On the reconquered hill 304: An aid post (August 22nd 1917). At the foot of the reconquered hill 304: Bombardment by gas shells. South of Beaumont: Caurettes Wood.
CONCLUSION
The Battle of Verdun was not merely one of the hardest of the War's many battles, it was also one of the most serious checks received by the Germans. The enemy High Command had foreseen neither its amplitude nor its long duration. Whereas, "according to plan", Verdun—"Heart of France"—was speedily to be overpowered by a carefully prepared mass attack, the Germans found themselves involved in a formidable struggle, without being able either to obtain a decisive advantage or keep the relatively small advantages obtained at the beginning of the battle.
The battle did not develop "according to plan", its successive phases being determined by circumstances. The huge reinforcements which the Germans were compelled to call upon bring out very clearly the immensity of the enemy effort.
From February 21st 1916 to February 1st 1917 the Germans made use of fifty-six and a half divisions, i.e. 567 battalions, in front of Verdun. Of these fifty-six and a half divisions, six divisions appeared successively on both banks of the Meuse, eight others being also engaged twice and six three times. In reality, in the course of eleven months, eighty-two and a half German divisions (nearly 1,800,000 men), took part in the attacks on Verdun, which they had expected to crush in a few days with ten to twelve divisions. The contrast between this formidable effort and the meagre results obtained is striking, and is a splendid testimony to the courage and tenacity of the defenders.
This battle, by using up the best troops the Germans could put into the field, had serious strategic results for the enemy.
Hindenburg in his Memoirs states "This battle exhausted our forces like a wound that never heals."
"At Verdun France learnt to know herself", writes L. Gillet in his wonderful book The Battle of Verdun.
"The Marne was not enough to show France what she really was. A day of inspiration, a few hours of frenzy, a burst of enthusiasm, a sudden glow of rage and passion with Marseillaises sounding on all sides, the world knew us to be capable of flashes like these. But the world did not know—nor did we ourselves—our own sterling virtue.