trenches holland

[veklee]

good afternoon im sure i saw somewhere ww1 trenches located approx 1 hour from den haag on the road from den haag to paris but  cant find anywhere help apreciated

thanks barry

[JWK]

Only WW1 trenches ("Loopgraven") in the Netherlands that I know of are near Arnhem. Some 2 hours from the Hague, in the direction of Berlin (not Paris)

 

They used  to be in Germany, but when the border was redrawn after WW2 they found themselves in the Netherlands. Only just, though....

Some fotos here.

And the location here ("Duitse loopgraven Beek")

 

The text on the informationboard reads something like :

“You see here a reconstruction of a trench from the First World War. This used to be German territory. Although The Netherlands remained neutral in WW1, the Germans were afraid for an attack via Dutch territory.

On the lateral moraine [Yes, I had to look it up too!…] between Elten and Beek they constructed a defence-line of several kilometers of trenches and 84 bunkers.

The trenches were used by German soldiers during the first years of the war, but never saw any fighting. After the war the bunkers and trenches were destroyed, under supervision of French troops.

Late 2013 about 50 meters of the trenches was reconstructed.

From your standpoint you can clearly see the trench was made out of straight sections, to observe, and shoot at, the enemy, with in between semi-circular sections to prevent grenades, or attacking enemy soldiers, causing too many casualties.

WW2 trenches are built differently”

And a little map of the stretch between Elten and Beek, showing three rows of trenches, and many bunkers.

Edited 10 October , 2021 by JWK
added photos and text

[veklee]

thank you for your reply