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A photo postcard of a German trench view of barbed wire and a dead patrol. Dated February 22, 1916, and field postmarked the next day, the message is from a soldier to his uncle, and reads in part, 'yesterday we heard that 4 fortresses of Verdun were taken. This have been a lot of shooting . . . Maybe this is the end of Verdun and peace will come soon . . . the barbed wire on the other side of the card is French. You can see dead patrols . . .' (Translation from the German courtesy Thomas Faust.) Evidently the author safely reached the French trench line. |
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France Feb 22 1916 - Dear Uncle, yesterday we have heard that 4 fortresses of Verdun were taken. This have been a lot of shooting ... Maybe this is the end of Verdun and peace will come soon ... the barbed wire on the other side of the card is French. You can see dead patrols ... (Translation from the German courtesy Thomas Faust (Ebay's Urfaust).) |
trench view, dead, bodies, February, 1916, 1916-02-22, 1916-02-23, Ersatz, Verdun, Battle of Verdun, barbed wire dead, Verdun barbed wire |
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Map of the battlefield of Verdun, showing the line on February 21, 1916, when the initial bombardment began, the line reached in the first days of the offensive, and the line reached by June. From 'The German General Staff and its Decisions, 1914-1916' by General Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff, who staked his position on the Battle for Verdun. He was replaced in August, 1916. |
Battles on the Meuse, 1916
a—German line before attack
b—line reached by attack
c—line reached in June |
General Headquarters and its Critical Decisions, 1916, 1916-02-23, General Headquarters, Critical Decisions, Erich von Falkenhayn, von Falkenhayn, Falkenhayn, Battle of Verdun, Herbebois |
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Periscope view of the Russian trenches, February, 1916. The message dated February 24, 1916 notes that the hash marks from the central point are measured in meters. |
A short translated part of the writing on the reverse side:
'... a picture showing Russian trenches through periscope, the signs + - mean 10 meters ...'
Translation courtesy Thomas Faust, Ebay's Urfaust. |
trench, trench view, periscope, crosshairs, 1916, February, 1916-02-24, Russia, Russian Front, Eastern Front |
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Illuminating grenades — searchlights suspended by a parachute — for night warfare. From the Scientific American War Book: The Mechanism and Technique of Warfare Compiled and Edited by Albert A. Hopkins. |
By courtesy of the Illustrated London News.
Searchlights fired by infantrymen. Illuminating grenades disclosing a charge. An illuminating grenade (Hale's patent) is fired from a rifle. Four of the grenades have just burst in the air and their lights, 'held' by parachutes, are falling. The three men in the right foreground have illuminating grenades on their rifles, ready for firing. The rifle is not held at the shoulder, but its butt is rested against the ground; this because the recoil would be rather too much for the man's shoulder. |
Scientific American, technology, Scientific American War Book, illuminating grenade, grenade, searchlight, Veery light |
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Serbian women burying their dead, from 'The Nations at War, a Current History' by Willis John Abbot, 1917 edition. |
Serbian women burying their dead. Every man, woman, and child in Serbia took some part in the heroic national resistance |
The Nations at War, Nations at War, Willis John Abbot, Abbot, 1917, Serbia, Serbian women, bury the dead, burying the dead |
