WWI Battle Sites 100 Years Later

[leemajors]

@DD

http://thumbs.media.smithsonianmag.com//filer/db/55/db5562ab-f1a8-470c-9473-2cdea11457b2/jun14_j12_ww1phenom.jpg__1072x0_q85_upscale.jpg

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/europe-landscape-still-scarred-world-war-i-180951430/?no-ist

[DD]

^That blast is actually 97-98 years old:D.

/WWI nerdage

Awesome stuff, muh man, will check out tonight:tu Any and all centenary updates are appreciated (don't have all the access I had back in murica).

[BillMc]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[DD]

Amazing photographs...so serene-looking. Can't wait to visit...wish I could keep some of the ordinance I'll inevitably find but I doubt Customs would like det tbh

[JoeTait75]

That war murdered Western Civilization. We've never recovered.

[leemajors]

I may get to go to France around this time next year, definitely wouldn't mind checking some of these sites out.

[Slomo]

I didn't know you were a WW I buff. If you own a pair of good hiking boots then a visit to the Isonzo Front in Slovenia is a must. The Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies fought a series of 12 major battles on Alpine peaks and mountain ridges. They were living in fortified caves and freezing/starving most of the time. It's both beautiful (scenery, nature) and sobering (number of casualties, living conditions). A lot of the fortifications and caves/trenches are still there and specialized hiking tours are organized, they still regularly find unexploded ordenance from that time. There are several impressive monuments all around the area and a very good museum in Solkan.


http://www.apartma-kolman.com/img/kostnica_v.jpg

But it's the crazyness of fighting major military battles on such a terrain that blows your mind.

A decent illustration here:
Red Line: Italian front line
Blue line: Austro-Hungarian front line

Really starts at the 2:00 min mark.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0KBkLtjzMs

[leemajors]

I didn't know you were a WW I buff. If you own a pair of good hiking boots then a visit to the Isonzo Front in Slovenia is a must. The Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies fought a series of 12 major battles on Alpine peaks and mountain ridges. They were living in fortified caves and freezing/starving most of the time. It's both beautiful (scenery, nature) and sobering (number of casualties, living conditions). A lot of the fortifications and caves/trenches are still there and specialized hiking tours are organized, they still regularly find unexploded ordenance from that time. There are several impressive monuments all around the area and a very good museum in Solkan.


http://www.apartma-kolman.com/img/kostnica_v.jpg

But it's the crazyness of fighting major military battles on such a terrain that blows your mind.

A decent illustration here:
Red Line: Italian front line
Blue line: Austro-Hungarian front line

Really starts at the 2:00 min mark.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0KBkLtjzMs

damn, that was crazy - thanks!

[sandman]

I spent part of the day today at the American Military Cemetery at Brookwood. It is part of the larger Military Cemetery within Brookwood where several nations have memorials. This is the WW1 cemetery here in the UK and is about 20 minutes from the house (the WW2 cemetery is out in Cambridge). We were the only ones there for about 30 minutes, which was a bit disheartening being Memorial Day and living in an area just outside London with a high concentration of US expats. Then the superintendent of the US cemetery showed up and asked us to come over to the flag pole so he could read a declaration from the POTUS. It was to be read at noon local time at all American military cemeteries around the world, at which time the flag was to be raised to full staff. I was asked to do the honors of raising the flag. Definitely one of the coolest events I've been a part of, and was humbled to be able to honor the WW1 veterans who were interred there.

[xmas1997]

My grandfather fought in WW! in France, he saw his best friend killed next to him by a German sniper while they crawled across in a field of tall grass laying communications wire.

[GoodOdor]

My grandfather fought in WW! in France, he saw his best friend killed next to him by a German sniper while they crawled across in a field of tall grass laying communications wire.

I want to believe, but you already lied about going to an Ivy school.....so I'm gonna have to call this another lie:cry

[xmas1997]

I want to believe, but you already lied about going to an Ivy school.....so I'm gonna have to call this another lie:cry

No lies from me, I have no motivations to lie about anything.
And I don't care if you believe this or not, the truth is the truth no matter what you say.
Plus this was not for your benefit, it was for the intelligent people out there who enjoy history.

[jeebus]

Beaumont Hamel would be awesome to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaumont-Hamel_Newfoundland_Memorial

Some of these places would be sweet to visit as well:

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/places/ypres-salient-battle-remains.htm

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/places/french-flanders-artois-battle-remains.htm

http://www.greatwar.co.uk/places/somme-battle-remains.htm


This memorial looks awesome imo. http://www.greatwar.co.uk/french-flanders-artois/memorial-canadian-national-vimy-memorial.htm

This as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menin_Gate

Tbh you could spend a month there look at stuff and still not get it all.

EDIT: Don't forget about Compiègne, where France took a shit on Germany and subsequently Hitler took a wet shit on the French.

[ChumpDumper]

I've been listening to this guy's podcast for awhile. He's not a historian but is ridiculously into history like WWI. Dude spent ten hours just talking about the first seven months of the war.

http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive

[xmas1997]

This thread is not only cool but also very informative.

