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http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/640960
AWAITING BATTLE
Unknown faces of WWI
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BERNARD GARDIN AND DOMINIQUE ZANARDI
The British newspaper The Independent is hoping to identify the people in 240 First World War photographs that were found recently.
If you had family friends or relatives who fought in that war, perhaps you might recognize someone from your own family photographs.
Do you recognize any of these soldiers? British newspaper unearths rare photos of men preparing for Battle of the Somme
May 27, 2009 04:30 AM
Debra Black
STAFF REPORTER
A rare cache of photographs of soldiers from World War I is the focus of a worldwide hunt – a kind of military cold case – as a British newspaper tries to find the names behind the grainy images.
In an exclusive, The Independent has published the 270 photographs online (independent.co.uk) and in its magazine. And it is asking both the online world and readers in Britain to help identify the soldiers in the village of Warloy-Baillon – 16 kilometres east of the front line of the Battle of the Somme.
The photos capture the mood and morale of mostly British soldiers preparing for the Battle of the Somme, which began July 1, 1916, at Beaumont Hamel in France.
Are there any Canadians in the collection? That's unclear, although there may be a Newfoundlander or two.
The Newfoundland Regiment was part of a contingent of soldiers who participated in those early days of the campaign – but back then it was part of the British army.
It's less likely there are any Canadians. Between 80,000 and 100,000 Canadians participated in the Battle of the Somme, but they didn't join the battle until the fall of 1916. An estimated 1 million soldiers from both sides died in the battle, which continued until late November 1916.
Still, The Independent is hoping someone – perhaps even here in Toronto – will recognize a grandfather or great-grandfather in the posed photographs.
The photos were rescued from a garbage bin after being tossed out of a barn's loft at Warloy-Baillon. Taken in the winter of 1915 and the spring and summer of 1916, the photos provide an extraordinary look at life behind the lines.
The discovery of the photos is "significant," said Andrew Iarocci, a historian at Canada's War Museum (warmuseum.ca). "Any time we find unpublished or undiscovered photographic material from that period it's exciting because there's only so much of it around."
It's believed the photos were taken by a villager who had camera equipment and charged the soldiers a few francs for a portrait. The soldiers all seem to be in front of the same backdrop – a battered door or in a pear or apple orchard.
What interests Iarocci is the different types of uniforms and functional clothing worn by the soldiers, such as sheepskins worn over their uniforms.
"That's a type of functional clothing when working outdoors in winter weather to keep active, but not freeze to death," he said.
The survival of the collection is thanks to the efforts of Bernard Gardin, a photography enthusiast, and Dominique Zanardi, the proprietor of a café at a village in the heart of the Somme battlefields.
Gardin was given the glass plates by someone who knew of his interest in photography. Zanardi, a collector of Great War memorabilia, already had some 130 similar plates from other locals. The men had prints made from the plates.
"The photos are fascinating," Iarocci said. "... Every bit of new knowledge and in this case – the collection of new photos – adds to what we know about the war and the people who fought it."
You can see the pictures here.
AWAITING BATTLE
Unknown faces of WWI
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BERNARD GARDIN AND DOMINIQUE ZANARDI
The British newspaper The Independent is hoping to identify the people in 240 First World War photographs that were found recently.
If you had family friends or relatives who fought in that war, perhaps you might recognize someone from your own family photographs.
Do you recognize any of these soldiers? British newspaper unearths rare photos of men preparing for Battle of the Somme
May 27, 2009 04:30 AM
Debra Black
STAFF REPORTER
A rare cache of photographs of soldiers from World War I is the focus of a worldwide hunt – a kind of military cold case – as a British newspaper tries to find the names behind the grainy images.
In an exclusive, The Independent has published the 270 photographs online (independent.co.uk) and in its magazine. And it is asking both the online world and readers in Britain to help identify the soldiers in the village of Warloy-Baillon – 16 kilometres east of the front line of the Battle of the Somme.
The photos capture the mood and morale of mostly British soldiers preparing for the Battle of the Somme, which began July 1, 1916, at Beaumont Hamel in France.
Are there any Canadians in the collection? That's unclear, although there may be a Newfoundlander or two.
The Newfoundland Regiment was part of a contingent of soldiers who participated in those early days of the campaign – but back then it was part of the British army.
It's less likely there are any Canadians. Between 80,000 and 100,000 Canadians participated in the Battle of the Somme, but they didn't join the battle until the fall of 1916. An estimated 1 million soldiers from both sides died in the battle, which continued until late November 1916.
Still, The Independent is hoping someone – perhaps even here in Toronto – will recognize a grandfather or great-grandfather in the posed photographs.
The photos were rescued from a garbage bin after being tossed out of a barn's loft at Warloy-Baillon. Taken in the winter of 1915 and the spring and summer of 1916, the photos provide an extraordinary look at life behind the lines.
The discovery of the photos is "significant," said Andrew Iarocci, a historian at Canada's War Museum (warmuseum.ca). "Any time we find unpublished or undiscovered photographic material from that period it's exciting because there's only so much of it around."
It's believed the photos were taken by a villager who had camera equipment and charged the soldiers a few francs for a portrait. The soldiers all seem to be in front of the same backdrop – a battered door or in a pear or apple orchard.
What interests Iarocci is the different types of uniforms and functional clothing worn by the soldiers, such as sheepskins worn over their uniforms.
"That's a type of functional clothing when working outdoors in winter weather to keep active, but not freeze to death," he said.
The survival of the collection is thanks to the efforts of Bernard Gardin, a photography enthusiast, and Dominique Zanardi, the proprietor of a café at a village in the heart of the Somme battlefields.
Gardin was given the glass plates by someone who knew of his interest in photography. Zanardi, a collector of Great War memorabilia, already had some 130 similar plates from other locals. The men had prints made from the plates.
"The photos are fascinating," Iarocci said. "... Every bit of new knowledge and in this case – the collection of new photos – adds to what we know about the war and the people who fought it."
You can see the pictures here.
