The Great War

A German shell explodes over recently captured ground near Langemarck during the Battle of Ypres, 22 August 1917.

 British troops asleep in a support trench during the preliminary bombardment, previous to the attack on Beaumont Hamel, 1st July 1916. Note scaling ladders (duckboards) across trench. 

New Zealand troops of the 9th (Wellington East Coast Rifles) Regiment using a periscope rifle and a trench periscope in a front line trench near Fleurbaix, June 1916. 

Cpt. James Thomas Byford McCudden VC, DSO & Bar, MC & Bar, MM (28 March 1895 – 9 July 1918) was a British First World War flying ace. With his six British medals and one French, McCudden received more awards for gallantry than any other airman of British nationality serving in the First World War. He was also one of the longest serving. On 9 July 1918, McCudden was killed in a flying accident when his aircraft crashed following an engine fault.  He was 23.

Soldiers unload stretchers carrying the wounded from a truck to a reception tent at a Canadian casualty clearing station. Wounded soldiers would have first undergone surgical procedures at a main dressing station before transferring to a clearing station. From there, they would be transported by rail to a general hospital in France, or, for the seriously injured long-term care, to England.

Rifles and kit of wounded - Field Ambulance. June, 1916. This image shows inventory racks of equipment, including Ross Mk III rifles in the foreground.

World War One era photograph of two Canadians, inscribed "Two Homebirds". Fate unknown.

A view upwards from a trench. A British infantryman stands within the trench in the foreground, looking up at an RAMC squad passing over the trench, silhouetted against the night sky. Two of the RAMC men carry a folded-up stretcher.

postcard of a group prisoners of war at Friedrichsfeld POW camp. The groups consists of primarily British troops, and a Sikh soldier all in front of a sign saying 'A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL FREIDRICHSFELD 1915-1916'.

This section of wallpaper was taken from a German dugout. The handwritten inscription reads 'Taken from wall of Bosche Dug Out near Estrées, 6.2.17'. It was probably given to Lieutenant H E Etherington as a souvenir. German dugouts were generally better developed than those of the British and French. Most had electricity, telephone systems, piped water, and drainage and sewage systems – some were even heated.

Portrait of Sgt. Arnold Loosemore VC DSM, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in August 1917. "During the attack on a strongly held enemy position held up by heavy machine-gun fire, Private Loosemore crawled through partially cut wire, dragging his Lewis machine-gun with him and single-handed dealt with a strong party of the enemy... Immediately afterwards, his Lewis gun was destroyed, and three of the enemy rushed at him, but he shot them with his revolver. Later he shot several enemy snipers, and on returning to the original post he brought back a wounded comrade under heavy fire." He died of war-related illness in 1924, at the age of 27.

Battle of Poelcappelle. Walking wounded coming down and reinforcements going up a duckboard trench near Langemarck (Langemark-Poelkapelle), 11 October 1917.

Headstone in the Maple Copse Cemetery in Belgium.

Rifleman W.S Main was carrying this cigarette case when he was struck by a shell fragment during the war. The case bore the brunt of the projectile’s force and prevented Main from being seriously injured. He survived his injuries and eventually returned to active service.

Men of the H. A. C. outside their dug-out in Sanctuary Wood, June 1915.

Trench in Sanctuary Wood, Belgium, June 1915.