A mass grave has been discovered in a First World War trench during excavations at a golf club in Ieper. Alongside the bodies, archaeologists also found a pile of personal belongings and a bugle, the instrument used to play the Last Post. “The symbolism of this find is immense,” they say.
Culture
Mass WWI grave found during golf club excavations
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Archaeologists have been working at De Palingbeek golf club in Ieper since the end of September. Before the club can expand its course, the archaeologists are investigating both the German and Allied front lines and the evolution of the positions during the war.
“This is the third and probably final phase of the excavations,” says Bert Heyvaert, archaeologist and site manager at Monument Group. “German, British and French trenches run close together and there are a great many human remains. This site is particularly important thanks to the variety of traces.”
Archaeologists have already found human remains in almost 100 locations. Heyvaert: “The bodies were probably dumped in a primitive manner in a disused trench. That makes this trench a mass grave, which is unique in an archaeological project.”
Whether the remains represent 100 people remains to be determined by laboratory analysis. Due to the large quantity of remains and rising costs, an international team of experts has been assembled to assist, at the initiative of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The bodies can then be given a dignified burial.
