After the war, some families of men who had disappeared at Verdun wanted to place a memorial on the battlefield as near as possible to the place he was last seen alive. Not only are some of them big but they are in areas of terrible fighting.

This is the huge memorial to machine gunner Corporal Rachel and his comrades, 167th Inf. last seen alive in this area on 11 July 1916. This is below Fleury village and near the Poudriere, areas of devastating shelling for months.

The cost of clearing the area, bringing in the materials safely, excavating the extensive plot and building the memorial must have been substantial. I assume that if the family paid, that was OK, but what about the danger involved? Were there accidents?

Does anybody know? There are a large number of private memorials, although fewer than they were because some have been lost. This is Louis Baudoin, telephonist with the 4th Zouaves, killed on 5 August 1916.

And this is Corp. Noe Langevin, 24th Inf, killed on 17 April 1916 on the hillside above Vaux pond, another ghastly place still full of battlefield debris. Big family memorials in dangerous places. Did it happen right across the WF or just in Verdun?