This was the only official medal that the Commission issued. It was presented along with a certificate. The first medal was a non-wearable 37mm example in a leather pouch. The “Golden Book Commission” issued a medal and certificate (without charge) to those who qualified. At least 8 different wearable versions as well as table medals exist that can be collectively called “Verdun Medals.” While it is the most commonly found version of a Verdun medal, many other engravers saw fit to produce their own designs that were commercially available (rather than given by the City of Verdun). Where confusion arises for collectors is that the official medal was designed by S.E. In November 1916, the Mayor of Verdun instituted the design of a medal to be awarded to veterans of the French or Allied armies who served between July 31, 1914, and November 11, 1918, in the Verdun sector between the Argonne and Saint-Mihel. For this reason, any Verdun medal is considered a commemorative medal issued by the City of Verdun as a gesture of honoring the courageous soldiers who saved the city. Whereas the French government issued campaign medals, it did not issue medals for battles or events within a campaign. This was after 600,000 to 700,000 German and French troops were lost (in equal proportions), however.Īs the situation at Verdun improved, it was decided an unofficial French commemorative medal would be issued. The French recaptured many of their forts and, by December, the German’s efforts ground to a halt. By July 14, the Germans called off their offensive, and Falkenhayn was dismissed. The German Army had given all that it had - and yet, their attack faltered. On June 1, 1916, the Germans launched a massive attack on Verdun, advancing to within 2 miles of the city’s cathedral.Īt this time, however, the British opened a battle for the Somme that would dominate the area. The Germans had lost more than 120,000.īy late spring, the battles around Verdun continued to rage. By April 1916, the French had suffered 133,000 casualties. Having underestimated the French defense, the battle degenerated into a terrible carnage on both sides. While many French prisoners were taken during the course of the battle, Falkenhayn did not achieve the five to two kill ratio he promised in Christmas memo that would force the French army to bleed to death. It can be seen to the left of the female figure with Vernier maker’s mark. Forts and buildings, artillery batteries and concrete trenches, bunkers and communication trenches, mine craters and shell holes, tunnels, monuments, graves and tombstones combine to create wartime landscapes across tens of thousands of hectares in Meuse.The Vernier version of the medal is the only one to incorporate the date of “1917” in the design. This historic, archaeological and commemorative heritage bears the stamp of authenticity. Today, Meuse boasts the richest “Great War“ heritage in the world. The battlefields are maintained as authentic battle sites and remains, testimonials to the fighting waged during the Great War. The civilian population was forced to flee and many people never came back again. Farmland and forest were turned into wastelands of death classified as “Red Zone“. Dozens of villages and towns suffered irreversible damage. Many of them were buried many were never found.
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Hundreds of thousands of young men died here. Europeans, Africans and Americans fought in Meuse.
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The Battle of Verdun was so fierce that it became the mother of all great battles in the 20th century. And among all the battlefields, the largest is world-famous - Verdun. From 1914 to 1918, from the Argonne to the Saint-Mihiel Salient and from Vauquois to Les Eparges, the whole of Meuse was in the front line during the Great War. Meuse is synonymous with the First World War.