The Nightmarish Tunnels of Fort Vaux
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- To break the agonizing stalemate that World War 1 had become, the German Empire infiltrated the most protected fortification on Earth, Fort Douaumont, capturing it without firing a single shot. This gave them the confidence to go after the rest of the French forts in the highly protected region of Verdun.
When the German 12th Grenadier Regiment prepared to storm the nearby Fort Vaux, merely a fraction of the size of Douaumont, they expected little resistance. They also believed that seizing the fort would lure the French troops out of their trenches, shifting the fate of the war in Germany’s favor.
As the relentless shelling had rendered Fort Vaux’s field guns useless, all the French forces had to defend themselves were machine guns, grenades, and rifles. Moreover, the garrison inside the fort was led by Commandant Sylvain Eugène Raynal, a 49-year-old veteran bound to a walking cane who had bravely volunteered to oversee the stronghold.
Even so, the disabled commander would soon lead 600 fearless men into battle against thousands of Germans, in what became one of the most brutal and heroic defensive efforts of the war…
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -
legend. Even German high command knew he was a legend. Gave his sword back to him. thats unheard of. Love this channel
Not unheard of for the German army. They did this fairly regularly with respected opponents who fought bravely.
Unlike WWII, during WWI there were many gestures like that one, from both sides. This was not a conflict of hate, unlike WWII.
@@mikatu nonsense this was done during WW2 as well. Especially during fall gelb in Belgium and Netherlands.
The Germans should not have been there.
It's just an expression everyone. I'll remove it if it offended the masses Jeeze
My absolute favorite war stories are the ones where even the enemy gives respect to acts of brilliant soldiery
Same.
..Camerone...
As are mine. It just feels natural. Neither one of us want to do this, but both of us are going to train to be the best possible and when met with an evenly marked opponent, you’re meeting some of the few people who really understand what you’re going through.
Its Like saying gg
You mean where a human recognizes the fact he is fighting himself?
_“In late June, literally dying of thirst, the French were forced to surrender Fort Vaux to the Germans. Immediately the French struck back and took the fortress, but with devastating losses on both sides. While the battlefield was not even a square ten kilometers, 700,000 were now dead, wounded or missing. _*_This was the longest battle of World War One.”_*
Battlefield 1, after winning “The Devil’s Anvil” operation as the Germans
best game in existence!
Hail to WWI cameramen. Can you imagine being in the field with the equipment they had, and documenting this horror?
Actually, I'd rather not try.
Very very few actual ww1 movies...99% of it is filmed away from battles..mostly like b roll.....give me 10 guys to go over that wall....etc...
Most footage is from training or staged
@@granola661 are you thick. Sure. They wasted expensive reels what in todays money would cost £20000 a reel to make. I suppose you are that kid what thinks the earth is flat. Honestly I’ve heard some shyte in my time but you are the shyte on the bottom of people shoes. 😂
@@joeburrows6 You just attacked me over the fact I stated that most footage is from training or staged to look cool 😂 You can ask any historian and they will tell you the same, all the footage you see taken above the trenches as in exposing the cameraman to fire & shrapnel is staged. The real footage is mostly non-combat like ration serving, medical treatment, medical checks, soldiers spending time in trenches. There is very very very little amount of unstaged combat footage from WW1. But yes it exists I never denied that.
Verdun is a spooky place, went there as a teenager. The fort itself was ok, but the trench of the Bayonets and the church of bones was humbling. One of the guides said the forest around it is forbidden to go in because of unexploded munitions and mustard gas still seeps out in some places.
Yes, there are current maps with red coloured areas that are forbidden to walk due to so far unexploded shells. Even the landscape still bears the scars. Some battlefields....it's like they're still visited by souls who are lost.
@@dritzzdarkwood4727 souls to fight over for those in power, souls to fight over for those who follow
Trench of bayonettes is fake
It’s like when I went to auchwitz. It’s eari. Even the woodlands and all the open fields there. You don’t hear any birds chirping or any wildlife. Our guide has been there 20 years and he has heard nothing but quite.
@@granola661 Not a fake, but a memorial. Confusing it with the remains of the battles is the problem.
Verdun was the longest continuous battle in history, lasting 300 days. Over 700,000 casualties were lost in this one battle. So much ammunition had been expended in Verdun, it's estimated that it will take an additional 400 years for Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) to make the entire battlefield safe enough to visit.
Somme was over a millions casualties.. casualties is not dead men, but out of action. By any means. Injured, insanity, desertion, etc..
