Devil's Kitchen

[Terry Carter]

I was talking to a friend who had recently returned from visiting the battlefields. He told me he had been in the area of the "Devil's Kitchen."

A vast tunnel system manned by the Germans during the latter part of 1918. Can any forum member put a light on this for me and explain why it was called the Devil's Kitchen?

My friend gave me an explanation which I found hard to believe and I will not repeat until others come up with a similar explanation.

Cheers all

Terry

[Chris_Baker]

I reckon your mate is talking about the Bellicourt Tunnel, which formed a key part of the Hindenburg Line.

And here's why 'The devil's kitchen':

"The mopping-up operation was completed, Australian and US engineers explored the length of the Bellicourt canal tunnel. Major Lawson, the Water Supply Officer of the Australian Corps, and Captain Humphries of 105th Engineer Regiment, travelled the length of the tunnel sketching and measuring. As they progressed towards the northern end, signs of bitter fighting became more apparent. Sections of the towpath and arch walls were badly damaged, several exits were demolished and walls and water seepage tunnels blown in. This prevented exploration of many chambers and cavities, from which, the officers reported, “disagreeable odours originated”. Their strangest discovery, though, came at the southern entrance.

In a room above the arch, which had originally been designed to house the machinery for the tunnel gates, the two officers found several iron pots suspended from a cradle, three feet above the floor. Beneath each of the pots was the remains of a fire. Six dead Germans were piled beside the pots and, on investigation, one of the receptacles was seen to contain the cropped head of a red-haired soldier. The gruesome object was floating in a foul liquid. Two other pots contained what was described as dirty white grease with a consistency somewhat less dense than lard. The machine room was almost dark, the only light emanating from candles carried by the two explorers and from a small hole in the ceiling. Pausing only long enough to take in the general view and ruffle with a stick the hair of the unfortunate German, the two men left.

Fuelled by contemporary propaganda of German atrocities, the officers believed they had stumbled upon a rendering plant. The liquid in the pots was melted flesh and the bodies of the dead were piled up awaiting disposal; the process had clearly been hastily abandoned when the Allied attack began. Lawson and Humphries requested that a further examination of the machine room be made. Intelligence officers did subsequently investigate, and came to a different conclusion. They decided that, far from the room being a cadaver factory, it was a cookhouse. A high-velocity shell had penetrated the tunnel roof where the earth covering was thin - hence the hole in the ceiling - and had exploded inside the room. The blast had killed the occupants, and managed to pot the decapitated head of one victim into the suspended receptacle. The walls of the room were seen to be peppered with shell fragments and smeared with bits of bodies. A photograph taken at the time also claimed to reveal the marks of rifling made by the shell as it pierced the concrete roof..."

Now for the life of me I can't remember where I clipped that from. No doubt someone will recognise it. The cadaver factory = the devil's kitchen. Right Terry?

[Paul Reed]

It's funny - I heard this location described like this for the first time recently as well - from an Australian. I fear it is a name that appears in one source, and like many things these days has rapidly become accepted as 'the truth' (or the pukka issue, as the lads might have said...).

It is indeed the St Quentin Canal tunnel at Bellicourt-Ricqueval, but to all British troops this was the 'Bone Factory', and indeed is even refferred to in unit war diaries as such. It got this name as propaganda suggested that the Germans were melting down their war dead inside the tunnel, and the incident referred to above (which I remember reading in an American account was probably caused by the premature detonation of egg grenades) seemed to give the story such credence.

Incidentally, your friend who just returned wasn't staying at Martinpuich was he?

[Terry Carter]

Chris and Paul,

Thanks for the prompt and interesting feedback.

Yes, Paul, my friend was staying at Martinpuich.

Thanks again

Terry

[Andrew P]

In the History of the 30th Battalion AIF 'The Purple and Gold' this place is called the Corpse factory. The following is by Captain Barbour of the 30th Bn.

"Later on Doc Downer, who had spent considerable time patching up numerous wounded Sammies, and I descended to explore, and with the aid of torches, negotiated a long flight of steps to emerge in Stygian blackness at the water level. Some faint smudges of light, like haloed glow worms, could be seen in the gloom, and, on investigation we were surprised to locate a large dimly lit barge at anchor. It was profusely festooned with red cross bunting and crammed with wounded german soldiers under the care of an ambulance unit........................After Downer had concluded a hasty examination of the patients, we decided to quit the premises.

Shortly after leaving the barge we noticed a small inner chamber, which, on investigation disclosed one of the most unsavoury sights we had encountered during the long drawn out years of the war. The place reeked with the pungent odour of human flesh and the acrid fumes of explosives. The interior was a shambles, the walls were spattered and dyed red and several corpses and portions of human remains lay around. During our brief examination-carried out from the threshold of the charnel house, for we felt to creepy about the spine to venture farther in-outlines of vats were visible, giving the impression that the chamber had been used as a cookhouse or workshop. From it's general appearance and tang of powder it was evident an explosion had taken place-maybe a chance shell had entered the vent and caused the havoc.

We lost no time in retiring from the eerie scene up the long flights of steps..........Sometime later a number of American war correspondents located the gruesome chamber, and before long news, which created a deep sensation at the time, was flashed to the world of the discovery of the alleged German 'corpse factory' or boiling down works."

[Mike Cross]

Is there anything to actually see within the tunnel? That is to say other than a Napoleonic construction. I have always been in awe of the massive superstucture above the tunnel and have never tried to actually enter.

Reference to the Riqueval Bridge cannot pass without mention of one of the most memorable photos of the war - Brigadier-General Campbell addressing the men of 137 Brigade in October 1918. A glorious photograph, and the bridge is worthy of a visit if only to try and envisage the scene that day.

[paul guthrie]

I have been to the tunnel and did not see that you would be able to see anything inside but cannot be sure of this. The nearby Somme American Cemetery is interesting. Superintendent is David Atkinson, he sure does like to see visitors, it's very much off the tourist route.

[andigger]

This is a very interesting/gruesome story. I'd imagine that since the posts here more or less agree to how the name developed it is a true story, but does anyone know where Chris' story can be credited to? Andy