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: 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.

March 1917

X

British troops entered the commune of Puisieux, Pas-de-Calais, France on the 28th of February, 1917, and proceeded to document the destruction they found.

X

The photographs were taken by Ernest Brooks, who was the British military’s first official war photographer, and who made a name for himself documenting the First World War.

Waiting for Battle

A British sentry is photographed here in the lead-up to the Battle of the Somme. Seen on the 28th of June, 1916 – three days before the months-long battle began – he watches from outside Café Jordan, Mailly Maillet, France.

The photographer was Ernest Brooks, a Englishman most famous for his work in the First World War.