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21 WW1 german bodys found

Amazing - and as poignant as the earlier Mr Elkins thread.
Pity that this excavaion will probably get bulldozed.
Would be good if it could be preserved or moved (bit like Mary Rose).
 
That’s the trouble another bit will be lost but its good to think they will have a proper burial it’s a pity they can’t do that to all the trenches wouldn’t that be something.
Andy
 
I did like the Daily Mail's idea of an "intact rifle" though! The stock and holster of the LP.08 was remarkably preserved, I presume the pistol was still inside.

It is good that the men will have a proper burial, but the German grave registration authorities do not seem to have the same attitude that the CWGC do, at least they did not with the bodies we found a few years ago.

There are just so many sites in France that could be preserved, but cannot be. One underground site I have been associated with that was under a motorway was just pumped ful of concrete to avoid subsidence.

Regards
Tonye
 
Noted Tony & Andy
I have found in my travels & with working with the Germans & French they are not too interested in the past & it`s cost etc.
I took an American work colleague on a short tour of some of the WW1 battle areas on a motorcycle many years ago & he had no perception or concept as to the scale of WW1 until he saw the CWGC sites & size & he did comment on the difference between the sites with regards to US/CW against often, `across the road` German ones.
Some of the Germans/French say to me that us Brits (& Americans) only go on about it because we won.
I certainly do not believe that to be the case for me (as I don`t `go on about it`) as I would like to think that even if we had lost I would still have due respect towards those that had tried & paid the ultmate price to do what they believed was right either morally or by political conviction.
 
Yes its a shame that more trenches and tunnels can’t be saved as so many men or should I say boys lost there lives and most of them never ever experienced a girl or ever held a fiver in there hands and to give up there lives surely it’s the least we can do is to preserve as much as possible to remind everyone that we will never forget.
Andy
 
I think the unidentified object in pic 18 between the hammer and the 3 ammo pouches could well be a boot puller,if I am right the puller is upside down,the heel of the boot is wedged in the cutout and the other foot stands on the other end of the board and this enable the boot to be pulled off without getting clag all over the hands,
Just a guess,
Regards,
Don,
 
I think there is part of the German entrenching spade cover(leather) and the other item in the other photo is a leather coin purse

Cheers
Tony
 
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Andysarmoury said:
Yes its a shame that more trenches and tunnels can’t be saved as so many men or should I say boys lost there lives and most of them never ever experienced a girl or ever held a fiver in there hands and to give up there lives surely it’s the least we can do is to preserve as much as possible to remind everyone that we will never forget.
Andy
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call them boys. Anyone who steps foot in a battle field is a man, and more of a man than many today (though not all).
 
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