Verdun
Page 41
Souilly, 94–96, 235, 266, 268
Soupir, 192
Souville, 235, 254, 267, 288
Spicheren, 39
Stalingrad, Battle of, 3
Stenay, 51, 53–55, 235, 302
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 270
Storm troopers (Sturmabteilungen), 249–50
Stralsund, 43
Strantz, Hermann von, 98, 111–13, 140–42, 146
Strasbourg, 35, 40, 89
Strategic bombing, 226–27, 246–48, 328–29
Switzerland, 89
Swope, Herbert Bayard, 313
Swords, 63
Talou, 253
Tanks, 109, 291
Tannenberg, 204
Tavannes, 57, 58, 267, 288, 301–2
Taylor, A. J. P., 1, 36–37, 39, 40, 101, 163–64, 225
10.5 centimeter howitzer, 82, 107, 114, 141
Thayer, William Roscoe, 231
Thiaucourt, 140
Thiaumont, 59, 267, 289
Thiers, Adolphe, 36, 38, 48
Thionville, 89
13-centimeter gun, 170
30.5-centimeter howitzer, 98, 214
38-centimeter gun “Big Max,” 210–12, 214
Thirty Years’ war, 43
305-centimeter gun, 212
Tittoni, Tomaso, 203
TNP (trinitrophenol), 69, 73, 123, 172
TNT (trinitrotoluene), 69, 70, 172
Tolstoy, Leo, 295
Toul, 51, 54, 56, 59, 96, 192, 193, 258
Tourelle à éclipse (disappearing turret), 85–87, 89
Tranchée de Calonne, 143
Trémeau, General, 77
Trench warfare, 203–4, 210, 242, 243
Trinitrates, 69–70
Troyon, 57, 96–101, 112, 114, 258
Turkey, 24, 124, 153, 161, 174
21-centimeter howitzer, 98, 106, 109, 114, 214, 237, 250
210-millimeter howitzer, 147
220-millimeter mortar, 70, 84, 129, 171
270-millimeter mortar, 84, 129
Vacherauville, 59, 252, 267
Varennes-en-Argonne, 105, 107, 129, 130
Vauban, Marquis de, 49, 63
Vauche forest, 254, 261
Vauquois, 6, 15–16, 106, 107, 118–20, 124–37, 150, 162, 175, 198, 206, 207, 218, 259, 268, 272, 273
Vaux, 57, 113, 211, 255, 267, 279, 288–89, 301, 304
Vaux-Chapitre woods, 289
Velosne, 320
Verdun
First Battle for, 27–29, 96–101, 124
Second Battle for, 28–30, 101–15, 124
Third Battle for, 28, 115, 118–20, 124–37, 218
Fourth Battle for, 28, 29, 118, 119, 134–45, 218
Fifth Battle for, 6–8, 11–12, 26, 28, 29, 167, 183, 195, 220, 225, 241–91, 293, 296, 300–1
Sixth Battle for, 28, 303–6
Seventh Battle for, 12, 26, 308–10
Eighth Battle for, 28, 30, 314–18
Ninth Battle for, 28, 30, 314–16, 319–21
Verne, Jules, 14
Vicksburg, siege of, 3, 91
Vignes Rouges, Jean de, 139
Viviani, René, 189, 195
Vizetelly, Alfred, 18
Voie Sacrée, 95
Vosges mountains, 9, 33, 35, 38, 40, 51, 55, 60, 158, 198, 207, 218, 249, 315, 327
War correspondents, 17–22
Waterloo, Battle of, 5, 42, 109, 205, 324, 331
Weaponizing, 69
Weapons, 63–77, 80–87, 104–10, 112–14, 120–23, 127, 129, 132, 137, 141, 146, 147, 159–61, 168–74, 210–12, 214, 215, 237–38, 241–45, 250, 251, 289
Weather, 22, 142, 233, 236, 305, 307
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 324
Wells, H. G., 1, 22, 35, 92, 170, 197, 203, 330
Wilhelm, Crown Prince, 99, 206, 258, 268–69, 276, 282, 284, 311, 312, 318
Wilhelm I, 33, 35
Wilhelm II, 100, 160, 200–1, 216, 218, 220, 231–32, 295
Wilson, General, 319
Wilson, Woodrow, 317
Wilson administration, 123
Wissembourg, 39, 43
Woëvre, 14–16, 40, 60, 97, 98, 111, 112, 117, 118, 135, 138–45, 158, 162, 187, 191, 198, 200, 208, 218, 245, 255, 256, 258, 259, 262, 300, 301, 306, 315, 316, 327
World Crisis, The (Churchill), 182
Wörth, Battle of, 18, 39
Wounds, 63–64, 177–79
Yamamoto, Isoroku, 239
Ypres, 147
Zone of the Armies, 15
The entrance to Fort du Camp des Romains, buried in the woods south of Saint Mihiel. The capture of this fort, taken by direct assault on 25 September 1914, cut off one of the two rail links into Verdun.
