Battle of the Somme Trench life

Battle of the Somme ( 1 July–18 November 1916). Trench life! Cheshire regiment. One of the best photos I have found, showing a lot of detail of the harsh conditions, men getting a sleep/nap wherever and whenever they can.

Battle of the Somme - Video

Yes I know its a photo site, but this is possibly my favorite video on YouTube. Not only the music and chilling scenes from the Somme but the feeling of a brutal, desperate, horrific place engulfs you as you watch the video. I always feel intrigued by the Somme, so much went wrong and was unnecessary, it cost lost of lives. 

A fine photo of the 1906 San Fransisco earthquake and fire

I know this is yet another photo from San Fransisco but to me this is a real special find. If you press on it for the full size, its really detailed and interesting. Families packed ready to leave their houses as the fire moves into the street. Crowds gather watching the carnage invading and slowly destroying the city that the quake did not take. Spot the police man on the roof of a building get a better view!

WW2 Factory workers Texas 1942

Workers on the Liberator Bombers, at Consolidated Aircraft Corp., in Fort Worth, Texas, in October of 1942. Some really interesting characters in the photo, the women near the front with the space age classes!

WW2 Stalingrad / Leningrad starvation

A farewell in Leningrad, in the spring of 1942. The German Siege of Leningrad caused widespread starvation among citizens, and lack of medical supplies and facilities made illnesses and injuries far more deadly. Some 1.5 million soldiers and civilians died in Leningrad during the siege - nearly the same number were evacuated, and many of them did not survive the trip due to starvation, illness, or bombing.

Strange WW1 Propaganda Posters

 

WW1 1916 Poster from London UK. For me this is a really strange poster, maybe nearly a 100 years later we see things differently now but the option to die away from home by a bullet it meant to encourage people to enlist into the War? Stopping air raids is a fine message to leave with people though!

Another WW1 poster, aimed at the troops either at home or away. Stay away from "Good time" girls, yes indeedy you have more important things to be doing.

Danger WW2 Blitz worker!

This hardy soul sure it earning his money. Perched on the top of a chimney stack knocking it down, the rest of the building destroyed by the blitz in WW2.  Did they have risk assesment in the 1940's? lol

Northern Lights Spectacular

A rare photo for this blog, one full of colour. Taken from the Northern lights over Finland. Worth doing a search online for some rather stunning views of the lights. Almost looks like a computer generated screenshot.

Eiffel tower construction 1887–1889

Electrical workers balance high up on the Eiffel tower in paris to change the lights that illuminate the tower at night.

Boer troops during the South African War (1899–1902)

Boer troops lining up in battle against the British during the South African War (1899–1902). When I look at photo's of the Boer war it always seems the Boer troops/solders seem to be made up of all sorts,  in this photo you can spot a few men that must not be older than 15! none matching guns, uniforms, helmets etc..the exact opposite to all the British empire force. Ultimatly this was telling, better artilerry, organisation, leadership meant only one winner.

Women workers WW2 England

During WW1 and WW2 women really had to work all the jobs normally considered for men only. Here we have two ladies on window cleaning duties, don't they look happy? It's almost a reservoir dogs type photo/walk.

Stalingrad Enemy at the Gates: Snipers!

 There has always been huge interest in the battle of Stalingrad, generally because of the importance it played in WW2 and the downfall of Hitler. But also for me the films that have been made about it and the snipers that have grown into legends of war. Jude Law did a good job portraying a Russian sniper.

 Based I guess on some of the famous snipers. Maybe Vassili, who had 242 confirmed kills and a much higher estimated count!

One of the female snipers Lyudmila Pavlichenko who again had a massive kill count of 296 Germans! These successful snipers not only killed alot of German troops but boosted moral of the Russians who worshiped them and were fed stories from the battlefront.

Snipers Stalingrad WW2

Stalingrad was a nasty street to street, building to building battle. Snipers were key in taking out soldiers and high ranking officers from afar. Here we can see snipers taking position in a ram shackled building. Sure looks cold.

Huge bunker from Blitz 1940

At first I thought this photo was a mash up of two different times with the really unusual colours. But its an original photo from 1940 showing a huge bunker, hole left from the blitz. The bus seems to have been in real trouble and plunged into the bottom of it. This is in London and it just shows you the power of the bombs dropped on the country.

9/11 Firemen tribute

Never forget. RIP.