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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Trenches in the dunes


egbert

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Hello Sean, high above the sea!

I meant the display :w00t:

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:w00t: Superb, another one of your cruises I see.
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  • 1 year later...

The dunes of Flanders encountered unusual weather in the last days. Today a piece of sunken history so far shrouded in legend emerged from sand and waters

It is believed this is one of the the B turret barrels from 38 cm Batterie Sahlenburg. The currents and winds have uncovered a marvel, well preserved over the years.

The speaker for "Vrienden van Vlaanderen" believes the barrel will be reclaimed soon by the sea

post-80-0-82332900-1403967751_thumb.jpg.

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100 years of coastal erosion must have taken a terrible toll, Egbert .... in 1918 Batterie Sahlenburg was 2km inland ...

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  • 2 years later...

I thought you all might be interested in the result of our present expedition to the WW1 dunes warfare. After weeks of preparations and searching the archives we found "Benninggraben" -(trench) in the secluded dunes area. The area is known with researchers for its pristine conditions as most of the area has not been entered for decades. The present day military set up a sting operation in order to prevent tourists from ever entering the warsites. I.e. they warn the public not to enter the dunes due to coastal protection reasons. Signs are posted in 4 different languages to disguise the real reason why it is off limits. Before going into details here are the so called dunes protection boundary (-signs). That's how it looks like:

P1070103.JPG

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We are still investigating this unknown gismo (ca 28cm diameter) that lies appr. 2 meters in front of the trench. UXO possibly? Any weapon experts here?

 

detz.jpg

Edited by egbert
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Looking from front line trench towards the rear/second line. Note the camouflaged observation point for artillery directions.

 

P1070096.JPG

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We were looking for the remnants of a crashed Fokker D R I as was witnessed by members of RIR 4711, around January 1918.

The first sign of existence was this piece of canvas from the inner-lining of said Fokker.

 

P1070106.JPG

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Weeks before our expedition we researched the crash and believe it was this Fokker type which belonged to the "Agressor Squadron". Note the typical nose art emblem.

 

fokker_dri.jpg

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The nose art piece was thoroughly examined.  Unfortunately the wreckage itself was not found. Probably the dunes have "eaten" the Fokker forever.....

 

 

P1070109.JPG

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