Dangerous Fields of Flanders

The last bombs of World War I fell in Flanders, in western Belgium, 92 years ago. But they're far from forgotten. Police in the tiny village of Westhoek responded to 3,000 calls in 2009 - over 8 each day - from residents who had uncovered ordnance from the Great War. Over 200 tons of unexploded bombs, shells, mortars, grenades, and even gas canisters were disposed of. This certainly seems like a huge amount, until you realize that about 720 million shells and mortars were fired on the western front in the four-year war. It is estimated that as much as a quarter of all of these never exploded. In the district of Ypres, scene of the most famous trench warfare, nearly 600 people have died since 1918 as a result of still-deadly ammunition; the most recent, only 2 years ago. In northern France they have similar experiences: just last month an entire village had to be evacuated for a week when someone stumbled onto a huge German munitions depot, where 30 tons of shells were removed in what around here is often called the "Iron Harvest." Now there's something you don't see in the States...