WW1: Trenches, Death, Mayhem (2 Viewers)

[DeathHand]

A few sets of new photos that I came across.

Set 48.

154. Austrian soldiers and officers look out over a battlefield.

155. German soldiers killed in their trench.

156. A British dirigible (zeppelin) explodes as it comes in to land.

157. A British soldier inspects the rifle of a dead German soldier.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 49.

158. British gunners dug in at Flanders.

159. A Canadian soldier checks the body of a dead German soldier. Vimy Ridge, April 1, 1917.

160. Canadian gunner teams dig in at Vimy Ridge.

161. Canadian soldiers on alert, watching the Germans (the tall square box that one of the men is holding is a trench periscope). Note that bayonets are fixed.

 

[DeathHand]

A British Mark IV 'Female' tank, named "Blarney Castle". The tank was taken out by a German shell that penetrated her hull, creating an inferno inside the tank. All crew members were killed. 1917.

Set 50.

162. No chance for the tank crew - but it seems that one of the crew was able to pop open the doors below the sponson and tumble out. Shell hole can be seen to the left of the photo, near a German soldier holding his camera.

163. The Blarney wreck site. Note than the crewman seen above has been moved.

164. The Blarney was taken by the Germans and sent behind their lines to salvage it. In this photo, the Blarney is being dismantled.

165. The Blarney.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 51.

166. Czech soldiers stand over a line of dead German soldiers.

167. Plane wreck and body of the pilot.

168. Dead British gunner crew.

169. Dead Canadian soldiers at Vimy Ridge, 1917.

 

[ElizabethBathory]

Wow...this is impressive!! Amazing stock!! Danke!!!

 

[DeathHand]

Wow...this is impressive!! Amazing stock!! Danke!!!

Thanks and ja, I have alot of them. But your last images, which are awesome vintage photos, are actually of dead soldiers from the American Civil War...not WW1 and are posted already in the US Civil War thread.

But appreciate the post

 

[DeathHand]

Set 53.

170. Trench containing the bodies of dead French soldiers.

171. Dead French soldier lying in a ditch by a hedge grove.

172. Dead german gunner. 1918.

173. Bodies of dead German soldiers and a gunner crew lay dead in a ditch. France, Oct. 1918.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 54.

174. Skeletal remains of dead German soldiers on Dead Man's Hill.

175. Body of a German soldier left partially buried after an artillery assault.

175. British artillery knocks out a German dugout/bunker.

176. The fate of many WW1 soldiers that were killed on the battlefield. This one is of a German soldier's remains sprawled out in the mud.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 53.

177. Dead soldiers awaiting burial.

178. Body of a German soldier lays just outside of his trench.

179. The remains of a mud caked German soldier and horse,

180. French trench: removal of dead and injured soldiers.

 

[KingFate]

One of my great-great uncles fought at Verdun. He kept a journal, I wish I spoke French so I could read it.

 

[DeathHand]

One of my great-great uncles fought at Verdun. He kept a journal, I wish I spoke French so I could read it.

Wow, that would be amazing to read. Many of the soldiers kept diaries but over time families lost them, or packed them in a box in the attic. I had 6 great-great uncles (all on my mom's Scottish side, 3 of them were brothers...the other 3 were cousins) that served in France. Some at Verdun, others at Vimy Ridge and elsewhere as part of the 18th British Battalion (which is battalion that Canadians were assigned to if they signed up).

Scan the pages and email them to me if you want...I'm French on my father's side. I can get it translated and send you back the English version. I would be going nuts if I had one of my g-great uncles diaries but couldn't read it because it was written in a different language, lols.

 

[KingFate]

Wow, that would be amazing to read. Many of the soldiers kept diaries but over time families lost them, or packed them in a box in the attic. I had 6 great-great uncles (all on my mom's Scottish side, 3 of them were brothers...the other 3 were cousins) that served in France. Some at Verdun, others at Vimy Ridge and elsewhere as part of the 18th British Battalion (which is battalion that Canadians were assigned to if they signed up).

Scan the pages and email them to me if you want...I'm French on my father's side. I can get it translated and send you back the English version. I would be going nuts if I had one of my g-great uncles diaries but couldn't read it because it was written in a different language, lols.

At the moment my grandmother has it, I'll try and get a copy if I can.

 

[DeathHand]

At the moment my grandmother has it, I'll try and get a copy if I can.

