This image of Arras, France was taken on the 26th of May, 1917. It shows the Hôtel de Ville (town hall) in ruins.
Arras was near the front line of the First World War, and saw significant battles from as early as 1914.
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Tag Archives: Photograph
On this day: a truce is called
This image, taken on the 24th of May, 1915, shows Australian and Turkish troops collecting the dead after a nine-hour truce was called at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.
After an attack from the Turks five days earlier that left more than 3000 dead, the stench became so strong both sides agreed to remove the bodies.
The fighting in Turkey came to be commemorated in Australia and New Zealand as Anzac Day on the 25th of April each year.
On this day: a Station in Wales
This photograph is dated the 20th of May, 1961, and is of Buckley Junction Station.
Buckley, a village in the Flintshire region of Wales, is known for its distinct dialect. The unique way of speech is dying out as people come and go from the area.
On this day: the King’s official birthday.
This image is of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, on the King’s official birthday on the 19th of May, 1939.
The British monarch has celebrated an official birthday separate to their real birthday since George II began the tradition in 1748. The purpose of the different date was to ensure celebrations could be held in a warmer month, where there was a better chance of the weather being fine.
On this day: Australian sport’s first international tour
The team photographed in December of 1866.
The first Australian sporting team to ever tour internationally was a cricket team from the colony of Victoria.
Tom Wills in 1857
The team was made up of Aboriginal stockmen (people who work with livestock on Australian farms), and overseen by Tom Wills from the British colony of New South Wales.
The team toured England between May and October in 1868. This newspaper article is from the 16th of May edition of The Sporting Life.
On this day: the Victoria Memorial is Unveiled
The Victoria Memorial, which stands outside Buckingham Palace at the end of The Mall in London, was unveiled in a ceremony on the 16th of May, 1911.
The monument honours Queen Victoria, whose long reign had come to an end with her death a decade earlier.
The ceremony was presided over by both by King George V and his first cousin, Wilhelm II of Germany. Both men were grandsons of Victoria.
Following the ceremony it was revealed the memorial’s sculpture, Thomas Brock, was to be knighted.
On this day: the bombing of Nagoya Castle
Nagoya Castle in Japan was destroyed by Allied bombing on the 14th of May, 1945. The city had been under attack from air raids since April of 1942, and the castle was targeted as it was being used as a Japanese military command post as well as the administrative headquarters for the local prisoner of war camp.
The castle was considered a national treasure. Reconstruction began in the 1950s.
