*Excavated from the Battle of Verdun battlefield.

Size: 2.5 x 14 inches

Relic: Artillery Shell Fragment 

This World War I relic was made from an artillery shell shrapnel fragment found on the infamous Battle of Verdun battlefield. This shrapnel artifact was found at the ‘farthest point of German penetration’ a few hundred meters near the infamous Fort Vaux where the Germans launched a 100-day siege. The knife blade is estimated to have been done within the past 30 years and was most likely made a tourist piece using the local war materials left over from the great battle.

Fort Vaux, another Séré de Rivières fort, was one of the main priorities of the German attack, from the very start of the Battle of Verdun. Early in March 1916, the Germans launched a 100-day siege from their position a few hundred meters from the fort. The French soldiers inside were subjected to a deluge of artillery shells but they withstood the attack despite a lack of food and water. On 1 June, the Germans reached the fort. For a week, cut off and without any outside help, the French garrison put up a heroic fight within the fort before exhaustion forced it to surrender.

The Battle of Verdun is considered the greatest and lengthiest in world history. Never before or since has there been such a lengthy battle, involving so many men, situated on such a tiny piece of land. The battle, which lasted from 21 February 1916 until 19 December 1916 caused over an estimated 700,000 dead, wounded and missing. The battlefield was not even a square ten kilometers. From a strategic point of view there can be no justification for these atrocious losses. The battle degenerated into a matter of prestige of two nations literally for the sake of fighting.