaw turned the battlefield and road into a sea of mud, but mud was no deterrent to the continued fighting, or to the intensity of the artillery barrages. In the first five weeks of conflict at Verdun, German soldiers were killed at the astounding rate of one every forty-five seconds. French deaths were even higher. The Kaiser's biographer, Alan Palmer, has written: 'Ultimately on this one sector of the Western Front the Germans suffered a third of a million casualties in occupying a cratered wasteland half the size of metropolitan Berlin.'" ((1), more)
"At Verdun, the high daily death toll led on February 28 [1916] to an emergency conference of the German Crown Prince, commanding the German Fifth Army, and General Falkenhayn. Although surprise had been lost, the Crown Prince commented, the prospects of a 'considerable moral and material victory' remained. What was needed to secure this was the necessary quantity of men and materials to continue the offensive 'not by driblets, but on a large scale'. This was agreed." ((2), more)
"From 29th February onwards, the bombing was ceaseless.But the Germans were soon caught in their own trap. On 29th February, Pétain ordered the artillery of the 29th Division to be more aggressive. It was soon the entire artillery of the left bank which raked the newly conquered German positions. Taken sideways by the fire of the 75mm, the movements of the German troops were made very difficult. Any advance of the Crown Prince's men was immediately stopped in the area which bordered the Meuse. This situation impelled the Germans to take the battle on the left bank." ((3), more)
"March 1st, St. David's Day.—We awoke to St. David's Day 1916 in Montmorency Barracks, Béthune. The Bugles sounded Long Réveillé, the Drums played 'Old Mother Riley' and, after Salute, marched round the Barrack Square, and through the adjoining streets where the officers were billeted, to the air of 'The Staffordshire Knot.' Yates had a leek for everyone's cap, and the Drums had gilded each officer's leek—a compliment and an investment. . . . The inhabitants of the town saw that there was something unusual in the day, so rows of civilians and others lined the streets when we marched out to Le Quesnoy, headed by the Drums as far as Beuvry. . . ." ((4), more)
"Flying relentlessly in search of new prey, Navarre soon acquired an additional sobriquet 'la Sentinelle de Verdun.' Ever the individualist—with more than a soupçon of ego—he advertised his presence to the poilus he supported by painting the fuselage of one of his Nieuport 11s red and that of another, N576, in blue, white, and red bands like the French flag. On March 2, he brought another Albatros down between Fleury and Fort Douaumont, where its wounded occupants were taken prisoner." ((5), more)
(1) French Commander Joseph Joffre tasked General Henri Philippe Pétain with the defense of Verdun, a salient in the northeast corner of the French front. Verdun was connected to the rest of France along the Bar-le-Duc road, the Voie Sacrée. Pétain organized the provisioning of the front with supplies and with fresh troops. The road was shelled constantly; repair crews maintained it day and night.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 232, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(2) German Commander-in-Chief General Erich von Falkenhayn launched the Battle of Verdun on February 21, 1916 with a crushing bombardment from over 1,000 guns. Infantry joined the assault on the 22nd and suffered heavy losses despite ill preparations by the French defenders. On February 28 the week-old siege had only begun.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 233, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
(3) In their assault on Verdun, the Germans had advanced farther on the right bank of the Meuse than on the left, subjecting the French to enfilade fire. French General Henri Philippe Pétain had taken command of the defense of Verdun on February 26, and rapidly bolstered the defense and supply of the sector.
The Battle of Verdun by Yves Buffetaut, page 48, copyright © Ysec Éditions 2013, publisher: Ysec Editions, publication date: 2013
(4) Entries from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J.C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, The Royal Welch Fusiliers and dozens of his comrades. St. David, who died March 1, 589, is the patron saint of Wales. Before a battle against the English, he advised the Welsh to wear leeks for ready identification.
The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, page 183, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994
(5) Jean Navarre was an early French Ace — a pilot with five or more victories. That on March 2nd was his sixth. The Battle of Verdun had begun on February 21. After twelve confirmed victories, Navarre was shot down on June 17, 1916, suffering severe head injuries that prevented him from flying in combat again.
The Origin of the Fighter Aircraft by Jon Gutman, page 44, copyright © 2009 Jon Gutman, publisher: Westholme Publishing, publication date: 2009
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