When someone disappears suddenly with no trace, it’s something to make police and news media report that something is incredibly wrong. But what if it was not just one person who disappeared? What if it was actually a large group? On August 21st, 1915 an entire British battalion of troops reportedly vanished to never be seen again, and did so in front of several witnesses.
In 1915 the incredible mystery had many not only confused, but demanding answers. The fate of 115 men is not taken lightly, even in war time. In the heat of battle and beneath several mysterious objects in the sky, the entire group was said to have disappeared in thin air.
Frederick Reichart, one of the witnesses to the events that morning would note that eight large gray objects were in the sky that morning shaped like loaves of bread. As the objects hovered in formation above a large hill. Though the objects were thought to possibly be clouds, they remained completely stationary even in the highly windy conditions.
Reichart’s testimony said that the regiment had walked directly into the thick cloud without flinching or showing any sign of fear. As they all marched in, the cloud took off from the trench and floated into the air with the natural grace of a cloud or thick fog rolling off the ground. As this object joined the others in their formation, they all began hovering away into the distance. There was no sound of screaming or any gunfire. The men simply walked into the cloud and it hovered away. None of those that entered the cloud were ever seen again.
Different accounts of the events had come out, many leading to different conclusions, but the conclusion that most seemed to agree upon is that the events of August 21st, 1915 resulted in the disappearance of an untold and often variable number of men due to an unexplained and seemingly paranormal force.
Perhaps the truth was too much for some as the discovery of a mass grave at the site had unearthed 115 soldiers wounded and then executed in the field. The unfortunate truth was not that the soldiers had all been whisked away to another world by phantom forces, but had rather been killed by Turkish forces. The story has long outlived the official account in many respects, with mysterious references to it by those talking about mass disappearances.
Though this story was eventually explained, this by no means disproves the concept of mass disappearances. Ships, planes, families, and even towns have vanished with little or no trace left behind of them. And while we can rest more easily about this wartime tragedy, we must still wonder about the other disappearances that have transported people to unknown places throughout history.