50,000,000 shells over 300 days works out as a shell fired just under 2 seconds, non-stop. Obviously they weren't actually fired non-stop, but it brings in to perspective how many shells were actually fired during this battle. Anyone who finds themselves in the vicinity of Verdun is recommended to visit this area. The memorial, museum and pockmarked landscape are all very thought provoking.
I'm French and you are doing great videos about the first world war, thank you for taking time to come in France, do researches and show others what happened in France a hundred years ago. Thank you very much sir and I hope see you someday maybe in a battle place :)
As a Brit who has visited Great War sites many times over the past thirty years or so, I’m glad you show your appreciation of Steven’s work, and hope you don’t mind us trampling over your beautiful country too much.
I agree merci beaucoup ! Je suis las d'entendre répéter que les français sont des lâches et qu'ils se sont rendus ! Nous les français sont humiliés sur internet ses derniers temps. Honteux soyez ceux qui salissent la mémoire de nos héros ! Vive la France. I am tired of hearing it repeated that the French are cowards and that they have surrendered! We French are humiliated on the internet lately. Shame on those who sully the memory of our heroes! Long live France.
As a 13 year old I loved to wander off a little in those woods around this fortress, following a shallow trench which was there, for as long as I could. And boy, do those woods get dark fast. There was something very eerie about the whole experience. But what will stay with me about this battlefield, was that wherever I was, whether here or around the Trench of Bayonets, were the shellholes overlapping shellholes. And everywhere. Not a single square meter of soil was untouched by the war. Sometimes the craters were huge - still huge, even in the early nineties. And the entire battlefield is like that - it's as if the French merely cleaned up the remnants of war lying on the surface and then put trees there, after 1918 - and that's it. That's what makes Verdun pretty unique. The only places that are similar to the Verdun experience, with a similar semi-intact battlefields, are in the Vosges. I would say more intact. The Hartmannsweilerkopf comes to mind. A hill which was heavily fought over in 1915. If you've never been there, Steve, you should go. You still got miles and miles of perfectly functional trenches (because the trench walls are made of rock) leading in all directions - and dugouts and everything that comes with a trench - and I never was able to walk up to where any of these trenches ended. They seemed to go on forever, all the way down to the valley. I'm surprised there's so little public attention for what I consider a completely preserved WW1 battlefield. It's like the Western Front's most dirty secret. And the French don't market it. Wow.
Thank you for watching. I have visited to the Hartmannsweilerkopf several times. I have a film of it on my channel. You need to be very fit to get to the top. Always makes me wonder how on earth the French actually climbed it with all their equipment AND under fire. They must have been incredibly fit and determined.
Politics are trying to make it disapear, it has caused lots of pollution, particulary in the water, if you know where to go you can find massive stocks of artillery shells ready to explode hidden everywhere near the front... Annnnd their are also some artillery ammunition (gaz and conventionnal left to rust in the woods just pilled up thousand and thousand) in a lot of places in france even far far away from the battlefields. That is not something the government tends to advertise : 100 years have past and the mess is still there menacing the healt of french people. We even had another WW on top of that...
During 2015, I followed the trenches & battlefields from Anatolian Turkey to the English Channel in Belgium. I saw many battlefields, but the feelings that I got in the woods around Verdun was just a feeling of horror. Before I began my journey, I was sceptical about ghosts & the paranormal, but I am now a firm believer. Those woods sent a chill through me that I can still feel three & a half years later....
Considering how many thousands of men, young boys on both sides lost their lives, as yet there has been no filmed documented ghost of any soldier, caught on film....same for the Somme, not one ghost filmed at anytime night or day.... no one comes back, if they did then every murderer would be haunted to death by the ghost of their victim, that’s why they get locked up otherwise nothing would happen to them
Have been in that area several times and visited Vaux, Douaumont, Froidterre, Dead Man, Fleury, The Douaumont Ossuary, The Verdun Memorial, some trenches around and some lesser known artillery posts of the Germans a few kilometers away, where one can still see beautyful paintings and drawings German soldiers put to the walls in lack of wallpapers. In almost any place there one still can find bone fragments or shrapnel. The woods are quite dangerous, we often found piles of shells, grenades and other potentially deadly stuff and in some areas until today nothing grows - I think, it is because of buried shells that contained poison gas. Every year farmers recover tons of metal, grenades and shells in their fields and most likely this will continue some decades, because there are so many duds and pieces of scrap metal in that area. It is an amazing area to explore.
