The First World war
As I'm a photographer and definitely not a
historian, nor a writer this will be brief!
It all began (supposedly) over the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
and his wife Sophie Duchess of Honenberg (28th June 1914) at the hands of
Gavrilo Princip who was rumoured to be a Serb activist. So it was from here it
all spiralled out of control.
Austria and Hungary brutally attacked
Serbia killing innocent civilians at will. It ended in less than a year.
However the alliances of Russia to Serbia brought in the Germany. Then Germany
invaded Belgium on August 4th, then Britain declared war at midnight August 4th
on Germany in order to assist the Belgians.
Eventually 65 million soldiers would take
up arms, 10 million of whom would perish. A further 20 million were
irretrievably wounded both physically and emotionally.
So 100 hundred years later I find myself in
the department of la Meuse and the town of Nancy. I had cycled this way in 2001
and enjoyed renewing my memories.
The memorials of the first world war are
everywhere. And as a photographer
who enjoys recording what he sees I was in my element. A quick visit to the
tourist office paid dividends. The young lady there said "if you want to
get the authentic ambiance then go to le Éperges"! I did and I wasn't
disappointed.
The enormous craters from the mines (battle
of the mines) and the remaining trenches really did stir the emotions on this
cold and damp January morning.
I visualised these young Germans dug in,
laying in water up to their waists, sharing the space with rats and lice and
I'm sure wondering why they were there and why did they have to die.
The Allied forces won this important battle
April 9th 1915 but many lives were lost. 30 tonne mines don't take prisoners,
and there were many.
http://www.abmc.gov/memorials/memorials/ms.php
Today looking across this peaceful
landscape it's hard to imagine. In fact it's beyond my comprehension of how
miserable conditions were for both sides.
I've often heard it said "lest we
forget" and "we shall never let this happen again"
it's sadly true that talk is cheap and that
war makes millionaires.
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| In memory of The Fallen |
I hope my photographs help to tell the
story, that is my constant hope.
