We took another trip to Germany this weekend to visit the LDS Temple in Frankfurt where we were reminded that Germans, despite their shared border with the French have an entirely different culture--one that demands order and timeliness--at all costs.
Our friends Dave and Leslie joined us on this 6.5 hour adventure, crammed in the backseat with a demanding 2 year old who insisted that Leslie read to her, and draw for her, and count for her, and find her blanket (actually I think Dave ended up climbing into the back of the wagon for that one), and get her food, and had it been physically possible, do back flips and cartwheels. Since Leslie couldn't perform these physical acts, Ruby's well loved Kiki was put up to the task and even was dressed for the performance.
We also had a chance to visit World War I sites near Verdun. And while we like to believe we are history buffs, we were amazed at just how little we actually know about the battles and events surrounding this war. The original Battle of Verdun, that is, the one that took place between the Germans and the French before the Americans got involved, lasted for 10 months. According to one account, it resulted in the use of 60 million artillery shells, the deaths of 300,000 soldiers and wounding 450,000 more.
Our first stop was in the small town of Souilly, southwest of Verdun. Nate's grandfather (no-- I didn't forget to add "great" to that grandfather) was in the mounted military police, and was assigned to direct the military traffic in this small farming town, which operated as headquarters for both the French and the American military.
We often found ourselves stumbling upon huge monuments like the one below, completely unaware of their significance and purpose. Thankfully, we have since discovered more information on the internet.
This is L'Ossuarie de Douaumont, a 46 meter high "Tour de Morts", or tower of death. It is located on the hillside of the village which was completely destroyed during the war. The tower is shaped like an artillery shell and the tombs within the monument contain the remains of 130,000 unidentified soldiers.
La tranchée des baïonnettes, or bayonet trench, seemed like it would offer us the opportunity to precariously walk through the infamous trenches. Instead it was a monument, in memory of soldiers of the French 137th regiment. Historian Alistair Horne describes the events as follows,
It was not until after the war that French teams exploring the battlefield provided a clue as to the fate of 3 Company. The trench it had occupied was discovered completely filled in, but from a part of it at regular intervals protruded rifles, with bayonets still fixed to their twisted and rusty muzzles, On excavation, a corpse was found beneath each rifle. From that plus the testimony of survivors from nearby units, it was deduced that 3 Company had placed its rifles on the parapet ready to repel any attack and rather than abandon their trench had been buried alive by the German bombardment. When the story of the Tranche des Baionnettes was told it caught the world's imagination.
However, the actual events are the subject of great historical controversy. Today, crosses mark the locations where soldiers were found.
This picture illustrates the intense degree of bombardment that has left its permanent mark on the landscape. If you look closely you can see the numerous craters left by the artillery shells.
This is the American Memorial at Montfaucon, a 200 foot column, commemorating the American victory during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. A statue representing liberty stands at the top of this monument. One of the most famous stories of World War I is that of the 77th "Liberty" division from New York, most often referred to as the Lost Battalion. Of the 600 men who marched into this part of the Argonne forest only 200 walked out after five days of being trapped by enemy forces. If you are interested in more information on this battalion, I highly recommend checking out the movie of the same name starring Rick Schroeder.
Behind the memorial are the remains of a monastary, established in the 6th century, and finally shelled to ruins in the Battle of Montfaucon.
Finally, we visited the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American military cemetery in Europe with the graves of over 14,000 soldiers. Fighting took place all around the location of this cemetery, with the land where the graves now stand changing hands several times. After the war, the bodies of American soldiers were brought here from all over Europe. It even holds the remains of soldiers killed in Archangel, Russia, where American soldiers were sent to fight in the Russian civil war against the Bolsheviks (You mean you didn't cover this in your high school history class?
Click here for a bit more on this VERY obscure little story). Sadly, with all this history waiting to be discovered, last year only 25,000 visitors came here, compared to the over 2 million that visited the cemetery in Normandy.
