Ward Family Vacations

France 2002

Trip to Verdun

Since they were leaving back to the States on Monday, they decided to take Saturday to visit the battlefield of Verdun, the bloodiest battle of World War I.  Dennis had really hoped that they would go to Normandy as we had one of the elder members of our church was in the second wave that landed on the beach and had written a book about his experiences.  However, the group had gone there the year before so decided to go to the battlefield of Verdun.  On the way there they stopped to see the famous Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Reims, France.   Dennis said the church was very ornate and beautiful, but said that it was so commercial with a souvenir shop within the church that sold items that were almost sacrilegious like crucifixes with the popes likeness on them, and even had a Pope "soap on a rope".  He said though that the church was beautiful.

Verdun was a battle fought in World War I.  One in four of every death or injury during World War I occurred at Verdun.  Over 600,000 men died and over 2 million were wounded or gassed (poison gas by Germans).  

On August 4, 1914 Germany began World War I starting through Belgium to work their way to France.  It took the German's longer than they had anticipated as they met resistance they had not expected and by the time the German's reached Verdun, the war had developed into trench warfare.

So many shells were fired on the battlefield, that there are more than 1,000 shells for ever square meter of the battlefield (or in feet, every 10 square feet).   Better said, over one ton of high explosives fell on EVERY SQUARE YARD of the Verdun battlefield, so that nothing grew for over 40 years.  Also due to the poison gasses the German's used, even in the mid 1960's you could see the green chlorine gas in the bottom of shell craters after a rain.  The entire battlefield is said to be one mass grave, and there are more than 300,000 unknown soldiers buried in the Ossuary overlooking the Verdun cemetery.

Everything was built underground and even to get into the gun turrets you had to climb into the mountain to reach it.  Also notice that the gun turrets are rouned so that the shells would richocet off.

They ended the day and arrived back in early evening to their hotel and had a farewell dinner prepared by the church.  Their flights left Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport at 2:15 pm Paris time and arrived in Detroit at 5:20 pm the same day to catch their connecting flight to Memphis at 7:10 pm.  Wouldn't you know it they decided to do the "full search" of Dennis because his steel toed work boots set the "radar" off.  He had to run to get to the gate and barely made it but did make his flight and arrived back in Columbus, Mississippi at 10:45 p.m. Monday night.  About 1:00 a.m. I went to the Pilot Service Center in Winona off of Highway 82 to wait for him and Mr. Mueller.  I had Mr. Mueller who is a German, a surprise and had baked all of Grandma Ruth's favorite German cookie recipes and had a cookie tin waiting for him!

I also knew Dennis had missed his "meat and potatoes" so made a turkey and his corn-bread stuffing that he loves, so when we got home around 2:00 a.m. he heaped up a big plate of his turkey and sides he loves and pigged out!