[leemajors]

I've been listening to this guy's podcast for awhile. He's not a historian but is ridiculously into history like WWI. Dude spent ten hours just talking about the first seven months of the war.

http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive

Hardcore History is awesome :tu I heard he may be doing another podcast with Daniella Bolelli of the Drunken Taoist podcast soon

[jeebus]

http://www.history.com/shows/the-world-wars

Started about 20 mins ago, encore after it though imo. I'm gonna record it and watch tomorrow. tbh.

[Brazil]

I was thinking about studying history at one point of my student life, I took part on documentation work for essays about ww1 among others. I visited most of ww1 places. Verdun is by far the most interesting and amazing tbh.... One could spend a life writing about Verdun battle.

[xmas1997]

Finally some truly decent posts without all the crappy trolling.

[DD]

I didn't know you were a WW I buff. If you own a pair of good hiking boots then a visit to the Isonzo Front in Slovenia is a must. The Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies fought a series of 12 major battles on Alpine peaks and mountain ridges. They were living in fortified caves and freezing/starving most of the time. It's both beautiful (scenery, nature) and sobering (number of casualties, living conditions). A lot of the fortifications and caves/trenches are still there and specialized hiking tours are organized, they still regularly find unexploded ordenance from that time. There are several impressive monuments all around the area and a very good museum in Solkan.


http://www.apartma-kolman.com/img/kostnica_v.jpg

But it's the crazyness of fighting major military battles on such a terrain that blows your mind.

A decent illustration here:
Red Line: Italian front line
Blue line: Austro-Hungarian front line

Really starts at the 2:00 min mark.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0KBkLtjzMs

A couple months ago somebody had posted old 1916-1918 footage from the Isonzo front (came in four 10-minute parts)--the weird tint on some of those films made them barely discernible--but at the same time fascinating. It's since been taken down. One scene in particular was a Italian company trudging through an open area in the Alps when they're suddenly fired upon by AH troops...in the chaos you can see a couple of them killed, and others writhing on the ground in pain. Very emotional yet poetic footage. The only thing that sucks was the unwarranted a capella music in the background.

I'll look for them again...it would bore most people tbh, but that shit is fascinating to me.

[TDMVPDPOY]

whats some good shit on youtube i can check out?

[xmas1997]

Hardcore History is awesome :tu I heard he may be doing another podcast with Daniella Bolelli of the Drunken Taoist podcast soon


A couple months ago somebody had posted old 1916-1918 footage from the Isonzo front (came in four 10-minute parts)--the weird tint on some of those films made them barely discernible--but at the same time fascinating. It's since been taken down. One scene in particular was a Italian company trudging through an open area in the Alps when they're suddenly fired upon by AH troops...in the chaos you can see a couple of them killed, and others writhing on the ground in pain. Very emotional yet poetic footage. The only thing that sucks was the unwarranted a capella music in the background.

I'll look for them again...it would bore most people tbh, but that shit is fascinating to me.

Awesome stuff IMHO.

[jeebus]

whats some good shit on youtube i can check out?

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKtWgfRAc4aIF80nkVhVe3m0brNbA_7xo

This one is good. 10 part series with each around 50 minutes.

[ChumpDumper]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKtWgfRAc4aIF80nkVhVe3m0brNbA_7xo

This one is good. 10 part series with each around 50 minutes.Excellent choice. Even though this one is 50 years old it's still awesome.

fXhiagFG8KE

[jeebus]

A couple months ago somebody had posted old 1916-1918 footage from the Isonzo front (came in four 10-minute parts)--the weird tint on some of those films made them barely discernible--but at the same time fascinating. It's since been taken down. One scene in particular was a Italian company trudging through an open area in the Alps when they're suddenly fired upon by AH troops...in the chaos you can see a couple of them killed, and others writhing on the ground in pain. Very emotional yet poetic footage. The only thing that sucks was the unwarranted a capella music in the background.

I'll look for them again...it would bore most people tbh, but that shit is fascinating to me.
Nig, this guy has a ton of 4 part uploads about WWI. Just load all his posted videos and you'll see em. Your vid might be in there tbh.

https://www.youtube.com/user/mengutimur/videos

[leemajors]

@DD, neat WW I article about prosthetics:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/opinion/schlich-world-war-i-prosthetics/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[jeebus]

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

[DD]

@DD, neat WW I article about prosthetics:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/opinion/schlich-world-war-i-prosthetics/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Good stuff dude...I remember seeing a video of the Italian Front called "The Agony of Caporetto" that showed a bunch of maimed AH troops wearing those fake legs.

The BBC mini-doc on Dr. Gillies and his plastic/facial surgery is pretty cool as well

[m>s]

Why was my post deleted from this thread?

[xmas1997]

Fantastic interesting stuff.

[leemajors]

WWI trench poetry given graphic novel treatment:

http://boingboing.net/2014/11/05/wwi-trench-poetry-given-gorgeo.html