The foregoing two anecdotes are about forts, but the forts were strongpoints in a system of trenches, where most of the dying took place. This gallant bird received the Légion d'Honneur, and was stuffed and put on display in a Paris museum. The defenders of Fort Vaux dispatched their last pigeon, who, badly gassed, managed to reach Verdun, delivered its message, then fell dead. Most of the garrison was immediately killed, and those who manage to escape, uniforms in tatters and black-faced from smoke, were taken as French African troops and massacred by friendly fire. However, a huge explosion occurred, thought to have been caused by Bavarian soldiers brewing coffee on upturned cordite cases using explosive from hand grenades as fuel. Seventy-two battalions of élite, tough storm troops faced 34 battalions in half-completed positions.įort Douaumont was lightly manned and taken without a shot fired. over 850 German guns - including some of the heaviest ever used in land warfare - faced a motley collection totaling 270. Up to the time of the German attack, only seventy gun emplacements had been identified from the air, thus the French were never aware of the full extent of the artillery confronting them.
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