The Douaumont Ossuary is a memorial containing the remains of soldiers
who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. The Ossuary was raised by a committee led by the Bishop of
Verdun who raised funds not only throughout France, but
internationally as well. Around the outside of the building you can
see the coats of arms of all the cities which donated money towards
the project.
Work began on 22 August 1920, by which time there was
already a makeshift ossuary on the site. The remains of the dead
were transferred one of eighteen alcoves, each containing a pair of tombs. On
the wall above each tomb is an inscription showing which area
of the battlefield the bodies were recovered from. Each tomb
covers an 18 cubic metre vault. Some areas gave up far more bodies than could be contained in a
single vault and these extra bodies are housed in two 150 cubic
metre vaults, one at each end of the cloister.
I have been to this area of france. The story tells the survivors went insane from walking atop all the bodys. The battlefield is left the same way. The bunkers and bomb holes are still there.
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