Pétain’s Noria system combined with the duration of the battle itself made Verdun “an exceptionally generalized experience throughout the French army.” Of the eighty-five divisions of the French army, seventy served at Verdun at some point in the battle. Pétain also introduced the Noria system at Verdun, where divisions were rotated in and out of the front lines every 15 days or when they had lost one-third of their personnel. At its peak, this vital supply line brought in 90,000 men as well as 50,000 tons of supplies each week. It was also used to withdraw the wounded or units being relieved from the front. It enabled 3,500 trucks, driving with dimmed headlights only a few meters apart, to transport in much-needed supplies. Reacting to the dire need for supplies at Verdun, Pétain made use of a narrow road, just six meters wide, which after the war would become known as ‘ La Voie Sacree‘ (the ‘Sacred Way’). It proved to be a masterstroke for the French Army. Pétain had begun the war as a front-line infantry colonel and had gained a reputation among ordinary soldiers of being a General who used sound reasoning and one who cared for his soldier’s wellbeing. Castelnau decided to replace General Herr with a more defensive-minded general, Henri-Philippe Pétain. On the same day, Joffre sent his second-in-command, Edouard Noël de Castelnau to Verdun to assess the situation. The fort was surrendered without a single shot being fired. A small group of soldiers of the German 24th Brandenburg Infantry Regiment entered Douaumont by an unguarded passageway catching the garrison of 57 second-line territorials completely by surprise. The entire French line was placed in jeopardy when Fort Douaumont, reputed to be one of the strongest forts in the world, fell into German hands on the fifth day of the battle. Driant was killed by a shell but his heroism had “slowed the German assault and set the model for French service at Verdun.” When their ammunition ran out, they fought with their bayonets. The following day, Driant and his two battalions of men who were badly outnumbered, fought bravely to hold back the German advance. Only the French front line trenches had been captured. The cessation of the artillery bombardment opened a window of opportunity for the French soldiers to reposition themselves so that they could effectively enfilade the advancing German troops across the Meuse.Īt the end of the first day of the battle, the assault on Verdun had proved far less successful than Wilhelm had planned. When the scouts returned with information regarding where French defenses remained unbreached, Wilhelm decided to withdraw his forward infantry and subsequently began targeting these positions with further artillery fire. The first German infantry attack began at 4.45 p.m., initially led by teams of scouts who surveyed the damage caused by the opening artillery barrage. In a process known as counter-battery fire, shells and phosgene gas canisters were fired at French artillery positions, which rendered them ineffective. Over 1,600 German artillery pieces were estimated to have fired approximately 100,000 shells per hour along the eight-mile front. on February 21, 1916, with the heaviest artillery concentration to date of the First World War. The opening phase of Operation Gericht began at 7.15 a.m. Colonel Driant ordered his troops to begin work on improving the trench systems at Verdun in preparation for the battle. In the meantime, Joffre received intelligence of the impending attack and immediately began deploying reinforcements to the French Second Army. The attack on Verdun was set for February 12, 1916, but bad weather resulted in it being postponed for several days. Instead, Falkenhayn ordered the attack to be confined to the eastern bank of the Meuse. Wilhelm initially planned to attack Verdun from both sides of the surrounding Meuse River, but this was vetoed by Falkenhayn as he feared heavy losses using that strategy. He planned to unleash attrition warfare on a scale that would “ bleed France white.” To have his plan approved by the Kaiser, Falkenhayn proposed that the Kaiser’s eldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, should take command of the main attack. Falkenhayn knew that an attack on Verdun would result in French troops being drawn in from all over the Western Front.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |