The demineurs (de-miners) said that the most-feared unexploded ordnance they come across from World War I were the toxic ones. They are the ones filled with now-banned poisons like mustard gas.
"You never know how solid their skins are. They are often very rusty, so they make leak gas and kill you as you lift them," Henry Belot said. Belot was later seriously injured when poison leaked from the shell and into his gas mask.
"Every day you can die. It's something you remember each morning," he said. "You can't anticipate it. Out there is a shell with your name on it. Today, if you lift it, you are in the past."
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
Showing posts with label France's Department du Deminage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France's Department du Deminage. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Bombs Linger Decades After a War Is Over-- Part 3: The Civil War and World War I
Explosives often aren't still potent a century and a half after they were made, but not always.
Union and Confederate forces lobbed an estimated 1.5 million artillery shells and cannonballs at one another during the war. and as many as 20% failed to detonate. Some still pose a threat.
In small farming towns in France and Belgium, undetonated World War I shells turn up during each year's spring planting and autumn harvest. This is referred to as the "Iron Harvest."
According to BBC, more than a billion shells were fired during this war and as many as a third failed to explode. In 1996, the French Interior Ministry estimated that there were at least 12 million shells still posing a danger near Verdun (site of major battles) alone.
And, of course, there are those World War II shells and bombs as France was a major scene of fighting again.
Since 1946 when France's Department du Deminage was established, more than 630 demineurs (de-miners) have been killed in the line of duty.
--GreGen
Union and Confederate forces lobbed an estimated 1.5 million artillery shells and cannonballs at one another during the war. and as many as 20% failed to detonate. Some still pose a threat.
In small farming towns in France and Belgium, undetonated World War I shells turn up during each year's spring planting and autumn harvest. This is referred to as the "Iron Harvest."
According to BBC, more than a billion shells were fired during this war and as many as a third failed to explode. In 1996, the French Interior Ministry estimated that there were at least 12 million shells still posing a danger near Verdun (site of major battles) alone.
And, of course, there are those World War II shells and bombs as France was a major scene of fighting again.
Since 1946 when France's Department du Deminage was established, more than 630 demineurs (de-miners) have been killed in the line of duty.
--GreGen
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