Wednesday, July 24, 2013

July 10,2013 Verdun WW1 Battle fields

Verdun's battlefields are littered with monuments and ruined forts.Here you will find a tribute to the 800,000 lives that were lost here during the war of 1914-1918.You can see some of the lunar landscape still here today.A battle insued between the Germans and French and lasted for over 300 days.Several villages were destroyed and here (13 in all)and were never resurrected.Where one village use to be they have a small church and memorial to those that lived here.
There is a museum that is very well done and show's the destruction of what a war can do.
Fort De Douaumont was the most important stronghold that was built to protect Verdun.It was strong and built into the hillside but still the shelling from the Germans rocked the structure leaving it useless.Inside there are 2 miles of cold and damp hallways underground.Think of the soliders who lived here like moles.Outside you can see the round iron gun emplacements that would revolve and could go up and down.

When I was a teenager and went to get my drivers license(back in 61) I remember the instructor telling me that more people were killed on the highway than in the World Wars.For some reason that information has always stuck in my mind and I can relate to that by coming to see these battlefields.We spent the night at a place that makes almonds.

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