Verdun (French Retake Fort Douaumont)

With the withdrawal of most of the German artillery to the Somme, the French attack to recapture Fort Douaumont had artillery superiority and was aided by two heavy 400mm rail guns. The fort was evacuated on 23 October after being …

1916-10-24

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With the withdrawal of most of the German artillery to the Somme, the French attack to recapture Fort Douaumont had artillery superiority and was aided by two heavy 400mm rail guns. The fort was evacuated on 23 October after being hit a number of times by the monster shells of the rail guns. During the bombardment of the fort the French infantry regiments had pulled back from their frontline trenches. When orders came to attack on 24 October, the French units near the fort found their start line trench was occupied by German units that had evacuated the fort. Both Douaumont village and fort, however, were taken by the end of the day. On this day the French had regained what had taken the Germans over four months to conquer during the Battle of Verdun.

Fort Douaumont, France

The Battle of Verdun, was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the Germans.

Wikipedia: Battle of Verdun

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