@@mortenfrosthansen84 Didn't say "dead;" I intentionally said casualties because, like you, I know the difference.
@@ex-navyspook but they were "lost"..
Shouldn't it be just casualties, or perhaps inflicted..
Although mostly when someone became a casualty, it usually meant they were to be lost
How did they get lost?
@@chrissmith3509 Wasn't medieval times so they couldn't follow the arrows 🤣🤣🤣🤣
the immense bravery of these men is astounding.
I concur
_“The defense of Fort Vaux was marked by the heroism and endurance of the French soldiers stationed there. This small garrison repulsed constant assaults of gas and fire and bullets, before physical conditions forced them to surrender. If the Germans had been able to hold the Fort, perhaps their assault on Verdun itself would have been successful, and the western front permanently breached. However, strategically, there was little justification for the atrocious losses on either side.”_
Battlefield 1, after winning the “Devil’s Anvil” operation as the French.
I was last year there in persona... Fort Beaumont and Vaux are part of the museum-ticket in Verdun... fantastique to see it in this documentary
two forts are only included in the ticket if you take the "combined ticket" (which is more expensive)
...and where / what is fort Beaumont?
The Great War has to be one of the most horrifying chapters in human history.
No shit sherlock
Best narrations on UA-cam. Dark series is my favourite. The brutality of war comes alive in his voice.
totally agree, i only wish they would produce 1hr long docu's i could fall asleep too ! ;)
@@TerribleShmeltingAccident dark ASMR would be stellar!
this is absolutely incredible , ww1 is so full of amazing stories that we have to keep alive.
Sabaton recently released two albums about WW1: The Great War and The War to End all Wars. Fields of Verdun, Christmas Truce, Price of a Mile are all part of the great albums. Lots of their videos, and also Hellfest 2019 shows them singing with a chorus dressed in WW1 uniforms from that era. Also, their Motorhead cover, 1916.
World War 1 was a strange war in that the honor and decency during combat of the days of knights in armour, still existed up to a point, amid the industrialised horror of a modern war. This aspect was especially noticable among the Airmen.
I have visited Vaux several times. To this day, you can feel the desperation in its corridors. Tell this story when someone talks of the French being Surrender Monkeys.
wee wee
Isn't this a story of a brave surrender?
@@foulbastard "Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin!"
The French soldiers of 1940 were the victims of their politicians and generals. If they had been given proper leadership they would have fought, just like their fathers did in WW1. The turm surrender monkeys is generally used by people ignorant of history
I fought at fort Vaux hundreds of times pretty easy to keep the line and keep the enemy spawn trapped as long as you’re defending Battlefield 1 was such a good game
And when the French surrendered, I heard the regimental mascot, a Papillion Spaniel of unknown name, was given water by the men through out the siege even to their own expense, and was taken in as an unofficial POW
Forgotten weapons has an excellent tour of fort vaux.
That battle sounds like a microcosm of the war in general: Thousands of lives lost for a few dozen yards of territory.
Better than fake space movies that are meaningless
@@cramirez3855 ?
Idk, I'd rather we have trashy superhero and space marine movies than actually have people dying over a few yards of land in a senseless cruel battle.
Why would you even compare the two? One is real, and the other doesn't even pretend to be.
Do you really watch this as pure entertainment? Because that's kinda fucked up if you do.
War is not necessarily about measures of dirt.
It's a damn shame that men like these were lost to the pages of history...
I pray they are enjoying a peaceful rest that they most certainly earned!!!
May God bless all the men and women that were lost in the defence of their countries in every conflict throughout history 🙏
I have to say !
I am totally blown away by this battle.
The details are so Human in honor.
An unfortunate turn of phrase.
@@canturgan 🤣 An apt response.
Dark5 and it's many channels have become the best straightforward documentaries I've seen on UA-cam, ever. I totally encourage everyone I know to watch and subscribe. I love his voice and the content is exceptionally well written, directed, narrated and produced. If one likes short documentaries, this is the group of channels one needs to watch.
You might enjoy Mark Felton’s channel
"STAY TUNED..."
@@freddofrog9892 mark Felton publishes false stories and doesn't use reliable sources
Imagine killing 3000 of an enemy’s soldiers and getting an award from them when captured for being such a badass
That's because respect is EARNED & if you lived long enough to hit 3k, you weren't the type of person ANYONE wanted to meet on the battlefield...
