A major motivation for the excavation was to spare the many lost soldiers buried there an unworthy fate. Human remains are found all the time on former World War sites. Generally the bones are at best put off to one side for the police to come and collect. Since many of the remains are scattered and fragmentary, it is likely that a large number are not noticed at all, just ground into dust under the treads of heavy equipment. And even the occasional intact burials get separated from artifacts that might have shown their nationality or - the best outcome - their identity.
In the end a minimum of 110 fallen soldiers were found. The passage of time combined with four continuous years of artillery fire make an exact count impossible. In fact I consider it miraculous that so many of the early war casualties were quite nearly intact, buried in two mass graves.
On Thursday of last week 13 soldiers of the British Army were buried. Three French and one South African are to be interred at a later date.
The photo below shows representatives of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF. All three of these folks worked on the excavation, I had the pleasure of getting to know two of them.
And on Friday the German casualties were put to rest in their own cemetery. In this much larger group there was one possible and one definite ID. 17 year old Albert Oehrle a gardener from Bavaria who volunteered at the outbreak of war. He would never see his 18th birthday.
Soldiers of the Great War, finally at rest. Too late for living family to remember, they were casualties of a foolish war that the world would like to forget. But we still remember the men, their bravery and sacrifice in the service of their various nations. And finally, if a century too late, they rest among their countrymen in a place dedicated to their memories.
3 comments:
I always remember the quote that it's usually the old men that start the wars, but it's the young men that have to do the dying.
Ave atque vale.
No more brother wars.
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