The Silencing Mother of Verdun

  • Published
  • By Bill Harris
  • 48th Fighter Wing historian
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  She sits atop a pedestal in the Douamont Ossuary, a memorial to the thousands of unknown soldiers whose bones litter the subterranean compartments beneath her. Her forehead is covered by a folded cloak. Her head is gently bowed and her eyes are closed as a sign of respect. A slightly curved, gracile forefinger is pressed to her lips, beckoning all to observe the silence of the hall in which she sits. In her other hand, an olive branch is gently clutched so as not to damage its symbolism. She is the Silencing Mother of Verdun. Her peaceful, meditative pose instills a similar mood upon all those who view her, yet convey the horror of France's most important battle in history.

Verdun, like many battles of the First World War, was the scene of incredible bravery and savage slaughter. Even today, the tortured landscape still bear the scars of thousands of shell craters, human bone fragments, and shell splinters. Verdun is to the French as the Somme is to the British and Gettysburg to the Americans. To get an idea of how horrific the battle was, it commenced on Feb. 21, 1916 and concluded 10 months later. During the opening days of the battle, the Germans fired over a million explosive and gas shells along a 25-mile front. Some of the French lines received nearly 50 shells per square yard. Thus the amazing amount of casualties: more than 250,000 dead and more than a million wounded.

Fought between 1914 and 1918, the First World War claimed the lives of nearly 10 million combatants and 21 million wounded. Another nine million civilian deaths were a direct result of the war as well. Hundreds of thousands are still missing. The Thiepval Memorial on the Somme Battlefield holds the name of 78,000 British and French soldiers never accounted for. And that is from one battle. Many still lie in the muddy trenches that served as both home and tomb. Even America, who entered the war in late 1917, lost over 116,000 combatants and twice that number wounded. But that staggering number is only one-eighth of the losses sustained by Great Britain and one-tenth France's war dead. Germany's was even higher.

After four long years, World War I ended with the signing of the armistice Nov. 11, 1918. But unlike other wars, the Great War was seared into the national consciousnesses of those countries who participated since the conflict nearly removed an entire generation from the face of the earth. To recognize the spiritual, physical, and emotional agony of the war, England's King George V formally recognized Nov. 11 as Armistice Day in 1919. President Wilson likewise recognized Nov. 11 as a day to remember those who had fought in the Great War. Today, Remembrance Day, Armistice Day, and Veteran's Day, is more than a day off. It is a day in which humankind needs to embrace those gentle souls who marched toward the sound of battle. And when the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month arrives, take two silent minutes to honor their memory.