This area north of Diksmuide was strategic during the early part of the
war. Several very large oil tanks stood in the middle of no-mans-land and
both the Germans and the Belgians (who were assigned this part of the front
to defend) began trenching towards the tanks. Neither side attained the
objective. When the Germans realized they couldn’t get there, the tanks
were shelled and destroyed. Before that, however, both side took heavy
casualties while digging the trenches at night and defending them during
the day. Hence the name: the trench of death.

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