The curious German bunkers named after animals built in France in 1918

@ElentirENG ES 1·16·2023 · 23:34 0

Northwestern France was the scene of some of the most terrible and bloody battles of the First World War (1914-1918).

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One of those battles began in February 1916 in the Ceres Forest, 15 kilometers from the town of Verdun. The battle lasted ten months, pitted the Germans against the French and was a real carnage, with more than 300,000 combatants killed on each side. The battle ended in a French victory, but due to trench warfare, the front remained in that area until 1918. Remnants of that brutal war can still be found in the area today, more than a century later, from barbed wire to artillery craters, as well as old French and German bunkers.

In 1918 the Germans were still fortifying that area. In the Bosque de Ceres some German bunkers from that year labeled with animal names are preserved. The German channel Simply_Adventure published today an interesting video exploring these curious bunkers (the video is in German but has subtitles in Spanish, you can activate them in the bottom bar of the player):

We can see here some captures of the video. This first image shows us a German bunker called "Mammut" (Mammoth) . According to Morthomme.com, the text "Minkdo" would be a Abbreviation for Minenwerfer-Kommando (Mine Launcher Command).

Another dilapidated German bunker. This one had a vaulted ceiling.

The German bunker "Büffel 1" (there was also a "Büffel 2"). Again we see the year of construction, 1918, and the text "Minkdo". The care with which these signs were made, based on pebbles, in a war situation, is striking.

The roof of one of the German bunkers, in a terrible state.

The German bunker "Nilpferd" (Hippopotamus). In this case, the year of construction does not appear.

The "Habicht" (Hawk) bunker. This also does not indicate the date of construction.