I stumbled on to this on Imgur.
Built by Andy Belsey, A Diorama showing trenches of the Somme region in 1916.
Makes me think about the Hell these men went through.
Wanted to share it...... I think it's amazing... Click on the Album, I Hope you enjoy.
That's idealistic. Doesn't portray the amount of mud and water there was. (No idea how that'd be possible though.) For the most part, the troopies spent their "line" time(usually 4 days with 4 more is 'close reserve'.) knee deep or more in water and mud. Cold and wet with little or no hot food. Sometimes no food because the guy bringing it got killed.
And then there was the lice(on everybody) and giant rats(who would bite your face if they got on you when you were sleeping.) plus maggots and flies on decomposing corpses(human and animal). The duckboards sank into the mud and the skeletons of the dead would occasionally rise out of the mud. Not to mention the garbage left laying around. Supposedly, it was the smell that got to troopies most.
"...Winter blues getting you?..." Was told last week I'm not supposed talk about blowing stuff up. Said something about killing somebody and the guy got all judgemental.
"...6 more months of Winter..." Remember that the days have been getting longer since 21 December.
"...a Smellorama..." I didn't mention the latrines being open holes in the mud. snicker.
I didn't mention the latrines being open holes in the mud
No you didn't mention it. But after reading your post about the foul conditions...... The lack of latrines came to mind. I can say they were better men than I am.
This coming from a guy that as a kid would gag to the near point of throwing up when visiting Grandpa and slopping his hogs! He'd say that smell was his bread and butter. 40 years later a septic tank cleaner told me the same thing on a job we were doing when a excavator operator drove over and crushed open the full/blocked tank.
Trenches... Plus should mention the Gas attacks and the frigid cold. Stray dogs grazing on the dead..... horrible. Which reminds me that I Just watched a Docu over the weekend during the WWII battle of the bulge and the Germans vs Russians freezing to death.
Originally Posted by Sunray
Was told last week I'm not supposed talk about blowing stuff up. Said something about killing somebody and the guy got all judgemental.
My Wife and I recently visited my Daughter and Grandson in Maryland. While waiting for our delayed home bound flight from Baltimore I met a gun enthusiast (he had a Glock hat and shirt on). We had all been through the security points and were seated waiting to board. The guy was going in to great detail about the entry and exit wounds, recoil and report from his .300 Win mag when deer hunting. Had to of been someone seated near us that got 'Uncomfortable' because out of no where came security. We were both taken about 200yrds away to a unmarked security area and put in different rooms. I only had a carry on, that they carried over for me. They checked my bag, ID's and asked me a number of
questions that just showed I could verify what my ID's were telling them. Questions were a stall while someone ran a background check on me.. IMO. Took about 30 minutes for me, a little longer for the other guy and we all still caught the flight. Our public conversation about guns and booms and exit holes clearly scared some snowflake. I recall writing down the Web address for milsurps for him. Maybe he's a member now and may see this. Security would only say this was a random check ??
... When I compare my time in Vietnam to that I feel thankful.
You're not wrong there. I know my time in Vietnam was a walk in the park compared to my Grand-dad's time in France from 1915 to war's end, and my dad's time 'up in the Islands' in WWII.
Click on the Album, I Hope you enjoy.
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Originally Posted by Sunray
