spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Behind the walls of this chapel are the remains of those who died in the fort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 I cant imagine Major Raynal got much sleep, but when he did...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 A barrack room in the fort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 One of two 75mm guns in the Western Bourges Casemate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 Outside the Eastern Bourges Casemate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 An observation dome that originally stood on top of the barracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 4 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 November , 2012 As the last pigeon was released carrying a desperate appeal for relief, Major Raynal toured the fort. It was obvious that his men were at the end of their tether. Numerous attempts to get relief had already been made, but Raynal's blinker signals went unseen due to the smoke and dust of the bombardment. The pigeon made it back to the Verdun citadel, but half asphyxiated from the fumes at Vaux, it soon died. It was then decided that a small group would leave the fort under the cover of darkness to get back to the French lines. One man, Leon Buffet, volunteered to return to the fort with the news that the long awaited French artillery barrage would begin on the 6th June. When it came, the Fort Souville guns had over estimated the range and the barrage passed harmlessly overhead. Unable to contact Souville, Reynard decided that the fort had done all that was possible to defend the city. He wrote a letter of surrender to the German commander, which was passed through one of the barricades, and in the early hours of the 7th June, the Germans entered the fort. A plaque commemorates the pigeons of Fort Vaux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 5 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 November , 2012 The fort was to remain in German hands until November of that year. They had started to organize it for long term occupation immediately after the French surrendered, and began to plan their final push towards Verdun. As the Somme began to soak up German reinforcements, and the stubborn resistance of the French at Souville, the Germans decided to go on the defensive. The French however, kept on attacking. As Hindenburg replaced Falkenhayn, it was decided to cease all operations at Verdun. The French had no intentions of allowing Verdun to become a quiet sector. By the middle of October, with a French superiority in men and materials, including two 400mm railway howitzers (aptly named Alsace and Lorraine) their counter offensive began. On the 1st November, orders were given to evacuate the fort, but not before German pioneers had packed explosives in the rotating turret, the observation posts and the powder magazines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Holstein Posted 5 November , 2012 Share Posted 5 November , 2012 Those are great pictures, Sean. Just a couple of quibbles. The men who died in Fort Vaux were not buried behind the wall at the back of the chapel there. I think you may be mixing the Vaux chapel up with Fort Douaumont, where the men who died in the great explosion of May 1916 are buried beyond the wall at the back of the chapel. I was never able to find out definitely what happened to the French soldiers who had died in Fort Vaux. One of my sources implied that they were buried at the back of the northeastern ditch bunker but I was not able to corroborate it. I would imagine the Germans just got rid of them in the easiest and quickest way possible. The other point is that the room indicated today as Major Raynal's sleeping quarters was, in fact, the lamp store and I have not found any evidence for the claim that Raynal used it as sleeping quarters. Lt. Roy, whose book on the siege of the fort contains tons of detail, refers to Raynal as having a camp bed in his command post. However, that isn't the room said to be his 'command post' today but the larger room behind it which isn't open to the public. There was a certain amount of 'rearrangement' of uses of rooms in this area of the fort when a film of the battle was made in the late 20s and I suspect the current indication of sleeping quarters and command post dates from that. I have to admit to getting this wrong when I wrote 'Walking Verdun' and I'll correct it when a second edition comes out. If you read 'Fort Vaux' you'll get the correct version! This is definitely Mea culpa. I'm looking forward to the rest of your tour! Christina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 5 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 November , 2012 Thanks Christina. With regards the chapel, I was quoting from the sheet that you are given when you do the tour, but I think there are conflicting elements in its descriptions. As with the sleeping quaters, there is now a plaque with Raynal's and the former commanders names on the door, but this is most likely for the sake of tourism rather than based on any facts. Feel free to add any 'now and then' photos if you wish, and I hope that you do not mind me quoting directly from your books at time, as I bow to your superior knowledge on the subject? Although some of my discriptions are blatant plagiarism, i can honestly say that all the photographs are my own work . Kind