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Some Pictures from the Trenches

sirhrmechanic

sirhrmechanic

Command Sgt. Major
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 23, 2010
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The Snobbiest Town in The Snobbiest State in the N
With the Parker Shots Register I put in another post were some photographs, also from my Grandfather. I've had these since I was a kid. Amazing what you find when you're cleaning.

Thought you guys might like to see a few of them. The reproduction is terrible as I don't have a scanner, so took a picture through a sheet of glass. The actual photos are really crisp.

One has some interesting Enfields in them. I think most of these are of Canadian troops.

IMG_0078.jpg


IMG_0077.jpg


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IMG_0074.jpg


^^^ This picture has two Enfields in it, with canvas bolt covers. This looks to be way up in no-mans-land. Yet one guy is standing up in the rear and the photographer (my grandfather?) must have been really exposed.

IMG_0073.jpg


^^^ you want to talk about tough... yes, that's winter. And yes, they're in kilts. Canadian troops.

IMG_0072.jpg


IMG_0071.jpg


^^^ The sharp end of the spear.

Sorry if these are off topic, but I thought folks might be interested. I should invest in a scanner.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Great pictures, thanks for sharing.

Would like to see more if you have them.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Very nice pictures and again thank you for sharing. These guys deployed for years to fight in conditions that were primitive at best, oh how times have changed. A good book to read that may put those pictures into perspective is "A Rifleman Went to War" by McBride. Another very good WW I book with incredible photos is "War Over Half A Century Ago" by H.W. Hilton, it is hard to find but well worth the hunt. It was written by a family friend and he gave me a copy when I was probably 10 and have read it several times over the years. I remember trying on his dress uniform coat when he gave me the book and remember it being just a little big then. They had some scrawny troops back then.

More pictures are always appreciated.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Amazing! I always find it fascinating the lack of trees, the sheer barren look to the land from all the shelling. I can't even begin to imagine being in their shoes, but these pictures are quite something.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

I'll post the rest tonite. I have another dozen or so.

Glad you guys like them. I have read A Rifleman goes to War and just found a copy of The Emma Gees (also McBride) at a gun show recently. McBride should be required reading!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

can't wait for more pics. Those are some TOUGH men. Now matter how bad we have it, They had it worse. I couldn't imagine going to war wearing a kilt. Thank you for sharing.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

sirhr - thanks for posting.

Thoughts of what these guys had to endure to protect our way of life and sovereignty are still a powerful and emotive force.

I'm old enough to remember members of my family who had served in The Great War

My grandfather Leonard William Ford fought as a teenage soldier in the "Great War". He died from heart failure as a result of emphecema (thanks to lung damage related to being gassed in WW1) in 1968 aged 70.

My Nan's brother Herbert Henry Birch died from dysentry in 1917 during the campaign in East Africa (aged 19).

HHBirch.jpg


"Lest We Forget"
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Here are some more pictures. I had more than I thought.

I'll have to do this in two rounds, because I think I can only post 10 at a time.

trench1.jpg


This seems to be some kind of narrow-gauge railway for moving supplies or ammunition? Victoria Rifles were an artillary regiment, so makes sense that this had to do with moving shells. Anyone know for sure?

trench2.jpg


The steam traction engine says "Invincible" on the front of it. Along with graffiti.

trench3.jpg


Assuming that the above is unrolling communications cable or some kind of telegraph wire.

trench4.jpg


These look like the guys with the kilts again. They MAY be a Nova Scotia regiment, possibly the Cape Breton Highlanders? I can just make out an NS on their shoulderboards? Could also be NB, but Nova Scotia means New Scotland. And they have a long highland tradition.

trench5.jpg


Some R&R swimming in a river or fountain in a town?

trench6.jpg


Sopwith Camel or Spad? Anyone know what this is? or Squadron?

trench7.jpg


This is very hard to make out, especially from the original picture. But it appears to be some kind of massive siege gun or mortar being moved into position.

trench9.jpg


Someone above mentioned how desolate and denuded of trees the area was... here's how they cleared out brush...

trench8.jpg


Not sure what they are doing. But there is a wire in front of them, or possibly a plumb line? Engineers laying out new trenches?

trench9a.jpg


Captured equipment? I can't make out much stuff, but at least some canteens and pouches?

