Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association – A Minor Correction and Some Videos

Hey Folks, it’s been a little bit, hasn’t it?

The last two weeks have seen the beginning of the new school year here in the US, and as always these first days are busy for teachers. This year was no exception, although it was smoother.

So, here are the videos I took during our visit to the Hawthorn Ridge Crater. They feature battlefield archeologist Mr. Colin Winn talking to us about the explosives used in the mine below, the explosion itself, and how it shaped the crater. Later videos feature Mr. Winn discussing the creation of the second crater, and of other evidence found inside the two massive blast holes.

There are also a few corrections to be made to the interview episode with Mr. Winn, and these errors have been fixed thanks to an Englishman who is very passionate about WW1 and who is connected to the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association (HRCA).

Well, it turns out that it’s not two brothers who were part owners of the crater who weren’t speaking. This is too bad, really, from the standpoint that I had hoped through a shared historical connection we could see a family dispute ended and brothers reunited–it’d make a hell of a story!

Alas, the two ornery owners are apparently two local village council members. Word is that any village council meeting where one speaks to the other ends in an argument, which confirms to us that hey, people are the same the world over.

In other information, the Hawthorn Crater is owned by the village of Beaumont-Hamel, and the village has leased the crater to the HRCA for the next 99 years. The pathway up to the crater has been cleaned up, widened, and covered with mulch to ease foot traffic on the slope. The Association’s goals are to eventually build up the area for tourists to come and reflect, and they  hope to install panoramic information panels near the crater that will explain the history of the immediate area during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

So, here are the videos:

2nd Video Clip

Episode 47: Meuse Argonne – An Interview with Randy Gaulke of Meuse-Argonne.com

It’s time to start the new battle we’re going to cover, which will be the American-led Meuse-Argonne Offensive of 1918. We’re going to begin with an interview with Mr. Randy Gaulke, a fellow WW1 enthusiast, researcher, website master, and battlefield tour guide.

 

Mr. Gaulke runs the website www.meuse-argonne.com, which contains a wealth of information regarding the 47-day battle that defined American involvement in the Great War. The website contains several features such as bibliographies, articles, research statistics, travel tips, and a feature called “People of the Meuse-Argonne,” where individuals who study, write about, or live in the Meuse-Argonne give a quick biography of themselves. There is also a meuse-argonne.com FaceBook page, which connects you with hundreds of like-minded and incredibly helpful folks who readily share information, photos, and travel tips.

 

Please check out: www.meuse-argonne.com

 

and

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1624894481060334/

 

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

 

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.


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St. Mihiel German Military Cemetery

One of the points of interest during our day in St. Mihiel was the German Military Cemetery. Located in Gobessart Woods north of Apremont-la-Forét, this resting place for 6,046 German soldiers is located deep in the woods off a dirt road at the edge of a semi-industrial area. After the Great War, French authorities allowed Germany to retain military cemeteries in France, but they were to be consolidated and located in out-of-the-way areas.

The St. Mihiel German Cemetery is located in the Gobessart Woods off the D907 Road, north of Apremont-la-Forét. Over 6,000 Germans rest here. Many are from 1914 and 1915, and many as well were moved here from smaller cemeteries after the Great War.
Plaque for three Remembrance Trees planted here in 2010.
The St. Mihiel German Cemetery is a sparse but peaceful place.
Reading the metal directory listing the names of the fallen.
A monument moved here from a former cemetery in Woinville. A soldier mourns the loss of his friends.
1914-1916: Fallen Heroes of the Watch on the Meuse and Moselle.
German gravestones moved to St. Mihiel from other areas. After the war, many cemeteries were consolidated.

Episode SA7: An Interview with the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association

During my recent trip to France, my crew and I had the most wonderful experience when we visited Mr. Andy Robertshaw and Mr. Colin Winn and their archeological dig team out at the Hawthorn Crater on the Somme. How we met the people of the Hawthorn Crater Association will be told in the interview that follows–it was just a stunningly amazing day amongst so many amazing days out there on the Somme and previously in the Argonne.

 

For many years the Hawthorn Crater has sat in relative obscurity on the Somme battlefield. It has been overgrown with trees and brush, and it has remained enough off the beaten path that most tourists have bypassed it altogether. The Hawthorn Crater Association is changing that. Through limited clearance of diseased trees and careful archeological digs conducted with the enthusiastic support of the people of nearby Beaumont-Hamel village, Mr. Robertshaw, Mr. Winn, and several others are bringing the story of the crater and the men who lived in it, fought in it, and died in it, back to life.

