Battlefields

Monday, April 16th, 1917, 6:00 AM, spring is slow to come in the North of France, a cold rain drowns the Chemin des Dames. It will soon snow all over the Aisne Department. However, all the Poilus who attack that day are sure: this time it will be the end of the war. The offensive decided by the new commander-in-chief, General Nivelle, must take everything on its passage.

April 16, 1917, for the first time in history, French tanks fight their way through the black sludge of Chemin des Dames. One year before, in October, British tanks tried their luck in Somme. In both cases, the long-awaited miracle did not take place. Yet, a century later, the tanks are still here, monsters of technology that are becoming increasingly efficient.

It is in the heart of the Ardennes massif that will take place one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War. A few days before Christmas, 500,000 Germans are preparing to stampede on the allied forces stationed in the sector. In the early hours of the assault on December 16th, 1944, the American forces are taken by surprise. Discover what actually happened in Ardennes in the winter 1944.

Verdun, February 21st, 1916. It is here that the most emblematic battle of the First World War will take place. Under the orders of General von Falkenhayn, chief of the General Staff of the Imperial armies, the Germans are determined to use the destructive power of their heavy artillery as much as possible to drown the French lines under a rain of fire.

June 6, 1944, at dawn, 156,000 men are preparing to disembark with five objectives of the Normandy coast. This is Operation Overlord. Among them, combatants which we often forget about their active participation in the liberation of Europe. These are the 15,000 Canadians of the 3rd Infantry Division. They must arrive on a beach five miles wide, code name: Juno.

June 5th, 1944, 9:30 PM. 13,348 men from two American parachute divisions, the 82nd and the 101st Airborne in nearly 1,000 aircraft will take off to Normandy. Until then, no one had launched an airborne operation of this scale. The Allied staff is expecting huge losses! Some forecasts predict 75% of the paratroopers will fall in combat. They must open the way to the troops landing on Utah Beach.

On May 26, 1940, the British Admiralty launched the evacuation of part of its expeditionary force. In a few days, hundreds of ships would have to put to sea to save several tens of thousands of fighters trapped in Dunkirk: this was Operation Dynamo.