And the Guns Fell Silent.... A Recording: France 11am Nov 1918

I saw this incredible recording yesterday and thought it worth sharing. It is a sound recording of the moment the Armistice came into affect at 11am on the 11th Nov 1918. The Daily Mail article it is embedded in is here. My apologies for it being from the Daily Mail, but this is worthy of sharing.

The British used a system of sound detection to identify German artillery batteries that may be firing on British positions so that the British may in turn fire on and try to destroy or disrupt these German guns. This is the process of 'counter battery' that became increasingly more scientific as the war went on. In this case, the technique used that gives rise to this recording is called sound ranging. It required recording the sounds of German artillery from multiple locations to try to triangulate the position of the German battery.

What stuns me is that (from wiki) "Many artillery units continued to fire on German targets to avoid having to haul away their spare ammunition. The Allies also wished to ensure that, should fighting restart, they would be in the most favourable position. Consequently, there were 10,944 casualties, of whom 2,738 men died, on the last day of the war."