Recovery of German Dead in WW I Bunker in France

A fascinating story:

"Archaeologists in northern France have unearthed the bodies of 21 German soldiers from World War One in an elaborate underground shelter that was destroyed in a French attack in March 1918, and hasn't been opened since.

"Individual war casualties are still frequently found during construction work on the former Western front battlefields of France and Belgium, but the discovery of so many soldiers in one location is rare.

"The tomb, poignant and grisly, sheds light on the lives of the soldiers who died in explosions from heavy shells that penetrated the tunnel.

"'It's a bit like Pompeii,' Michaël Landolt, the French archaeologist leading the dig, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. 'Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time. This is an extraordinary find.'"

Pocket Books and Prayer Beads: WWI Grave Find Tells Story Germans Want To Forget - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

 

An excellent story, Dave. Thanks for posting it.

It is interesting how the Germans are reacting (or not) to this find.

 

May these brave soldiers finally rest in peace. It's so sad many Germans are no longer interested in their fallen from WWI because of WW2 . I hope their relics will be saved and restored and kept in a museum , so they will eventually not be forgotten.

 

RIP, the battle sounds like it must have been completely terrifying, truly hell on earth as many have put it.

I do hope they documented everything well if they're going to be building a road over the site. I've heard small German towns and villages generally do more for commemoration of WW1 and WW2 dead, I guess it's kind of similar to stories I've heard regarding Great Britain, Canada, etc where the loss of life was greater felt in these smaller areas due to the smaller population.

It's interesting here that they are attempting to track down relatives but just a few days ago there was a story where around 600 German soldiers from WW2 were reburied in Poland after a mass grave find and it didn't seem like much of an attempt was being made to contact relatives. I assume it must have to do with the condition of the find and perhaps better records?

 

Thanks for sharing this article kerrd5, hopefully contact can be made with some of the men's relatives. The photos in the article show the tunnel to be in a great state of preservation, hopefully the finds will be in as good of state too.