That sounds good...even if you just get it copied/scanned so that you have a copy of it in the event that the diary goes missing, goes to some cousin that you've never heard of, or gets thrown out or packed away.

 

[KingFate]

That sounds good...even if you just get it copied/scanned so that you have a copy of it in the event that the diary goes missing, goes to some cousin that you've never heard of, or gets thrown out or packed away.

Yea, there are a good amount of things on mother's side I'd like to get copies of, there are things in French, German, and Greek. So I'd have a lot of work ahead of me to get it all translated.

 

[DeathHand]

Oh, forgot to mention, that I've been a genealogist for about 20+ years. I've been to Kews Garden to scour their records and then up to the Scottish highlands to tromp through every cemetery where my Scot ancestors lived.

On my French side, I did the same...but I didn't have to leave Canada to do it, lols. I've been through so many records and writings that I'd make Columbus look lazy.

But what I did, when I was visiting the town where my father is from in New Brunswick is try to figure out where my g-great, and g-g-great grandfathers (and uncles and aunts in the same generation) were buried in the local cemetery. The death records that I had told me that I was in the correct cemetery but there were no frigging headstones. Some stones were still there but the ones that I was interested in were long gone.

I talked to a cousin of mine out there about it and turned out that used to be part of a grave digging crew that worked that cemetery. He told me that he remembered a large map in the church rectory of all the cemetery plots (often he would start digging with a front loader only see that he had ripped open a coffin - they needed the map to avoid that).

Anyways, no map at the church. But, one of my uncles there turns out to be a church Elder. I mention to him that I can't find where so and so are buried. He smiles and tells me that he has the records of all burials going back to 1820. My heart skips a beat and I ask him if I can borrow his "book" for a few days to update my records. He agrees and off I go - to the nearest print shop that I can find.

"Photocopy every page." I told the guy there.

I returned the "book" to my uncle and now I have the same records that might otherwise become lost when my uncle passes.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 54.

181. French troops going over the top for a charge.

182. Glimpse of a French gunner inside WW1 tank.

183. Same as above.

184. French soldier using a periscope and a rifle that is rigged to fire so that it will fire without the soldier having to stand up and expose himself to German sniper fire.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 55.

185. The Germans finally produced their own battle tank; this one is a large A7V tank that was disabled.

186. As a British tank nears a German trench, a German flamethrower crew opens up on the tank with a deadly blast of fire. Flamethrowers could roast the crew inside a tank if it didn't set the tank on fire by igniting cannon ordnance inside the tank. With no infantry for back up, this tank crew was probably killed.

187. Early in the war, 2 German soldiers hold a position in their dugouts.

188. German soldiers defending their trench.

 

[DeathHand]

Set 56.

189. Dead Germans in their trench.

190. A knocked out British Mark XVIII and a dead crewman.

181. A US medic patches up a wounded US soldier.

182. Dead US soldiers awaiting burial behind the frontlines.

 

[MrEz]

the tanks of WW1....... it must have been a frightening sight to behold the first time these titans came rumbling towards the trenches with seemingly no ways of stopping it. and the excruciating efforts from the crews aboard the tanks, dizziness, fuel fumes, extreme heat and nearly no visibility must also have been a battle in itself. I have seen some of these relic hulks IRL and believe me, they look both as terrifying as they look uncomfortable.

 

[DeathHand]

the tanks of WW1....... it must have been a frightening sight to behold the first time these titans came rumbling towards the trenches with seemingly no ways of stopping it. and the excruciating efforts from the crews aboard the tanks, dizziness, fuel fumes, extreme heat and nearly no visibility must also have been a battle in itself. I have seen some of these relic hulks IRL and believe me, they look both as terrifying as they look uncomfortable.

Yes, these beasts were quite large and formidable looking. The Germans that first encountered them must have been been terrified. For the tank crew, yes, they had to endure extreme temperatures inside, bone jolting bumps and knocks (the tanks had no suspension) and they also had to wear special mesh face masks/goggles to protect them from the flakes of paint that blew around inside the tank each time they fired a shell or were hit.

Fortunately, most of the British tanks failed (engine probs, tracks brealing loose, etc.) or became stuck in mud or in a trench, saving the crews from a fiery death. But others did take direct hits that either turned the tank's interior into an instant inferno or just plain blew the tank apart. The Germans didn't want to destroy the British tanks and tried instead to just disable them. Dozens of British tanks, disabled and left abandoned on the battlefield were hauled behind German lines where they were repaired, repainted and put into use against the British.