Kevin Hayden Paris

“Love calls - everywhere and always. We're sky bound.
Are you coming?”
Rumi

Monday, January 20, 2014

Memories of war

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.






In memory of
The Fallen
I hope my photographs help to tell the story, that is my constant hope.

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