First World War - Lochnagar Crater 

Thank you for watching. A British man bought it a few years back to preserve it.

@@StevenUpton14-18 Presumably the EU were offering grants to farmers to return the land to farming?

@@jean-pierredeclemy7032 - The EU did not exist in 1918. The land owners wanted to restore the land to agriculture to make a living and Europe needed to grow food.

@@StevenUpton14-18 I presumed the purchase was a recent one.

@@jean-pierredeclemy7032 - I made that film four years ago. The drone was a few weeks old at that time. I now have a Magic Pro 4k.

Thank you for watching. In some places they were within throwing distance.

yeah. 2 lane road away from each other.

They were fighting for the land behind the trenches...

@@mikegreen1430 They were fighting for the Small Hats and their central banks. Still fighting over it to this day.

@@VidarrKerr Small hats? Why are you so afraid to say who you mean?

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. My GF was a couple miles away, fortunately his battalion was in reserve on 1st July.

He might be commemorated at Brookwood military cemetery UK ❤️

Have a similar connection albeit on the Eastern Front. Wife of my paternal great-grandfather returned to Slovakia to settle some Real Estate proceedings.... in August, 1914. Bad timing doesn't quite say it.

You're lucky he'd had you first.

Even if I'm canadian, 1st of July will be forever a remembrence day before being a celebration. Never forget the 800 of the Newfoundland regiment

Thank you for watching. Sorry for your family's loss. We will remember them.

Thx for sharing your story about your great uncle. I had family too that fought in WW1.

the next time i go to tyne cot ever i wil look for your great uncle and pay him a moment of respect

My great uncle is also buried there,some 8000 graves,75% unknown.

@@randyschneider6086 so many people lost forever

Thank you for watching.

Amen to that. Greetings from America. 🇩🇪🇺🇸

Europeans fighting Europeans,Christians fighting Christian,how did we ever let it come to this? Some bastards set out to destroy us and they have not stop?

@@dennisdobin8640 Thank you for watching. It was not just Christians. Visit the cemeteries and you will see many Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh grave markers.

@man up Thank for watching.

Thank you for watching. Today it is a very peaceful place. The people that visit are generally quiet and respectful.

and not just the crater itself is scary but the fact that it is a ww1 crater.. we had 100 years of development (in military equipmen)t, it is even scarier to think about what today's weapons can do (and I'm not even talking about atomic bombs)

@@marco002 What is really scary is that such memorials have achieved NOTHING, and humans continue making the same mistakes. Europe has its hands covered in blood, and we eueopeans are once again to blame for another deadly war, that would not happen had we kept our grubby hands off other nation´s affairs. In a few years, many new war memorials will sprout all over Ukraine, and in turn teach us NOTHING, just like these haven´t.

@@Biden_is_demented what is Europe has to do with the war in Ukraine? The war broke out cause the US can't sit on it's ass (+ they wanted to weaken Russia and Europe)

@@marco002 You think the US was alone in that endeavor? This was a NATO thing from the start. Angela Merkel and Sarcozy have already came out saying the Minsk Accords were just a ploy to gain time and arm Ukraine to retake the Donbas. And the 2014 coup was sponsored not just by the US, but by the UK as well. And throughout the decade since the coup, the EU has remained silent about the crimes going on in the Donbas, and the role that the ultra-nationalists were playing. Simply put, you can´t extricate the EU from this debacle. Especially since the EU and NATO are basically the same people. The EU, that so often tout their desire for "peace" and "harmony", have done all they could to make this war spiral out of control, and as such deserve their share of the blame. They deceived the public, tried to shut out the truth, and instituted state sponsored censorship, to cover what they had done.

Farmers still finding huge amounts of ordnance. 🇬🇧 👍

Thank you for watching.

Large bombs are still found often in construction projects in German cities, mostly from WW2. Crazy to think they are still down there under peoples feet after all this time… I remember hearing about a new found bomb every few months in even a big city like Cologne.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_Rouge?wprov=sfti1 Some areas have been completely blocked by the French government and declared non-habitable from the sheer volume of debris unexploded ordinance buried deep underground

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@@jimtomlinsom1279 It was a stupid post, so I have removed it. Unfortunately, it now looks like you are replying to my post!

@@StevenUpton14-18 yes I saw it. I'll remove my reply.

