February 21, 1916

Battle of Verdun

German Fifth Army opens the Battle of Verdun

At 7:15 a.m. roughly 1,200 German guns began firing. The French survivors did not face German infantry until nearly five in the afternoon.

Nine hours of shelling, then infantry

At 7:15 a.m. on 21 February 1916, German artillery opened a massive bombardment against French forts, trenches and the city of Verdun, beginning the offensive known as Operation Gericht. Roughly 1,200 guns fired approximately 350,000 shells that day.

German infantry attacked only at about 4:45 p.m., on the front from Haumont Wood to Ornes, north of Verdun on the east bank of the Meuse.

The battle did not begin with an infantry rush. Most of 21 February was artillery fire.

Bois des Caures still held at nightfall

At Bois des Caures, the 56th and 59th French Chasseurs battalions under Lieutenant-Colonel Émile Driant survived the barrage and still held the wood that evening. They were forced to withdraw only after renewed fighting on 22 February, during which Driant was killed.

Haumont Wood was lost by nightfall, but the opening attack produced limited gains rather than a break in the French front.

Fort Douaumont — the position most often attached to the opening disaster — was not taken that day; German troops occupied it without a fight on 25 February.

Two claims to hold at arm's length

Philippe Pétain was not directing the defence on 21 February. He was appointed after the opening crisis, on 26 February.

Falkenhayn later wrote that he had intended to bleed France white. The French Ministry of Armed Forces' Bois des Caures history notes that surviving contemporary planning documents do not corroborate that postwar formulation, so it should not be presented as his original plan.

Published totals for guns and shells also vary according to the frontage measured and the categories of artillery counted.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 4 sources not yet audited

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What the sources leave uncertain

The date and opening time are well established.
Falkenhayn later wrote that he had intended to bleed France white. The French Ministry of Armed Forces’ Bois des Caures history notes that surviving contemporary planning documents do not corroborate that postwar formulation, so it should not be presented as an uncontested fact about his original plan.
Published totals for guns and shells vary according to the geographical frontage and categories of artillery counted.