French Soldier vs German Soldier by David Campbell & Adam Hook

Author:David Campbell & Adam Hook
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472838162
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

Mort-Homme

9 April 1916

BACKGROUND TO BATTLE

The initial German successes on the eastern bank of the River Meuse were significant, but incomplete. Castelnau’s decision to stand and fight coupled with the appointment of Pétain to the command of the Verdun sector had steadied French nerves. The German attack was ongoing, but lacked the strength to crack the French front in two. Fresh divisions thrown in at the right moment might have carried the day during the crucial hours of 25–26 February, but Falkenhayn refused to release them, betraying an inflexibility of thought that would have far-reaching consequences for 5. Armee.

The German advance slowed in late February due to increasingly stubborn French resistance, aided by shortcomings in the German artillery units that left many French defensive installations essentially intact. The German gunners were exhausted, and gun barrels were wearing out from constant use. In addition, snow gave way to rain, turning the shell-churned earth into a quagmire that made it difficult for German artillery units to relocate as the offensive moved forward. The French artillery units, reorganized by Pétain, now bombarded the German troops as they advanced. Numerous heavy-artillery batteries (equipped with guns such as the de Bange 155mm M1877 long cannon) fired directly into the exposed German flank from the Bois Bourrus on the western bank of the Meuse, causing horrendous casualties.

On 28 February, at a meeting between Falkenhayn, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Schmidt von Knobelsdorf, it was agreed to extend the offensive to the western bank, while launching a simultaneous attack on the French positions around Fort Vaux that were enfilading the German advance from the east. The plan for the western bank was limited to the capture of Côte de l’Oie (Goose Ridge) and Mort-Homme (Dead Man’s Hill), thereby depriving the French of Mort-Homme’s excellent observational qualities and allowing the German guns to move within range of the French artillery batteries sheltering behind the Bois Bourrus. Aware that at least some of 5. Armee’s focus had shifted westward, the French worked to improve the western bank’s fortifications; responsibility for its defence fell to Général de division Georges de Bazelaire’s VIIe Corps d’Armée, with five divisions at the time of the German attack.

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