This is a great explanation of the crater. How did the British get the explosives there?

In your opinion, what do think the most brutal and savage area was in WW1 not battle but continued fighting in a small area?

Thank you

One of the things that stands out the most to me is the white trenches, When I think of WWI mud is the first thing that comes to mind, I didnt take northeast France/Southwest Belgium as having this type of soil, is this where the other white trenches Ive seen(Most noteable the final scene of the movie 1917) are found?

I've been there 12 years ago,it really impressed me. Nice vid Steven.❤

I was going to buy one of these until I heard the CTX eats [burns] it's wiring harnesses up like snacks. My 83' Goldwing rubbed through the insulation of the harness where turning the forks rubbed the harness against the steering head. Lucky for me, there was a guy nearby who knew exactly where to look. I like friends who know stuff.

Thank you very much for this impressive documentation. To be honest: I doubt that mankind will learn from history. WW1 was so horrible. 21 years later WW2 started. So we can be lucky to leave in peace here in Europe after all these wars...

Thanks for the video. WW1 was cruel and inhuman but manhood has nothing learned from it.

Thank you for the film and the imortant informations. Nationalism is the reason why millions of people died. And are still dying today ... the reason is always the same...

Moo Cow Farm?

Wow very intense how it’s similar weather as it would have been when Driant and his men were facing the advancing German Stormtroopers. Very scary. The part when Mr. Upton is filming the bunkers and you can hear his breathing and see the snow falling , then hearing the men call to him in French was pretty alarming, its like you got a very quick eerie glimpse into that day long ago.

Very interesting, thank you!

One thing I've always wondered. Did the Germans ever construct & detonate or abandon there own mines? I know they built shafts to intercept the British but I've always wondered if they ever started there own tunneling to blow up Allied strong points.

Thank you for this. It was absolutely amazing. We have walked the site from the Memorial to the Y-trench and your video has helped to put into a perspective. The Memorial at Beaumont Hamel sits almost at the top of the ridge. The Newfoundlanders were to leave from the third line which was located on the back slope, a bit behind where the Memorial now stands, out of view of the enemy trenches. The Newfoundlanders were the third regiment to go over the top. When first two regiments reached their objectives, they were to fire a flare. By coincidence, the Germans were to fire a flare to call for artillery when they saw the enemy coming.. When the British saw the German flare, they thought that there regiments had made their objectives and the Newfoundlanders were ordered out. They couldn't move forward through the communication trenches blocked with the dead and wounded so they were ordered to walk above in the open, up the hill to the top and over the ridge. There they were silhouetted against the sky, easy pickings for enemy machine guns. The called for German artillery had opened up and they walked into a storm lead and steel.

Just found out today my great grandfather is buried there….roadtrip asap!! rip to all who died so we may live

Christmas Truce. Sabaton. I was never off-side!. Edmund Blackadder. Thanks. Loafer.

1914 on Christmas Day On the western front the guns all died away And lying in the mud on bags of sand We heard a German sing from no man's land He had tenor voice so pure and true The words were strange but every note we knew Soaring or the living dead and dammed The German sang of peace from no man's land They left their trenches and we left ours Beneath tin hats smiles bloomed like wild flowers With photos, cigarettes, and pots of wine We built a soldier's truce on the front line Their singer was a lad of twenty one We begged another song before the dawn And sitting in the mud and blood and fear He sang again the song all longed to hear Silent night, no cannons roar A King is born of peace for evermore All's calm, all's bright All brothers hand in hand In 19 and 14 in no man's land And in the morning all the guns boomed in the rain And we killed them and they killed us again With bullet, bomb, bayonet, gas and flame, but neither we nor they at all to blame, there was heavy fighting right throughout the day, for one nights peace we bloodily did pay, At night they charged we fought them hand to hand And I killed the boy that sang in no man's land Silent night no cannons roar A King is born of peace for evermore All's calm, all's bright All brothers hand in hand And that young soldier sings And the song of peace still rings Though the captains and all the kings Built no man's land Sleep in heavenly peace

My great grandfather was killed there on the 19th. He was blown to pieces, has no known grave, but is on one of the panels at V.C. Corner. Panel 19, William Lee 3071.

Hi Steve. Any vibration???

