Archaeologists have uncovered previously hidden details about the bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.
With the help of drones, a team of experts identified about 1,000 previously unknown archaeological features at the site of the Battle of the Bulge, according to the findings, published in the journal. ancient times.
The battle took place in the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg between December 1944 and January 1945, during the final stages of the European war. This was one of the war’s most important battles and marked the last major Nazi offensive on the Western Front.
The battle was also the bloodiest the United States fought during the war, with approximately 80,000 U.S. military casualties, including about 19,000 dead, according to the National World War II Museum. .
数十万人のドイツ兵は言うに及ばず、60万人以上のアメリカ軍が参加したこの戦いは、アメリカ軍史上最大の戦いであり続けている。
「バルジの戦いは戦争の転換点だった」と研究著者でベルギーのゲント大学に在籍するビルガー・スティッケルバウト氏は語った。 ニューズウィーク。
「当初は非常に成功していましたが、 [Nazi] Ultimately, the advance was halted, leading to the withdrawal of German forces and the depletion of German resources and manpower.”
To this day, the dense forest makes it difficult to survey the battlefield, leaving most of its traces hidden. Aerial photographs cannot see through the trees, and the battlefield is too large to be explored entirely on foot.
As a result, despite being intensively studied by combat historians, little published research on the documentary remains of the battle has received significant attention in museums and the general media.
“The Battle of the Bulge is a critical battlefield of World War II and is receiving a lot of attention,” Stickelbout said. “This is in stark contrast to our knowledge of the landscape where the incident occurred. Little was known about the preservation of the actual features of the forest where the incident occurred. was one of the driving forces behind the study of
He added, “Before our study began, there was very limited knowledge of the archaeological preservation of battle landscapes. Thanks to our study … the density of archaeological traces We are starting to get some perspective on , diversity and distribution ”of the conflict. “
To address the gaps in our knowledge, Sticelbaut and colleagues used LiDAR technology aboard drones to conduct high-resolution surveys, examining parts of the battlefield from a new perspective. LiDAR includes laser imaging, essentially allowing scientists to “see through” the forest canopy and reveal hidden features underneath.
Team members used LiDAR to create high-resolution maps of the study area. They then applied this knowledge to the broader battlefield to better understand the features displayed in low-resolution domestic LiDAR datasets.
Using this method, the team identified hundreds of previously unknown features. These included trenches, trenches, trenches, bomb mouths, and even artillery batteries. The team then visited newly identified features on the ground and subsequently succeeded in linking them to specific events, shedding new light on the battle.
For example, the research team found German objects in US artillery embankments and determined that Nazi forces took advantage of abandoned US forts during the fighting.
The techniques used by the researchers could potentially be applied to other forest areas in Europe, and could have a significant impact on our understanding of World War II battlefields. The application of these techniques could also help protect battlefield landscapes from destruction caused by deforestation.
“It’s been over 75 years since this battle,” Stickelbout said. “The last personal eyewitness has disappeared, but today the battlefield remains as the very last eyewitness of the war.”