The Second Hundred Years War

“The Weary Death”, 1915. By Pavel Karlovich Wenig

French infantry try to take cover from a German bombardment - the Battle of Verdun, Feb 1916

A British machine-gun crew in fear of a gas attack don gas masks during the Battle of the Somme - 1916

Two British soldiers await the order to signal an attack - Battle of Ginchy, France 1916

British soldiers from the Lancashire Fusiliers await the order to advance - Beaumont-Hamel, Somme 1916

A British chaplain conducts a field burial in a trench - Somme, Aug 1916

Initially British snipers were ill equipped and due to bureaucracy and poor organisation were often moved from sector to sector very quickly. This meant that casualties were high against German snipers who often stayed in each sector for weeks and months becoming well acquainted with the area that they were in.

British artillerymen prime shells and prepare to fire a light field gun - Battle of Ypres - January 1915

SOURCE : Churchill - Leaders Past & Present by Judith Rodgers

Germany inflicted great losses on the Russian Second Army here in the first months of the war. The commanding officer, Alexander Samsonov was so upset at the destruction of his army he later committed suicide.

German soldiers use a house, adapted to encompass their trench to keep watch for any sign of enemy troop movements - exact location unknown, Aug 1914

A British 18 pound field gun gets ready for action from its camouflaged position - Ypres, Oct 1914

German soldiers pose on top of a cupola at Fort Loncin, one of the Liege forts that had been knocked out by a German siege howitzer - Liege, Belgium 1914

Britain’s Eastchurch Squadron of the RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) gets ready for action - Dunkirk 1914. The aircraft are (L to R) a Short 42, a Sopwith tractor, a BE2A and a Farman F20 with an airship for good measure

British soldiers from the Oxford & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry use a wall for cover as they rest - Ypres, 1914 CREDIT : IWM

Of the 49 tanks deployed that day, only 32 saw action due to damage or breakdown. Commanded by Captain Archie Holford-Walker ‘Clan Leslie’ was one of those due to a damaged tail assembly.

A battery of British 11.75cm (4.7”) breech loading artillery fire a salvo - Somme, France, 1916