I reckon a sports bike or vt 1000 firestorm or even a nc 750 for around town or big scotter I have Suzuki burgman 650 and Honda nss 250 love scooters so diffrent

We must be twins I have st 1100 am 6.1 great video great see u tuber plays music and great music

Absolute madness. Are we so wretched that we smite the earth in spite of ourselves. What a monstrous sight. Everyone should see this and know why it happened.

Thank you . ( 2024 / Oct / 26 )

Good video. I did not no this story.

You see many photos of German prisoners in WW1 being given tea and food, what looks like not long after terrible fighting. Always warms my heart

Great video like yourself I would prefer to visit that place during the winter. Is it easy to find? Could you get lost in those trenches? 👍

Thanks Steve, always learning

nice work!

Interesting, had no idea about this. RIP all.

Thank you . ( 2024 / Oct / 18 )

Thank you . ( 2024 / Oct / 17 )

“It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.” February 7, 1968 "Gone to graveyards, every one. When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?"

My great grand father Sgt Henry Foster died July 1st 1916, RIR 36th division 9th batt West Belfast - thank you for sharing this ❤

Drones over the crater considering modern warfare is scary stuff

Problem is the front suspension, it is hard going over bumps that instantly transmit to your hands.

Hello Steven. I've been watching your from the air series, absolutely brilliant. I was wondering will you be doing anymore videos from the air about World War 1 trenches. Thanks 👍

I was at Hooge back in May - the large missing crater to the west was filled in postwar, possibly as a mass grave, and this was created by British forces in 1915. The remaining 3 or 4 craters (as when on the ground, you can clearly see the 3 craters that created the pond, plus a dried out 4th crater to the immediate east - they were actually landscaped into a feature, but at the same time blockhouses and trenches are clearly visible on the ground) were blown by the Germans when the Canadian lines were on top of them. So while the original Hooge crater is now a memory, other Hooge craters are available!

I love that bike, great choice!

Hard to believe there are surrounded by houses now, crazy.

So glad my ancestors emigrated from Britain to Australia in the 1880’s. The Europeans need to settle down and live peaceful lives but no they can’t, it’s on again

Another magnificent history lesson, with attention to detail that -- all these years later -- brings the past to life. I've been to France, but as a tourist only visited the larger cities. If I ever go back, thanks to the world introduced to me by your videos, I will visit the countryside, where all these battles took place. I simply had no idea that so many of the ruins of this war, especially features like the craters and trenches, had survived. I was also very impressed by the number of cemeteries and memorials, all beautifully maintained. Your videos are wonderful, and I love how you compare what we see today to the original maps. Well done indeed!

Hi Steve I don’t think Wellington trench existed on 1st July it was dug much later so therefore the trench by the road was the front line on the 1st July

I didn’t get a spanner in my tool kit😢

Battlefield 1s recreation of the Somme is scarily accurate. The map in game is modeled after a different sector than the crater. Despite that, it’s the same open fields with no cover that move slightly uphill. It’s absolutely ridiculous and sad to see that thousands of men were fighting over a few hundred yards of land

🤡🤡🤡

2024 great video, fascinating, very well shot, in fact the low sun accentuates the features, what a terrible place it must have been for those men and where did that war get us??. Looked on goo maps and in those last 7 years it appears to have worn down considerably.

To the southeast, near the German ww1 cemetary, there appears to be a new tag on google for "war museum in the making"

So glad I found this. Good info on Fromelles is hard to find. My hubbies Grandfather and Great Uncle were both in the 5th Division. They were not related. Grandfather was badly wounded, Great Uncle was killed. They are still in the process of trying to identifying him as I type this, using hubbies DNA, he's the last male of his Great Uncles family line. Grandfathers son married Great Uncles niece! Thank you for posting an awesome narrative of events.

I just found the entire service record of my great-great-grandfather. VRC 24th Battalion, CEF. Sgt Richard Baxter of Montreal. First wounded by shrapnel in the knee at Kemmel in March 1916 and was shot through the shoulder, into his neck and out his jaw on the first day of Lens August 15, 1917. He survived and was returned to Canada in 1918 where he was discharged. Lived the rest of his life in the US.

No trench would survive...😢