Douaumont 1916

A French offensive involving three infantry divisions began on 24 October 1916.
Its goal was to recapture the fort. This took place on the same day and was carried out by the
elite Regiment of Colonial Infantry of Morocco. Douaumont had been pounded for days by two
super heavy 400 mm (16-inch) long-range French railway guns named "Alsace" and "Lorraine",
emplaced at Baleycourt, to the southwest of Verdun.Douaumont had become untenable under
their fire and was in the process of being evacuated when it was recaptured.Up to that point, millions
of lesser-caliber shells had been fired at the fort since its capture by the Germans to little avail,
and tens of thousands of men had died in attempts to recapture it.
Fort Douaumont. Wikipedia
The Free Encyclopedia. September 16, 2022

On 25 February 1916, Fort Douaumont was entered and occupied without a fight, by a small German
raiding party comprising only 19 officers and 79 men. The easy fall of Fort Douaumont,
only three days after the beginning of the Battle of Verdun, shocked the French Army.
It set the stage for the rest of a battle which lasted nine months, at enormous human costs.
Douaumont was finally recaptured by three infantry divisions of the French Second Army,

Strength ( Verdun 1916) :Initial:30,000 French soldiers : total 75–85 divisions
Casualties and losses:315,000–542,000 French
(156,000–162,000 killed) February–December 1916