Vampire Dugout found near Ypres

A HUGE complex of secret tunnels built by Scots soldiers during the First World War has been discovered under a field in Belgium. . .

Using radar technology, the team discovered a once-famous complex of corridors, mess rooms and sleeping quarters known as Vampire Dugout, 40ft under a muddy field near Ypres in Flanders.

The dugout, named after the band of soldiers who came out at night to resupply the front lines, is believed to be the biggest discovery of its kind.

Historians expect to find a treasure trove of personal belongings, clothes, weapons, bedding and newspapers.

Archaeologists first estimated the bunker would measure 200 metres by 150 metres, but tunnels have been found over an area 800 metres by 600 metres, and its outer limits have not yet been located.

ALSO, a recent BBC story about what such excavations entail:

But it is a race against time. Excavations in a nearby clay-pit mean the water that is preserving everything inside the tunnel system might be drained and the process of decay will begin.

Worse still, the tunnels might collapse. . .

Within a few hours several shells were unearthed. In Britain this might have meant a call to the Bomb Squad and the evacuation of the local area.

But not here. It is impractical.

They are simply piled up in a corner of the field and from time to time the Belgian authorities come to take them away to be destroyed.

Posted by David on March 19, 2007 8:36 AM