@J H Spain. enjoy your trip :) It sounds more dangerous than it is. Take at least one week to explore the area, because there is very much to discover besides the tourist attractions and the lesser known stuff is even more exciting, because you will see things only a few people have ever seen. But: please do not walk beside visible paths in the woods! The danger of tripping on some nasty stuff is really high there! God bless you all!
Every year farmers recover tons of metal, grenades and shells in their fields and most likely this will continue some decades, because there are so many duds and pieces of scrap metal in that area. Its the same at Ypres and on the Somme. It is called 'The Iron Harvest'.
Well done video sir. I had the privilege of visiting the Verdun area, specifically Forts Douaumont and Vaux as well as the Ossuary, and words cannot describe the feeling of standing on that ground. You are correct when they say it is a "Red zone" as there are countless unexploded munitions signs everywhere. I believe the journey to this area should be a pilgrimage that everyone should make to ensure that senseless wars like this never happen again.
Looking into the basement window of the Ossuary really had an effect on me. Seeing the bones on top of bones on top of bones is chilling! One window had a skull positioned looking out at everyone that came looking in. All the lives lost, for what? So sad and must not be forgotten in memorial.
Unfortunately people do have this way of forgett rather rapidly. The war that should end all wars resulted in the second world war 20 years later. Looking at the world of today the globalist elite want us all dead one way or another.
Thank you Steven. I visited Verdun many years ago and it left a lasting impression on me. The Douaumont Ossuary is particularly difficult to see for a Brit who is not used to seeing the mortal remains of one, let alone 130,000 poor souls. Another heart rending site was the Sleeping Lion Memorial to the Germans near Fort Vaux, which to this day remains one of saddest memorials I have seen. The drone footage makes all the difference in understanding the layout of the battlefield. Thank you again for your informative and sensitive video on the Battle of Verdun.
We visited there just over a week ago. This perspective from the air really assists in understanding the battle. The topography can't be seen adequately from the ground. Well done, would really look forward to such a flight over Fort Vaux. Thank you for your entire series.
Somehow, I've found your videos four years after you've made them. I'm glad I have. WWI has always been interesting to me. Dan Carlin's seven part series on the first world war is an intense listen. He talks about Verdun and thanks to you I get to see a bit of the landscape of what it is now, and what it was back then. You're videos give a visual to his descriptions. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this. Our family discovered a few years ago that my grandfather was at Verdun at the end of the war as part of the four divisions of the Austro-Hungarian army that was stationed there. This adds a great perspective to that bit of family history.
I love these drone view videos of WWI battlefields Steven, thank you for uploading these! Really gives a perspective that old maps and ground level videos just cannot deliver.
I’ve recently taken an interest in learning more about the 1st world war and it’s truly incredible to see how unstable and pockmarked the ground is from the shelling in each battlefield, even after over 100 years since the battles ended.
yea, same here, ww2 didnt even have the same destruction on the landscape it seems. Ive always been a ww2 guy, and decided to branch into studying the big war....very eye opening.
You should have been there in the 1970s. Relics littered the ground. The first thing I found was a live 16 inch shell with rifling marks. There were so many canteens, mess kits, belts and shoes that I stopped looking at them.
@@flipjenl9616 I believe that as much as 30% of the shells fired were either duds or simply failed to explode. Then add to that the tons of explosives that were placed underground and then left behind. Some are directly under modern-day roads and buildings.
Steven Upton There is lots of criticism by historians about the harsh reparations Germany was forced to pay in the Versailles treaty, but after I’ve seen the permanent destruction the war caused on French territory, I could understand it better. While Germany was untouched after the war, France faced and Belgium faced enormous problems cleaning and rebuilding. I visited and studied parts of a the Zone Rouge to perform an ecological impact assessment as part of my studies. You really don’t want to live near it. Just look it up: zone rouge guerre.
This is very interesting to me since two of my fathers relatives were killed in WWI - Leo and George Beaumont. George is listed as killed in the Fort Douamont area, possibly during a recapture event. George G. Beaumont USA
@@arthurvg2217 Actually , I am Basque French , English, & Scotch-Irish, about 50 -50 Father - Mother. by DNA. There are many Beaumont's in England from Norman times, but don't think that is my lineage.
@@georgeb6152 Alright, actually scandinavians share a lot with french and actually the whole celtic world, when christian have started to burn and chop people heads off many west european left to scandinavia to prepare a counter strike later know as "viking invasion". Your DNA is Europe's soul, it is all coming from celtics peoples...the first guys on theses lands, and it was a proper united civilisation.
