French WW I battlefields and effects 100 years later

[indy1919a4]

Amazing how much is still there

The Real ?No-Go Zone? of France: A Forbidden No Man?s Land Poisoned by War | Messy Nessy Chic

 

[Leadeye]

Great article.

 

[indiucky]

Nice post and link Indy....

 

[Birds Away]

That is fascinating.

 

[Gluemanz28]

That was a great read and the pictures were nice too.

I expected to see more French Unfired Rifles laying on the ground.

 

[raptrbreth]

That was a very good article, thank you for sharing.

 

[Jim McKalip]

Not as dramatic but similar is the Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe. We've used it as a gunnery, boming and torpedo target for many years. It's loaded with unexploded ordinance.

 

[rob63]

Thanks for posting that!

 

[Bigtanker]

Tagged for later

 

[gary1960Pwrcruz]

That is amazing! I had no idea. Great artical, Thanks.

 

[MrHank]

Great article, thanks for sharing.

 

[BluePig]

http://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Remnants-Landmines-Warfare-The-Devastating/dp/067975153X
I read this book a number of years ago dealing with the same topic from battlefields around the world including Verdun, Stalingrad and some Vietnam locations.
There are sections of Verdun that are so saturated with unexploded ordinance, that clearing it is impossible.
One place, the shelling was so intense, it buried an entire regiment in the trench where they stood.
The only thing left was their bayonets sticking out of the ground.
The Legends and Traditions of the Great War: Verdun's Bayonet Trench
It is very common for farmers to dig up ordinance and just leave them in piles along the road for the demineurs to come along and collect them.
They take them out into the English Channel and make hills of them and explode them.
I believe they call it the iron harvest.

 

[flintlock9]

Great article! Its hard to wrap your mind around how many shells were fired at some of those battlefields.

 

[JettaKnight]

1. Thank you - This was a good read, with great photos.

2. Screw you - this web site is going to keep me distracted for hours.

 

[SMiller]

Wow

 

[Amishman44]

As a WWII history buff...I find this article fascinating...so much, otherwise beautiful countryside ruined!

 

[Cet2survivor]

Thank you for sharing. That's very interesting.

 

[SSGSAD]

Amazing how much is still there

The Real ?No-Go Zone? of France: A Forbidden No Man?s Land Poisoned by War | Messy Nessy Chic

Just ONE more reason, to take the fight, OVER there, rather than HERE !!!!!

 

[9mmfan]

Awesome article. Hope that never gets that way anywhere in our country.

 

[eric001]

With all that unexploded nastiness in their fields, it's a wonder the French farmers don't plow their fields in armored vehicles. I doubt I'd ever want to live somewhere that just walking around your land would potentially blow you into smithereens--say what you want about the French troops, but the French FARMERS must be incredibly brave to plow that stuff up, just pick it up and haul it over to a pile for disposal.