A visit to Fleury is a visit to one of several villages that were completely obliterated during WWI, only small signs indicate where there was once a farm or a bakery or a school etc. Its hard to think that in this now wooded area, anonymous at the side of the road, there was once a busy village with people serving out their days in perfect peace before the bombs fell.Not one for the children as there's not much to see - it's what you can't see that is worth going for.
6 villages were destroyed but are remembered. There is still evidence of how horrid the fighting was in the area. Markers at the spot where there were once a farm, bakers and family homes. A chapel has been rebuilt to remember all the villagers who lost their life during the battle.
A beautifully laid out tribute to a village destroyed in the WW1 carnage. Immaculately kept, a living memorial to those who perished. Very moving.
One of many destroyed villages along the Western Front in France. Very moving. Nice to see many villages are so well kept, and past houses etc indicated to gain a full appreciation of the extent of the loss of the village.
Perhaps in another 10 years the addition of information about the old owners will expand to make this site meaningful, but at present it is a marker for a village safely evacuated and it is hard to feel too much about it given the tragic scenes around it. It is also now in a reforested area which gives it a false sense of being idyllic, when it must have been far from this in the decades after 1916. So a bit disappointing after the build up in book I'm afraid.
There's little to see there, and that's exactly the point. Scarred ground full of craters is all that's left of this village, along with a stone here and there. It's free, and it's at a few minutes from Memorial of Verdun.
It is hard to imagine that life in this village ceased on 21st Feb 1916. The German attack started and people left leaving meals on the table. The village was destroyed and all that remains are mounds of earth and holloways.
The museum is undergoing a major refit in preparation for the centennial. According to locals they don't expect re opening for a couple of years, Check their website for updates
The town of Fleury was erased. Residents were evacuated early in the war, and then this small area was contested for 4 years. The shell holes remain everywhere you look, now softened by trees and vegetation. Markers note the locations of homes and shops, and descriptive plaques are placed along a paved path.
While there is little to see here, it is worth a stop to walk around and contemplate the fact that this used to be a village, Fleury devant Douanment. Utterly destroyed, there is a small chapel and a memorial, as well as a path leading you around to survey the site of the devastated village.