Fort Douaumont

Douaumont is a village and a commune in the Meuse département in France, near Verdun. Population (1999): 6.

The village was destroyed during World War I. Today the Douaumont ossuary, which contains the remains of thousands of soldiers killed in the Battle of Verdun, remains. In 1916, Douaumont fell to the German Army without a shot being fired.

Pierre Barres didn't know nor did he care about how the fort had been lost. It's loss mattered quite a bit, as it gave the Germans the high ground.