regards Sean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Holstein Posted 5 November , 2012 Share Posted 5 November , 2012 Hi Sean, If the info provided by the fort gets the chapel / bodies wrong, that's pretty bad as there's no evidence that I know of for claiming that the bodies were buried there. Mind you, I believe there are some rather startling things on the history of Fort Douaumont to be heard on the headphones you can hire there, so Ft Vaux is not alone in that. The plaque with the names of Raynal and other commanders on the door of the 'sleeping quarters' has been there for a long time and it's quite possible that some later commanders used it as such. I would only say that there doesn't appear to be any evidence for Raynal's having used it so my mind it shouldn't be there. Not your fault, of course, and I got it wrong too. No, I don't mind you quoting directly from my books! I take it as a compliment. And your photos really are terrific. Christina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 Thankyou Christina. A couple more of Fort Vaux before we move on. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 6 November , 2012 Share Posted 6 November , 2012 I agree excellant thread, great photos and takes me back to my visits there a few years ago. We used to stop at a bar / hotel at Montfaucon at the foot of the hill and monument. Long gone I think...alas was excellent accomodation. Did you get to walk in the forests on the tracks? Regards TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 Thanks TT, yes I had a little wander about, but must admit, it is a spooky place to be on your own Cheers Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 6 November , 2012 Share Posted 6 November , 2012 Yes there is a brooding atmosphere. not sure if unique to Verdun or any dark pine wood if you are alone? TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 6 November , 2012 Share Posted 6 November , 2012 The battlefield is rendered sinister by all those trees. But it's important to bear in mind that the forest distorts the nature of the place as it was in 1916 ; then it was a more open area. When I went there, I did feel a sense of vulnerability that exceeded that of the Somme or Ypres. I wonder whether that emanated from what I'd read about the place, or whether there was indeed something innate in the landscape. It might be something to do with folklore : I feel a kind of reassuring "connect" with battlefields fought on by my own flesh and blood ; Verdun is different : alien, in a sense. That sounds very improper - almost a form of bigotry - but that's how it struck me. Phil (PJA) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 6 November , 2012 Share Posted 6 November , 2012 The battlefield is rendered sinister by all those trees. But it's important to bear in mind that the forest distorts the nature of the place as it was in 1916 ; then it was a more open area. When I went there, I did feel a sense of vulnerability that exceeded that of the Somme or Ypres. I wonder whether that emanated from what I'd read about the place, or whether there was indeed something innate in the landscape. It might be something to do with folklore : I feel a kind of reassuring "connect" with battlefields fought on by my own flesh and blood ; Verdun is different : alien, in a sense. That sounds very improper - almost a form of bigotry - but that's how it struck me. Phil (PJA) For me, it's the inverse, but then I do go to Verdun regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RammyLad1 Posted 6 November , 2012 Share Posted 6 November , 2012 Sean - what a great thread you have started, really enjoying the excellent photos and narrative. What camera did you use ?, my trip next year is to the Somme but now Verdun is on the must visit list. Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KGB Posted 6 November , 2012 Share Posted 6 November , 2012 Good wee museum at Romagne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 Thanks for the comments guy's. I would tend to agree with you Phil that the trees are the thing! As TT mentions, any forest walk on your own can have you looking around at every noise, but these pine forests are quite dense and there is an almost claustrophobic element about them. On top of that, the knowledge of what went on there and you have a recipe for anxiety, especially if your a wuss like me Duncan, my camera is a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR. Glad you are enjoying the thread, and hope you get there yourself soon, well worth the effort. Sean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 As we leave Fort Vaux, the Batterie du Tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 If you walk approx. 400 yards into the woods to the left of the tunnel, you will come to the Batterie de l'hopital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 A short drive and a long walk up a muddy track, and you come to the entrance of Fort de Souville. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 6 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 6 November , 2012 To the rear of the fort you will find the Pamard Casemates. Named after the French inventor, Commandant Pamard, the thick armour plating protected two machine guns which were mounted side by side and fired alternately to avoid overheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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