WWI-Era Alcohol Bottles Unearthed in Israel

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Israel finds hundreds of bottles of alcohol left behind by British soldiers during First World War

Israeli archaeologists digging near the city of Ramla are used to uncovering flint tools and Palaeolithic remains. But when they began excavating land that is about to be used for a new motorway they made a significantly less dry discovery.

Hundreds of bottles of gin, wine, beer and other alcohols left behind by British troops during the First World War were dug out of the dry earth. Bottles of Gordon's gin were found alongside whisky, beer and wine bottles. The drink was consumed by British forces as they camped in the area during their mission to capture Jerusalem by Christmas 1917.

Exactly a hundred years later, the bottles of Gordon’s gin and John Dewar’s whisky were carefully dug out by a team from the Israel Antiquities Authority. Other items, like toothbrushes, uniform buttons and shaving kits, were also found along with the silver tip of a “swagger stick” - a short cane carried by a Royal Flying Corps officer as a symbol of authority. 

Read more: The Telegraph

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Related: What Did WWI Soldiers Leave Behind in Their Secret Bunkers?
The French-German border is littered with as many as 500 underground sites used during World War I. Researcher Jeff Gusky explores them and finds a vivid record of the lives the U.S. and German soldiers who fought here led.

 

Source: Smithsonian.com