COTE 108 MINE CRATER

[Guest Dr Bill Griffin]

I thought you might like to see this aerial photo of the Cote 108 crater.

[Guest Dr Bill Griffin]

I have a lot more WW1 aerial photos which I inherited from my great uncle, Harry Holloway, who trained to do aerial photography. It is not clear if he ever deployed.

[Knotty]

Welcome to the forum Bill

Thats certainly an aerial shot that I have never seen before, hope to see some more of your collection at some time in the future.

I'm sure your great uncle's record can be found if he served.

 

John

[Guest Leapold]

Might be of interest.  In July 1936 Charles and Anne Lindbergh were driving through France towards the ferryport in Boulogne.  They stopped to take a look at some of the WWI sites.  Writes Anne:  "Driving back through the war country.  It is still horrible beyond words--after twenty years.  Everything you look at reminded you of the terror and destruction.  The worst was walking over Cote 108 between Reims and Arras  Pitted and re-pitted by shells, mines, etc.  Not one piece of ground left untouched--great craters and pits in which nothing grew.  And over the hill a little gorse and cornflower waving inconsequently--with barbed wire and pieces of shells, shrapnel, bones, boots, helmets, broken fragments of planes.  It was horrible, and the cuckoos going in the distance.  Lots of unexploded shells."  From The Flower and the Nettle. 

[CROONAERT]

On ‎01‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 21:13, Dr Bill Griffin said:

I thought you might like to see this aerial photo of the Cote 108 crater.

 

That looks like the Grande Carriere, Bill... A pre-war quarry - not one of the (many) mine craters.

 

Dave

[morrisc8]

Photo of the area dated 24-3-1917. and postcard 

[morrisc8]

I have just bought a few original German air photos of the area 1915.   A pre-war quarry is in a few of the photos as well as mine craters.

Last photo of a German map from my collection dated 1918.

 

Edited 12 October , 2023 by morrisc8

[morrisc8]

Good link to more info.

The Great War has strongly marked the landscapes, especially on the western front from Flanders to Alsace. The spatial approach to defense systems, produced in GIS from directing plans of “Groupe de Canevas de Tirs des Armées” (GCTA), shows a dense organization (from 19 to 80 miles per mile of front), with positions and trench lines usually keyed on landforms. Their postwar digging and partial filling determine a large disturbed area affecting soils and parent materials. Morphological evidence of these defense systems are revealed by the airborne LiDAR tool which highlights the role of the morphogenic “Bombturbation”, and mine warfare in Champagne region. Based on the example of Hill 108, a real mine warfare conservatory of the Great War, morphometric indices calculated on defense networks and mine craters characterize these forms,

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318040852_Apport_des_plans_directeurs_et_de_l'outil_LiDAR_aeroporte_pour_la_caracterisation_des_impacts_morphologiques_de_la_Grande_Guerre_exemple_de_la_cote_108_Berry-au-Bac_France

Edited 29 September , 2023 by morrisc8

[Howard]

There are a good number of maps on TrenchMapper that show those features.

Just put in 76.J.28.a.11.88 and click Convert. Then swap maps in the left-hand panel.

You can also right-click and choose Street View to see most but not all points in the area.

Howard

[morrisc8]

Postcards of the area of Berry Au Bac and Hill 108. From my collection.