40 Incredible Photos Show Destruction From the Battles of the First World War ~ Vintage Everyday

These incredible photos were found by Rescued by Rover, from a series entitled “The Battlefield Series”, published by George Nightingale & Co, Normanton Avenue, Bognor (England). The photos are printed with the information: “These photos are finished and printed entirely by Ex-service men at Reflex Studios & Press, Parkstone.”

The photos illustrate the destruction caused by the battles of the First World War. The scenes mainly show destroyed buildings, abandoned weaponry, and cemeteries. The only people visible are civilians, some gazing at the destruction, posed with their backs to the camera as if to emphasize their status as witnesses, others working in the ruined streets or in the cemeteries. Some of the photos also show children playing on abandoned artillery pieces.

The captions printed on the backs of the photos are mainly brief and factual. These photos were presumably taken during the months following the end of hostilities, and likely published during 1919 or 1920.

Battlefields No. 1 - General view of Ostend from the Quay, showing the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. This church remains intact though building near were leveled to the ground

Battlefields No. 2 - The Hotel de Ville, Arras

Battlefields No. 3 - Church of St. Vaast, Armentieres

Battlefields No. 5 - Shrapnel Avenue, leading to Armentieres from Plug Street

Battlefields No. 6 - Plug Street, Le Visey

Battlefields No. 7 - Front view of Long Max, Moere, about 8 miles from Ostend. Weight 350,000 kilos. Shell 750 kilos. This gun was used by Germans to shell Dunkirk

Battlefields No. 8 - Royal Rifle Brigade Cemetery, Le Vizet

Battlefields No. 9 - German dugouts, Neiuport. The Germans built elaborate reinforced concrete shelters, good examples of which are shown

Battlefields No. 10 - Hyde Park Corner, Plug Street. One of the warmest spots in the War Zone

Battlefields No. 12 - Mametz Wood. This place will be remembered as a veritable hell

Battlefields No. 13 - Dug-out made of concrete and lined with corrugated iron

Battlefields No. 14 - Big Bertha. The German gun that shelled Paris

Battlefields No. 16 - Grand Platz, Arras. The whole of the buildings in this square were badly damaged

Battlefields No. 17 - Market women, Arras

Battlefields No. 18 - Captured guns at Arras. Various types of German guns are shown here

Battlefields No. 19 - Cathedral, Arras

Battlefields No. 20 - Hooge Crater Cemetery. In the war zone there are 1,700 new cemeteries, this particular one contains over 11,000 Graves, details of each one are being carefully indexed by the graves committees

Battlefields No. 21 - Street in Ypres

Battlefields No. 25 - The Old Barracks, Ypres. Subjected to terrific shelling

Battlefields No. 26 - The Cathedral, Ypres

Battlefields No. 27 - German Howitzer and Cloth Hall, Ypres. Excavations are being made under the building to recover the bodies of soldiers killed by gas

Battlefields No. 28 - Old Communal Cemetery, Ypres. Many of the monuments have been destroyed while the Crucifix remained untouched

Battlefields No. 30 - Albert Cathedral

Battlefields No. 31 - Albert. This place sustained great damages

Battlefields No. 32 - Tank end remains, Langemark. Note the tin-hat and rifle stock in the foreground. Human remains were also discovered in and about the tank