The ruins of Fort de Troyon, north of Saint Mihiel. The energetic defense of an obscure French captain named Heym thwarted the initial German plan to surround Verdun.
Fort Vaux, still mostly intact. Damage is impressive but superficial. The garrison surrendered because through negligence they ran out of water.
In this view of the top of Fort Douaumont, the observer’s cupola (foreground) and the retractable gun turret can be clearly seen, unscathed by all the shelling, and proof that properly designed fortifications were basically invulnerable. Douaumont fell because it had been abandoned.
The French 155-millimeter gun was the heaviest weapon the army had in quantity. A state-of-the-art weapon of 1878, but by 1914 it was sadly obsolete. Note the absence of any recoil mechanism.
The German 21-centimeter howitzer was the most potent artillery piece on the battlefield. Unlike its Allied counterparts, it could be towed, and its hydraulic recoil mechanism allowed for extreme accuracy.
A French 240-millimeter howitzer. Like the 155-millimeter gun, these weapons dated from the late 1870s. The absence of a recoil mechanism made them essentially worthless on the battlefield, but the war was nearly over before the gunners had a modern version in any quantity.
The war had been raging for years before the French infantry received modern mortars. This 51-millimeter example typifies the problem: too little and too late.
The 10.5-centimeter howitzer gave German gunners a modern weapon whose high angle of fire made it perfect for the terrain, at a time when their opponents relied exclusively on smaller weapons incapable of such fire.
The Allies had nothing comparable to the German 15-centimeter howitzer in terms of transportability and range. These weapons, available to German gunners in large numbers, were the forerunners of the standard weapons used today.
The French 75-millimeter gun was the first modern field gun. Its recoil mechanism gave it accuracy and a high rate of fire. But it was incapable of firing its shells at the steep angles required in modern warfare. Incredibly, the army blocked the development of the modern heavy weapons their soldiers desperately needed.
The German 17-centimeter mortar. Fitted with wheels, it could be pulled into position or even manhandled. The war was nearly over before French soldiers had anything remotely comparable.
All that remains of the village of the Vauquois. Artillery fire directed by German observers atop the butte severed the main rail line into Verdun. For reasons still not clear, the tracks were never relaid out of range. Instead, there were futile attempts to seize the position, at first by assault, and then by mines. These craters are the result.
The intact remains of this German trench make clear why French assaults always failed. Only direct hits from heavy guns could damage the position, and the French lacked that capability. When the barrage ceased, the infantry crawled out of their shelters and massacred the attackers.
Part of a veritable city of German bunkers in the Argonne forest, outside Varennes. Elaborate constructions like these astounded French soldiers
, who generically referred to them as the “shelters of the Crown Prince.”
The American monument on the butte of Montfaucon, rising out the ruins of the village. Together with a similar memorial on the butte of Montsec in the Woëvre and numerous obelisks, it celebrates the liberation of Verdun by the American army in 1918.