Fort de Vaux located just outside of Verdun was a 19th century defensive structure
which was fiercely defended by french troops during the battle of Verdun
in world war one the fort is located in Vaux-Devant-Damloup in Meuse, France
it is a polygonal fort forming part of a ring of 19 large defensive works intended to protect
the city of Verdun. built in 1881 to 1884 at the cost of one million five hundred thousand francs
and built to house 150 men Vaux had been modernized before 1914.
with reinforced concrete top protection like Fort Douaumont
at the end of 1915 this armament of the fort was carried out to send the
guns in ammunition to the front line the four 75 millimeter guns were removed from the casements
leaving only the two in the turret Vaux came into the limelight when it became one
of the main priorities of the german attack from the beginning of the battle of verdun
it was the second fort to fall after fort douaumont which was captured by the germans in
february 1916. in the confusion of the french retreat. Vaux on the other hand
was fully garrisoned when it was attacked on june 2nd by the german assault troops
from february 21st to the 26th Vaux was bombarded with shells of all sizes field boxes and armored
observatories were damaged and the gallery leading to the 75 millimeter turret was cut
in early march the germans launched a hundred days siege
from the position a few hundred meters away from the fort
the superstructure of the fort was badly damaged but the garrison the deep interior corridors and
stations were intact when the fort was attacked later on june 2nd where the german storm troops
the defense of Vaux was marked by the heroism and endurance of the garrison
including Major Sylvain-Eugene Raynal. he took command of the fort on may 14th with no artillery
under his command the besieged french garrison fended off repeated german assaults
including fighting underground from barricades inside the invaded corridors of the fort
which was the first major engagement to happen completely inside the fort during world war 1.
the french soldiers inside were subjected to deluge of artillery shells but they withstood
the attack despite the lack of food and water the soldiers refused to abandon fort Vaux
staying until they had run out of all supplies and even carrier pigeons
Raynal was using these pigeons to carry messages to his commanding officers
requesting relief for his soldiers on june 1st the germans reached the fort
for a week cut off and without any outside help the french garrison put up a heroic fight
unfortunately the germans cannot be stopped due to the fort having no artillery
on june 2nd and 3rd german troops led by Kurt Rackow attacked the fort with flamed rovers and
forced french troops outside to retreat into the fort the germans penetrate the fort through
the coffers of the counterscarp what was left of the french garrison finally gave up
after it had run out of drinkable water ammunition medical supplies and food
Raynal continued requesting relief until he reached his final carrier pigeon
known as cheramie during his last communications Raynal penned the phrase "this is my last pigeon"
after the capture of fort Vaux on june 7th the crown prince wilhelm
presented major Raynal with a french officer's sword as a sign of respect from june 8th
to november 1st 1916 the fort was used by the germans as a shelter and command post for the area
the french attempt to retake the fort several times with enormous loss of life
they bombard the fort to destroy it with heavy shells including a super heavy 400
millimeter rounds but the concrete walls resisted life inside the structure became
impossible and the germans eventually abandoned the fort at the end of october
on november 2nd the fort was recaptured without resistance by a french patrol which finds it empty
after its recapture fort Vaux was throughly repaired and fully reactivated
however some original damage from the fight on june 2nd can still be seen today
several underground galleries to reach the far outside one of them being a mile long
where dug and equipped between 1916 to 1918 the casemates were rehabilitated before being rearmed
an observatory and an armored command bunker were also equipped with machine guns the water
reserves were quadrupled light was provided now by two electric generators the underground
installations of the fort are in a remarkably good state of preservation as for Raynal
and his soldiers they remain in captivity in germany until the armistice of november 11 1918.
today fort Vaux is a listed historic monument it bears witness to the bitter fighting that opposed
the french and german during the battle of Verdun still watching over the verdun region shows the
technical techniques of the late 19th century with its massive and carefully designed construction
it also symbolizes the intensity of new forms of warfare at the
beginning of the 20th century a super heavy artillery that was introduced
Fort Vaux is an important key to understanding the battle of Verdun so now anyone can visit fort
de vaux it is currently open to the public for guided visits so let's look around
so we're walking the down the stairs and its very damp in here
everything are torn,
wet damp, cold like what i said before
this this trip requires a lot of walking hiking climbing stairs so you have to be like semi-fit
to do all this yeah you need to hydrated too
so that's it for the walkthrough and the history of Fort de Vaux
until next time don't forget to like share and subscribe
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