During the 4-year battle (1914-18) for Vauquois Hill, about 14,000 soldiers lost their lives along this tiny portion of the Western front, 500 meters long.

519 explosions of mines were recorded (199 German, 320 French). As mines chambers were dug deeper and deeper, mines were loaded with increasing amounts of explosives: up to 60 tons !

Vauquois Hill is a huge termites’ nest: about 17 km of galleries and 184 rooms in the German underground barracks; about 5 km of galleries under the French lines.

Filmed with a Phantom 3 drone in December 2016.

Music - B - Somber Ballads by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Artist: http://incompetech.com/