(Image: Theo van Vliet, reproduced with permission)
This haunting series of images by Theo van Vliet and Marcel Wiegerinck explores one of the world’s most intriguing vehicle cemeteries. Located in a small forest near the southern Belgium village of Châtillon, these rusting automobiles in the ‘car graveyard’ once belonged to US servicemen stationed in the area during World War Two.
(Images: Theo van Vliet, reproduced with permission)
The story goes that, after the war ended, departing US soldiers hid their cars in the forest due to the cost of shipping them overseas. Plans to retrieve the vintage vehicles at a later date were never realised, and the cars steadily deteriorated as the decades passed.
(Images: Theo van Vliet, reproduced with permission)
Left to the mercy of the elements, souvenir hunters and probably a few collectors on the lookout for spares, their rusting shells gradually became part of the forest. Over the years, more cars have reportedly been added to the collection, allegedly by soldiers stationed in the area since the war.
(Images: Marcel Wiegerinck (website: fotoclub.nu), reproduced with permission)
Today the vintage vehicles are a somewhat unusual reminder of the region’s involvement in the Second World War. And although the Chatillon car graveyard may not be the most environmentally friendly monument to those who served, it has nonetheless been forever woven into the fabric of the local landscape. (Be sure to check out this lively discussion on Pinterest and find more great photos at Amusing Planet.)
(Images: Marcel Wiegerinck, reproduced with permission)
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