French soldier standing next to an unexploded 420mm shell that fell on Verdun. March, 1916. It weighed 2,100 pounds empty.

Musée de L'Armée



Obus de 420 tombé dans un coin des fossés de Verdun

Verdun, Mars 1916

Pois: 956 kilogr. vide



420 shell fallen into a corner of the Verdun trenches

Verdun, March 1916

Weight: 2,107 pounds empty



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Sunday, July 11, 1915

"July 8th.—There was a harmless shelling of the billets in the afternoon.

July 9th.—Back in the line. Tampering with the fuse of an July 11th—unexploded shell caused the death of 3 men and the wounding of 2. A salient in the German line opposite was July 12th—apparently a tender spot, because shelling it was generally followed by a cessation of German activity."

Quotation Context

Entry covering July 8 through 12, 1915 from the writings — diaries, letters, and memoirs — of Captain J.C. Dunn, Medical Officer of the Second Battalion His Majesty's Twenty-Third Foot, The Royal Welch Fusiliers. Troops rotated in and out of the front-line trenches, and Dunn was back in the frontline trenches on July 9. Approximately 70% of soldiers killed in World War I were killed by artillery fire, including shrapnel shells, high-explosive shells, and gas shells.

Source

The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain J.C. Dunn, page 136, copyright © The Royal Welch Fusiliers 1987, publisher: Abacus (Little, Brown and Company, UK), publication date: 1994

Tags

1915-07-11, 1915, July, artillery, artillery shell