Ornes was a real city, larger than the other destroyed villages, but which eventually found itself, after the First World War, on the same site, or almost, under their stones. In the course of its history, its lord's castle suffered the same fate, when it was taken in February 1653 and then destroyed by the Catholic troops of Lorraine, while he, like his ancestors since 1563, vigorously defended Protestantism. As early as 1587, a very bloody battle took place between his troops and the Catholic troops of the Duke of Lorraine. In the mid-19th century, the city had 1,367 inhabitants, but in 1914 the number of inhabitants fell again to 750. This was mainly due to the rural exodus, which provided labour for the large industrial centres that were growing rapidly at the end of the 19th century. However, this city has an industrial textile and processing factory that is well suited to local agricultural production and textiles from the neighbouring Woëvre plain. But its geographical location, close to the border with the annexed Moselle and then on the front that had been stabilised after the Battle of the Marne, was not favourable for the area. In the event of an enemy offensive, the area would quickly find itself on the front line. For this reason, on 25 August 1914, the population was asked to leave the village. But not everyone left, at their own risk, because the bombardments and German patrols in the village became increasingly intense. In September 1914, two children were killed by shrapnel. In October 1914, several villagers who were about to leave were taken prisoner by the Germans... In 1915 and until February 1916, French troops held the village where units were positioned, in the second line opposite the front, at the beginning of the great German offensive. But from 21 to 24 February, the German advance was so strong that the village of Ornes was taken by their infantry on 24 February 1916, after heavy bombardments that destroyed all the houses and buildings in the village. It was not until 23 August 1917 that the area was retaken by our soldiers. At the end of the war, the area was classified as a 'red zone' and could never be rebuilt. Source: Tourism Verdun
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