Footsteps of the fallen

The corpse collectors

August 15, 2021 Season 2 Episode 18
Footsteps of the fallen
The corpse collectors
Show Notes

The "Cold Meat Specialist" or Regimental Burial Officer was a vital cog in the military machine responsible for coordinating the retrieval and burial of the dead and ensuring that their grave locations were accurately marked.  With over 500,000 dead littering the battlefields of the Great War, the task was nothing short of monumental.

How did the Army manage casualties on a scale never before seen?  How were the dead recovered, and more importantly how were they identified? What was life like for the Corpse Collectors who scavenged the battlefields in the aftermath of the war searching shell holes, dugouts, and trenches for the remains of the dead?  How did they cope with this most gruesome task?

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