Thank you for watching. Mine warfare took place when the lines were static for many months and in some areas for several years.

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Thank you for watching. I have to say that I always feel peace particularly when I visit the military cemeteries.

Thank you for watching. My GF was lucky in that on 1st July his battalion was in reserve; whilst the one that went over the top had over 200 casualties. Luck of the draw.

@Gary Miller there's still time.

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theres some effort to remember the past. Without this effort, this land wouldve been leveld and farmed again already..

2000 year after and even more, you can see in the landscape remains of celtic oppida, here and there in Europe.

Thank you for watching. I read all comments, reply to most and delete some.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. We will remember them.

Thank you for watching and your comments.

I probably would’ve pulled the pin and threw it assuming it would be dead 😂

Russel: i dont think you quite comprehend the massive amount of ordonance that was left behind. Farmers are STILL plowing up shells every single year.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching and sorry for your family's loss. We will remember them.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. Sorry for your family's loss. We will remember them.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching and for sharing your families story.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching

Until the arrival of the winter snow and rain, the Somme experienced a mild summer the average temperature being approx 20 degrees and the rainfall less than average. It wasn’t mud that was the problem on the Somme it was the dust which clogged equipment and showed movement to the enemy.

Thank you for watching and your toast.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

This was the only reason to get a drone. I had filmed a number of battlefields with a hand-held camera. But there is nothing like from the air at relatively low altitude.

How about a visit to Messines next.

Its on my list of must film places, also Aubers ridge and Fromelles.. Last week I filmed Nortre Dame de Colette, known to the Germans as 'Colette Spur.' It is very near to Vimy ridge. Just need to take the raw footage and add commentary, hopefully this coming week.

Thank you for watching. We will remember them.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. I am fortunate in that I can visit anywhere on the western front several times a year. There will be more to come.

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. My family was lucky in that my GF survived.

Thank you for watching. We will remember them.

Thank you for watching.

.. May it be taught to all and Never forget these Brave Men ....

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Thank you for watching.

I believe you’re supposed to provide ear defenders,I demand to speak to HR

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Thank you for watching.

“Blown away” was an unfortunate choice of words.

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Picked companies of Cornish tin miners did the job. At a couple of points as they came very near the German lines, German counter-mining parties actually broke into branches running off the main British shaft, and threatened to at still others -- their voices could sometimes be heard beyond just 12" or so of mud wall. The work became concentrated into certain hours of the day and night, and special artillery barrages were ordered to hide the sound of the British picks and shovels from those above. A large, purpose-built mining drill had been tried earlier, but it bogged down hopelessly after only a few days. Some explosives were pushed forward, the order being that if it looked like the tunnel were discovered and Germans entered in force, the miners were to retreat down the shaft and leave a fuse burning to the charge, which would explode among the enemy. It was a near-run thing.

@@roberthaworth9097 - Seems they should have considered letting the Germans discover the tunnel/tunnels right before detonation... Germans would have likely ordered a bunch of men to explore the tunnels which would have helped reduced the number of Germans above ground(?)

Robert Haworth There were men from many mining outfitts and nationalities that dug them

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. Its impossible to comprehend what they went through.

My great uncle also fought in the Great War. He joined the fight in 1915 and fought in some of the biggest battles of the war. He was captured at the start of 1918 and died of the Spanish Flu in a German POW camp. Its crazy to think he survived nearly three years of front line combat. I can only imagine the things he seen and had to endure.

Thank you for watching. More died in the 1918 flu epidemic than in the entire war.

Same here, lost 3 uncles and my grandfather was muster gassed, it effected him for the remainder of his life as well as the mental scars inflicted on him, thanks too all💯🙏💚

Ty Kellerman i'm thinking of him now, who he was. I thank him for what he went through even if he never should have.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Read Orwells' essay "The Road to Weigan Pier" as an homage to the unbelievable loss of an entire generation of the best and brightest. Britain and other countries were affected for generations.

the tactics came from weapons tech outrunning communciations tech. its kinda hard to conduct a war if you need to lay a wire or carry a bright flag everywhere you go.

​@@thedwightguy I will look for it. Thank you for the recommendation.

