One of the More Infamous Stories from WW1
War is hell and you can’t get more hellish than the killing fields of WW1. Here was a conflict the world had never seen before, using weapons that were once only seen as fiction. But nothing could prepare the men who were sent to fight for the horrors they would witness. As a result, a lot of soldiers came out of that conflict with serious mental issues and due to the stigma at the time, many of these men never got the help they desperately needed.
The Myth of the Ghouls
But it was said that during the war, many of these mentally disturbed men deserted and fled into no man’s land, where they began to change. It was not long before stories began to pass among soldiers of seeing “humanoid” figures moving about no man’s land at night. While some were wearing what looked like military uniforms, they most certainly were not soldiers anymore.
Narratives of Fear and Survival
Taking shelter in the many miles of abandoned muddy trenches within No Man’s Land, these “Men” would only emerge at night to loot the dead bodies left behind or worse, feast on them. Not to mention, these ghouls were said to have been responsible for the disappearances of a number of patrols who were sent out.
Debunking the Myth
But these stories were not true. Although many soldiers were driven quite mad due to the conflict, there are actually no records of any such encounters. In fact, the first mentions of the Ghouls of No Man’s Land actually came after the war had ended and it’s believed it was all made up to prevent or scare new recruits from deserting.
~NC
