# German soldiers preserved in World War I shelter discovered after nearly 100 years



## micropage7 (Mar 3, 2012)

The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when an Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in 1918 causing it to cave in.

Thirteen bodies were recovered from the underground shelter but the remaining men had to be left under a mountain of mud as it was too dangerous to retrieve them.

Nearly a century later French archaeologists stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front during excavation work for a road building project.

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. 

As well as the bodies, poignant personal effects such as boots, helmets, weapons, wine bottles, spectacles, wallets, pipes, cigarette cases and pocket books were also found.

Even the skeleton of a goat was found, assumed to be a source of fresh milk for the soldiers.

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. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/9074336/German-soldiers-preserved-in-World-War-I-shelter-discovered-after-nearly-100-years.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/9074125/German-soldiers-found-entombed-in-a-perfectly-preserved-World-War-One-shelter.html

for more
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-74445.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099187/Bodies-21-German-soldiers-buried-alive-WW1-trench-perfectly-preserved-94-years-later.html


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## qubit (Mar 3, 2012)

Depressing, but interesting.


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## FreedomEclipse (Mar 3, 2012)

reminds me of the movie 'DEATHWATCH' with Kris Marshall (aka Nick Harper out of My Family)










for those who dont want to waste 10mins watching then heres the short trailer (it wasnt that good of a movie either - Id put it around the 'Tv Made' grade....Films that are so bad they couldnt get bigger stars to take part)










Except the only difference here is Gerrys aint gonna come back to life.


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## twilyth (Mar 3, 2012)

micropage7 said:


> Even the skeleton of a goat was found, assumed to be a source of fresh milk for the soldiers.



Yeah.  Milk.  

Of course.


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## qubit (Mar 3, 2012)

And another thing: for this to be reported, the workmen would have to have stopped when they noticed what they were digging into. Makes you wonder how many hundreds of other buried sites there are around the world where they didn't bother and just kept going, doesn't it? Those sites are now lost forever.


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## Munki (Mar 3, 2012)

twilyth said:


> Yeah.  Milk.
> 
> Of course.


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## Kreij (Mar 3, 2012)

Goat could have been near the opening for chemical detection (goat drops dead, get your mask on NOW).

Sadly enough, as the saying goes, "The only difference between a bunker and a tomb is the exit."


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## _JP_ (Mar 3, 2012)

Kreij said:


> Sadly enough, as the saying goes, "The only difference between a bunker and a tomb is the exit."


Not that I disagree with what you said but I believe those were trenches.


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## Kreij (Mar 3, 2012)

It's a 300 foot long tunnel according to the OP, not a trench (which would be open air).
Or did I miss something. lol
I'm still a bit foggy these days. :/


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## twilyth (Mar 3, 2012)

It was a tunnel.  It collapsed when a shell detonated above them.



> The men were part of a larger group of 34 who were buried alive when an Allied shell exploded above the tunnel in 1918 causing it to cave in.


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## FreedomEclipse (Mar 3, 2012)

twilyth said:


> It was a tunnel.  It collapsed when a shell detonated above them.



when it gets shelled it turns into a....


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