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| Depiction of the Fighting at Mort Homme |
Atop Mort Homme is also a memorial to the men of the French 40th Division, in the form of a tall obelisk with a sword engraved on the front and the words Mort Homme inscribed on the top. There is no commemorative for the thousands of Germans who also fell on the hill.
After three months of ferocious fighting, Mort Homme was secured by German forces on 29 May 1916. The hill was the site of further back and forth action after the official end of the Battle of Verdun. French forces finally secured the hill on 20 August 1917. A year later it would be immediately behind the jump-off line for the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive. During the 1916 fighting, American Field Service ambulances had helped evacuate wounded from the Mort Homme and Cote 304 sector on the left bank.
After three months of ferocious fighting, Mort Homme was secured by German forces on 29 May 1916. The hill was the site of further back and forth action after the official end of the Battle of Verdun. French forces finally secured the hill on 20 August 1917. A year later it would be immediately behind the jump-off line for the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive. During the 1916 fighting, American Field Service ambulances had helped evacuate wounded from the Mort Homme and Cote 304 sector on the left bank.
Mort Homme shows the significance of how the French army's 69th and 40th divisions tried to stop the German advance." Ils Ne Passeront Pas" made the battle symbolic where the French continued to stop the advance on Mort Homme because it was strategically significant, where the victors would be able to see the battle from all sides of the hill. The haunting memorial reminds future generations of the human impact World War One had on the world. Therefore, the Mort Homme monument represents the sacrifice and steadfastness men had to make to protect their country.
ReplyDeleteThank you Willian, nicely put.
DeleteThank You, Mike.
DeleteThat's an astonishing monument.
ReplyDelete