Thank you for watching. I think it was more like 1,000 shells per sq. m. and about a third were duds. So only about 300 unexploded shells for every sq. metre of battlefield. Not so bad after all - anyone want to buy a house?
Steven Upton a war that happenned 100 years ago is still preventing us, humans to farm the land. There is a lot more talk about WW2 but WW1 in my oppinion is the worst humanity has ever saw.
@@SamuelHallEngland Not stacked side by side, but you have to remember how soft and deep the mud was on the Verdun battlefield. So the shells will now be at different depths in the settled earth.
I will get there one day . Thank you so much mr upton for your videos on the first war. Your overlapping of maps and footage is one of the best available. My great great uncle was wounded and MIA for 4 days before being found. He was a sniper. Upon his return from hospital he was gassed, survived that then posted to a mavjine gun vompany. He fied in 1969 due to his war injuries. I owe it to him to see the land and places where he fought. Again yhank you for your inspiring vidros.
Thank you for watching. I hope you get to visit. Before you do it’s a good idea to find out what unit your relative was in and do some research first. You can usually find out exactly where they were. I have done so with my grandfather.
Hello Steven, first of all, hope you're well! Also hope you'll soon be able to film more locations. You always have done them justice with the way you approach the locations, both in video and in audio. Started rewatching your videos and began with this one.
Thank you so much... after watching this, I was holding back the tears. It just shows the devastation of war carries on to the present. V/R Anthony, USN (ret)
For anyone who seriously doubts the courage and valour of the average individual French soldier that person should just come see this battlefield....i read somewhere that the French effort to recapture that fort costed over 100,000 men thier lives.....as an American I deeply proud that both French and German great grandchildren of this men are the allies of the USA today
Really nice video. I found it very interesting. My late wife, my son, and I visited Verdun, including Ft. Douamont, in 1999. My son, Tom, who was almost 8 at the time thought the Ossuary was cool with all the bones. I pointed out to him that all those bones were young men who never got to go home to their own little boys. He thought for a moment and said, " I thought it was cool, Dad, but now it's just sad." I always thought that was pretty perceptive for a 7 year old.
New sub here, great footage, great commentary very informative. Have heard many stories of the great french forts in WW1 but seeing them from the air gives a new perspective.
This is the first video of yours I have seen and I am very impressed and pleased to have come across it. Definitely subscribed and will be watching many more. Thank you for sharing, take care.
Thank you so much for uploading this. I've been to Verdun three times now, in addition to my regular Somme visits. Verdun is a must-visit for anyone wanting to understand the Western Front. Fieldwalking is illegal here, unlike on The Somme, but you can turn up incredible finds in almost any acre even by accident in field margins. If you haven't been, Camp Marguerre, is also really worth a look. It's just north of Verdun. Absolutely fascinating place.
I'm listening on pretty good small speakers and it sounded fine. Not muffled at all. If anything it's a little "boxy", as if you're in a small square room, which gives it a short reverb and seems to boost the mid-frequencies a little. However, that's not a criticism. It sounds perfectly reasonable.
Suscribed!Thanks for sharing this video.... Both my Great Grand Uncles actually served on the front lines... Uncle Camille served with the 90th Infantry Regiment in the north of France and was killed during the Second battle of Artois, on September 17th, 1915.... Uncle Adrian fought at Verdun and actually survived the battle.... Thank you for all you efforts and work helping us understand and remember the Great War.... Pax Vobiscum
I always point out ww1 as a counter point to the French reputation of being “surrender monkeys” (sorry about the term) the French army were absolute legends during the Great War
I was about to make the same comment. A lot of professional historians get this wrong as well. Paulus was the son of a civil servant and was also Roman Catholic. Wonderful video. Took me back to reading "The Price of Glory" in university French History class.
Steven, I did. Fort Schoenenberg was remarkable. I walked 6 miles altogether underground. I was able to visit all 4 of the Maastricht forts as well. I know I left all sorts of wonderful sites behind, but, at 72, this was plenty. I have been a member of the U.S. Coast Defense Study Group and have participated in many of their tours. On my trip to the Manila Bay forts, we found that, aside from the ordnance on Fort Mills and Fort Hughes, there is little left, after 80 years of scrapping and earthquake and typhoon damage over the years. It was great to touch and feel. One of the things I was glad to see were the armored searchlights in the entry blocks. I had never seen a photo and was delighted to see one in operation at Fort Tancrement.
superb steven. you have a fantastic knowledge of the great war. ive visited this area a few years ago, but your videos make sense of what i was looking at. thankyou 😊
Thank you for watching and your comments. I read about a particular action and then like to visit it and walk the ground. This developed into filming it and finally a drone.