It was a different time. There was a sense of honour between the mainland European armies back then, a sense of decency and diplomacy that didn't exist come WWII. It's sad, really. Humans who fight wars, many of them, have lost all sense of honour toward their enemies being instead filled with spite and malice.
How many did the French lose trying to relieve the fort?
@@gabriellashimone6546 The Germans still practiced such gallantry quite often in WWII. So did the Americans.
@@gabriellashimone6546 did as well during WW2, there are records of it especially Belgium forts
No doubt about it, Verdun was literal hell for both sides. This is why the display of respect from the enemy. I don't care who they are or what they want, you go through hell with anyone, respect is bound to be gained . Keep up the great work!
Such an incredible defense against overwhelming German forces. This lead of course to the commander or the French Garrison. Being recognized by his superiors and enemy for bravery and his leadership capabilities. A very interesting and informative short video. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨
Thank you for starting to highlight more WW I stories. Very interesting period where old traditions melded with the new mass horror of modern warfare. Just like this instance. Please do more.
3000 German soldiers died attempting to take the fort. Truly incredible the French garrison was able to hold out that long
I went there in 2016 on a French battlefield tour. That is an amazing fortification.
Sure u did
@@crispysocksss John Doe they do tours of the fort. Why do you think it's an impossible feat to a book tour
Remarkable, and fine telling of brave men, very brave French men. Fascinating the German High Command saw fit to hold this remarkable defense in Honor.
A similar situation occurred during the Blitz Krieg of WW II. An exceptionally gallant division of French Military Cadets was recognized by the Wehrmacht and allowed to withdraw from the Nazi attack on France. I believe that the Wehrmacht was, in general, periodically gallant, The SS was an entirely different affair. Churchill mentioned Marshall Rommel in Parliament, favorably. Rommel was Wehrmacht. My father fought in WWII. He encountered the Wehrmacht. His opinion was that the Wehrmacht made an effort to fight a clean war.
Yeah, if you want to shearch about it, they were named the cadet of Sommure
You should read about wehrmacht on Eastern front...
The Wehrmacht was complicit in atrocities across all theaters. While it certainly wasn't their main goal like those that came in after to 'clean up' occupied territories they shouldn't get a pass. Just like the other powers shouldn't get a pass either. The Japanese were absolutely barbaric and committed unimaginable war crimes in Asia. The reality is millions of men fought in the wars across all factions and theaters, some obviously did some good things but many did very bad and those shouldn't be excused because a few were 'honorable'
They were incredibly honorable. It's difficult to separate pure fact from propaganda, though.
They were brutal and responsible for many war crimes on the eastern and western fronts. Do not romanticise an evil war machine. Even Rommel knew and was complicit by inaction of war crimes in North Africa
So much for the French bashers who keep saying that France keeps surrendering without putting a fight.
What an example of courage and honour.
Absolutely, those were very courageous men
Amazing story of courage and determination, great documentary 👏
Always great content and narration!
10:00 Leon Buffet? I’m not sure of the spelling of this heroic Frenchman but his courage and devotion to his fellow soldiers is awe inspiring. Well done sir. Well done.
19 year olds were something elese back then.
"Without firing a single shot." Yes, that is true, but you forgot to mention that Fort Douaumont had been stripped of all its guns to be sent to other parts of the front.
I've learned more about history on here than I did when I was in History Class.
Chances are your history class wasn't riddled with mistakes, unlike UA-cam talking heads.
Well said and I agree completely, superb Channel............
Omg budz you never paid enough attention then, in Canada they taught us all of this and even the native American enslavement and placement in "school's" ect.
But school wasn't supposed to teach you everything about everything man... It was supposed to teach you everything you need to know about learning. It wasn't ever meant as a pure fountain of information. It was always a tool you used to learn more about a subject that either you should know or you want to know more about
FYI I wouldnt fully trust a random guy with no history background to bring me facts about an event hes just learned about..... Makes no sense
Statistically the UA-cam talking heads OFTEN make many errors or omissions especially when talking about anything before 1900.
I hated history in school, now it's like a drug to me!
You HAVE to be careful with channels like these. Pumping out a video every few days, meaning there's very little time for actual research. As a result they're riddled with inaccuracies or straight up wrong in some cases.
You are the best man, 👍💯,peopke need to know that storyso they don't think french people were coward ,they fought with what they had
420mm canon is (unreal!) a bit more than a 16" projectile. That's equal to some battleship guns.
That's exactly what the German "Big Bertha" guns were: battle ship sized guns designed to run on railways, capable of tossing a 16" shell 20+ kilometres.
