the-mad-march-hare42:
ianference:
One hundred years ago today – a few hours before this will be posted – it struck the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, and the Armistice went into effect, giving a de facto end to the Great War.
In honor of the centenary, I’m going to make a post somewhat different from my typically analytic posts. No details of manufacturers or camera technique; no captions with translations. Nothing but 100 images scanned from glass stereoviews, presented as easily-viewable stereo pairs, anaglyphs, and 2D single-frame photographs for the non-stereographically-inclined. They’ll be ordered in thematic sections, but they won’t focus on individual battles, individual units, individuals at all. They will be focused on the struggles of the average soldiers in the field – on what they might have seen, how they might have lived, how they might have died.
No generals will be seen, and few enough Americans – hopefully, those of us born in America have learnt enough by now to disregard the corrupted narrative we were taught in our public schools. Americans weren’t the heroes who bravely came to the aid of our allies; we reluctantly swooped in at the eleventh hour (about 18 months before the Great War’s end), when it was in our own best interest to do so. So the photographs will primarily depict the brave soldiers of France and Britain; of Belgium and Canada and Australia and all of the French and Belgian colonies. There are a few Americans in here of course – mostly those that came over early, of their own volition, on their own dime, because they believed in the cause.
I will add an addendum as soon as I can relating to the original images’ source materials – a great many of them come from the Boyd-Jordan Collection, and I’d like to thank Doug Jordan for making many of these scans for my upcoming multimedia presentation on the subject.
One final note – the final two sections contain some images that many may seem graphic to the faint-hearted. If you’re of the disposition that you’d prefer not see such imagery, please skip “Casualties of War” and “Memento Mori” – however, I suggest that, if you can, you take a look – if only briefly. After all, this was a war. And these soldiers lost life or limb to fight in this war. Some that survived would walk on artificial limbs if they walked at all; others would wear facial prosthetics, and children would turn away in horror. These men are all long gone a century later – perhaps today we don’t turn away. This was a brutal war. And the reality of facing that brutality is important to honoring those who sacrificed greatly for it.
The stereoviews will come first, in a size easily free-viewable with the parallel method, and as always will be clickable for larger version. After this will follow galleries of still images (chosen from the better side of the stereo pair) and red/cyan anaglyphs.
Lest we forget, 11/11/1918-11/11/2018.
Stereographic Gallery
Heading Out to the Front
The New War Machines
The Big Guns
The Armor on the Ground
The New Battlefield of the Sky
Life at the Front
Above Ground: Trenches and Camps
Below Ground: Life in the Dugouts
Ever Vigilant
Devastated Landscapes
Houses of the Holy
Casualties of War
Memento Mori
Requiescat in Pace.
Anaglyphic Gallery
Click on the large first image, and use the forward and back arrows to navigate through the gallery. Or if your eyes are unused to seeing 100 images in 3D, and are starting to tire from the anaglyphic glasses, just click on the images that interest you the most.
Two-Dimensional GalleryAs in the above gallery, click on the large first image, and use the forward and back arrows to navigate through the gallery. Or if you are pressed for time, or want to avoid large versions of the more graphic images, just click on the images that interest you the most.
Endnotes
The daily Month of Remembrance posts will continue through the end of November, so please do use the buttons on the side to follow this blog – either through your WordPress account, or through your email. I give you my word – I will not spam you!
Finally, I want to once again thank Doug Jordan for his invaluable assistance in this project.
Dedicated to all of the men and women who served and assisted in the Great War.
Remembrance Day: 100 Years, 100 Photos
One hundred years ago today – a few hours before this will be posted – it struck the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, and the Armistice went into effect, giving a…
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