This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One (WWI), when numerous commemorations will be held on the former battlefields of north-east France in tribute to the more than nine million combatants who died during the conflict. The war toll was one of the worst in history, due in part to the emergence of a massive weapons industry. At the end of the war in 1918, huge amounts of unused munitions, including highly toxic ordnance, were hurriedly disposed of in France, buried or sunk in natural sites, while former battlefields which contained unexploded and abandoned munitions were simply sealed off. Many of these remain scattered around France today, where the corroding arsenals pose a serious threat to the health and safety of local populations and surrounding environments, as illustrated in this photo-reportage by Olivier Saint Hilaire.