More to follow and cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Here are the last of them.

trench9b.jpg


This may be the most fascinating of all the pictures, because here there are a bunch of wounded allied soldiers, German prisoners. On the left is a canteen/kitchen. The soldier in the front on the left has what I think is a gas mask bag? The soldier on the right appears to be carrying a Ross rifle? If anyone is interested, I'll do some 'zoom in' pictures of this.


trench9c.jpg


This one is bizarre and may be one he collected or someone gave him. It's a different size, different tone and I doubt he ever was in a plane. But it's pretty neat! E-Boat/Torpedo Boat.

trench9d.jpg


I took a close up of this below showing the ambulance in better detail.


trench9e.jpg


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This one is pretty amazing. If you look closely (I zoomed in below) you see an early tank.

trench9g.jpg


trench9h.jpg


German plane in front of what is probably a Zeppelin or dirgible hanger?

That's it. Glad some folks enjoyed them. I haven't looked at them for years. They travelled all over the place with me.

Looking at them is, as Basraboy above said, a testament to the privations these guys went through. My grandfather was there for the duration. Just under 5 years and was in virtually every major battle with the Victorias Rifles. Never got a scratch, though this is his helmet (note the dent in the top of it).

IMG_0101.jpg


IMG_0102.jpg


This last item is the tip of his 'swagger stick' made from a bullet tail, or so I was told. It's been plated.

IMG_0104.jpg


Hearing that people enjoyed seeing them, makes it worth digging them out.


Cheers,

Sirhr

 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

I don't know why, but I just can't stop staring at the picture of the tank in the field...or what became a field after all the shelling. I just can't begin to imagine standing there looking out at that in person.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Thank you for the fascinating look at your family archives. I do believe that is a Sopwith Camel airplane, has a dihedral wing. That's when the lower wing is slanted up.
The rifle in the picture with the German prisoners just looks like a standard SMLE. Small Magazine Lee Enfield. Standard rifle for the English in both world wars. The one funny thing about it is it's a left handed rifle, or the negative was developed backwards, I just don't know.
I'm named after my godfather who was gassed in WW1 and had very bad health till his death shortly after I was born.
Again, thank you for the look back and thanks to your grandfather for sharing this time in history.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Great Pictures.

If anyone is interested, definitely check out the National Archives, (NARA) in College Park, Maryland. It is worth a day trip if you are within an easy drive (or not). It is free to get in and use - you just need to register for an id (for free) with a drivers license.

They have an awesome collection of military photos and records. Many of the archivists are vets themselves and go out of there way to help those of us who are mere amateurs.

Of course, this is where that notorious scoundrel Sandy Berger stole classified archival documents from.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: fadin' fast</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> The one funny thing about it is it's a left handed rifle, or the negative was developed backwards, I just don't know. </div></div>

I am betting on the negative being backwards. I am going to flip it and zoom in. Someone also pointed out that the 'biscuit tins' have writing on them. But I can't make it out. Because it's backwards!!!! I am going to play with that one image and do some zooming in.

I had wondered if it was backwards, but then decided it was the right way around, but the gun didn't look like an Enfield because the 'odd' bolt was a straight pull Ross.

Great catch. I'll post the more detailed/flipped image in a day or so.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. Just glad to get them out there.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Neat pictures. My Dad was in WWII with many interesting stories, unfortunately he wasn't much for taking pictures. One story was about a German sniper perched in a "tree" taking shots at the small group he was with, the sniper didn't last long.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Ended up TDY for a couple weeks to Germany a few years ago. Me and a buddy got a car and spent several days touring battle fields around Ypres, went to Langemark, Flanders, countless old bunkers and trench lines. Amazing trip. I've got pictures of some UXOs I came across that get forced up apparently every spring. Found an old canteen full of holes with cork still in it and an old German belt buckle with some belt still attached. Even a boot heel. Hard to believe after all these years. That war was an absolute meat grinder. Can't even imagine.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

sihr...on clearing out the brush....these guys are probabaly gathering wood for fires.

Most of the vegetationon the western front (certainly in the forward areas) was denuded by shellfire.

Although the Germans had a higher standard of bunker and dugout, certainly the British (and mayeb the rest of the Comnmonwealth/Empire troops?) had a lesser degree of comfort.

Therefore they foraged far and wide for combustible material to keep themselves warm.

I have just finished reading "Somewhere in Blood Soaked France", the diary of a Angus Mackay of the Royal Scots....definitely interesting for anyone wanting a first hand account of Gallipoli (from a Brit perspective) and the Western Front from 1916 to 1917.

One line that really brings it home to us today is the statistic that in 1916, even on a "quiet" day, 7000 men on the Allied side were killed by shellfire and sniping alone on the Western Front.

