Verdun 1916 and AEF Meuse Argonne offensive 1918 - Private tour (2,7 pax)

Now completely renovated and extended, the Verdun Memorial Museum has reopened in February 2016 for the centenary of the battle. The new layout combines a learning experience and emotion, taking visitors into the heart of the Great War and the Franco-German battlefield. The replica of the 1916 battlefield remains the central feature of the visit. It is set within a glass cage and there is a video wall covering an area of 100 sq. metres. A unique audiovisual presentation recreates the violence of the battle and shows the tremors and contortions of ground constantly pounded by shellfire. It combines archival images and artwork by the soldiers. The top floor is flooded with light and it opens onto the countryside surrounding the museum. Visitors can access the terraces and see the panoramic view.

The Douamont ossuary is a memorial containing the remains of both French and German soldiers who died on the Verdun battlefield. Through small outside windows, the skeletal remains of at least 130,000 unidentified combatants of both nations can be seen filling up alcoves at the lower edge of the building. On the inside of the ossuary building, the ceiling and walls are partly covered by plaques bearing names of French soldiers who died during the Battle of Verdun. It was built on the initiative of Charles Ginisty, Bishop of Verdun. It has been designated a "nécropole nationale", or "national cemetery".

Bayonet Trench is a war memorial, however, an unusual memorial. The monument consists of a massive concrete slab supported by massive pillars. It indeed honours the memory the French soldiers, who were buried alive in their trench after a shell explosion during the Battle of Verdun on June 12, 1916. The only clue that led to the discovery of their bodies was the tip of their bayonets sticking out of the ground!

The second part of the day will focus to the « US Meuse Argonne Offensive » led by General of the Armies « John Pershing » (and Commander of The American Expeditionary Forces) from September 26, 1918 until the Armistice of November 11, 1918. Impressives war memorial sites such as the «American Monument in Montfaucon » where traces of the war (ruined buildings and shell holes) are still visibles today. The Meuse-Argonne American Memorial (Montfaucon American Monument) is an American World War I memorial commemorating "the brilliant victory of the American First Army in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. This memorial was built by the American Battle Monuments Commission, a government agency in the USA which also maintains it. It has an overall height of 60 metres and is topped by a statue symbolising liberty. It stands opposite the front line occupied by the First American Army on the morning of 26 September 1918 when the attack was launched. Visitors can climb up to the observation platform (opening times are displayed outside) from which there is a magnificent view of almost all the ground captured during the offensive, the largest battle in American history at that time.

Fort Douaumont was the largest and highest fort on the ring of 19 large defensive works which had protected the city of Verdun, France since the 1890s. By 1915, the French General Staff had concluded that even the best-protected forts of Verdun could not resist bombardments from the German 420 mm (16.5 in) Gamma guns . The fort, occupied by some 60 French soldiers, was taken without combat by the Germans on February 25, 1916, four days after the beginning of the Battle of Verdun. This event is then celebrated as a great victory in Germany. It will be occupied for 8 months by the German army, which will make it a shelter for its troops and an essential support point on the right bank of the Meuse to continue its offensive. Despite several attempts to win back, the fort will only be taken over on 24 October 1916 by french colonial troops (the Morocco Colonial Infantry Regiment and the 43rd Senegalese Tirailleurs Battalion). French General Pétain said that it has cost the life of 100000 french soldiers to retake Fort Douamont !

To end this very moving day and pay tribute to the Fallen soldiers, you will visit the beautiful and very well maintained « Meuse Argonne American Cemetery » which is the largest US Military Cemetery in Europe with more than 14000 graves. WW1 American Cemetery Within the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in France, which covers 130.5 acres, rest the largest number of our military dead in Europe, a total of 14,246. Most of those buried here lost their lives during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I. The immense array of headstones rises in long regular rows upward beyond a wide central pool to the chapel that crowns the ridge. While walking along row upon row of white grave headstones, your historian guide will share with you stories of soldiers who fought in the vicinities and then were awarded for gallantry the highest miltary decorations.