Pierre Grande Guerre
New member
Every year when I visit the battlefields, Joe, I hear stories from locals about accidents, like farmers running their tractor over an explosive in their fields, scouts making a campfire on the Verdun battlefield which caused an explosion, or inexperienced tourists , who have fallen into a 20 m. deep shaft of a Pamart-bunker.joerookery said:
On the other hand the risk for the locals and especially their children is not that high, as one may expect. Most local children and locals along the former battlefields know from their childhood what they have to do with found explosives or not. The farmers and their children are used to find every new spring new rusty explosives. This is caused by a natural process, of freezing the soil and defreezing the soil, which causes un upward pressure, which brings all kinds of objects to the surface during the process of ploughing. Look for instance the findings of my young Belgian Friend, Stijn, at his parent’s Pondfarm; http://home.euphonynet.be/pondfarm/ .
The farmers collect the explosives often themselves and place these on a location along a country road for instance, or at the entrance of their premises, and then they have to inform the local authorities, the bomb disposal guys like the Belgian “DOVO”, to collect these for transport to a central location for controlled destruction. Even nowadays, every year in every front sector the farmers still dig up tons and tons of a harvest of 90 years old metal scrap and explosives. Maybe, Robert, can confirm this also from his own experience, living there.
Even as a tourist you have to pay attention walking these fields. I once found in the Somme a very premature “potato” on the edge of a potato field. After a closer look the potato was a Mill’s hand grenade, covered with mud, but still completely in tact. I only took a picture of it, as always, and left the Mill’s bomb untouched where it was. Presumably the farmer had already parked the grenade along the edge for collecting afterwards.
There is more danger in visiting the former battlefields, even after so many years, then one would expect on first sight. During “our adventures” on these battlefields my priority is always to return home safe, sound, and in tact. After all, I bear the responsibility of being a Grandpa, and behave like one.
