PHOTO ARTICLE: Somme, 1916

A quick one today. Last time, we looked at the state of the Somme in 1940, but today, I wanted to go back to the 1916 battle, by way of a series of magazines entitled ‘Sir Douglas Haig’s Great Push.’ In part because I’ve covered a lot of French stuff lately, but also because we’re coming up on the anniversary of the miserable anniversary in British military history that marks the beginning of this bloody, three month long campaign.

First off, here are some interesting night-time images. The first shows an exploding star shell…

The next I find really interesting because it apparently shows an anti-aircraft gun in action at night. You had to be a special kind of loon to fly around in the dark in WW1. Open cockpits, no lights inside for your instruments, not to mention trying to land on badly lit airfields.