SITE DU MORT-HOMME

The German offensive to seize Verdun was launched in February 1916. At the beginning of March, fighting broke out on the hills of Mort-Homme. The French put up heroic resistance under a deluge of fire. 10,000 poilus died in this sector.

Monument du Mort-Homme, by sculptor Jacques Froment-Meurice.
Rising from his shroud, the soldier's skeleton cries out in victory. On one arm, he carries a flag, symbolizing the nation for which he sacrificed himself, while on the other, he brandishes the torch of victory. On the base of the monument, the words "Ils n'ont pas passé" (They didn't pass) recall the sacrifice of French combatants for the possession and preservation of this observatory hill on the left bank of the Meuse.

Cumières, declared a "village that died for France", became Cumières le Mort-Homme in 1922. In memory of the village, the Saint-Rémi chapel was built from the stones of the former church, in the middle of an enclosure preceded by a monument to remind us that this was once a peaceful village.