| Both sides suffered very heavy casualties during the ten months of the Battle of Verdun. Sources do not agree on the number of casualties suffered during the battle. In some, French loses were 61,000 dead, 101,000 missing and 216,000 wounded, a total of 378,000 while German loses were 142,000 killed or missing and 187,000 wounded, for a total of 329,000. Other sources give higher figures – French loses of 543,000 and German loses of 434,000. In either case the majority of French loses came during the first defensive period of the battle – hardly surprising at that phase lasted for five months. |