Pierre Cazalis de Fondouce

The Quatre Cheminées Shelter was swaying under the heavy German artillery fire falling into the Vignes Ravine west of Fleury. This was nothing unusual, but on this day, Tuesday 8 August 1916, the shelling was ferocious.

In the shelter, which served as a first aid post and command centre, the men of the 81st and 71st French Infantry Regiments, fit and wounded alike, held their breath, standing firm or lying on their stretchers, all trembling in the dim light.

Suddenly, around 10am, catastrophe struck. A 210mm shell hit one of the entrances, below which a first aid post had been created. Flames from the explosion set fire to the packets of bandages, causing the munitions stored nearby to explode. One explosion followed another at the centre of the fire which was taking hold of the shelter. Panicked by the explosions, the fit men managed to escape through the other exit. But from the screams of the wounded as they started to burn on their stretchers, and those who were frozen stiff, it was clear that not everyone had got out.

Immediately, Captain Pierre Cazalis de Fondouce, a liaison officer, dashed inside with a few other men to help the victims. In the blaze, surrounded by the splutter of exploding munitions, Cazalis attempted to organise the rescue operation. But very soon, he was seriously injured by grenade shrapnel. Surrounded by flames, he disappeared in the turmoil. One of the last men to have seen him alive reported his final words, spoken to the men around him who were in the same situation: “There is no hope for us. Let us think of our families and commend our souls to God!” Some forty men died at the Quatre Cheminées Shelter on 8 August 1916.

A few hours later, as soon as the fire was brought under control, the soldiers went back into the shelter. All that could be found of Pierre Cazalis de Fondouce was his satchel, his revolver, his cigarette case and a medal of the Virgin Mary.

Today, a stele erected by Captain Cazalis de Fondouce’s family sits in front of the Quatre Cheminées Shelter, a reminder of the tragedy that occurred here, in this small corner of the Verdun Battlefield. The little obelisk stands with its back to the entrance by which the Captain entered, never to come out.