WW1 WW1 Verdun 1916 and Meuse Argonne 1918

In the morning the driver guide will pick you up at 06:30 am at the following adress : LIDO DE PARIS 116 Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris

(Easy to access by metro Line 1 and to get off at Metro station « George V »)

This tour will be the opportunity to see by yourself the scars of the war left on the lanscape in the areas of the Meuse and Argonne regions from february 1916 till Armistice of the war in November 1918.

In the morning the tour will starts in a road just on the outskirt of Verdun.The driver guide will ride along the famous « sacred way » wich has enables the french troops to hold the town by receiving supplies and reinforcement troops during the 300 days of the siege from February to December 1916.

Arriving in the town of Verdun, enjoy a photo stop in front of the oldest gate of the town « la Porte Chaussée » built in 1380 along the Meuse which is snaking through the town.

It was one of the three monumental gates of the Grand Rempart de Verdun. Redesigned in 1690, it served as a military prison for the state from 1755 to 1860.

Built in 1928, the « Monument to the Dead and Children of Verdun » represents the five French army corps engaged in the battle of 1916. From left to right, one distinguishes: a horseman, a sapper of the Engineer, a soldier of the Infantry, also called «Hairy», a gunner and a soldier of the Territory. These five soldiers form a wall symbolizing the motto of Verdun: “We do not pass”.

Leaving the city of Verdun, at just 5mn drive away you will plunge directly in the heart of the battlefield  and discover the main highlights such as the «Ossuary of Douaumont » and « Fort Douamont » which testimonies of the huge amount of human losses and the soldiers sufferings during the great war.

The Douamont ossuary is a memorial containing the remains of both French and German soldiers who died on the Verdun battlefield. Through small outside windows, the skeletal remains of at least 130,000 unidentified combatants of both nations can be seen filling up alcoves at the lower edge of the building.

On the inside of the ossuary building, the ceiling and walls are partly covered by plaques bearing names of French soldiers who died during the Battle of Verdun. It was built on the initiative of Charles Ginisty, Bishop of Verdun. It has been designated a "nécropole nationale", or "national cemetery".

Fort Douaumont was the largest and highest fort on the ring of 19 large defensive works which had protected the city of Verdun, France since the 1890s. By 1915, the French General Staff had concluded that even the best-protected forts of Verdun could not resist bombardments from the German 420 mm (16.5 in) Gamma guns.

The fort, occupied by some 60 French soldiers, was taken without combat by the Germans on February 25, 1916, four days after the beginning of the Battle of Verdun. This event is then celebrated as a great victory in Germany. It will be occupied for 8 months by the German army, which will make it a shelter for its troops and an essential support point on the right bank of the Meuse to continue its offensive.

Despite several attempts to win back, the fort will only be taken over on 24 October 1916 by french colonial troops (the Morocco Colonial Infantry Regiment and the 43rd Senegalese Tirailleurs Battalion).

French General Pétain said that it has cost the life of 100000 french soldiers to retake Fort Douamont !

Bayonet Trench is a war memorial, however, an unusual memorial.

The monument consists of a massive concrete slab supported by massive pillars.

It indeed honours the memory the French soldiers, who were buried alive in their trench after a shell explosion during the Battle of Verdun on June 12, 1916.

The only clue that led to the discovery of their bodies was the tip of their bayonets sticking out of the ground!

Located in the depths of hills around Verdun that are still pockmarked from the millions of shells which killed more than 300,000 soldiers here and wounded 400,000 in less than a year, the Verdun Memorial Museum retraces the history of the most famous battle in the First World War.

It is one of Europe’s leading First World War museums, opening in 1967 thanks to the work of a group led by Maurice Genevoix, ex-serviceman and member of the Académie française. For anybody seeking to feel, understand and pass on the true meaning of Verdun, the Memorial Museum is a “must”.

The visitor trail in the new Memorial, translated into English and German, leads right into the heart of the battlefield. Allow at least 90 minutes for the visit. The ground floor focuses on the experiences of soldiers fighting on the front line. On the first floor, visitors are shown the battlefield environment and background details on countries at war. The actual battlefield can be seen from the terraces on the top floor. Traces of the battle are still visible in the surrounding countryside.

In line with the ideas put forward by the founders of the Memorial, the replica of the 1916 battlefield remains the central feature of the visit. It is set within a glass cage and there is a video wall covering an area of 100 sq. metres. A unique audiovisual presentation recreates the violence of the battle and shows the tremors and contortions of ground constantly pounded by shellfire. It combines archival images and artwork by the soldiers. To each side are the humble, fragile everyday objects used by the men, set out in bare wooden display cases, giving visitors a different view of the battle, at eye level.

Further on, the trucks and guns on the mock-up of the Sacred Way are a reminder of the logistics of the gigantic battle, displayed against a background of engine noise and archival images. At the end of this floor, visitors enter an enclosed space beneath the battlefield screens which gives some idea of the claustrophobic surroundings of soldiers crouching in shell holes on the front line of the battle.

 

The second part of the day will focus to the « US Meuse Argonne Offensive » led by General of the Armies « John Pershing » (and Commander of The American Expeditionary Forces) from September 26, 1918 until the Armistice of November 11, 1918.

Impressives war memorial sites such as the «American Monument in Montfaucon » where traces of the war (ruined buildings and shell holes) are still visibles today.

 

The Meuse-Argonne American Memorial (Montfaucon American Monument) is an American World War I memorial commemorating "the brilliant victory of the American First Army in the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

This memorial was built by the American Battle Monuments Commission, a government agency in the USA which also maintains it.

It has an overall height of 60 metres and is topped by a statue symbolising liberty. It stands opposite the front line occupied by the First American Army on the morning of 26 September 1918 when the attack was launched.

Visitors can climb up to the observation platform (opening times are displayed outside) from which there is a magnificent view of almost all the ground captured during the offensive, the largest battle in American history at that time.

To end this very moving day and pay tribute to the Fallen soldiers, you will visit the beautiful and very well maintained «  Meuse Argonne American Cemetery » which is the largest US Military Cemetery in Europe with more than 14000 graves.

WW1 American Cemetery

Within the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in France, which covers 130.5 acres, rest the largest number of our military dead in Europe, a total of 14,246. Most of those buried here lost their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I. The immense array of headstones rises in long regular rows upward beyond a wide central pool to the chapel that crowns the ridge.

While walking along row upon row of white grave headstones, your historian guide will share with you stories of soldiers who fought in the vicinities and then were awarded for gallantry the highest miltary decorations.

The Chapel

A beautiful bronze screen separates the chapel foyer from the interior, which is decorated with stained-glass windows portraying American unit insignia; behind the altar are flags of the principal Allied nations.

On either side of the chapel are memorial loggias. One panel of the west loggia contains a map of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Inscribed on the remaining panels of both loggias are Tablets of the Missing with 954 names, including those from the U.S. expedition to northern Russia in 1918-1919. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

Visitor Centre

A renovated, 1,600-square-foot center visitor center reopened in November 2016. Through interpretive exhibits that incorporate personal stories, photographs, films, and interactive displays, visitors will gain a better understanding of the critical importance of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive as it fits into the Great War.

During the return drive to Paris you will have time to relax aboard the minivan before to be dropped off in Central Paris (Drop off in front of the "LIDO DE PARIS 116 Av. des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris" in the evening between 07:30 pm till 08:30 pm). Easy there to catch a taxi cab either to find metro station (Ligne 1 Métro : George V).