France marks Battle of Verdun centenary



PARIS: -- France has been marking the centenary of the World War I Battle of Verdun.

A re-enactment of the conflict featured the sound of shellfire.

The German Army launched its offensive against the symbolically important target of Verdun on February 21,1916.

It was the bloodiest battle of the war, second only to that of the Somme.

The fighting lasted almost until Christmas. 300,000 French and Germans were killed.

A memorial took two years of work and a twelve-million euro investment to complete.

“My father was a German solider in 1914,” said Luc Heinrich, “so a big part of this is in memory of him.”

“Tomorrow the young will have forgotten,” said one man dressed as a soldier. “But it’s thanks to these men that we are free.”

Sunday’s commemorations included old film footage, readings from different first-hand accounts of the battle, musical performances and a Mass.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-02-22

Ah, the war to end all wars, good job we learnt that lesson well

"It was the bloodiest battle of the war, second only to that of the Somme."

Euronews seems to be suffering from Nation-sickness, aka sloppy editing syndrome.

A search is under way to locate oak trees planted in England as memorials to soldiers killed in World War One.

The Woodland Trust is looking for trees grown from acorns gathered at the site of the Battle of Verdun, which began 100 years ago.

The plan is to grow acorns from those oaks into a second generation of "Verdun oaks" at a planned centenary wood in Surrey.

Project manager Philippa Borrill said the trees would be planted this autumn.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-35622451

Edited February 22, 201610 yr by evadgib

The Great War. Doubt if it felt that great to the poor buggers in it though.

Three French War Memorials are listed to mark Battle of Verdun Centenary