Of course, this idea was taken insane extremes during WW2.
Actually bigger shell and heavier
Part of America's effort saw the mounting of 14" naval guns on specially designed railroad mounts. The guns were manned by U.S. Navy gun crews. I don't remember how many were deployed this way, but a number of them did fire on the German lines.
@@markkover8040 every nation placed naval gun on railway. Only Austria and Germany build specific siege guns. French did during Verdun
@@jantschierschky3461 It amazes me that for America's short involvement that the effort was made to utilize large caliber naval guns as railroad batteries. I am familiar with the German, British and French deployment of railroad guns during the Great War.
Imagine being such a badass that the enemy commends you when you surrender.
WW1 was ruthless in itself. But a lot of honorable moments…
Stunning! Great history!
The Douaumont was taken by two small units, that got lost in the fog on the battlefield and "stumbled" over the fort and an unlocked door. It was not breached by heavy artillerie. The Defenders - all elderly veterans on "quiet" duty in fortifications - were few and completely taken by surprise. Most of the weaponry and the soldiers of the Douaumont had been previously removed to serve in the field. The "most defended Fort" in the world was taken by a chain of accidents and because someone didn't lock a door.
The dramatic description in the video matches not the historical facts. It was not half so dramatic. The most dramatic incident of the "storm" on Douaumont was that both german units (who didn't knew of each other) almost fired on each other in the dark hallway of the fortress. However: the german imperial propaganda pictured it as an epic storm of heros on the mightiest fortification in the verdun region.
Kind of sad, that this narrative is still live today.
Vaux, however, was une chose different ...
yeah but that was a later attempt in 1916, there was much horror before that.
also you have to know f V and f D anno 1914 or a noob viewer mixes thre scenes up
Thank you. I have always enjoyed watching dark docs.
🤗🇺🇲🙏
Thank you for sharing
Perfect timing!
very nice how they could show respect to a man that harmed them so much
The things man achieves in war are truly great.
It’s unfortunate that war is so terrible, humans are so terribly great at it.
Damn! That’s a true man right there! Todays generation would not have a chance in hell against men of this caliber!
Don't be so sure. There are some bad ass survivors of increasing poverty and despair out there.
@@williebeamish5879 you mean like the majority of us? The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Awesome story! Thank you for your work!
Truly one of your greatest videos, 12 come back to again and again. The links humans will take to survive makes the video extra special
Amazing respect
Dark: "outnumbered almost 2,000 to 1.." Soldier: "I like those odds."
Soldier:”shittinpoopinshittinpoopin” 🎶
Did germany deploy 1 200 000 troops? He stated that there were 600 defenders. So probably not an accurate figure, unless the defenders were significantly fewer.
Yes, I think that was an error by Dark.
Lest We Forget!!! Cheers from QLD, Australia!!
Great Video, one your best ones yet
An amazing story in the horrors of war
Every story I hear about each of these massive battles sounds more brutal and horrific than the last, but the Verdun Offensive is definitely near the top of the list.
I would hate to have the dreams the survivors of these battle had.
Still convinced playing battlefield 1 on the Verdun map on acid gave me shell shock
I was just researching this today what a coincidence! Thank you for this
Visited the battle field many years ago.2 uncles killed in this war.
Uncles? Not great-uncles?
I’m reading, into the silence.
The stunning arrogance, and incompetence, of Commander Haig, at the Somme, is unbelievable.
Fort Douaumont is worth the visit. Also I visited the monument for the completely destroyed village of Vaux.
In fact it is not at the right location, prob due to explosives lingering. So after this know how, I went to visit the original place (from a small distance).
the story of the village Vaux is much more intriging, and worth a documentary.🏁
Excellent. A remarkable story. Thank you.
Although Fort Douaumont fell, it wasn't because of the German bombardment. The damage to the exterior was intense, and can still be seen to this day, but the interior of the fortress remained mostly intact. It had more to do with the fact that only 57 French soldiers were stationed there. You have your dates mixed up: the fortress was captured by the Germans on the 25th of February 1916, and re-captured by the French on 24th of October. On the 14th of December, a 420 mm grenade hit a bunker (a casemate which was part of the defenses of the fortress), killing 21 soldiers as a result. Although a 'big bertha' did successfully hit a bunker of the fortress, it wasn't very effective and a major part of the first time the Germans captured it but happened months after the event you are describing. After the war the French concluded that against all odds the fortresses were more resistant then previously thought in the most optimistic of scenarios.
