Tugger Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 (edited) Just thought I'd put some of these here. Recently my Uncle uneartherd some photos taken by and of my Grandfather when he was serving in France between 1914 and 1918. Now unfortunately he died around 1953 and there are no definitive photos of him as my Grandmother disposed of anything relating to him after his death (possibly partly as a result of his alcoholism in later life) and as such neither my Father or Uncle can be sure which of the pics are of him (although we think one of the gentlemen on a horse might be him). Neither can we be sure when or where these were taken, we do know that he was a spotter for a period and think that the pictures of the barrage baloon are of the type that he would have been in as it was sent skyward so they could keep tabs on enemy positions. Also of interest are the pics of the 'fake tree trunk' hide out constructed to allow spotters to have an elevated view with some sort of camouflage. There are 164 pictures all told EDIT: Following on from a couple of comments regarding copyright I have adjusted the pictures as such, however should anyone want to reproduce them for non financial gain, on the understandingpicture credit is acknowledged I would be more than happy for the originals to be used. Also due to interest I have added the rest of the pictures at the end of the thread as it is at the moment (page 3) Many thanks for your interest Edited January 3, 2014 by Tugger Please Note Edit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fv1609 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thank you for sharing those. They look much more real than the images we are used to seeing with the newsprint type image in War Illustrated etc. That prickly truncheon looks quite sobering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thank you for sharing those. They look much more real than the images we are used to seeing with the newsprint type image in War Illustrated etc. That prickly truncheon looks quite sobering. It does indeed, There are a few 'less pleasant' ones in the last batch but felt needed to be included but really interesting is the explosion over 3 frames... not sure how this was done or if they indeed were different bomb blasts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Child Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thank you Tugger, those paint a truly unique view of life during WW1. Very informative and emotive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick W Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Really good to see, thanks for the share. Is that a monkey sitting on the sandbags in one of them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runflat Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Wow! That's an exceptional group of photographs: it's relatively easy to find portrait photographs and pictures away from the trenches, but very rare to see private photographs from the trenches themselves - unlike on the 'Hun' side of non-man's land, for the allies it was really only the offical photographers who were allowed to photograph the reality of the front. Amongst other things, note the netting to hide movements on the roads and the observation 'tree'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharky Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 amazing pictures many thanks for sharing.:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garys39 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Thankyou for showing these photos, as already said, these are a rare insight of trench life, they would be worthy of going into print I think ! Thanks again, Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shane.c Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Good pics thanks for posting, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 These photos are astonishing. Very few exist giving the soldier's-eye view as these do. The photo with the netting looks similar to that seen at "Hellfire Corner", where the road passed in clear view of the German frontline. The tank is a MkI "male", still with the steering wheels, looks like one knocked out at Flers, on the Somme. Please carry on posting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry275 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Totally agree with the posted comments- truly a fantastic shot in time. thanks for posting them Gerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Signals Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 One heck of a family archive! Priceless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I'd say they are in the area of Albert. Great photos of the gun emplacments and the steel tree observation point.There is so much to study. Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 yes, very nice :tup:: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_bish Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Fantastic pictures and thanks for posting. You may want to put some text over them saying copyright or some such, just to stop them fining there way into publications without you knowing it. Its happened to pictures I own so maybe I am paranoid... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerry275 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Fantastic pictures and thanks for posting. You may want to put some text over them saying copyright or some such, just to stop them fining there way into publications without you knowing it. Its happened to pictures I own so maybe I am paranoid... Your not the only one to think that Paul, That's why when I put up the HMVF facebook post about the pics- I left off the pics. Again "Great Photos" Gerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 very interesting set of pics, one thing I noticed was how static the positions looked, they might have been there for years facing the germans blowing each other to bits. a true war of attrition. rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwyn Evans Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Quite exceptional photos - many thanks for posting. The tank isn't a Mark I Male but a Mark I Female, identifiable by the small hatch at the rear of the sponson. Gwyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHillyard Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Cracking photos. a unique in-depth view into their life there. I've got one of my relatives First World War photo albums hidden away with some interesting pics of the early tanks etc. Will have to scan some in at some point. Thanks for posting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Amazing photo's. I noticed the area being quite dry except for a few photo's. So I'd gusss these are on the Somme as mentioned earlier. Amazing these photo's still exist. Just goes to show what may still be out there. Gotta love this forum!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcot1751 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Thank you so much for posting these photos, so much more "real" than some of the staged ones seen. As is often said we should NEVER forget the sacrifices these people went through to give us todays freedom. Thank you once again :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) The rest of the pics as promised in the OP edit 'Dead Hun'This was the only picture with anything written on the back Edited January 3, 2014 by Tugger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.