30 Images Showing World War I Destruction on the Western Front. Thirty images of World War I, mainly showing destruction following battles on the Western Front. Black and white 6×8-inch photographs affixed to boards, finish size 9.5×12 inches. Hand signed on the boards F. Each is hand captioned on the back side. Very good plus condition. We have not been able to further identify the photographer but, based on some of the images and Australian forces involvement in the nearby battles, he may have been Australian. Many of the images were taken around Ypres and Pozieres. Fourteen images feature scenes around Ypres. Ypres itself was almost completely destroyed by teh War, as is shown in the photographs, which provide views of the ruins of the town’s famous Cloth hall, St. Martin’s Cathedral, the railway station, the Canal, a soldier running across the field on the Menin Road Ridge battlefield and genersal views of what was the city. Pozieres is a town located in the Somme area in Hauts-de-France in northern France and was the scene of the Battle of Pozieres during the Somme in WWI. The village is located on high ground and thus had strategic importance to the Allies and the Germans. It was at Pozieres that Australians were first engaged in serious fighting on the Western Front and, while they gained the village and the nearby ridge, they suffered huge casualties. The Australian Divisions involved lost more than 25,000 men between 16 July and 13 August. Two images are specifically related to Australian participation: one captioned Memorial to the men of the 2nd Aust. Division who fell in the taking of Pozieres Ridge” and the other “The Australian Cemetery at Pozieres. The first shows Australian soldiers’ graves in an open field, with crosses marking the grave sites. The graves seem to be sectioned off with tall wooden posts as a border. The second shows a large wooden cross on a rock mound and is inscribed with the words “2nd Australian Division Pozieres Ridge”. A third image shows all that remained of Pozieres after the fighting (essentially nothing). Some of the other images include: Chatelet, Belgium showing the coal mines; the ruins of Albert Cathedral (Basilica Notre Dame de Brebieres) in Somme; the ruins of Warneton Tower in Belgium which was used by the Germans for sniping and a scene of operations of the 3rd Australian Division in 1917 near Ypres; graves and German dugouts at the Butte de Warlencourt in the Somme; ruins of the Town Hall Corner in Bapaume in northern France near Pozieres; a German observation post at Bapaume; the battlefield at Bapaume, ruins at Bailleul in northern France after the Battle of the Lys; ruined interior of the Arras Cathedral in Arras, France; the Kaisers Statue on the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne, Germany; a German submarine base at Bruges; and the Cologne Cathedral. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Photographic Images\Photographs”. The seller is “timbuktubooks” and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Unit of Sale: Lot
- Type: Photograph
- Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
- Format: Black and white
- Signed: Yes
- Original/Reprint: Original Print
- Photographer: F. Graham
- Number of Photographs: 30
- Time Period Manufactured: 1914-1917
- Subject: Historic & Vintage