Oh this again... They were not using napoleonic battle tactics for some decades at that time. Skirmish lines are not the same as massed infantry. And by the time of the somme rolling barrages and night attacks were starting to be used as well. While the massed artillery bombardment turned out not to be as effective in the british sector as hoped, with devestating results, the french attack on the first day on the somme was very much a succes, and all their objectives were in fact taken. It's not like the high command had much of a choice, they tried outflanking in 1914, leading to the race to the sea. Apart from the Vosges, all of the western front was open terrain with mostly fields, at verdun there was the occasional forest, but that certainly didn't help the germans when they attacked there. Not that mountain terrain would be better, if anything, that's even worse then open terrain for an attack (defending mountain passes is usually effective), and the war in the alps on the italian front was even more indecisive then on the western front By the time of the Somme the fortified positions you speak of stretched from Switzerland to the sea. So please tell me where and how they should have attacked. Perhaps they should open another front? Maybe this time that would work better then at Gallipoli or in greece. Not to mention the napoleonic battles are basically the exact opposite of the western front, since flanking manoeuvres and outmanoeuvring the enemy was very often the deciding factor back then, as seen at Ulm, marengo or Austerlitz . This was impossible in WW1, since there was no place to outflank.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. Remember that what you see today is after 100 years of erosion.

Thank you for watching. Very similar to my own GF, he died in 1951 aged about 53 and as a consequence of being gassed.

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Thank you for watching.

Not on the Somme but maybe at Third Ypres..

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. In most places on the first day there was little or no advance.

Additional 40000 men died from their wounds up to 3 months later according to historian Ajp Taylor.

Thank you for watching. For this film I used a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced 2.4k camera. I now have a Mavic Pro with a 4K camera.

Steven Upton thanks, I’m a bit of a dronie and history buff so I really enjoy the content, that’s one hell of a hole in the ground out there, brutal stuff💯🍀

Thank you for watching. Not just the British. All sides engaged in mining. It is what you do when you are in static warfare.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Chris Whitesell that’s not how the Great War started

@@ittoitto4410 Money, Borders, Oil, Religion, or Egos

Chris Whitesell the assination of frans Ferdinand

Maybe “ sick” people become powerful because we refuse to stop it? Good sheep that decry their own complacency. If you love where you are, fight for it! Central gvt has never been your protector. Accept the blame for wanting it

Thank you for watching. Sorry for your family’s loss. We will remember them.

Still a beautiful place looks so peaceful.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. What you are referring to was the French mutinies in 1917.

@@StevenUpton14-18 I always prefered history books since, since back in the 60's/70's, when the Book Mobile used to come around. But the book that most moved me about the Great Slaughter(my title) is "Losing Julia". I cant remember the Authors name, but it was his 1st novel(fiction), and he did a Tremendous amount of Research on WW1, and had many Contributors. Still my Favorite novel!

Sorry, what do you mean about "bahhing"?

@@franckr6159 A Sheep goes "Bahhhh." They were marching straight to their slaighter.

@@bryanmcleod9346 WWI was butchery for everyone, French, Germans, Brits....

Thank you for watching. I agree. Unfortunately many of these craters no longer exist.

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. I do not know what state tunnels are in. The Germans dug hundreds of deep shelters in this area and the British several mines. The whole area is honeycombed with underground works that were just abandoned after the front lines moved on.

I saw a documentry on youtube called battlefield detectives, they unearthered parts of tunnels and bunkers

I have also seen some of their films. A very good series.

There's loads, but they're mostly too dangerous to touch.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. A drone in WW1 would have been a game changer. One of the biggest problems was battlefield communication and the generals knowing what was happening during a battle.

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. They used 60,000 lbs of ammonal.

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Thank you for watching.

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. I hope you get to visit.

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Thank you for watching.

Thank you for watching. Not many complement me on pronunciation, I usually get chastised, particularly French and Belgian place names.

@@StevenUpton14-18 Well you are closer to home (Loch) And we are all British! I hate when people in Britain forget that that it snows here every year. I was interested in what you said about farming hiding older evidence of archaeology. They say that the Romans brought stone buildings to Britain but in Scotland we have houses as old if not older than the pyramids. Brochs and fortresses older than the Roman incursion onto our island much older than the tower of London being our first stone fortress. Along with stone circles i think that a lot of the southern most part of our island might have lost a lot of its earlier past through heavy farming. Not a question. Just an idea. Thank you again

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Thank you for watching.