Prisoners of War in The Mikado

The comic opera The Mikado, created by Englishmen Gilbert & Sullivan, premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London on the 14th of March, 1885.

This painting depicts the show being performed in the Ruhleben internment camp west of Berlin in Germany in 1916. British prisoners, interned during the First World War, staged the show from memory.

The painting is by Anglo-Dutch artist Nico Jungmann, who was interned at Ruhleben because he was a naturalised British citizen.

From the collection of the Imperial War Museums.

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A Christmas Drink, 1916.

Source

Rollencourt Chateau, France: British press chauffeurs drinking to the King’s health at their Christmas dinner. 25th December 1916. First World War.

On this day: the Battle of Magdhaba

An Australian soldier firing a Lewis Gun during the battle.

The Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

The Battle of Magdhaba, officially known in Britain as the Affair of Magdhaba, was a First World War battle fought between the British and Ottoman Empires on the 23rd of December, 1916.

The advance of the Australian 9th Light Horse Regiment.

British Empire forces, consisting of British, Australian, Indian and New Zealand soldiers, defeated the Turks on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in a day of fierce fighting.

Winter at War

Anzac soldiers in the snow near Mametz, France at the end of the Battle of the Somme. 1916-17. By Frank Crozier (1883–1948), Australian official war artist.

From the collection of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Christmas on the Western Front

Source

December 1916: British troops in Bailleul, France purchase mistletoe for Christmas at a local market. This came shortly after the conclusion of the months-long Battle of the Somme, one of the deadliest battles in recorded history. First World War.

On this day: the conclusion of the Battle of the Ancre

Part of the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of the Ancre was fought in France between the 13th and 18th of November, 1916, between combined British and French forces and the German Empire.

The battle resulted in a British victory and German defeat.

 Field kitchen of the 2nd Battalion of the Manchester Regiment on a water-logged site. X

Water refilling point on the Ancre River. X

 A Royal Flying Corps working party in a mine crater at Beaumont Hamel, captured in the battle. 13th November. X

A British Army Chaplain helps a wounded German prisoner on the first day of the battle. X

On this day…

13th November 1916: On the first day of the Battle of Ancre – part of the larger Battle of the Somme – a British Army Chaplain helps a wounded German prisoner near Aveluy Wood.