Europe’s Landscape Is Still Scarred by World War I

 

 

(Michael St. Maur Sheil )

Ten thousand men were killed within seconds when the British exploded 19 mines under German lines during the Battle of Messines in Belgium. (Michael St. Maur Sheil )

100 years after the Battle of Verdun, its land—once a quiet stretch of French farmland—remains scarred from explosions. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

On the Chemin des Dames, German soldiers took refuge in a former limestone quarry, which they called the Dragon’s Cavern. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

Nearly 70 feet deep, the Lochnagar Crater was formed after an explosive-packed mine was detonated during the Battle of the Somme. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

The tiny village of Butte de Vaquois once stood on a hilltop, and was destroyed after three years of furious mining blew away its summit. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)

A series of 12 bloody battles were fought between Austro-Hungrarian and Italian troops along the Isonzo River in Italy. (Michael St. Maur Sheil)