These are brilliant videos. The utter insanity of this battle is hard to encompass in one's mind. The fact that humans willingly engaged in such activity is difficult to comprehend.
Very Good! I haven't been but would love to visit. My grandfather built the wooden fence around Quintin Roosevelt's grave and I have a piece of that plane. I would sit for hours and listen to his stories. Thank you for this video.
Very cool video. I like the unique perspective from the drone and the thorough commentary of the video. I will certainly add you channel to my subscriptions.
Visited the old battle fields around Verdun in SEP 2010, SEP 2016 and SEP 2019, as well as Vauquois and Saint-Mihiel. It is unbelievable what happened there 100 years ago, that the traces of it can still be seen today. Interesting is the bird perspective through your shots. Great video Steven, as well your videos about Hartmannswillerkopf, Somme, Vimy, Formelles and Ypres area. SEP 2019 I traveled along the entire West front, starting at Kilometer Zero up to Newport. But I have to say, two weeks are a still not enough to see all of it.
My knowledge on the first World War is a little limited compared to, my knowledge of the second World War.. I have found your video and your style very informative and a really pleasure to watch. I believe you are doing a great service in keeping the memories of all those fallen solders, efforts and struggle alive. Thank you for sharing.
Steve Upton the drone footage on your channel is incredible and really lends perspective as to how small many of these battlefields were. Would be fascinating to see Fort Vaux if you ever do it too!
Wonderful Video! Your seem Very knowledgeable and provide interesting information about this area. It's also, interesting to see these Battlefields from this view.
You just gained a sub, i haven't witnessed such a well documented and well narrated piece of history since my last year of university in Leuven 21 years ago. You should teach brother!!
Places that I will probably never get to see with my own eyes. What incredible footage and information. Keep up the wonderful work you do. Lest we forget...
I'm holding a cannon shell,( French 75) that my fathers uncle brought home from WWI. It is a piece of "trench art" made by a German POW. Made like a vase, fluted folds in the mid area where you would grasp it. Then above is hammered in with a punch the word VERDUN. The open end has been cut into points with what looks like holly leaves incised. The brass casing is 13.5 inches tall. This and my K98k Mauser (1913) are my only WWI pieces. This video is the best information I've ever seen about Verdun. So glad to have found it!
I visited Fort Douaumont more than 50 years ago. Since then much has been done to make the place presentable but back then the sense of desolation was immense. One thing particularly of interest, in a very interesting video, is the rifle range. I still have the mental picture of looking down along that spit of land from the heights at Douaumont and I recollect seeing what I took to be the hulks of tanks. I wonder now whether the range was ever used for small artillery? Well done Steve!
What an excellent piece of work Steven, thoroughly enlightening and well explained..im very impressed. God bless all those poor young men who endured that horror show, one can hardly imagine the carnage and hopelessness they must have experienced
Steven. I was wandering around RU-vid when I found your video. I know more about the British sector but congratulations, I loved what you have done. Of course, that means I will now have to know more. Really well done.
Thanks for posting, video gives a good impression of scale and topography not seen on a map. Helpful commentary as well, just the right level of detail. 👍
this is a special piece of history to share - and you have indeed done a wonderful job with this video - I am excited to see what else you have made (and will make) - My Sincere Thanks -
Very nice video showing the layout, with clear commentary that gave a lot of information. I recently visited Fort Douaumont with the intention of a quick visit to each of the subsequent battlefields throughout the Great war. But I found the place so compelling I returned to learn more details of this incredible historic event. I learned that the German attack into Verdun was intended to draw the French into a battle of attrition...with the calculation of five French dead for every two German being the acceptable 'win' scenario. The Germans vacated the Fort when shells from the railway guns (named "Alsace" and "Lorraine") hit the fort infirmary killing fifty inside.
Incredibly interesting and valuable. Lest we forget, thank you for helping us all to remember and respect the terrible sacrifice endured by our men and women.
Very nice shots, but your explanations make them so precious. Thx a lot for your pile of Information- as a normal visitor you can imagine how it looks like- but with your drone footage its really an other league of information.
I have been to Verdun three times. The first two times in the 1980s, the terrain was still pretty open because the trees hadn't grown so tall. I could see Douaumont from Vaux. Literally every piece of ground was a shell hole.
Thank you for watching. I was there only three weeks ago and some of the land in the Quadrilateral had been cleared. But most of the area is very overgrown.
I loved this! Amazing to see the whole after math of land of one of the longest battles in history! I would love more views like this for the other battles like the sommne
