Almost
all of my World War One material is by H. D. Girdwood, an English company,
who sold their views under the trade name 'Realistic Travels'. Most of
their views are of a higher quality than WWI views by Underwood although,
due to the high gloss, they do not scan very well. They will therefore
almost all be of far higher quality than they appear on the screen.
Please
click here for a high quality
scan which gives a true indication of the quality.
Underwood
photographers were not present on the battlefield sites between 1916 when
the Kaiser said he could not guarantee the safety of war photographers,
and the end of hostilities in 1918. Girdwood's views therefore have more
immediacy and action. They were issued in sets of between 50 and 500 views
so the numbering sequence is pretty muddled. Customers could also pick
out the views they required and so a box or collection may have non-sequential
numbering. They come on Underwood-type mounts or on lighter mounts with
curved or beveled edges. These are interchangeable and most views appear
on both types of mount.
Our
valued American customers may ask why there are practically no US troops
in these views. The reason is simple; despite Holywood rewriting history,
most of these views were taken between 1915 and 1917 when the USA was a
neutral country.
These are ALL condition 8, 9 or 10 and priced at $8 each unless otherwise mentioned. Air views are substatially more difficult to obtain and some are therefore more expensive.
'An important
sector of the Hindenburg defences, as seen at 8,000 feet, showing series
of elaborate trenches'.
Order
#5311.
'Over
the German lines showing deep trenches, mine craters, and shell-pitted
ground'.
Order
#5312.
'Zeppelin
shot down near Colchester, even with the back broken towers above a nearby
farmhouse'.
Order
#5314.
Price
$12.
Keystone
'Observation baloons (sic) near Coblenz, Germany'. Descriptive text.
Order
#5318.
Price
$18.
'Observation
balloon brought down in flames by a lucky shot from an intrepid airman'.
Order
#5320.
Price
$12.
'Spotting
the Turks; motor-winch pays out the cable for an observation balloon about
to ascend'.
Order
#5321.
Price
$25.
'The
trail of smoke from the burning remnants of an enemy observation balloon'.
Order
#5322.
'An intrepid
observer meets with a mishap and makes a hurried descent'.
Order
#5323.
Price
$12.
'A squadron
of giant planes on a moon-light raid to bomb objectives beyond the Rhine'.
Order
#5324.
Price
$18.
'On the
eve of a great battle, squadron of aviators reconnoitre, map, and direct
artillery fire'.
Order
#5325.
Price
$25.
'Maintaining
our supremacy in the air; a battle squadron in fighting formation'.
Order
#5326.
Price
$18.
'An unlucky
hit through the tank brought down this British machine, but the aviators
landed safely'.
Order
#5328.
Price
$18.
'Auxiliary
Cruiser "Konig" sunk by Germans in a futile attempt to block Dar-es-Salaam
harbour'.
Order
#5335.
'An exciting
chase! Destroyer speeds on trail of a murderous U-boat preying on our shipping'.
Condition
7 (surface marks)
Order
#5336.
Price
$6.
Keystone
'The "Indomitable" - The English Battleship which sunk the German "Bluccher
(sic) on Sunday, January 24, 1915'. Descriptive text.
Order
#5337.
Price
$12.
'Under
the shadow of the Table Mountain; loyal South Africans off to the aid of
the Motherland'.
Order
#5340.
'Transport
with the "Old Comtemptibles" from India meets a man-of-war in the Mediterranean'.
Order
#5341.
'British
destroyers at Scapa Flow guarding the surrendered German battleships'.
Order
#5342.
'Triumph
of our Navy. Surrendered battleships and cruisers of the German fleet at
Scapa Flow'.
Order
#5343.
'Battleship
Kaiserin
of
the German High Seas Fleet surrendered at Scapa Flow'.
Order
#5344.
'German
battle cruiser "Derminger" which hauled down its flag at sunset to Admiral
Beatty'.
Order
#5345.
'German
battle cruiser "Derminger" which hauled down its flag at sunset to Admiral
Beatty'.
Order
#5346.
'Decks
cleared for action on H.M.S. Chatham at the Dardanelles'.
Order
#5347.
'Man
the guns! Ready for the enemy on H.M.S. Arno'.
Order
#5348.
'Landing
troops and supplies at Salonica, under cover of the big guns of our Navy'.
Order
#5349.
'The
silent work of the Navy. Transports on their way to distant parts of our
far-flung battle line'.
Order
#5350.
'Glorious
Vindictive
whose
gallant exploits at Zeebrugge will live for ever in the annals of our Navy'.
Order
#5351.
'The
Glorious
Vindictive
whose gallant exploit will live for ever in
the annals of our Navy'.
Order
#5352.
'12-inch
gun on a minster German submarine, ruthless pests that sank our shipping
without trace'.
Order
#5353.
'Trapped
German submarine driven inshore and blown clean out of the water'.
Order
#5354.
'A dauntless
trawler which met its doom by striking a floating mine in the Dardanelles'.
Almost certainly a doctored version of the previous view.
'Fleet
of murderous "U" boats, the greatest menace that ever faced our Empire,
surrender at Harwich'.
Order
#5355.
Price
$12.
'Conning
tower on one of the huge mine-laying German U Boats'.
Order
#5356.
'Saw-like
wire cutters on prow of "U" boats, devised as way of escape from our ensaring
submarine nets'.
Order
#5357.
'Captured
German submarine of the "Deutschland" type'.
Order
#5358.
'Signal
bell on the Mole, Zeebrugge, immortalized by the historic raid of St George's
Eve, 1918'.
Order
#5360.
'Men
of a cavalry ammunition park in a Flanders lane awaiting orders'.
Condition.
Bottom of image very slightly lifting.
Order
#5363.
'Troops
and supplies being rushed from railhead to the firing line'.
Order
#5364.
Price
$12.
'Huge
park of motor lorries waiting at railhead to load up supplies'.
Order
#5365.
Price
$12.
'A London
motorbus carrying Indian soldiers in France'.
Condition.
Slight creasing of images.
Order
#9301.
'British
Expeditionary Force disembarking stores at a French port'.
Order
#9302.
'El-Kantara,
the great base for Egypt and Palestine, seen from a transport in the Suez
Canal'.
Order
#9304.
'Wit.
Rifles back from Windhoek entrain at Cape Town for depot to re-volunteer
for East Africa'.
Order
#9306.
To page one - Troops on the move
To page four - Guns and gunners
To page five - In the trenches, over the top, fixed defenses, communications, materiel
To page seven - Battlefield landscapes, prisoners
To page eight - Miscellaneous and war damage
To page nine - The wounded, the fallen, war graves
