"Albert Cathedral showing the falling statue." "Albert Cathedral showing statue of the Leaning Virgin." Albert, France (WW I), October 1917 During the early days of the war German artillery had shelled the Basilica, trying to knock it down and prevent the French artillery spotters from using it. They had only succeeded in dislodging the statue of Mary, which by 1916 hung at a precarious angle just below the horizontal. This was just too visible and too heavenly-connected for the soldiers passing through the town. The Legend of the Leaning [or Hanging] Virgin was born. The British rendition was that whoever knocked her down would lose the war, the Germans apparently believing the opposite. Another version of the legend had it that the fall of the Virgin would signal the end of the war. The details of the various versions seem secondary to the belief by troops of all sides that the Virgin's natural descent was halted temporarily by a Divine Hand so its final destruction could mark the War's end. It must have provided a double psychic reassurance that the Forces of Heaven had taken an interest in protecting the Virgin and her Child and would eventually take steps to end the suffering on the battlefield.