Most
of my World War One material is either by H. D. Girdwood, an English company,
who sold their views under the trade name 'Realistic Travels' and concentrated
on the British troops and UK market, or Keystone which concentrated on
US troops, the U.S. market, and entered the war with the U.S. in 1917.
Due to the high gloss and exaggerated curve, the Keystone views do not
scan very well. They will therefore almost all be of far higher quality
than they appear on the screen. The Keystone views all have a full text
description on the back - the Realistic Travels views do not.
Please
click here for a high quality
scan which gives a true indication of the quality.
Girdwood's
views 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.
These
are ALL condition 8, 9 or 10 and priced at $8 each unless otherwise mentioned.
'Huge
shell bursting in the enemy lines warn the Huns of an impending attack'.
Same view as last from further away.
Order
#10401.
'Trapped
German submarine driven inshore and blown clean out of the water'.
Order
#10402.
'Advance
guard of the South African Infantry firing on the retreating Germans'.
Order
#10403.
'On the
run! In hot pursuit we cross the Canal du Nord by improvised bridges, raked
by shell-fire'.
Order
#10404.
'On the
run! In hot pursuit we cross the Canal du Nord by improvised bridges raked
by shell-fire'.
Order
#10405.
'Our
fearless men, fighting against great odds, mine the bridges and retire
across the Crozat Canal'.
Condition.
Slight marks at the top.
Order
#10406.
'After
the bitter struggle for the striken village of Gheiuvelt, lost and retaken
several times'.
Order
#10407.
'Our
troops charge forward into Bernatay Wood to dislodge the Bosche from their
entrenchments'.
Order
#10408.
'In a
firing bay at Passachendaele we repulse repeated Bosche counter-attacks
of great fury'.
Order
#10409.
'At dawn,
in a determined assault, we carry the fortified German entrenchments in
Trone Wood'.
Order
#10410.
'Bombing
the Bosche out of their deep dug-outs near Martinspuich during our advance
on Somme'.
Order
#10411.
'Our
mine, fired during furious thrusts for St Eloy, blots out a Jerry machine-gun
nest, Ypres'.
Order
#10412.
'Under
cover of gas and smoke we break through to Serre and Thiepval (photo from
prisoner)'.
Order
#10413.
'Gas
alarm! Ready with masks to repel Hun attack under cover of the deadly cloud
as Loos'.
Order
#10414.
'In a
gallant assault we pierce the vaunted Hindenburg Line at Bellicourt to
a depth of three miles'.
Order
#10415.
'We cross
the Yser Canal in our advance and force the Hun out of Bixschoote. Third
Battle of Ypres'.
Order
#10416.
'The
most terrifying of all bombardments; the merciless gas-shells'.
Order
#10418.
'In the
thick of a gas attack; our lads ready for the enemy'.
Order
#10419.
'Smoke-bomb
dropped by our airmen to indicate the range to the artillery'.
Order
#10420.
'The
bursting of our high-explosive shells, which nothing could withstand, shatter
the Hun defences'.
Condition.
Production lines at the bottom.
Order
#10421.
Price
$6.
'In touch
with Von Vorbeck's column, drawing fire of enemy hidden in jungle, to ascertain
his strength'.
Order
#10422.
'Mounted
brigade under Gen. Van Deventer executing a far-flung encircling movement'.
Order
#10423.
'Our
impetuous infantry storm and seize the successive entrenchments of the
Wotan Line near Queant'.
Order
#10424.
'Holding
the line near Dickebush before the final assault on Messines Ridge, June
7th 1917'.
Order
#10425.
'Our
troops charge forward into Bernafay Wood and clear the Bosche out of their
entrenchments'.
Order
#10426.
'Our
troops charge forward into Bernafay Wood and clear the Bosche out of their
entrenchments'.
Order
#10427.
'North
Country troops bomb Hun machine-gunners out of their lair in Polygon Wood,
September 1917'.
Order
#10428.
'Our
troops occupy Houthoulst Forest the combined British and Belgian attack
having ousted the enemy'.
Order
#10429.
'Our
gallant infantry charging the German positions on a Balkan hillside'. Unlikely,
noting the tropical uniform. I have seen this view located in East Africa
which seems much more likely.
Order
#10430.
'A stiff
bit of fighting on the Ngura hillsides, East Africa'.
Order
#10431.
'The
true bull-dog rush of our troops at the Dardanelles'. Once again - looks
like cost-cutting by Realistic Travels.
Order
#10432.
'Scouts
cautiously feeling for the enemy through trackless and impenetrable jungles
of East Africa'.
Order
#10433.
'The famous Gurkas with their deadly kukries, near Neuve Chapelle'.
Order
#10434.
'A fine
charge by the Leicesters baffles the Kaiser's bid to wipe out the Old Contemptibles,
Ypres'.
Order
#10437.
'Dislodging
the enemy house by house in obstinate fighting at Langemarck'.
Order
#10439.
'Capture
of a Hun blockhouse in the Hindenburg line at Croiselles, wrecked by our
artillery preparation'.
Order
#10440.
'Capture
of a Hun blockhouse in the Hindenburg line at Croiselles, wrecked by our
artillery preparation'.
Order
#10441.
'Cautiously
working their way across the shell-swept plains of Picardy in the great
Somme push'.
Order
#10442.
'Amid
the havoc of war our troops carry on, passing the smoking ruin of Monchy
on the way up the line'.
Condition
6.
Order
#10444.
Price
$5.
'Our
cavalry pursues the defeated enemy therough the ruined villages and completes
his final rout'.
Order
#10445.
'With
spirit unconquerable, soldiers of King Albert defend the line of the Yser
against the Germans'.
Order
#10446.
'The
Germans retaliate - a Hun high explosive shell bursting near one of our
dumps hidden in a wood'. See next view.
Order
#10447.
'Column
of earth from explosion of a British mine under a German position'. Indicates
that any caption would do for an anonymous explosion.
Order
#10448.
'Highlanders
skirmishing through a ruined village linked up with our trenches'.
Order
#10449.
'Shells
bursting in ruined French village'.
Order
#10453.
'Huge
shell hole beside a highway, France'.
Order
#10454.
'Watching
"the crimson chorus of the guns", playing to the enemy'.
Order
#10455.
'"Enemy
airman successfully bombed one of our suppy trains", Official Report'.
Order
#10456.
'French
mine explosion under enemy trenches'.
Order
#10457.
'On a
night raid, our troops steal into the inky dark'.
Order
#10458.
'Through
gas and smoke our troops advance to the final assault of Passchendaele
Ridge'.
Order
#10459.
'Indian
bombers throwing bombs into the German trenches'.
Order
#10461.
'Our
fearless men fighting against great odds mine the bridges and retire across
the Cozat Canal'.
Order
#10462.
'Our
fearless men fighting against great odds mine the bridges and retire across
the Cozat Canal'.
Order
#10463.
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
