On this day: Australian soldiers in France

10^th August 1916: Australian infantry soldiers march towards their rest billet after fighting in the Battle of Pozières – part of the much larger First World War Battle of the Somme in France.

The Battle of Pozières, where Empire forces from Britain and Australia fought the Germans, resulted in a British victory.

The Brigade suffered 1898 casualties in the fighting between 25th of July and the 7th of August. Australian war historian Charles Bean wrote that Pozières ridge “is more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth”.

From the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Advertisements

On this day: Images from the Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest battles in recorded history, was fought between July and November, 1916 as part of the First World War. The armies of Britain, France, and their empires fought the German Empire.

These images by famed British war photographer Ernest Brooks are dated the 10th of August.

King George V inspecting a German dug-out near Fricourt, 10th August 1916.

X

Captured 15 cm (150 mm) Ringkanone 92 German gun near Mametz Wood, 10th August 1916.

X

German observation post in Trones Wood.

X

The Royal cars passing through a village on the journey from Chateau Bryas to Franvillers, passing a battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment on the march.

X

On this day: British troops near Ypres

This photograph by John Warwick Brooke, dated the 9th of August, 1917, shows British troops involved in the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres) in Belgium. The battle lasted for over three months, from the end of July to November.

Note the camouflage materials on the back of one of the wagons.

On this day: Troops in France

Unidentified troops travel along the Australian Army route to fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France. 1st August 1916. The fighting was part of the larger Battle of the Somme.

While the battle was seen as a major victory for the British Empire, Australian troops suffered 23 000 casualties while advancing two only kilometres along this route.

In the background the village of Contalmaison is under German fire.

The image was taken by a British war photographer, and is from the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

On this day: the Battle of the Somme

Wounded British soldiers come in from the advanced dressing station at Bernafay Wood on the 19th of July 1916. The photograph was taken by Ernest Brooks, the British military’s first-ever official war photographer.

The Battle of the Somme ran from July to November of 1916 and claimed well over a million lives, making it one of the worst battles in the history of war.

The Chilwell Disaster Anniversary

The factory in 1917.

Today is the 101st anniversary of the Chilwell munitions factory explosion, when 134 people were killed and another 250 injured in England during the First World War.

Chilwell became known for its “Canary girls“, women who worked in dangerous conditions constructing TNT shells for the British military. Photographs of the women were used to promote the British war effort.

1917

Eight tons of TNT blew up in the disaster, and the explosion was heard twenty miles away. Because so few victims were identified a mass grave now stands nearby.

The site of the factory became a military installation, which will close in 2021.

100 Years Ago

Today is the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the most important treaty ending the First World War.