Modern day look at a WWI battlefield

[HoneyBadger]

Never mind the idiot commentary... These pictures (and the narration) are very eye-opening.

http://imgur.com/gallery/CdxZM
Sample pic:
http://i.imgur.com/hblmjuI.jpg

At least Nagasaki and Hiroshima are habitable.


EDIT: Thanks to Scanker19, who posted a real article with many pictures and much better narration. I'll put the link here: http://www.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/wwi/century/

[SSChameleon]

If you have an extra 16 hours, Dan Carlin has a podcast called Blueprint for Armageddon that is worth a listen. The battle of Verdon was ridiculous.

[Irving]

Here is the original article with more photos and info.

http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/05/26/the-real-no-go-zone-of-france-a-forbidden-no-mans-land-poisoned-by-war/

[HoneyBadger]

If you have an extra 16 hours, Dan Carlin has a podcast called Blueprint for Armageddon that is worth a listen. The battle of Verdon was ridiculous.
I've listened to that series twice. He's a great storyteller!

[HoneyBadger]

Here is the original article with more photos and info.

http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/05/26/the-real-no-go-zone-of-france-a-forbidden-no-mans-land-poisoned-by-war/
THANK YOU. I was hoping there were more pics out there somewhere.

[Tim K]

Good post.

[Bailey Guns]

I've never heard of these forbidden areas. That's very interesting.

[Scanker19]

Another good photo collage of WWI

http://www.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/wwi/century/

[Gman]

Very educational. Thanks for posting.

ETA: My grandfather fought in WWI as part of the US Army Artillery. I'll need to read all of his letters back home next time I visit my folks. He never talked about the war when we visited in my youth. The last time I read one letter, I found it interesting that he was discussing fighting "the Hun" and referencing General Pershing. I really only knew the name "Pershing" as a missile in my lifetime.

[Aloha_Shooter]

So much contaminated water and land in a land that prides itself on food and fresh produce. 600 or 700 years to clean it up? Damn ...

[flogger]

I toured the Verdun area over ten years ago. It was a very moving experience. Craters all over the landscape with old rutts from trench lines zigzagging around. The Douaumont ossuary was stunning, the place was crowded with visitors but dead silent. There are bombed out fortifications just like "the ant hill" on Paths to Glory.

Thanks for the OP, we need to remember things like this.

[JohnTRourke]

. 600 or 700 years to clean it up? Damn ...

well yeah, but the government is in charge of clean up. Take that out of the equation and it's about 30 days. [Sarcasm2]

[ruthabagah]

I visited the WW1 battlefield as recently as 2013 and they are a a must see/visit place after Normandy. It was a cataclysmic event that was eclisped in our recent memory by WW2.

[HoneyBadger]

Another good photo collage of WWI

http://www.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/wwi/century/
This is a much better resource than I had originally posted. Thank you. I added your link to my original post.

[<MADDOG>]

+1

I had the privilege of going on a NCOPD tour of the entire Verdun battle for a week, and that was also one of our stops. The gravity of what it is doesn't hit until you see the tremendous amount of skeletal remains.


I toured the Verdun area over ten years ago. It was a very moving experience. Craters all over the landscape with old rutts from trench lines zigzagging around. The Douaumont ossuary was stunning, the place was crowded with visitors but dead silent. There are bombed out fortifications just like "the ant hill" on Paths to Glory.

Thanks for the OP, we need to remember things like this.

[Squeeze]

Really beautiful. Interesting how much they found during the excavation of the battlefields. Thank you for sharing this.