BEAR Posted May 20, 2013 Share #1 Posted May 20, 2013 An Army retired friend of mine was in the Red Ball Express during WW2. After the war had ended he visited the Verdun battlefield in 1945. There he picked up these battle damaged helmets and other souvenirs. He died 2 years ago and left to me these items and an M1935 helmet he picked up at Omaha Beach (he landed there 4 July 1944). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share #2 Posted May 20, 2013 French hand grenade, German and French ammunition and shrapnel of various sizes and shapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR Posted May 20, 2013 Author Share #3 Posted May 20, 2013 More battle damage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screamingeagles101 Posted May 20, 2013 Share #4 Posted May 20, 2013 Great relics !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badash5946 Posted May 21, 2013 Share #5 Posted May 21, 2013 those are really interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRR Posted May 21, 2013 Share #6 Posted May 21, 2013 Cool stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted May 21, 2013 Share #7 Posted May 21, 2013 Verdun has to be one of the saddest locations on earth. When I visited in the early 1980's, visitors were explicitly warned not to go walking off the marked paths for fear of triggering unexploded ordnance. I've visited battlefields all over the US and Europe, but none left me more unsettled than Verdun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Devil Posted May 21, 2013 Share #8 Posted May 21, 2013 Verdun has to be one of the saddest locations on earth. When I visited in the early 1980's, visitors were explicitly warned not to go walking off the marked paths for fear of triggering unexploded ordnance. I've visited battlefields all over the US and Europe, but none left me more unsettled than Verdun. I felt exactly the same way with Verdun. I visited in the mid 2000s and they still warned of walking off the paths. Those are some awesome relics and history behind them. I have a soft spot for Verdun relics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etienne Posted May 23, 2013 Share #9 Posted May 23, 2013 One of my grand-grandfathers was in Verdun as a pioneer, and buried alive for several days in a trench, protected by a railway sleeper used to reinforce the trench and providing enough air to survive ... fortunately, he did make it otherwise I wouldn't be there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolas75 Posted May 23, 2013 Share #10 Posted May 23, 2013 you're right guys - I went to Verdun several times and the weather was foggy and cold although a dozen Km further there was a normal weather ... no birds singing, no noise at all, a deafening small wind whistle only ... - Second to this was Hurtgenwald. Went there when it has rained and it was in winter time. I don't believe in the death souls etc ... but this day i believed it that big. I was with a hardened belgian cop and he also said he was frightened. its names Death factory is right. There is wood craking, echoes, trees movings, yan can't also almost see a dozen of meters away etc ... we got lost only in 30mn ... I guess i was to become a bit mad as i begin to think someone was hidden behind the threes to threat us. My friend also think so, we leaved right away Someone who says he's confident alone in this forest is a liar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgawne Posted May 23, 2013 Share #11 Posted May 23, 2013 I have to agree with both. Verdun is the only battlefield location I've had nightmares. I went off the beaten trail with an expert and the place is really, really creepy and sad (especially the oozing gas shells). And second is the Hurtgen. I wandered along in the woods for a few days, and being one of those people with a built in compass never, ever used to get lost. I got lost in those damp soggy woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottG Posted May 23, 2013 Share #12 Posted May 23, 2013 Like the others have already said, a very sad place. When I first arrived there in 89 my buddy wanted to go out relic hunting. I had been sick for a few days and just took some powerful meds, so I wanted to rest a bit. He really wanted to go out and just search around the battlefields so I told him to go ahead and I would wait. He turned slowly towards me and with a deathly expression he said " man, I'm not going out in those woods alone." I believe that if ever there were a haunted place on Earth then Verdun is it. Just eerily quiet and shrapnel and munitions everywhere even 90 years later. Still, I am sure I will go back someday as it really needs to be seen and remebered. Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share #13 Posted May 24, 2013 My friend, Walsh, who picked up these battle relics said that his first visit in 1945 was very moving. After surviving WW2 he was still a little gunshy when he visited the battlefield. There were no guided tours and the area still looked like a fresh battlefield. He mentioned the silence except the wind which sounded like the groans of anguish of wounded and dying men. Those groans were still fresh in his mind from his own combat experience. The two helmets show traumatic impact damage with the Adrian displaying fragment punctures. The Adrian also has lead fragments imbedded in the outer section of the shell. If the soldiers were wearing these helmets it is no doubt that they were casualties. Being a superstitious old infantryman I will not allow anyone to put these helmets on their heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parafrag Posted October 25, 2013 Share #14 Posted October 25, 2013 If you want to talk about Verdun being spooky, try going up on Mort Homme by yourself. Deatly quiet, a macabre skeletal monument, strange wind blowing, and the feeling of thousands of eyes watching you. I found a lot of really great relics up there including a Luger in great relic condition in a very short time, but I ended up leaving them all. I had the distinct feeling I was not wanted there and needed to leave, so I got the hell back down the road ! I metal detected all around the Verdun / St Mihiel area and never had any bad feelings at all. Mort Homme was way different ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uplandmod Posted October 25, 2013 Share #15 Posted October 25, 2013 Yikes! Just checked out the statue at Mort Homme, That's not a memorial, that's a warning telling the living they are not welcomed there! Wow! LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted October 26, 2013 Share #16 Posted October 26, 2013 I was not familiar with Mort-Homme so I looked it up. http://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/verdun/leftbank.html I can see your point. "The famous Mort-Homme 'Skeleton Memorial' commemorates those of the 36th Division who fought and died here. It is estimated that 10,000 Frenchmen lost their lives here. The memorial, by Froment-Meurice, was unveiled in 1922, and the information boards show contemporary pictures of it." "On the front is the famous phrase "ils n'ont pas passe" (they did not pass), which came to represent the need and desire of the French to hold onto Verdun. On the plinth of the memorial, officers are listed by name, but there are simply lists of regiments to remember the rank and file soldiers who died." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted October 26, 2013 Share #17 Posted October 26, 2013 To put this battle in perspective. From February to December 1916, An estimate in 2000 found a total of 714,231 casualties, 377,231 French and 337,000 German, an average of 70,000 casualties for each month of the battle. It was the longest and one of the most costly battles in human history; other recent estimates increase the number of casualties to 976,000. (copied from Wikipedia) How sad. Bobgee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katieony Posted October 26, 2013 Share #18 Posted October 26, 2013 An amazing group of relics with great provenance! Thank you for posting! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinO Posted November 1, 2013 Share #19 Posted November 1, 2013 le Mort Homme from when I was there in 2011. Will be revisiting the area next spring, a truly humbling place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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