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North Manchester Battlefield Society
Verdun 2003
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February 21st to 1st March 2003
Verdun was a unique trip in many ways. It was the first (and to date) not British Battlefield that
NMBS has been to. It was the smallest NMBS outing with just Lance Keeley, Gerry O'Meara and Steve Hoar - Andy McVeety had
left the NMBS earlier in the year. It was not until later in the year that Kevin Hunt and Stuart Erskine joined. Verdun was also the first time that the NMBS had used a "Gite" (a French Farmhouse you can hire - which NMBS recommend
that you do - excellent value for money, unless you turn the heating up all night!)
The Gite that we stayed at was around 25km North of Vedun in a small village called Dannevoux.
The Gite was rustic but wonderful. The owner lived across the road from us and was very kind, although did not speak
any English. This meant that Gerry and Lance were fine, but Steve spoke bits and bobs to him, usually about the weather
via the universal language of pointing and shoulder shrugging. If there ever was an NMBS "Give us a Clue charades
night" Steve could win with the training he got with the Gite owner. The owner was a farmer and I am sure
that the NMBS paid more to him with the heating bill than he got subsidy from the EU for his veg mountain. This is a lesson that we learnt to a degree.
The gites have central heating and it seems that they are put on full blast when you get there. In Verun we had no idea
how to turn this down or even off. bearing in mind it was the middle of February at night we sat watching TV with the
French Windows open to cool down. By the end of the week we had run up a fuel bill that would have made E-on happy.
An extra £60 on top of the Gite. So a tip if you use gites - make sure you know where the thermostat is and that
you know how to regulate it. And if you do not need the Central heating on, don't use it. most Gites have
wood/coal fires, just on your jaunts collect some fire wood and use that. The Gite in Dannevoux was splendid though and we just loved the large bronze plate of Charles De
Gaulle in the Kitchen (scene of the infamous 3 day Chicken in red wine) Viva la France!
With no disrespect to Andy, this trip was one of the better trips of the early stages of the NMBS. Verdun is spectacular in many ways. Sobering and awe-inspiring,
but also just being 3 members on this trip it made it more “Cosy”. The biggest shock was to come at the French National Cemetery and the Douaumont Ossuary. For me the sights that
I saw at the Ossuary will stay with me forever. Inside the Cloister - with the walls (White marbled, but the windows
are red - which makes the walls seem blood red as the sunlight shines through.) of the 137 metre long cloister, with tombs
- each showing the precise area of the Battle of Verdun where the bodies were recovered. Each small tomb also has a
shield (from the area of France the regiments were) and a torch of remembrance is lit on certain ceremonial days Underneath
the Ossuary are the remains of 130,000 men who cannot be identified. If you go around the back of the Ossuary, close
to the ground are some windows - look through these windows you see the skulls and bones of these men piled up. It is
like looking at the pictures of the "Killing Fields" in Cambodia under Pol Pot. Some would say this is too much and gruesome. For me even though it was stark and to be very blunt, shocking -
it does what I feel is the desired effect. It makes sure anyone who sees the site knows of the stupidity of war, greed,
hate and anger. The British reserve would have never allowed Douaumont to happen in the UK or say at the Ypres Menin
Gate site (I can just see the Daily Mail headlines now) but I think that the French have the right idea. A picture of
the cloister is below - but believe me it does look more red than pink when you are in there.
Apart from the Ossuary, Fort Douaumont provided another memorable site.
The fort at Douaumont was the North
Eastern "Pillar" of the ring around the fortress town of Verdun, and was built between 1881 and 1884 (and with better
explosives being formed in 1888, the wall were made stronger. As with many trip the NMBS boys went “off piste”
to get the best views for the reader of this website and sneaked into areas of Douaumont where you normally would
not be able to go. Reasons behind why these bits were roped off were unknown and unclear, but it provided
the NMBS with a great insight into life in the fort. You can still see the beds and the toilets that the
men used 90 odd years ago.
Another off piste trip was that at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel. We found an old entrance to the tunnel and decided to explore. Only Lance “The Ferret” had no fear about scuttling along it, but as you can see the roof had partial collapse, the supports had long since rotted away. It was a death trap, but at least we went in. Stuart would have died if he was there, But some years later we returned. Along with Stuart.
The NMBS visited The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, 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. 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. One thing that suprised the NMBS was on the hour
the little chapel played "Hail to the Chief". Only America could do this.
Finally whilst driving along in the Muese region we came across this badger. Now
we want to point out that yes we giggled. Yes, we found it funny and Yes we took a picture and it's on our site.
BUT no members of the NMBS did this. We did not kill the badger. We did not pose it. So
any "Save the Badger" people, do not send nasty letters. It was not us! But we assumed it was some French man, and blimey who said that the French have no humour!
We at the NMBS take badger welfare seriously. We do not consider finding roadkill
badgers, sitting them on a bench with a fag in its mouth and a bottle of vino in it's paws that funny, taking the last
bit of dignity for Brock. Okay,
we did. But at least we are man enough to set the record straight. If you have been disturbed by the images, please click on the logo below where you will be taken
to a safe place of Badger wonderland.
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