The St Mihiel salient had been formed in 1914 as the Germans drove towards Paris at the beginning of World War I (1914-1918). The French had attempted to recapture it in 1915 without success and in 1916 the Germans used the area as a base to attack Verdun. The bitter battle for Verdun had cost hundreds of thousands of German and French casualties. After the Germans called off their attack of the salient, the war shifted north, leaving the salient...