Sunday, December 21, 2014

Wow!!


German soldiers preserved in World War I shelter discovered after nearly 100 years
"The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when an Allied shell exploded above the tunnel during World War One causing it to cave in."
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"Many of the skeletal remains were found in the same positions the men had been in at the time of the collapse, prompting experts to liken the scene to Pompeii.

A number of the soldiers were discovered sitting upright on a bench, one was lying in his bed and another was in the foetal position having been thrown down a flight of stairs."
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"Archaeologists believe the items were so well preserved because hardly any air, water or lights had penetrated the trench.

The 300ft long tunnel was located 18ft beneath the surface near the small town of Carspach in the Alsace region in France.

Michael Landolt, the archaeologist leading the dig, said: "It's a bit like Pompeii."
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"The dead soldiers were part of the 6th Company, 94th Reserve Infantry Regiment.

Their names are all known. They include Musketeer Martin Heidrich, 20, Private Harry Bierkamp, 22, and Lieutenant August Hutten, 37.

Their names are inscribed on a memorial in the nearby German war cemetery of Illfurth.

The bodies have been handed over to the German War Graves Commission but unless relatives can be found and they request the remains to be repatriated, it is planned that the men will be buried at Illfurth."
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"It is estimated that over 165,000 Commonwealth soldiers are still unaccounted for on the Western Front"

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