Impressive pictures - archeology - JR 73 and 78 - Bavarian

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stephane_avesnes

New member
Hi guys, I just received today the permission to publish pictures that were taken during archeological campaigns in Northern France. They are very very impressive. Here's the link : http://www.imperialhelmets.com/847/
that's history, the great history and also the simple history of young men that died at the corner of a wood in 1914. Let your comments here or on my Website.
 
Hello Stephane,
Those are moving photos, reminding us that all the artfacts we handle, represents a young man who had to endure much suffering.
Gus
 
Hello,

thanks for sharing it.

I believe there were also at this place some men of the MGK of the JR92.
 
Tony & Kaiser said:
That is very sad. And this is why I only collect prior to Aug 1914. T
Click to expand...
Hey Tony,
Part of the reason I collect from after that date is to honour those who did not survive, and those who did survive, but barely. There were millions of boys (and girls) who have no other mark on this world, then a small notation on an artifact, they stood up and served when their country called them, many with no proper resting place.
Gus
 
What's is interesting in these pictures is the importance given nowadays to the recovering of the corpses, the identification of the unit and when it's possible of the soldier himself. The commonwealth war grave commission is doing at the moment a great job in Fromelles (Near Lille) where aound 400 "diggers" (Australian soldiers) and some British soldiers were killed in 1916. you can find some infos here : http://sentierdunord.free.fr/balade%20a%20Fromelles.html.
The Australian authorities try to identify the corpses by DNA, that's quite moving since some families are waiting for more than 80 years for that.
see also
http://www.fromelles.net/
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6742216/fromelles-soldiers-reburied-with-honours/
I believe that collecting items, trying to understand what happened to these men is a way to honour them. I participated in several ceremonies in Fromelles, as a representative of the French armed forces and that was quite moving. It's also a way to gather the "old" allied countries and to remember that we've been fighting together for a certain idea of the world and of liberty, first in WW1 and unfortunately some years later in WW2... It's a way to relativise some of our more recent "disputes" and to come back to the main idea, solidarity between nation sharing the utopic idea of a world of justice and liberty. It's also a way to say to our former enemies in WW1 that we respect their ancesters and that we treat them as soldiers, with the honour they deserve. They were also fighting for their country... and their grand fathers were as brave as our grand fathers.
 
Thanks for the link, very moving. One observation, one of the guys was wearing a helmet cover as you can see the brass hook that was sewen on to the edge of the uberzug. The cloth itself is ofcourse long gone. The Canadians have also been using DNA from recovered skeletons to ID bodies and notify families. Brian
 
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