Some have been seen before there are a few newies but all convey one thing devastation.
Better stop PL from jumping in that armoured train carriage as it has lots in there.
World War I in Photos: Technology - The Atlantic
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Some have been seen before there are a few newies but all convey one thing devastation.
Better stop PL from jumping in that armoured train carriage as it has lots in there.
World War I in Photos: Technology - The Atlantic
Thanks Cinders. I'm pretty keen on this subject but there are lots of photo's there that I've never seen before. Some of the comments are also very interesting.
ATB.
I am starting to build my WWI section up in my modest collection in 1st Ed's where I can but some are impossibly priced or hours trolling the net for that bargain that happens once and a while it has taken me nearly 37 years to get a smidgin of what's out there I try to concentrate mainly on Australian with other important battles like Jutland, Loos, Mons etc.
Common knowledge or a saying is WWI was where 19th Century tactics met 20th century weapons, it was the backward planning of a stalemate warfare, probably for Australia Gallipoli stands out as a rather dim show along with Pozieres, but every nation involved in that conflict had battles they would rather forget.
One thing is for certain it stripped the Commonwealth of its youth and rather drastically in that instance, Australia suffered in the sense of a small population and the men just could not be replaced, Billy Hughes tried twice for conscription but failed still the pics were put up to portray some of the innovations tried out some a hilarious like the 2 Germans pedalling to nowhere and the sombre with the tank crew and the AA truck.
Glad you liked them.
We'd need a separate forum to discuss the First World War in any great depth, but I hear what you say. I gather even the Aussie troops on The Western Front voted against conscription; perhaps they felt that if their lives were going to be on the line they'd rather be backed up by a mate who had volunteered to enter the fray, not one who was there because he had no other choice.
Many of the problems during the offensives on the WF were caused by the rapid development in the means of killing not being equalled by rapid means of communication; hence failures were reinforced because of the delay in informing the Red Tabs running the show what was really going on. Conversely, when opportunities appeared (the initial advance to find High Wood totally unoccupied is one example), it took so long to get orders through to push on & take advantage of the situation that by then the advantage had gone! Contrast that with British infantry of 1945 being able to call down artillery support within 30 seconds. Of course, there's much more to it than just this, but it is an important factor.
ATB.
I would support a forum...
I friend e-mailed me this link today. Very good post!
Thanks!
Hey Rog, this thread makes me think of the dig we visited near Fromelle in 2009 and the two Canadian graves with my namesakes in the little moated cemetery not far from there. I think the Aussies had a ceremony in 2010 when the bodies had been removed and buried properly. I saw an article in SAR when they still had a monthly magazine. I'll have to try and find it again. Brian
Hey Brian, that was an enjoyable few days. The cemetery you're thinking of is probably Le Trou Aid Post. It is one of my favourites; so pretty & peaceful, with the little moat that entirely surrounds it, with the willows hanging down.....
When you're next over we'll take a more detailed look at what is still left of the Western Front. There's plenty more to see, as I'm sure you know.
ATB.
Fromelle was Australia's darkest day on the WF and stupidly wasted troops by inept planning the Germans could watch the whole lot right through to the rear @5,500 casualties as our troops advanced in the open against perfectly sited machine guns set up for grazing fire our lads fell like corn to a scythe, the Germans actually set up a small railway to move the bodies to those graves where Patrick Lindsay discovered them.
The troops bodies were recovered in the book Fromelle which I have posted pics in case you want to get a copy
I was at the initial opening ceremony when the first of the bodies were buried. I think Brian's right in that it was probably 2010; my memory has never been great & it's not improving with age! It was certainly in January; cold & with a little light snow on the ground. Both British & Australian troops provided the full military honours. The January event was overshadowed by the later more elaborate opening in the July, when the final bodies were laid to rest.
It is sad to think that they only found one of the burial pits, as there were several. The others are still there, just waiting for someone to have the will & the resources to find them.....
ATB
Another good book is the Lost Diggers By Ross Coulthart with the pics a French couple took of our diggers over 400+ negative plates that were found in an attic of a French farm house and Ross made sure they came home 90 years after they were taken it is a touching view into the lives of the Diggers behind the lines and a fantastic book but be warned it is big and heavy. (Pen for scale)
A friend of mine that was born and grew up in France sent me this link whch is along simular lines. I though you all would like it as well.
They are some excellent D-Day pictures, but with a twist. If you click on the images, you will see exactly the same scene today. Seventy years ago.
This is really clever and very well done.
Scenes From D-Day, Then and Now - In Focus - The Atlantic
Fromelles;
My wife managed to get to the cemetery dedication / re-interment of the Oz diggers there a few years back.
I managed to catch it on the live TV broadcast here in Oz.
The "art" of interlocking arcs, forward flank deployment and mutual defence for machine guns was perfectly demonstrated by the Germans at Fromelles. The MG bunkers (that they knew about) were a magnet for the attackers; the big problem was that each MG site was covered by a predetermined defensive fire plan from at least two other guns. There was none of this Hollywood "spray and pray" stuff. The guns carefully sited forward and to the sides of the nominal German lines just applied pre-aimed enfilade fire straight along the lines of advancing troops.
If you look at the maps produced since the battle, and the casualty lists, it is obvious that advancing at a walk, in line between carefully sited MGs and in breaking daylight was probably not a good idea at that time, (or at any other time, really).
Yep. With the guns set up properly all the Germans had to do was fire & let the attacking troops advance into the hail of bullets - as you say Bruce, none of this wildly swinging the gun from left to right as we tend to see in the movies. Perhaps the reality doesn't look dramatic enough for the film industry.
Mind you, this wasn't just at Fromelles - it was typical modus operandi until 1917 when we copied the French & introduced sections of specialist riflemen, rifle bombers, bombers, Lewis gunners, etc into the platoon, & started to learn the lesson of advance by fire & cover. The French don't generally get a lot of credit for it, but the penny dropped first with them.
That's always been exactly the case Roger.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
For another extraordinary collection of pictures, I can recommend a Dutch site:
http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-children.html
The linking texts have variable merit, but the photographs are not the ones usually seen. I do apologise in advance if some of the pictures are too gruesome.
Rob