Military History Encyclopedia Forum

[Snig]

I recently read that large numbers of French dead from Waterloo were shipped to East Anglia and their bodies used as fertiliser.
Anybody know anything about this?

[crazy739]

I have read an article in a book that stated that the bodies were indeed shipped to East Anglia for fertiliser. In fact there was a mill at Narborough, near Kings lynn that ground the bones to make bonemeal. I will try and find the book and let you know the title. But I have no doubt that if you search through the history of Narborough online it should give you some info.
Hope this helps

[Snig]

Thanks for shedding a bit of light on what sounded like a really confusing bit of information. I had read it in an article by Robert Fisk the journalist and Middle East Expert.

Transporting the decomposing bodies of the French dead in the immediate aftermath of the battle seems an unnecesarily messy business and sounds like a myth. It certainly makes sense that scavengers gathered up the bones of the unburied bodies months after the battle. These could have been sold to merchants and eventually shipped to England for grinding into bonemeal.
Thanks a million!

[ailybu]

These could have been sold to merchants and eventually shipped to England for grinding into bonemeal.