The Verdun Memorial is a war memorial situated on the battlefield , close to the destroyed village of Fleury-devant-Douaumont in the département of Meuse in north-eastern France . It was built to commemorate the Battle of Verdun , fought in 1916 as part of the First World War , and remembers both combatants and the civilian population lost in the fighting. Furthermore it is a complete military museum which displays all the armaments (including machine guns and artillery) uniforms and equipments of both French and German troops during the battle. The Verdun Memorial also features a movie theater projecting relevant period films on the battle. Lastly, it is also a research facility with a very large library . There is also a well stocked bookstore open to the public on Verdun and other WW-1 subjects.