The Great War

A British Splatter mask worn by a French tank gunner - 1918. The mask was designed to help protect the crewmember's face from shrapnel when looking through the view ports. The eye covers were metal, the mask was leather and there was a chainmail skirt to cover the mouth.

Relatively unknown author JRR Tolkien in uniform while serving with the British Army, 1916

A member of the Harlem Hellfighters (369th Infantry Regiment) poses for the camera while holding a puppy he saved during World War I, 1918.

Loading and firing the US 12-inch coastal defense mortar circa 1916.The idea was to attack a warship's weaker deck armor with plunging fire while the weapon remained protected however practical accuracy was low, hence the four-gun installation to increase hit probability.

A German WW1 Trench Raider -France, date unknown

A German soldier lights a cigarette for a British soldier at an advanced field dressing station during the Battle of Epehy, 18 September 1918

© Jeanne Maze Churchill ‘J’ Battery Royal Horse Artillery in action near the Messines Ridge, October 1914

Trooper of the 1/1st Lothian and Border Horse amidst a crop of maize close to the River Struma, ca.1917.

Image: IWM (Q 6792) Sergeant-Major Jones of 'J' Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, Inxent, 20 June 1918.

French or Belgian soldier bandaging a wounded Red Cross working dog near Flanders, 1917.

Image: IWM (Q 55085) German horse gas masks being used by transport horses. Note the absence of protection for the horses' eyes reflecting the animals' less vulnerability to the effects of gas.

French troops pass a dog wearing sunglasses and smoking a pipe, 1915

All-metal Junkers J.1 (826/17) after a landing incident, location and date unknown

Aftermath of fighting inside Fort Vaux, Verdun. June 1916

Image: IWM (Q 5483) Artillery officers in a concealed communication trench, near Ridge Wood, 10 June 1917.

Former Pfalz test pilot and Jasta 16b fighter pilot Vizefeldwebel Max Holtzem sitting with his Fokker D.VII (402/18), 1918 location unknown. Survived the war, moved to the US and worked for North Amercan Aviation. Note rear view mirror

Image: IWM (Q 2314) Soldiers, probably from the 12th Battalion, the East Surrey Regiment, seen in a British communication trench in Ploegsteert Wood, during the Battle of Messines, 11th June 1917.