Bayonet Trench or Tranchée de Baïonnettes in French, is an unusual war memorial, located a few hundred meters north of the Douaumont Oussuary. It honors the memory of the French soldiers, who were buried alive in their trench after a shell explosion during the Battle of Verdun on June 12th, 1916. The only clue that led to the discovery of their bodies was the tip of their bayonets sticking out of the ground.
Colonel Collet, the commander of the 137 Regiment of Infantry, discovered the trench in 1919, when he returned to the area where his unit fought. He noticed that some rifles, many with their bayonets intact, stuck out of the ground. His discovery triggered intense emotion among the public and made the headlines. The trench was in an area particularly targeted by shelling during WWI.
(You can see that back then there wasn't a single tree in that area)
Commander Colled therefore wished to erect a memorial on the site. The American George Rand was greatly moved by this tragic discovery. He immediately funded the construction of the memorial. It was inaugurated on December 8th, 1920. The memorial building is still protecting the trench to this day.
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