Wow, 100 years, that is almost hard to believe.
We were at the battlefield in Augst last year with my daughter (28, professor of math and CS). Sobering.
Across all of the Somme battlefields up to the channel itself, the trench warfare damage and excavations was actually hard to see from ground level - though clear in the photographs from above.
But at Verdun? Shellholes by the hundreds of thousands in every woods, valley, and hillside. Sobering.
What happened to the “hero of Verdun”?
I can think of one shrew and half a dozen chickenhawks who need to be marched through there right now so they will shut up about being “tough” with Putin.
Then, they can get a free tour of Hiroshima.
Reagan was a hawk. He was not a war monger. Some of the stuff I hear from these idiots would sicken Dr. Strangelove.
Verdunkeln is German for “to darken”.
http://youtu.be/4mGOWvT_QWo
I have no doubt WWI started the existential crisis of Europeans, and pride in their civilization was nearly wiped out as a result of WWII. Hence their willingness to surrender themselves to illiterate, inbred, retrograde invaders, who instead of being scorned for their backwardness, are welcomed with open arms.
My understanding is that large portions have been cordoned off due the the enormous amount of UXO.
WW1, the war with the most stupid tactics. Send thousand of men into machine gun and artillery fire and hope some survive to be captured by the other side.
F’ing horrible situation. And thank God we didn’t face this horror.
One of, if not my most, prized possessions is my great grandfather’s ring hand carved from a spent shell that had a simple engraving of “Ypres” upon the brass which he made in the trenches. He was in the Canadian forces (from Scotland)that got the first blast of German gas during the Ypres salient. Pictures to follow if requested.
I am also a bagpiper and play the tunes of the troops from “the great war” and can barely compose myself.
It doesn’t matter what side you were on in “the great war.” It was all f’in horrible.
WWI is another war where technology advanced way ahead of tactics until late in the conflict. The losses of men on all sides was catastrophic.
My dad was in the Army and we were stationed in Verdun in the mid 60’s. I was 10 to 13 years old when we were there. There were still huge areas around Verdun with the skull and crossbones signs with “Mort” (death) written on them because of unexploded bombs. We lived “on the economy” (not base housing) and I remember digging up clips of unfired ammo (looked about the size of 30.06) from the garden. One of our activities was to drive around in our ‘58 Chevy and collect shrapnel from bombs and artillery that would be exposed after rains.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Verdun, go see the Trench of Bayonets and Douaumont Ossuary. It’s something that will remain with you the rest of your life.
I sometimes wonder how much different and better Europe would be without the World Wars...
It was right around this time 100 years ago this year that my grandfather was listed dead for the second time in the NYTimes while fighting in WWI