=The French offensive of October 24th 1916.=
In August 1916, the battle of Verdun was a severe check to Germany.
It was about to turn into a French victory.
The object was to link up once again the unbroken line of fortresses
round Verdun. The time for small attacks aiming at the recapture of a
few hundred yards was past. After having first straightened out the
salients which the enemy had driven into the French line during June
and July, it was only by a complete and simultaneous forward movement
that they could make a really useful gain of ground.
To carry the operations to success, Generals Nivelle and Mangin
had a powerful artillery force at their command, consisting of 290
field-guns and over 300 heavy guns. Three picked divisions were to
form the front attacking line, the 38th (Guyot de Salins) reinforced
on the left by the 11th Line Regiment, the 133rd (Passaga), known as
"La Gauloise" and the 74th (de Lardemelle). The front line of the
enemy consisted of seven divisions.
The French commander intended to win the day not only by the
superiority of the troops under his command, but by giving them
training and carrying out with precision a new tactical method of
attack. The liaison which is so difficult between artillery and
infantry was perfectly arranged, following a carefully pre-arranged
time-table.
The attacking waves kept just behind a running barrage which slowly
lifted forward according to programme.
The attack was made with a double line, and a halt was arranged to
allow the units engaged to reorganise.
On October 21st, the artillery preparation started, and was carefully
controlled and regulated day by day. On the 23rd a fire broke out in
Douaumont fort. On the same day a feint attack gave away the position
of new enemy batteries which were at once silenced. This feint
deceived the Germans, the Crown Prince being actually deluded into
announcing that he had broken up a strong French attack.
The enemy were on their guard; on the 23rd, a German officer taken
prisoner said positively: "We shall not capture Verdun any more than
you will retake Douaumont".
At 11 a.m. =on the 24th=, in a thick fog, the attack succeeded
brilliantly, giving the French the Haudromont quarries, Thiaumont
redoubts and farm, Douaumont fort and village (_see page 92_), the
northern edge of Caillette wood, right up to Vaux pond, the edge
of Fumin wood and Damloup battery. On the 24th and 25th more than
6,000 prisoners were taken and 15 guns. On November 2nd, when they
re-entered Vaux fort which the enemy had abandoned, the French were
practically on their line of February 25th.
On December 12th, General Nivelle took over supreme command. General
Guillaumat took his place in command of the Verdun army.
=The French offensive of December 15th, 1916.=
To completely clear Verdun to the east of the Meuse and give greater
freedom to the reconquered forts of Vaux and Douaumont, General
Mangin organised a new attack. A great amount of preparatory work
was done by the army of Verdun, who constructed about eighteen miles
of road including one of logs laid transversely for the artillery,
besides more than 6 miles of narrow-gauge railway, together with
out-going and incoming trenches, and depots for munitions, bombs and
material generally. As soon as these very considerable preparations,
often carried out under heavy enemy shell-fire, were finished, the
attacking troops took up their positions; the 126th Infantry Division
(Muteau), 38th Infantry Division (Guyot de Salins), 37th Infantry
Division (Garnier-Duplessis) and 133rd Infantry Division (Passaga),
with the 123rd, 128th, 21st and 6th Infantry Divisions as reserves.
Two lines of artillery prepared and supported the attack. The
six-mile German front from Vacherauville to Bezonvaux was held by 5
divisions in the first line with 4 divisions in reserve.
At 10 a.m., =on December 15th=, when Germany was proposing that
France should sue for peace, the attacking waves were launched,
protected by a moving curtain of artillery fire. Several of the
objectives, including Vacherauville, the first and second lines
before Louvemont, were reached in a few minutes at a single bound.
The woods and ravines before Douaumont took longer to capture, while
Vauche wood was carried at the point of the bayonet. Les Chambrettes
and Bezonvaux were taken on the following days. The success was
considerable, more than 11,000 prisoners, including 300 officers, 115
guns, several hundred machine-guns and important depots of munitions
and material, being captured. The enemy who, in July, had been
within a few hundred yards of Souville Fort, was now more than three
miles away. In June, the _Frankfort Gazette_, celebrating the German
successes at Verdun, declared: "We have clinched our victory and none
can take it from us", but on December 18th they had lost all the
ground it had taken five months and enormous sacrifices to conquer.
