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TTnTpqDAV, FERHUARV 21. 1957
Verdun, 41 Years Later is
Terrible Memory of 1956
By NORMAN LINDIIURST
(Foreign Correspondent)
VERDUN, France—Tins grisly
battlefield from World War I,
remains — after 41 years — more
horrible than any battlefield of
the last war. It is a horrendous
preview of hydrogen bomb war
fare.
Considering the span of time
that has passed, Verdun is an
even more chilling monument to
cataclysmic mass destruction
than is the nuclear age’s Hiro
shima.
Today, 41 years later, the soil
of Verdun is lifeless. In this soil,
burned out by millions of shells,
no crops will grow, not even
trees.
Not even the cobalt bomb could
devastate an area more com
pletely than did the fighting
four decades ago. In this
scorched earth grow only weeds.
Most of the Verdun area is a
national military preserve. Only
certain sections are open to the
public. The rest is closed. There
are hunderds, perhaps thou
sands, of shells still buried which
detonate at the slightest touch.
Hundreds of farmers have been
killed since World War I while
trying to till the war-ravaged
fields around Verdun — blown
up by buried shells.
In this tiny area, hardly more
than 10 miles square, more men
were killed in a single sustained
battle than ever before in such a
battle in history—4oo,ooo.
The French alone fired 12,000,-
000 artillery shells in the long
battle. The Germans are be
lieved to have fired even more.
Two towns, Fleury and Donau
mont, literally were blasted off
the map. The soil was churned
into a chalk putty.
After the war the French tried
planting trees in the most fertile
remaining spots. After 37 years of
growth they were just six inches
in diameter.
The Germans attacked Verdun
February 21, 1916. The German
general staff gambled that, by an
NORTH GEORGIA HEREFORD ASSOCIATION'S
FOURTEENTH ANNUAL SALE
February 27th, LaFayette, Ga., 12:30 P.M. EST
—26 POLLED AND 36 HORNED CATTLE—
Auctioneer: COL. EMERTON MARTING
Attendance Prize: Fourteen month old Hereford Heifer
For Catalogs, Write
J. P. BAKER, County Agent FRANK SHAW, JR., Secty.
LaFayette, Ga. Kensington, Georgia
AT AUCTION
=FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 10 A. M.
THE H. M. HAWKINS FARM
LOCATED IN THE CITY LIMITS OF SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA
Consisting of 260 acres of fertile land that will be sub-divided into building lots and baby farms. All lots will front wide streets. Some of the best lots ever
offered at auction in the fast growing town of Summerville, Ga.
Improvements: A Colonial type 9 room dwelling with bath, large hall, porches, all modern conveniences.
Business men, speculatorsand money makers, 4 tenant houses that are nice in come property, large barn, some household furniture.
New John Deere Tractor carrying all major equipment, approximately 10 tons hay.
Mr. Hawkins realizes this property is too well located and too valuable for farm land therefore, he has instructed our engineers to sub-divide it and prepare it for
sale for the high, high dollar. This is your golden opportunity to attend a Todd Auction and enjoy free, free, free, an old fashioned barbecue dinner for every one
attending the sale, also music and many other attractions.
Terms twenty nine percent cash, balance over a period of 5 years. There is no investment on earth like the earth it's self, you make the price, we make the deed!
J. L. TODD AUCTION CO.
Car sale every Saturday Ip. m., rain or shine "List your property with us-we sell the world"
302 WEST3RD STREET, ROME, GA. PHONE 4-1656 or 4-1657
overwhelming and sustained at
tack at one point of the French j
line, the French could be knocked !
out of the war.
Already a stalemate had set- ,
tied over the fighting fronts. Ver- j,
dun, it seemed to the Germans, i
was the best place to try to crack
the French defenses.
The French, however, learned
of the attack and rushed up
reinforcements. Attacks and
counter-attacks went on for 18 ,
months, during which both
armies were bled white.
Today the skeletons of soldiers ,
buried by shell blasts, their guns
mixed with the bones, are still
found frequently. Painstaking .
efforts are made to identify the 1
skeletons, but rarely with suc
cess.
French military engineers have
compiled records, showing where j
every regiment and company was (
poised on a given day. When
found the bones are carefully
gathered up and taken to the
ossuary.
The Germans fired giant
“blockbuster” shells — as big
around as a beer barrel—onto
the steel and concrete strong
points of Vauz and Donaumont.
In places these shells pul
verized concrete six feet thick.
Umbrella-shaped covers over gun
turrets—steel twelve inches thick
—were smashed like egg shells.
In all, the French used 65 divi
sions, at various times, and the
Germans 43 divisions. The Ger
mans never were able to take the
। town of Verdun on the Meuse
River.
But they did manage to occupy
the two main strongpoints of the
Verdun fortress complex, Vaux
and Donaumont.
There are many grisly monu
ments to the fighting. The grisli
est is the “Trench of Bayonettes.”
Here French and German sol
diers were locked in hand-to
hand fighting, when artillery fire
■ caused the rain-soaked walls of
I the trench to fall together bury- I
J b llj'— z^.
For her first film since late in
1955, Janet Leigh will co-star
with Charlton Heston and Orson
Wells in “Badge of Evil,” her'
third on a four-picture contract,
with Universal - International.
Janet’s last picture was “Safari,”
filmed on location in Africa.
An independent film produc- |
tion by Joseph Fields and Peter
De Vries of their new stage [
comedy, “The Tunnel of Love,” [
will be financed by MGM under i
the terms of an arrangement re- I
cently concluded. Tom Ewell and J
Nancy Olson are co-starred in
the play, which is now under
going pre- Broadway tryouts.
