The Forêt d'Exception® label - Douaumont Trail

The keystone and an integral part of the Verdun defences, Fort Douaumont was taken by surprise just 4 days after the start of the Battle of Verdun. It was occupied for 8 months by the German army who used it as a protective shelter for its men and a major operational base for offensive operations. Despite multiple attempts to recapture the fort, this did not take place until the 24th October 1916. With the aid of multimedia supports, visitors can watch films and see photographs from the period, listen to contemporary commentary and testimony, plus archival documentation about this vitally important fort. Visit barracks, the 155mm turreted gun and the German necropolis, resting place to more than 600 German soldiers.

A tunnel runs perpendicular to the front and leads to the trenches. It enabled troops and equipment to be moved close to the front line, sheltered from the various projectiles. The movement of men in these trenches was no easy task: continuous or untimely bombardments, sectors under fire from snipers on the lookout, rain and mud, telephone wires on which infantrymen stumbled, night-time conditions that encouraged them to lose their way, were all pitfalls that made movement perilous. It was used to relieve regiments, supply food and ammunition, and transport the materials needed to build and repair trenches and shelters. Liaison officers also used them to carry written orders. In the Douaumont sector, in order to prevent the walls from collapsing, the sides of the trench were reinforced with a concrete structure. The walls of the casing were shored up by reinforced cement U-bolts holding plates of the same material.

Cet abri était le 2° entre Thiaumont et Douaumont donc TD2!

L’abri de combat d’infanterie TD3 émerge d’une végétation feuillue arbustive, spontanée. Conçus pour abriter 60 à 120 fantassins, en partie bétonnés, les deux abris TD2 et TD3 occupent l’intervalle TD (Thiaumont - Douaumont) qui, sur la ligne de crête alors agricole, définissait la limite nord du camp retranché de Verdun. Au matin du 22 mai 1916, après 5 jours de préparation d’artillerie, les fantassins français des 74° et 129° RI y attendent, dans un lacis de tranchées, l’ordre de l’assaut pour la reprise du fort, conquis le 25 février par les Allemands.

Ici ont été tué quelques combattants parmi tant d'autres : le sergent mitrailleur Emile Moïse Lambert, le lieutenant Jean Massaly ainsi que les sous officiers Jules Barraban et Jean Molières.

Le belvédère surplombe la contrescarpe ouest, offrant une vue inédite sur les fossés et l’escarpe (talus intérieur) du fort.