Verdun medal

[5thDragoons]

In another thread I commented about unexploded artillery rounds in a friend's Belgian field. A place where those are present by the thousands is Verdun, France. Falkenheyn devoted hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds to reducing Verdun and the ring of forts (like Ft. Douamont) to rubble, forcing the French to vacate the place. Didn't work - the "Poilus" held on. At great cost, though. Incessant shelling drove hundreds of them to outright madness.

An example of that was the number of Verdun veterans missing their left hand. Unable to take any more, it was fairly common for a Poilu the think, "I could easily get by without my left hand!" So they raised it above the trench where it was carried away by a splinter.

A Euro friend recently found a couple of medals for my collection and asked if I was interested in this from the same seller. "You bet!" Verdun, 1916. "They shall not pass!"

As an aside, Falkenheyn used so much of Germany's nitrate production for explosives, he literally ruined post war crop production which brought on near famine in some parts of Germany. He should well & truly have been hanged for that! SW

Screenshot (5901).png

Screenshot (5901).png

[Doc Sharptail]

You posted the thumbnails, Hogger!
They're awfully tiny.

Royal Winnipeg Rifles and PPCLI suffered heavy losses at Verdun as well.
I think a bit of criminal trials should have taken place over this battle field, and several others, mostly for sending boys over the wire when the out-come was already well known.

-D.S.