When you look at the number of men lost on both sides at Verdun or the Somme where casualties on both sides addded up to over a million total for both battels, it makes you realise just how much of a "meat grinder" it was.

The diary covers much of the area that Norseman has just travelled - the Somme and Ypres Salient.

An area where munitions from WW1 still claim the lives of many who inadvertently unearth them today and the remains of the fallen are still uncovered......

Talking to a US SF colonel in Normandy last summer, even the scale of the Normandy battle zone is hard to comprehend in modern terms.....WW1 puts even that to shame!!
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Amazing what the prior generations of the world did to make things right. How things have changed. Thank you for sharing your pictures.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: platypus</div><div class="ubbcode-body">....Another very good WW I book with incredible photos is "War Over Half A Century Ago" by H.W. Hilton </div></div>

Several available via Amazon.... but one less now as I just bought one

RJ
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

If you guys are interested check out the National WWI Museum or what we call the Liberty Memorial here in Kansas City MO. Its one of my favorite places to go. They have more guns, uniform, cannon etc than any where you can go to.

National WWI Museum
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

can't believe the quality of those pics. amazing.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Interestingly, I just finished "The Emma Gees" by HW McBride. And I swear that I could use paragraphs from that book to caption the above pictures.

Throughout the book, he describes scenes that are captured in those photos.

I said that I would 'flip' and zoom in the group picture and forgot. I'll try and get that one posted.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Here is the one really interesting picture, flipped. With several blow-ups. I wish I could read the 'donut' brand in the canteen. I ran this through PhotoShop to enhance and sharpen. But still can't quite read it.

flippedimage.jpg


flippedimage2.jpg

This clearly shows that this is an Enfield, not a Ross as I thought above (when it was backwards)

flippedimage3.jpg

The Germans in this seem pretty happy to be captive (and out of the war). Look at the height of the Germans vs. the Canadians...

flippedimage4.jpg



Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

grandfather.jpg


The one thing I did not post was a picture of my grandfather himself. He is in the very far upper left of this photo. He looks just like "Higgens" from the Magnum series.

The lady in front is a member of the British Royal Family c. 1919, after the war. He was a Major at the time, I think. Ended up a Brigadier in 1938 when he retired after 20 years of service in the regimental reserves and a total of 25 in the Victoria Rifles Regiment.

No idea who the lady is or what are the circumstances of the photo.

He has cop hair. Just like me! ;-)

Cheers, Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Not only is the subject matter gripping, but these pictures are also really good photos, just in terms of composition, lighting, etc. The one with the crashed german biplane in front of the hanger is captivating. I can't really put my finger on why, but that one has me hooked!

Thanks for sharing. These are treasures. Theu Really bring home a feeling of amazement that all of these people really lived it. Hard to imagine what it was like.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Well, it probably says something that he went on to become a journalist after the war. Then ran a printing/lithography company that printed everything from papers to cigarette boxes to playing cards.

Must have had an eye for composition.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Very cool, and he does look like Higgins. These are better quality photos than most I see on those WWI TV shows. Thanks for sharing.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Awesome pictures. Appreciate the sharing.
I was at the Infantry Museum in PA back in the fall and walking the repro trenches was enlightening, and thinking of living life there was bad enough, but to imagine having to leave the potential safety to cross 'No Man's Land' was pretty eye widening.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Very cool. They leave you feeling wistful almost.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

great pics, some dont even look like this planet, amazing
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Thanks for sharing. These are amazing treasures of military history. It depresses me how much this country has forgoten how much blood was paid. The facebook generation should take a moment and recognize that these were better Men than they could ever hope to be. Hell my Granddad that fought in Korea was and is a better warrior than I could ever dream to be.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: verdugo60</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Very cool. They leave you feeling wistful almost. </div></div>

My son got home last night from a three day school trip to Ypres - it has had a noticable emotional effect on him.

Anybody who gets the chance, should visit the old battlefields.

The nightly remembrance service at Menin Gate cannot help but move you.

sihr - (again) many thanks for posting these pics.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

I cannot believe that you have these!!! Both of my great grandfathers served in the infantry in WW I, and didn't bring a single picture home. I have numerous pics of my grandfathers in WWII, and my dad in Vietnam, but would so like to have had pics like yours. You are one lucky person, thank you for sharing.
 
Re: Some Pictures from the Trenches

Wow these are great. Thanks for sharing.
 
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