Walking with the ghosts of Verdun; Death was a relief to many trapped in this hell As Remembrance Day nears, Tom Bower visits the killing fields of France's bloodiest battle.

From: The Mail on Sunday (London, England) | Date: November 7, 2004 | Copyright information

Byline: TOM BOWER

STANDING in the drizzle, peering through misty glass at the bones of 130,000 French and German soldiers killed during the Verdun inferno, was a chilling introduction to the worst slaughter of the First World War.

Stored in the Ossuaire, a huge, shabby stone mausoleum in the midst of the hillside battlefields, the indelible remains of brave soldiers, bled and blown to death across the surrounding farmland, is testament to the power of 60milli...

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Walking with the ghosts of Verdun Death was a relief to many trapped in this hell As Remembrance Day nears, Tom Bower visits the killing fields of France's bloodiest battle
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