German soldiers surrendering, French troops relaxing, witty signs in frontline camps and cemeteries full of recent graves. These are just some of the fascinating scenes captured in a cache of newly-discovered, never-before-seen photos of the First World War.
German soldiers (rear) offer to surrender to French troops, seen from a listening post in a trench at Massiges, northeastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette Carrez
A Viscount in the Armoured Cavalry Branch of the French Army left behind a collection of hundreds of glass plates that have never before been published. The images, by an unknown photographer, show the daily life of soldiers in the trenches.
The photos, most of which were taken on the Champagne front in 1915-16, show the full horror of war, with an officer captured standing mournfully near a cemetery full of newly-dug graves.
The collection also features two very different British commanders: Lord Kitchener, a popular hero who played a key role in enrolling troops at the start of the war, and Field Marshal Douglas Haig, a widely despised and ridiculed figure who earned the epithet 'the Butcher of the Somme' for his role in the disastrous battle of 1916.
IBTimes UK is publishing the photos to mark the hundredth anniversary of the start of the First World War.
French soldiers fire a 155mm mortar from a trench on the front line, at an unknown location in FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezFrench artillery officers on the phone relay instructions to adjust cannon fire in a trench on the front line, at an unknown location in FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezSeptember 22, 1915: French cyclists of the Cavalry Corps, on the Champagne Front, Eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezFrench soldiers pose outside their shack, called "The Chalet", at la Sapiniere near Lachalade on the Argonne front, eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezA French soldier is pictured after taking a shower, at the rear guard near the front line, at an unknown location in France. The placard reads "Thermal complex of the Poilu, showers, massages, chiropodist, manicurist. Free massages for women".REUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezSoldiers attend an entertainment show at Suippes, on the Champagne Front, