Transcription: First Phase, the Bombardier. On the morning of February 21, 1916, hundreds of German guns opened fire along a 25-kilometer or 15-mile front on both banks of the river Meuse. For ten hours, the batteries, guided by spotter aircraft, poured a torrent of large caliber shells onto the French trenches that formed Verdun's outer ring of defense. At 5 p.m., the first First reconnaissance patrols emerged from the German trenches to investigate the consequences of the long bombardment. The effects varied from sector to sector since, in some zones, the counter-battery fire had done its job.
(.mp3)