As Charles Whittlesey advanced his battalion through woods, on the assumption that he was backed by his superiors, things went horribly wrong. The Generals left him and his battalion to their own devices for four weeks. Whittlesey went into the forest with 600 men, and came out again with 150. He and his battalion fought the Germans in the area surrounding an old water mill, where neither party would surrender. The war ended soon after, when the British rolled up in tanks, which the Germans couldn’t match, so they lost their will to fight on. Charles and his Sergeant Alvin York, were some of the legends of that war.
The road from Verdun out to the Argonne forest is so beautiful, it gives a sharp contrast to the grim facts eminating from the area. I was enjoying the afternoon sun, gliding through forests and fields, when I suddenly arrived at a clearing where it was particularly scenic, so I parked the motorcycle and headed into the woods. A few minutes later, I found myself on a hilltop overlooking the entire Verdun area and the entire length of the front.
I contemplated the huge craters that lay scattered around the landscape, while the birds were singing in the background, and the sun was beating down. I was standing in a place where German troops had buried six tons of explosives into the ground, underneath a small town that was lying on the hilltop. The Germans blasted entire the town into the air. A trip along the Western Front, is an experience in the time machine of unfairness. You become both full and tired from the grim history, and at the same time, glad that there is peace in Europe today. The Western Front is an ugly scar in the history of Europe, although it has healed beautifully.
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar