Eye Deep in Hell: The Great War on the Western Front
It would be hard to overstate the importance of World War I for the United States. So many of the major players of the Second World War had spent their formative years in the trenches. By the time the guns fell silent in November 1918, the age of Empires was at an end, America had emerged onto the world’s stage as a major player and the modern world had begun. Quite simply, you cannot understand World War II without an appreciation of World War I.
Surveying the “Bayernwald” German trench system at Wijtschate outside Ypres.
Paying my respects at Tyne Cot Cemetery.
The "Plug Street" UEFA memorial remembers the football match played during the 1914 Christmas Truce
The 51st Highland Division Memorial at Newfoundland Memorial Park.
This German pillbox on Hill 60 outside Ypres saw fighting in World Wars I and II.
Memorial to the defenders of Fort Pompelle, which protected the ancient city of Reims.
Remnants of the underground war at the Caverne du Dragon.
Ruins of the church atop Montfaucon used by the Germans as an artillery observation point.
Memorial to the French 36th Infantry Division atop Mort-Homme outside Verdun.
Many of the 2,289 Americans buried at the Aisne-Marne Cemetery were killed nearby during the fighting at Belleau Wood.
With the group at the Clairiere de l'Armistice where the German armistice was signed in 1918 and the French armistice in 1940.
One of our guests, a retired Marine, takes a drink from the famous "Bulldog" Fountain in the grounds of the Belleau Chateau.
African American Freddie Stowers did not receive his Medal of Honor until 73-years after is death near Ardeuil-et-Montfauxelles on September 28, 1918.
The United States Marine Corps Monument in the heart of Belleau Wood.
American Memorial on top of Hill 204 outside of Chateau Thierry where the Germans were stopped by the 2nd and 3rd Infantry divisions.
Still happy after a day of relic hunting with our good friend Jean-Paul de Vries in and around Romagne.