The movie version will not be
started until after the New York
engagements ends.
For “Desk Set” Katherine Hep
burn not only selected four young
beauties to appear with her, but
she coached and tested with
them. The girls are Sue Randall,
Dina Merrill, Diane Jergcns and
Merry Andrews.
In “My Man Godfrey,” Martha
Hyer will play June Allepon’s
older sister.
During its showing at Radio
City Music Hall, in New York
City, “Teahouse of The August
Moon” amassed $1,125,000.
A group of financiers recently
offered Yul Brynner $1,000,000 to
produce, direct and star in a
movie of the great Italian hero, j
Guiseppe Garibaldi. Yul would
ing them upright.
Their rifle barrels and bayonets
were left sticking up from the
ground. In that posture they
were left and today you can still
see the rusting bayonets, form
ing a weird barrier.
The most important French
monument is the Ossuary ofl
Donaumont, containing the!
bones of several hundred thou- i
I sand unidentified bodies—Allied
I and German—found on the bat
-1 tieground, between the Argome
and Saint-Mihiel.
United States citizens con-,
tributed 3,000,000 Francs to the
building of the 15-million-franc
monument. Forty-five yards high
i with a cross in relief on each
! side, the monument rests upon
! 90 wells of heavy concrete.
At the top of the tower a 1
bronze bell toils morning and.
evening for the dead of Verdun.
At night, a beacon of alternating
red and white lights shines over
the battlefield.
TTTF STTMMERVTT T F NEWS
Planeload of N'west Georgians
Will Visit Parris Island
In order to better acquaint the ;
public with Marine Corps train
ing, a group of women from ]
northwest Georgia will be con
! aucted on a one day tour Friday, 1
of the Marine Recruit Training
Station, Parris Island, S. C.
Invited to take the trip is a
group of mothers who are leaders
| in civic, school and church as-
I fairs and women representatives
! of the press from this section.
Captain Allen C. Shelton, Jr..
| inspector - instructor of the
Fourth Rifle Company in Rome,
I will be in charge of the trip, and
! other military personnel ac
; companying the women will be
' CWO. Harry G. Ring and T. Sgt.
Robert Hallahan, photographer,
both of the Sixth Marine Corps
Reserve - Recruitment District,
Atlanta.
This trip will be made in a
marine transport plane furnished
by the Marine Corps Air Station
at Cherry Point, N. C. The plane
will arrive a Russell Field in
Rome, Thursday afternoon.
After a routine briefing by the
pilot of the aircraft, the flight
to Parris Island will begin at 8
portray four members of the
Garibaldi clan. Before deciding
on that one finally. Brynner left
for Paris with Anatcle Litvak.
Mrs. Bill Holden recently left
to join her husband who is about
to start a picture in Ceylon. Bill
was to join her in Bangkok,
where thev will visit the King
of Siam. When the picture is
j finished, they expect to return j
home byway of Rome.
Early Toll Road
Unicoi Turnpike, first vehicu- |
lar throughfare in northeast
Georgia, was opened as a toll
road in 1813. Permission was
granted for the operation of the ,
road by the Cherokees to a com
pany of Indians and white men.
i Charters were granted to the
, company by Georgia and Ten
nessee.
The Turnpike, beginning east
of Toccoa at the head of “pole
l boat navigation” on the Tugalo
River of the Savanah River sys- !
tern, led across Nacoochee Valley,
through Unicoi Gap via Murphy.
N. C., to Nine Mile Creek near
Maryville, Tennessee. It follow
!ed an important trading path
from the Cherokees of East Ten
nessee to Augusta.
Unicoi Gap derives its name i
j from the road which used the;
gap to cross the Blue Ridge
mountains. Georgia Historical
Commission.
a. m. Friday.
The plane will land at the
Marine Auxiliary Air Station
THE MIGHTY CHRYSLER
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: if/1
■ • '■ ' ■ ■ : I J II
* ■ ~
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Eliminates front end coil springs ami
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SMALLER WHEELS AND BIGGER TIRES!
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ground-hugging ride.
Wilson Motor & Implement Company
103 WASHINGTON STREET SUMMERVILLE. GA.
Beaufort, S. C, where a welcom
ing committee of officials will
motor the guests to Parris Is
land. There they will be greeted
by the commanding general and
I escorted on a tour of the sta
i tion.
Luncheon will be served at a
i battalion mess-hall.
NEW TORSION-AIRE RIDE! A new "feel”
of motoring. No rocking on turns. No
brake dip when vou stop.
NEW TORQUEFLITE TRANSMISSION! A
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The tour will be concluded with
a regimental review at 3:30. with
the flight back to Rome set for
5 p. m.
The tour of these facilities is
a part of the “Visitors Welcome”
program designed to give the
public the opportunity to observe
training methods for all regular
recruits and the six-month train
ees. Since last July, some 20,000
visitors have been on similar
tours of the island.
Those scheduled to make the
trip from this area arc* Mrs.
James R. Burgess of Summerville
and Mrs. W Jack Wellborn of
Trion, Ga.
$ 3253 ,s *
INCLUDING PUSHBUTTON
TORQUEFLITE TRANSMISSION
* Factory retail price at Factory, Detroit, Michigan,
for ( hryslir II mdsor i-Dour Sedan including distri
bu'ion, excise and handling charges. State and local
tuxes (if any}, transportation and delivery charges
extra. White ridrirall tires and two-tune paint
optional at extra cost. Price* may tary u^curdtnn ia
individual dealer puli< y.
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