Posted on 02/10/2012 7:53:15 PM PST by Daffynition
Abbreviated title: The 'Pompeii' of the Western Front: Archaeologists find the bodies of 21 tragic World War One German soldiers in perfectly preserved trenches where they were buried alive by an Allied shell
The bodies of 21 German soldiers entombed in a perfectly preserved World War One shelter have been discovered 94 years after they were killed.
The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when a huge Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in 1918, causing it to cave in.
Thirteen bodies were recovered from the underground shelter, but the remaining men had to be left under a mountain of mud as it was too dangerous to retrieve them.
Nearly a century later, French archaeologists stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front in eastern France during excavation work for a road building project.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Not sure I would necessarily call their deaths *tragic.*
Wow! If the bodies are so well preserved, they can recoup their DNA and create..um..new, identical German soldiers.
Thanks for sharing.
It was tragic because Cpl. Hitler was not one of them.
Very interesting find. Whatever the explosive was that did the instant burial in the first place, it was big and effective.
Better read it again. They didn't say the bodies were preserved, they said the trenches are perfectly preserved.
Oops, had the wrong quote on the last comment!
Hey! They seem like nice guys and I just want to bring them ...or at least...a reasonable facsimile of them back.
I’d say it was tragic for them. But war is hell.
SO WHAT? GLAD TO HEAR THEY DIDN’T MAKE IT - ONLY TO KILL OUR FREEDOM FIGHTERS!!!
SO WHAT? GLAD TO HEAR THEY DIDN’T MAKE IT - ONLY TO KILL OUR FREEDOM FIGHTERS!!!
You know, there’s always some snooty person on every thread who’s itching to put down a good rat dinner. Well, from what I understand, if you dust them off a bit, beat them against a rock and maybe hold them under a faucet for a while, they’re actually quite good.
And don’t forget the ketchup....
On 12 June 1916 two companies of the 137th Infantry Regiment of the French army were sheltering in their tranchées (trenches), baïonnettes (bayonets) fixed, waiting for a ferocious artillery bombardment to end. It never did – the incoming shells covered their positions with mud and debris, burying them alive. They weren’t found until three years later, when someone spotted several hundred bayonet tips sticking out of the ground. The victims were left where they died, their bayonets still poking through the soil.
You Philistine! It’s mustard!
This war was probably the worst, dumbest, most asinine war in modern history. The Germans really had no reason to fight, and certainly the Americans didn’t. Socialist Wilson was just itching to get into it.
/johnny
Baron Von Richtofen was buried by Allied forces, with 6 Allied Captains serving as pall-bearers.
/johnny
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