Laser mapping reveals detailed secrets of one World War II ’s most notorious battle

War leaves many scars—on soldiers’ bodies, in survivors’ minds. But it also inflicts damage on the natural environment that can persist long after human witnesses have died. Now, archaeologists have applied laser-based remote sensing technology to carefully examine the geographic scars left behind by the Battle of the Bulge, one of World War II’s bloodiest confrontations. Their work sheds new light on how the hilly, forested landscape influenced the movement of troops and shaped the course of the fighting. The “benchmark” study, published today in Antiquity , “sets a standard” for how conflict archaeology contributes to our understanding of the past , says David Cowley, an archaeologist at Historic Environment Scotland who was not involved in the work. The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, began in Belgium in the winter of 1944. Over the previous several months, German forces had suffered a series of crushing defeats at the hands of the Allies. Desperate, the Germans launched a counteroffensive through eastern Belgium’s forested Ardennes region. Bad weather grounded U.K. and U.S. aircrafts, and German troops initially gained the upper hand. They pushed westward through the Allies’s front line, creating a “bulge” shape in the combatants’ formations that ultimately gave the battle its name. But as Allied reinforcements arrived and weather improved, the tide began to turn. After several wee...
Source: ScienceNOW - Category: Science Source Type: news