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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Jennifer Rankin in Waterloo

Battle of Waterloo dig uncovers horror of severed limbs and shot horses

Two men dig around a skeleton in the dirt
Researchers uncover the skeleton of an ox during an archaeological excavation on the battlefield of Waterloo. Photograph: Chris van Houts/PA Media

The carnage and horror of the battle of Waterloo have been laid bare in an excavation by military veterans and archaeologists that has uncovered amputated limbs and the remains of horses which were shot to be put out of their misery.

At least 20,000 men – and possibly many more – were killed in the epic 1815 battle when the British military officer the Duke of Wellington and a European alliance defeated Napoleon’s French forces in a decisive and bloody encounter that determined the power balance in Europe for nearly a century.

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