The tunnel sealed off by British troops during the First World War was excavated in 1997 and found to be intact
Posted on 01/27/2012 11:39:41 PM PST by Neil E. Wright
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Flanders fields today bears little sign of the four years of war that claimed so many thousands of lives and ravaged this small corner of the Western Front.
But further down, deep below the surface there remains a constant reminder of the bravery and daring of the men who risked their lives for their country.
Beneath the farmers ploughs, most of the tunnels and dug-outs hewn from the earth by English pitmen to literally undermine the German offensive remain intact, untouched for almost 100 years.
They were also the scene of fierce hand-to-hand combat between diggers from both armies, as portrayed in the Sebastian Faulks novel Birdsong.
The tunnel sealed off by British troops during the First World War was excavated in 1997 and found to be intact
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
About two-thirds of military deaths in World War I were in battle, unlike the conflicts that took place in the 19th century when the majority of deaths were due to disease. Improvements in medicine as well as the increased lethality of military weaponry were both factors in this development. Nevertheless disease, including the Spanish flu, still caused about one third of total military deaths for all belligerents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties#cite_note-population1971-29
Top 10 Bloodiest Battles of World War
World War I - There are many terrible battles, but this is a list of the worst.
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-bloodiest-battles-of-world-war-i.php#ixzz1kkjlqfYg
The French, like the Italians aren't to be trusted in time of war.
Where can you see this Film,I would love to see it
Wasn’t one of these underminings used in the largest conventional explosions ever touched off? They went under the German position and BANG...
Of all the wars of any century, fought by any people on any continent, none haunt me or churn my guts like the Western Front, 1914 - 1918. May they rest in peace, and may God keep them all. All of them.
Ditto.
Thans for the link. My brother was stationed in Cu Chi. He told about the tunnels found under their base. He also said some of the tunnels contained French weapons.
His stories about the trenches were remarkable, although brief.
There is a great TV series World War I in Color.
One segment visits these tunnels and has color footage taken at the time. It goes into a fair amount of detail describing the tunneling effort on both sides.
Actually it's much more complicated than that. When William of Normandy invaded and took control of England, many things happened but there were two broad consequences of significance to English history:
1. The language of the English court changed from English to French, would stay French for the next 300 years give or take, and pushed English into the form used by Geoffrey Chaucer (Middle English), and
2. The English crown would have either land or claims to land on the east side of the channel, the subject of many wars, until the mid-15th century. These claims would not be ultimately resolved until after the Hundred Years' War, nearly four centuries after William's victory at Hastings.
The reason why the French and the English get along so poorly is because their histories are so thoroughly intertwined.
I had a friend there as well who gave me a copy of this book many years ago.
“The French, like the Italians aren’t to be trusted in time of war.”
That’s how the French felt after getting duped into fighting the Indochina War by the US; they left NATO, developed the bomb, and haven’t been “rescued” ever since.
The French preferred Hitler to Stalin when they were forced to choose; they knew from the Civil War in Spain what Stalin had in store for Europe, and in the end, they (and Spain) were spared the fate of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Albania, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, East Germany and Yugoslavia (some of them the countries born of WWI when the world was made safe for democracy)..
That makes sense.
It is a fascinating history; shortly before losing by a hari at Hastings (the Normans had almost given up), Harold had marched his army for days after defeating a Viking army at Stamford Bridge. The Vikings were a presence as well; Dublin was a Viking settlement. Their pure language is still spoken in the country with the oldest parliament, Iceland; I believe the “Althing” (spelling) is over 1000 years old.
I work with a man that, being the size of a jockey, was tapped to drop into a tunnel, flashlight in one hand , .45 in the other. Some stories he has.
“One segment visits these tunnels and has color footage taken at the time.”
Taken at which time? It’s highly unlikely that color film existed in WW1.
“Anybody know of any books highlighting the deeds of the tunnel rats from Viet Nam?”
Frederick Forsyth’s “Avenger” novel has some interesting fictional highlights.
It actually did and that is what makes the series so good. The color adds a totally different dimension to the WW I films. They are scarce and the footage is in very short segments. It is not "colorized".
Like the World War II in color series that has voice over the film segments the WWI narrator describes what is seen and how those segments fit in to the overall narrative.
Here 's some info
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