BlueDotMusic's video: WW1Poetry: Dead Man s Dump by Isaac Rosenberg Verdun Feb 21-Dec 18 1916 bluedotmusic

One hundred years ago, on February 21st, 1916, a Monday, the first shots were fired in the battle for the French fortress town of Verdun. German and French soldiers fought of every last metre of ground, making it the longest battle of the war, almost twice as long as any other encounter. In the 303 days of this so called 'meat grinder', close to 750,000 men died, were wounded or simply disappeared, pulverised to tiny, unrecognisable bits by shelling from as far away as 17 miles, or eviscerated on the end of a bayonet in man-to-man, whites of their eyes grappling. A French soldier Albert Joubaire summed up his experience at Verdun: "What a bloodbath, what horrid images, what slaughter! Hell cannot be this dreadful" The Battle of Verdun (Bataille de Verdun, IPA: [bataj də vɛʁdœ̃], Schlacht um Verdun, IPA: (ʃlaxt ˀʊm ˈvɛɐdœŋ), fought from 21 February – 18 December 1916, was one of the largest battles of the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies. The battle took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Région Fortifiée de Verdun (RFV) and those of the Second Army garrisons on the right bank of the Meuse, intending to rapidly capture the Côtes de Meuse (Meuse Heights), from which Verdun could be overlooked and bombarded with observed artillery fire. The German strategy aimed to provoke the French to attack to drive the Germans off the heights. The Germans made some important gains in the early phases of the battle but the French quickly contained the German advance and were able to recapture much of the lost territory towards the end of the year, despite the demands of the Battle of the Somme (1 July – 18 November) in Picardy to the north-west. The German offensive was reduced to provide artillery and infantry reinforcements for the Somme front, where the Anglo-French relief offensive began on 1 July and during local operations, the village of Fleury changed hands sixteen times from 23 June to 17 August. A German attempt to capture Fort Souville in early July, was repulsed by artillery and small-arms fire. To supply reinforcements for the Somme front, the German offensive was reduced further, along with attempts to deceive the French into expecting more attacks, to keep French reinforcements away from the Somme front. In August and December, French counter-offensives recaptured much of the ground lost on the east bank and recovered Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux. An estimate in 2000 found a total of 714,231 casualties, 377,231 French and 337,000 German, an average of 70,000 casualties for each month of the battle; other recent estimates increase the number of casualties to 976,000, with 1,250,000 suffered at Verdun from 1914–1918. The Battle of Verdun lasted for 303 days and became the longest and one of the most costly battles in human history. 'Dead Man's Dump' read by Christopher Farries. The first paragraphs taken from The Mail newspaper article by Tony Rennell entitled, 'Battle So Bloody Men Called It 'The Meat-Grinder' 'The Great War Poets' Download here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-great-war-poems/id268167309?i=268169767   WW1 Commemoration Poetry Playlist; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqIk601MRX0gGX46Z7eZNnvUxuGzc_8ZF Join the Blue Dot Music Experience. http://www.youtube.com/BlueDotMusic http://www.facebook.com/BlueDotMusic ©2016 blue dot music All Worldwide Rights Reserved Video created for blue dot music by Robert Nichol/Allcast http://www.allcast.co.uk