Fleury & Fort de Vaux
France > Lorraine > Verdun > Fleury and the Fort de Vaux
The horrifying story of the Battle of Verdun is graphically documented at FLEURY, in the Musée-Memorial de Fleury (daily: Feb & Mar 9am–noon & 2–5pm; April to mid-Sept 9am–6pm; mid-Sept to mid-Nov 9am–noon & 2–6pm; mid-Nov to December 20 9am–noon & 2–5pm; €4.60), which is included in the Verdun tourist office's guided tour. Contemporary newsreels and photos present the stark truth; and in the well of the museum, a section of the shell-torn terrain that was once the village of Fleury has been reconstructed as the battle left it.Another major monument is the Fort de Vaux, 4km east of Fleury (daily Feb to Dec 23 9am–5pm; €2.50), where, after six days' hand-to-hand combat in the confined, gas-filled tunnels, the French garrison, reduced to drinking their own urine, were left with no alternative but surrender. On the exterior wall of the fort a plaque commemorates the last messenger pigeon sent to the command post in Verdun vainly asking for reinforcements. Having safely delivered its message, the pigeon expired as a result of flying through the gas-filled air above the battlefield. It was posthumously awarded the Légion d'Honneur.
| 