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This book looks at three of the most famous battles within the lengthy, brutal battle of Verdun, all three of which were costly German victories. We start with a look at the German plan. Unlike most offensives on the Western Front, the original aim wasn’t to achieve a breakthrough of the enemy lines, or even to capture Verdun itself. Instead the German Chief of the General Staff General Erich von Falkenhayn intended to capture the hills east of the Meuse (facing the famous fortress city of Verdun), and force the French into launching counterattacks against a strong German line on the hills or risk losing the city. His belief was that they would have to try and fight to save Verdun or risk a collapse of morale.
A key feature of all three of these battles is that although they were German victories, they came at much higher cost that had been hoped. This helps to explain why Falkenhayn’s plan eventually failed. In each case we see small forces of French infantry fighting on despite being outnumbered, hit by massive artillery bombardments, and cut off from immediate support. Falkenhayn was never able to seize all of the heights so was never able to move onto the second stage of his plan. The French did repeatedly counterattack, but from a stronger position than Falkenhayn had hoped. Eventually the Germans were able to capture most of their initial objectives, but it took months rather than days, and by the time they had managed it the battle of the Somme had started, so there were no reinforcements available.
In each case we get a detailed examination of the fighting, looking at the German plan, their attacking forces, the French defenders and their positions, and a close-up account of the fighting. In each case the Germans outnumbered the defenders, being able to pick and choose where to attack, and could bring powerful artillery into play. In the Bois des Caures and Mort-Homme the existing French defences were badly damaged or destroyed, but surviving troops were able to hold the Germans off long enough to create new defenses and receive some reinforcements, stopping the Germans winning the quick victory they wanted. Fort Vaux is different – here the main damage was done by the French when they removed the fort’s main guns earlier in the war to use them with the field armies. Ironically one problem for the defenders here was too many men, as troops retreating from elsewhere rushed to the fort, leaving it over-crowded.
This book gives a good idea of just how brutal the fighting around Verdun was, how the French were able to hold out, but also how determined the German attackers could be – ironically a feature that saw them suffering high casualties of their own and dooming Falkenhayn’s original plan to failure.
Chapters
The Opposing Sides
Bois des Caures
Mort-Homme
Fort Vaux
Analysis
Author: David Campbell
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 80
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2020