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.
'Hun
sacrilege, the desecrated crucifix by the roadside near Wancourt, on the
battlefield of Arras'.
Order
#10491.
'Bells
of Villers-Bretonneux Church, erected after the German repulse removed
the menace to Amiens'.
Order
#10493.
'The
beautiful church at Merville, which is now a heap of ruins'.
Order
#10494.
'Mariakerke,
shelled by British Monitors in battles which loosened the enemy's hold
on Flanders coast'.
Order
#10495.
'Grand
Place, Bethune, set on fire by Hun artillery after all attempts to break
our line were defeated'.
Order
#10496.
'Smoldering
Bethune, ignited by Bosche guns to vent their spite for their costly defeat
at Festubert'.
Order
#10498.
'How
the Germans devastated France. Lille, a once prosperous manufacturing town'.
Order
#10499.
'Recaptured
by Australians in a night attack on April 24th 1918, Villers-Bretonneux
- the ruined church'.
Order
#10500.
'Shell-riddled
church at Richbourg; a mute witness to the Huns' disregard for sacred places'.
Order
#12701.
'Inspecting
the ruins of the once beautiful Richbourg Cathedral'.
Order
#12702.
'Where
the flower of our Army hurled back the Prussian Guards, Beury Chateau,
?????'.
Order
#12703.
'Notre
Dame, Armentieres, a mute witness to desperate fighting in '14 and critical
days in Battle of Lys'.
Order
#12704.
'All
that is left of the village of La Bassee, scene of many historic battles'.
Order
#12705.
'A devastated
village. La Bassee after the Germans had left it'.
Order
#12706.
'Watching
effect of German bombardment on a French village'.
Order
#12707.
'The
result of a bombardment; shell craters and building wrecked by German shells'.
Order
#12708.
'Examining
fragments of shell in craters before buildings wrecked by shell-fire'.
Order
#12710.
Keystone
'Searching the ruins, "Somewhere in France"'. Descriptive text.
Order
#12711.
'In the
path of the Hun. Church wrecked by German shells'.
Order
#12712.
'The
High Altar amid the ruins of the shell-wrecked Richbourge Cathedral'.
Order
#12713.
Keystone
'"Miracle of Lucy", France - Unharmed crucifix amidst total ruin'. Descriptive
text.
Order
#12714.
'Anxious
days in 1914, details thrown in to help check the German break-through'.
Order
#12715.
'The
shattered ruins of Albert, lost and retaken in critical days of the great
German offensive'.
Order
#12717.
'The
chalk pits at Loos, seized and held by 2nd Brigade of Guards against furious
counter attacks'.
Order
#12718.
'Arteries
of communication to the front line on the Yser, Belgian light railway with
elephant shelters'.
Order
#12720.
Keystone
'Alincourt, France. German ammunition camp destroyed by Allied airmen'.
Descriptive text.
Order
#12721.
Keystone
'German ammunition depot after visit of French airmen, Alincourt, Ardennes'.
Descriptive text.
Order
#12722.
Keystone
'"Enemy airmen successfully bombed one of our supply trains", Official
Report'. Descriptive text.
Order
#12723.
'Gurkhas
marching up to the devastated zone'.
Order
#12724.
'The
battered sugar refinery at Le Transloy taken by the Australians at the
point of a bayonet'.
Order
#12726.
'Ypres
and its ruined Cloth Hall, where British heroism shone resplendant through
the darkest hours'.
Order
#12727.
'The
ruined Cloth Hall at Ypres as it looked in 1916'.
Order
#12728.
'West
door of the Cathedral at Ypres in 1916'.
Order
#12729.
'Soldiers
interested in the wreckage caused by German bombardment of Lowestoft. War
damage views of England are rare due to the adverse propaganda value of
showing that the enemy could strike at home'. Three more follow however.
Order
#12731.
Price
$12.
Handwritten
'Wrecked engine of bomber, Clacton'.
Order
#12733.
Price
$12.
Handwritten
'Hole made by magnetic mine'.
Order
#12734.
Price
$12.
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 nine - The wounded, the fallen, war graves
