Band of Gamers 2010 - Day 6 - Le Morte Homme #1.AVI

• Report rights infringement
• published: 21 Oct 2010
• views: 300

Here we are at Le Morte Homme. "The hill of Mort-Homme (Dead Man's Hill) had this name for centuries but it was a fitting name for the battle that was to rage there for control of the road which was Verdun's lineline. Its slopes were to see many thousands of men perish in the most terrible conditions. Below we see the statue: a huge skeleton draped in a flag. This monument was erected to commemorate the men of the 40th and 69th French Division who bore the brunt of so much of the fighting here. The battle-cry of Verdun was "They shall not pass" and the inscription at Mort Homme states "They did not pass":"Ils n'ont pas passe.". The statue was the work of the sculptor Froment-Meurice and was unveiled in 1922. From March to December 1916 the Germans launched fifteen main attacks on Mort Homme, which was in fact two separate hills and the constant artillery shelling reduced the hill to a muddy morass. Like several other locations around Verdun, Mort Homme saw further fighting in 1917 when the Germans attacked several times between January and March, again taking both hills. They heavily fortified the position and added many tunnels. Mort Homme stayed in German hands until 20th August 1917 when a large French offensive led by the 31st Division and soldiers from the French Foreign Legion retook the hill."