History video's are cool and all that, but don't spread misinformation about important topics such as world war.
8:19, outnumbered 2000 to 1? Woulndt it mean that there were 1 200 000 germans in this attack?
10/10 the video by the way, very interesting and well described u guys rock
Yeah, I caught that too. I feel like a decimal error crept in there
@@jmansfield8554 i had to double tap -10 sec to listen again😂
Didn’t they say the Germans used 50 divisions?
@@duanepigden1337 idk
I went to Forts Douaumont and Vaux in summer 2018, highly recommend them
If only France still had men like them.
If only Europe did
Reminds me of going down into SW #7 tunnel in Bisbee.
Don't even know of the gate is still open, all the tunnel rats digging for mineral specimens used to use size D batts and drop them when weak & pick up others which had recharged while resting.
Some guys even used the stopes to go up or down a level or two & that's some serious claustrophobic steel right there.
I know video games are a poor analog for real war, but I've been playing Battlefield 1 and you can actually fight in Fort Vaux. And I can tell you it is not an easy place to capture. Going off the descriptions of the fighting in this video, the game got it pretty close to reality. Absolute chaos with bullets and grenades filling the air and you can't see a thing with endless smoke. It's fun in a game, but I'm sure it was absolutely terrible in real life.
@Enrique Williams: Are you from Salto, Uruguay? That was my mother's hometown. Your last name was her maiden name. Ironically, your first name is my middle name. 🤓
It’s not easy to defend either 😮💨😮💨
Anyone who says the French can't fight or are quick to surrender doesn't know a thing about history. The French, they're fierce.
Lions led by donkeys
I know its off subject but Fort Vaux is one of my favorite Battlefield 1 maps. So cool to see the real thing . wow man thanks !
(Two thousand to one? Uh wouldn't that mean that the 600 French soldiers were facing 12 million Germans?
You do great work. Difficult to operate one channel well, let alone two or three. How many do you run?)
Great story. Thank you.
I think you mean 1.2 million
1.2 million ... do the math
@@The123michaelsilva Move the decimal point.
@@stefanschleps8758
My calculator says 1,200,000
Three zeros from the 2000 and two from the 600.
I caught that as well. Thank you for pointing that out.
I can't imagine how hard these men must of been to withstand all of this. How did we change so much in 100 years?
Blame the schools, collages and parents.
Sodium Fluoride
We haven’t changed these types of wars should NEVER BE fought again European brother against brother. Never again. It must never happen again but the darkness and barbarism lurks within humanity I fear for the world itself if a great power war happens again
They didn’t withstand it
Epigenetic trauma
Wow... I have no more words.
Fort vaux showed how powerful forts can be in modern times if done right
The whole Verdun offensive was designed to bleed the french army , unfortunately for the Germans it bled them at an equal rate !
There seemed to be some redundancies throughout the first third of the presentation the first third of the presentation.
Wow! Almost brought tears to my eyes.
Raynal was one ballsy guy!
Lest we forget. -Thanks for the share.
amazing what we can do if pushed to it. The man was a legend
Wild dude!!!! What a crazy battle!!!
"This is my last pigeon" Major Sylvain-Eugene Raynal
Like always great video :)
A legend among hero ❤️
Thank you. WWi is so dearly underreported.
This is history. This should be a movie
The plumbing broke before the guard.
Its had to imagine, this took place over a hundred years ago now
Wow how have I never heard of this one before.
back when honor still meant something in war
...He says as the other guys deploy flame throwers...
My grandfather fought in WWI in a German Calvary unit from Silesia, His wife was a nurse in a German field hospital.
3:02 lol guy on the far right side looks so goofy like a cartoon when he tumbles
An epic story, thanks a lot !
It seemed that commandat Raynal did not have his sword any more at the time he surrendered: he lost it somewhere in the Fort de Vaux and all he had was his cane. So the Kronprinz gave him the sword of another french officer, as it seems.
Thank you.
This was one of my favorite battlefield 1 maps
Wicked story. Especially the ending
Great video about a war that mostly got forgotten ww1 waste of life
Nice.
We visited Fort Vaux - a spooky place.
Congrats on almost to 1m views been watching you since dark5.
Epic channel, so glad I clicked on this video
Flammenwerfer, flamethrowers…
In WW1 against deep forts an tricky business.
The tunnels are huge and an wind blowing.
You open up a gate into an tunnel to clean it out with the flamethrower and a strong wind blows everything back on you.
Nasty situation.