Drones Reveal Untold Stories Of WWII’s Fierce Battle

In an awe-inspiring blend of technology and history, archaeologists have unveiled the untold remnants of the Battle of the Bulge, one of World War II’s most fierce and deadly confrontations. Using state-of-the-art LiDAR equipment fixed to drones, the team detected close to 1,000 uncharted battlefield features that lay concealed for decades beneath dense forest canopies.

The Battle of the Bulge, Germany’s last significant push on the Western Front, remains among the war’s largest and bloodiest encounters. However, its true extent was camouflaged, with the thick forests making traditional aerial photography and on-foot surveys challenging.

Drones equipped with LiDAR

Credit: Antiquity (2023). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2023.95

Dr. Birger Stichelbaut from Ghent University highlighted, “Although this is a ‘high-profile’ battlefield… little has been published on its material remains.”

To bridge this information chasm, a collaborative effort was initiated by…