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{
    "localId": "17343226",
    "label": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
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    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226"
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{
    "id": "17343226",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "The Memoirs of Sergeant Verne Chaney",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/17343226",
    "collections": [
        "Verne E. Chaney Papers",
        "Subject Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972",
        "Spina, Frank E., 1887-1972",
        "Klemm, Karl D., 1880-",
        "Wooldridge, Glenwood F., 1893-1977",
        "Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948",
        "Thacher, John H., 1872-1960",
        "Miles, John L., 1878-1961",
        "Soldiers",
        "World War, 1914-1918",
        "Artillery"
    ],
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    "hasTranscription": false
}

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            "logicalDate": "1919-01-01",
            "year": 1919
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{
    "seq": 42,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/3432/17343226/content/presidential-libraries/truman/648564/hst-vec-naid7453017-42.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "42\nand a narrow gage track a few hundred feet across the road, a battery of\nFrench 75's, two batteries of 155's and a battery of anti-aircraft. All of these\nwere to our rear and on the same hill with us, on our right, was Fort\nTavannes, just a five minute walk from our position.120\nThe ground was the most hard fought for ground in the drive for\nVerdun. Verdun lying just down the valley from our position. A million\nshells a day for seventy two days, were fired in this sector. Fort Duamont,\nFort Vaux, and a few others were all within view. 121 'Every night of our stay\nhere the Huns were shelling the French positions to our rear and also the\nfort on our right. They seldom failed to open up about eight o 'clock every\nnight with H.E., shrapnel and gas. We were annoyed a few nights with gas\nbut no harm done.122 There was constant efforts, by the Boche planes, to get\n120\nThe French fortress system was based on the ancient citadel city of Verdun. Shaped in three arcs,\nthe fort line was comprised of 20 major and lesser forts, and forty strong points, many having only one artillery\npiece. The Meuse River running roughly North-South split the arcs resulting in a fortress line on the East and\nand one one on the West bank. Fort Travenne was a major fort the East bank, in the second arc and astride the\nrailroad. The French General Staff had secretly drawn a \"panic line\" around the inner ring forts. This was the\nline around which the last ditch fight for Verdun would be fought. Fort Travanne was an integral part of the line.\n121\nHowever one looked at Fort Douamont, it was chilling, menacing and deadly. At 1200 feet\nelevation it overlooked the fortress line. There was not a square yard its guns did not cover. Fort Douamont was\nthe strongest fort in the world and the cornerstone of the whole Verdun defensive system. It was a hollow sham.\nIn their infinite wisdom, the French General Staff (GQG) had depleted the forts of movable artillery and men\nleaving the forts virtually undefended. Fort Douamont fell almost immediately to a small force of specially\ntrained assault troops. It was retaken by the French on October 24, 1916.It was undefended then also. Inspection\nof the fort by French engineers revealed that despite the large number of heavy caliber shells impacting on it,\nit was practically undamaged. Artillery records show that during the ten month Battle of Verdun, the French fired\n27,000,000 and the Germans fired 28,000,000 shells. Fort Vaux was a outer ring fort on the East bank. Fort\nVaux was a critical position even though it was the smallest fort in the system and had only one 75mm gun and\nmachine guns. It was the bastion upon which the whole French Northwestern trench system was based. The\nGermans fought desperately to take it, the French fought even more desperately to beat them back. The\nGermans were dropping up to 2,000 shells an hour on it. The French village of Vaux changed hands thirteen\nduring the fight. Commanded by Major Raynal, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, a ragtag band of\nFrenchmen fought the Germans to a standstill until driven underground by massive artillery bombardments. The\nattacks went on, day after day. Cut off from France, Fort Vaux was short of food, ammunition, medical supplies\nand out of water, Major Raynal was forced to surrender. It is likely that Fort Vaux would never have surrendered\nexcept for lack of water. The Germans had been unable to advance more than forty yards underground in five\ndays of desperate fighting. The Germans lost 2700 men capturing Fort Vaux. Major Raynal was honored by the\nGerman Crown Prince and French nation for his courage.\n122\nThe fort on the right was Fort Travanne. The editor has Sergeant Chaney's original artillery chart\nof the position. The chart shows his gun position, ranges and field of fire. It shows the location of the forts,\ntunnel and terrain."
}