A photographer and writer named
Jonathon Olley has a wonderful photo essay entitled "The Forbidden Forest"
here. The photos are from a little article in Orion magazine;
a small portion with a nice slideshow can be found on-line and is worth a moment to read and reflect.
Imagine if, say, the former border between the U.S. and the Confederate States was a twenty-mile-wide zone where everything from tons of explosives to a hand-sized canister of poison gas lay buried in the earth. Where every basement, furrow, waterline, and sandpit risked encountering these hidden yesterdays in a manner somewhere between nervewracking and tragic.
"Often, with toxic shells held close to an ear, one is able to hear the bone-chilling swish-swish of the liquid gas as the shell is gently rocked from side to side."
Is it any wonder that nations of western Europe have not, by and large, outgrown their dislike for war?
Imagine if, say, the former border between the U.S. and the Confederate States was a twenty-mile-wide zone where everything from tons of explosives to a hand-sized canister of poison gas lay buried in the earth. Where every basement, furrow, waterline, and sandpit risked encountering these hidden yesterdays in a manner somewhere between nervewracking and tragic.
6 comments:
Nice find. That shell in the pic, is that 420mm? I can't imagine just farting around it without needing at least 2 changes of pants.
Apparently they stockpile all their finds at... a military base (I think) till they have around a ton then dig a hole at a nearby beach. Do a controlled detonation and then let the sea carry away the nasty chemical residue (since they find a lot of gas shells - and they talk about hearing the gas inside sloshing around).
The caption says it's a British 1000lb aerial bomb.
There's a caption? Damnit, I fail blog-reading.
An amazing swatch of poison.
I know someone here in town who lost a leg in VN and he now works with prosthetic patients. Every summer he devotes to returning and outfitting people who have tragically come across land mines in their farming, etc.
Leon: Sorry, it's not the caption, it is the title of the jpeg file. My bad.
Lisa: Mines are a whole 'nother critter, and they're a real nightmare just because unlike the UXO they're designed to sit underground and explode when you step on or near them...
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