A River of Men: French Prisoners in Laon, May, 1918

JF Ptak Science Books  LLC  Post 292

I came across this impossible  image in the 6 June 1918 issue of Illustrierte Zeitung (Leipzig)  It is almost unbelievable that the bumps and twists and angles of this mass were humans, though at least they were alive. The original was taken on 21 March and shows part of the  210,000  prisoners that were being held in Laon--they seem, at least by their helmets, to be French soldiers.  (The 210,000 figure is German and wartime and intended for German readership; it seems that the real figure was 85,000--still massive.)

Laon is a French Medieval city of magnificent architecture--its cathedral can be seen in the background, in stark contrast to this human blanket. Looking at this image with a magnifying glass, I can see virtually no open ground space in the mass of men.  I estimate that in this photo are 7500 men:  I also figure that the area that we see here (to the left of the open path)  is approximately 400 feet long and 40 feet wide, or roughly a third of an acre.  I'm not sure what was going on here, though it looks like they might be on the move, with the men in the right-hand part of the image stretching off into the distance.  What is also troubling is that so many of these men seem to be asleep, and judging from the way the shadows have fallen it seems to be mid-morning (not early).  Perhaps they've just been marched in from battle and are totally exhausted.  I just don't know--they just don't look like people.

Comments

[jasper]

To put the numbers in perspective, 250,000 French soldiers died during the 10 month battle of Verdun.

The men in these pictures were lucky because for them the war was over and they were alive.

[John Ptak]

You're right, Jasper, and thanks--I really should've had some other data in there to compare what 85,000 or 250,000 or 10,000 masses of people actually means. For example, 54,000 American soldiers died in Vietnam, which is 1/5 of the total of the French casualties during tne (extended) battle of Verdun (which was like a sub-war).

[jasper]

I guess for the individual French soldier or nurse and their families, one would be too big a number.

Seeing the graves at Verdun is an emotional experience, even for those of us who are not French. What is more staggering is the Douaumont Ossuary which contains the bones of an estimated 130,000 unidentified soldiers -- French and others. If you look in the windows at ground level, you can see skeletal remains.