5. The French maintained defending Verdun thanks to a ‘Sacred’ road.
Because of Germans’ advances and only one railroad available, the French were forced to rely on a single, 45 miles long and 20 feet wide road to supply their stand at Verdun. The French General in charge by then, Philippe Petain, took several measures to keep the lifeline open. Debris was collected to fill the holes on the road, truck tires were used as road rollers, and repair stations were set up in towns along the way. Troops were assigned to preparing and maintaining the road to ensure that the lifeline to Verdun would remain open.
In about 11 days, 3,500 trucks were brought in with 190,000 men and 23,000 tons of ammunition. In total, more than 300,000 soldiers and 100,000 ton of ammunition were transported to Verdun. The road was closed to all horse and troop movements to make way for truck and motor car traffic. By March 1916 a month into the battle, a truck passed by every 14 seconds. This subjected the road to constant wear and tear, so much so that a quarry was opened nearby to continuously supply the road with crushed stone. Throughout the 10 month battle, 16 labor battalions were responsible for maintaining the road. A special troop of 8,500 men and 300 officers were responsible for controlling traffic and maintaining the vehicles that traveled on the road.
It was fortuitous to the French at Verdun that road’s importance had been recognized in 1915 and that steps were taken to widen the road so that it could accommodation two lines of back and forth truck traffic. Without the expansion, Verdun would have been lost. The road was later renamed La Voie Sacrée (The Sacred Way) by the French author Maurice Barrés to recognize its importance during World War I.