Very rare to find French soldiers leather gaiter still has its brown leather colour, very solid relic recovered in old French dugout in the area of the Thiaumont Redoubt,Fort Douaumont the June-October 1916 battlefield in Verdun

This is a very rare to find French soldiers leather gaiter which still has a lot of the original brown colour clear to see it is pretty much complete apart from attachment strings but for such an item to even survive is amazing. The part has dried out and is slightly miss shaped it is in relic but very solid condition not braking up or falling apart it has been left in as found condition apart from a very light clean to show the brownness of the leather and has only survived this well as it has been in a chalk lined bunker for 100 years perfect for display or any collection so rare to get from the battlefield as leather items are fragile and normally that just rot away. The army issue gaiter was recovered in a old French dugout from the area of the Thiaumont Redoubt,west of Fort Douaumont the June-October 1916 battlefield in Verdun.

French position was a part of the terrain forming a salient west of Fort Douaumont, known as the "Thiaumont Redoubt". The Germans, planned to capture this location prior to launching their main offensive on the 23rd June 1916. The Germans captured the redoubt eventually after many weeks of fighting and massive casualties on both sides. On the 19th August they finally cleared the redoubt of all French soldiers then they fortified it and it was on the 24th October 1916 that it was finally re taken again by the French Army.

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