 

As I will say at the end of the interview, this is not just digging in the earth looking for pieces of metal from the Battle of the Somme. It is so much more than that, as you will hear. And to be clear: no archeological dig is just digging in the dirt, it’s really important and fascinating stuff!

 

Due to some technical difficulties, Mr. Robertshaw was unable to join us. The VOIP connection also tended to be a bit wobbly at times, but I think overall you’ll be able to understand things fairly clearly.

 

Please follow the Hawthorn Ridge Crater Association on Twitter to stay up to date: @HawthornRidgeCA  

 

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

 

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. We’re also on Twitter! Follow us at @WW1podcast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.


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St. Mihiel – Blockhaus Field Hospital and MG Post

  • A German Blockhaus that served as a field hospital in the St. Mihiel sector.
  • Inscription left by a recent traveler.
  • Walking in the woods near St. Mihiel.
  • Christophe took us into the woods to explore well-preserved German positions in the former support and reserve lines of the St. Mihiel Salient.
  • Gunner’s position. During the war there would have been a wooden plank above the machine gun storage area on which the gunner would have stood. A loader would have stood beside him.
  • The machine gun storage area.
  • Going inside the position.
  • Christophe in the observer’s post.
  • Observer slit, now filled in after a century.

St. Mihiel Salient Tour – City Sites

On the 10th of August, we had a truly remarkable day: a full day of battlefield tours with our guide Christophe and his daughter. We started in the town itself, visiting the medieval cathedrals of Saint Michel and Saint Etienne and then walking through the streets of this old city.

During our walk, Christophe stopped us frequently to show us several old buildings, many of which were connected to the First World War. He also showed us some interesting architecture along the way.

If you’ve never had a day’s tour with a guide, I highly recommend it–and I highly recommend Christophe and his American friend Mike who linked us up! These two gentlemen are incredibly knowledgeable on the Meuse region of France, and they will make your day as active as you want it to be. The attention Christophe and Mike gave to our day was nothing short of impressive: about a week ahead of time I started receiving emails with photos and maps of the St. Mihiel area in preparation for our visit. The day of the tour was a full day: visiting the city, and then heading out to get into the former front line trenches, dugouts, and machine gun nests.

There will be more posts (we took some 2,200 photos in France collectively over 10 days), but let’s get started with the sights from the town itself.

Courtesy of Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/92684034/

The war memorial in St. Mihiel from the back, where German soldiers are shown marching French civilians into captivity.

The old city hall in St. Mihiel. The German command was located here during the occupation years in 1914-1918.

Ligier Richier (1500-1567) was a sculptor from St. Mihiel.

Saint Stephen’s Cathedral.

One of Richier’s best known sculptures, The Entombment. During WW1 the Germans built up sandbag defenses around the sculpture in order to protect it.

A better photo of The Entombment, courtesy of http://www.meusetourism.com/en/things-to-do/visit/monuments-and-gardens/F818001070_the-ligier-richier-trail-saint-mihiel.html.

The town hall in St. Mihiel held an exhibition of the WW1 years at the end of June 2018.

The former slaughterhouse in St. Mihiel.

 

Belleau Wood

Entrance to Belleau Wood park.

In French the wood’s name was officially changed to “Bois de la Brigade de Marine,” although most folks still know it by it’s original name.

The memorial park area in Belleau Wood.

Captured field guns at Belleau Wood.

Bullet holes in this field gun’s shield show how close and deadly the fighting was at Belleau Wood.

A century later, shell holes and trenches remain visible in the ground.

Memorial to the US Marines who fought in Belleau Wood in June 1918.

German Cemetery at Belleau, France

Just got back from 10 days in France, and I’ve decided to actually start using this website for more posts.

Right after we landed in Paris and got our car, we headed right out for Belleau Wood. A little over an hour northeast of the City of Light, this was the first battle area we visited. It was some 95 degrees (F) out that day, but it was so moving to see the wheat fields over which the US Marines attacked in June 1918, and to walk in the wood itself.

One spot where we stopped was the German cemetery at Belleau, where some 8,000 Germans rest in peace now. Many of the dates of death center in 1918, the time of the German Kaiserschlacht offensives.

Episode 46: Belleau Wood – Warriors Into the Woods

On June 6, 1918, men of the 5th and 6th United States Marine Regiments assaulted the German positions in Belleau Wood. So began a three-week battle for a one-mile square patch of wood that would enter US Marine Corps and American WW1 legend.

 

The BFWWP is now on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

 

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com or the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook. We’re also on Twitter! Follow us at @WW1podcast. Not into social media? Email me directly at verdunpodcast@gmail.com. Please consider reviewing the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes.


Check out this episode!