In congratulating the troops General Mangin reminded them that
Germany had just invited France to sue for peace, adding that they
had been "the true ambassadors of the Republic".
[Illustration: GENERAL NIVELLE.]
[Illustration: GENERAL MANGIN.]
[Illustration: THE BOMBARDMENT OF VACHERAUVILLE ON THE MORNING OF
DECEMBER 15TH 1916.]
[Illustration: LOUVEMONT AFTER ITS CAPTURE.]
[Illustration: IN THE GREAT QUARRIES (_500 yards west of Vaux fort_).
_Troops in reserve waiting for the time to move off._]
[Illustration: CHAUFFOUR WOOD (_1,500 yards north-west of
Douaumont_).]
[Illustration: THE FRENCH OFFENSIVE OF AUGUST 20TH 1917 ON THE TWO
BANKS OF THE MEUSE.]
=The French offensive of August 20th 1917.=
For several months Verdun again became almost quiet, the battle area
shifting to the Chemin des Dames, Flanders and the Isonzo. General
Pétain decided to shatter the enemy on the Verdun front.
The victory of Louvemont-Bezonvaux, while completely clearing
Douaumont, had left the observation posts on Talou Hill in the
hands of the enemy, who still held, on the left bank, the excellent
positions of Hill 304 and Mort-Homme.
These they had had plenty of time to fortify, and the troops were
housed in deep tunnels and properly connected up positions. The enemy
had noticed the French preparations for this new offensive and had
accordingly considerably strengthened their artillery (to nearly 400
batteries) and their fighting effectives (to nine divisions on the
Avocourt-Woëvre line, with five in reserve).
On the French side, the ground had been for several months prepared
for the battle. Across the battlefield which had been shockingly cut
up by fire, roads had been prepared, liaison strengthened and the
question of supplies studied for a long while. Artillery preparations
included 2,500 guns of all kinds.
In this battle, artillery was to play the most important part. An
army corps of 20,000 infantrymen was to be supported by 40,000
artillerymen. Four corps, 13th (Linder), 16th (Corvisart), 15th (de
Fontclare), 32nd (Passaga) comprising 8 divisions in the line and 2
in reserve, took part in this offensive.
The artillery bombardment started on August 13th and systematically
flattened out the German positions. On August 20th, at dawn, under
the eyes of the officers of the new American Army who from various
observation posts followed the course of the battle, 8 divisions
attacked. Mort-Homme, Oie Hill and Talou Hill were captured, Hill 304
alone remaining in enemy hands. There was a stream of prisoners and
munitions, in the tunnels of Mort-Homme over 1,000 men being unable
to escape. On the following day Samogneux and Regnéville fell, and a
systematic attack led to the capture of Hill 304 on August 24th.
The booty from August 20th to 26th comprised 9,500 prisoners, 39
guns, 100 trench mortars and 242 machine guns.
On the left bank, the French line was advanced as far as the Forges
stream.
On the right bank, the enemy unsuccessfully endeavoured, by strong
counter-attacks, over a period of nearly two months, to recapture the
lost ground.
Verdun was completely cleared and the first French lines were
advanced to approximately 7 miles to the north.
Thus in 3 battles, October 24th, December 15th, August 20-21st, the
Germans were driven out of all the positions which they had held
since the third day of the battle. There was left in their hands
only what had formed, in February 1916, the advance line of the
French defence, where, during the first two days of the battle, the
covering divisions had been sacrificed.
[Illustration: HILL 304.--REMOVING THE DEAD AFTER THE BATTLE (AUGUST
25TH 1917). GENERAL GUILLAUMAT.]
[Illustration: THE GALLWITZ TUNNEL, ONE OF THE MORT-HOMME TUNNELS
AFTER ITS CAPTURE (AUGUST 20TH 1917).]
[Illustration: ON THE RECONQUERED HILL 304: AN AID POST (AUGUST 22ND
1917). AT THE FOOT OF THE RECONQUERED HILL 304: BOMBARDMENT BY GAS
SHELLS. SOUTH OF BEAUMONT: CAURETTES WOOD.]