The German government has decided to declare the burial site a “war memorial” and place it under state protection
The remains of more than 200 German soldiers buried alive in a tunnel in northeastern France during World War I appear unlikely to be recovered.
Instead, the German government decided to declare the burial site a “war memorial” and place it under state protection.
Germany’s war grave committee, the Volksbund, and the French government announced the decision at the Caverne du Dragon museum in northeastern France on Friday afternoon.
“Rescue efforts to reach the remains in 2021 and 2022 had proved very difficult,” a Volksbund spokesman told CNN, adding that there had been “many attempts” to open the “very deep and very long” tunnel, which is in a bunker, with “sandy ground, still contaminated with ammunition”.
Although the Franco-German team managed to reach as far as 64 meters (210 feet) down the tunnel, “they found no remnants of the war,” the spokesman said.
Many battles of World War I took place, between French armed forces and German troops, on the Chemin des Dames, or “Lady’s Way”, a ridge between two valleys.
The remains of more than 200 German soldiers who were buried alive in a tunnel in northeastern France during the World War I will not be recovered https://t.co/mQx9o75PA7
— CNN (@CNN) February 11, 2023
On May 4, 1917, in one of the biggest battles of the war, the French army was shelling German soldiers with heavy artillery. A shell hit the entrance to the Winterberg tunnel on the Chemin des Dames, according to the Volksbund.
Some of the German troops, from Baden’s 111th Reserve Infantry Regiment, escaped further into the tunnel, where stored ammunition had exploded and toxic fumes were being released.
The soldiers set up a roadblock to try to protect themselves from the poisonous gases until they could be rescued, but the heavy shelling trapped them.
In 1916 an explosion ripped through a 250-foot-deep tunnel in Cleveland. Garrett had invented a device he called a fire safety hood, a predecessor to it #WWI gas masks. He suited up and repeatedly carried people out to safety. #ArchivesBlackDesignhttps://t.co/4QDOp16Xz4 pic.twitter.com/Tpiw0SNLlt
— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) February 3, 2023
The tunnel entrance collapsed during the attack and only three soldiers out of an infantry of over 200 survived. The others drowned, died of thirst or shot themselves.
Over the years, there have been numerous – including illegal – attempts to find the buried tunnel entrance in the Vauclair State Forest, according to the Volksbund.
Last May, more than a century after the event and after years of work, the Volksbund and French collaborators used precision drilling to confirm the tunnel’s location, discovering a large-deep-underground cavity, with the burial site intact.
By designating the site as a memorial, German and French authorities hope to honor and protect the soldiers’ resting place. “This guarantees that the soldiers will continue to rest in peace,” a Volksbund spokesman said.
“In recent years we have been working with our French partners in a spirit of trust,” said Dirk Backen, managing director of the Volksbund.
Once the legal requirements for the war cemetery are met, planning for the memorial will begin and the site could be inaugurated within the next year, French and German officials have announced.
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