At 0900hrs on 25 February 1916, a small unit of pioneers from Brandenburgisches Infanterie-Regiment 24 of the German III. Armee Korps approached the slopes of the largest and most powerful fort defending Verdun. Four days before, the Germans had begun what would become one of the most gruesome battles of World War I. Led by Feldwebel Kunze, the small squad cut through a barbed-wire obstacle and inched closer and closer to the rim of a 5m-deep ditch that surrounded the superstructure of the fort. Expecting a vigorous French reaction to their presence, they were surprised when no one in the fort noticed them coming. In better times, prior to August 1915, the fort would have been strongly defended by a company of infantry. The approaching Germans would have been spotted by men in steel observation posts and fired on by machine guns in armoured turrets; but not on this day. Tragically, on 25 February 1916, Fort Douaumont, the largest and most powerful fort at Verdun, was defended by only 56 men and captured by less than half that number.
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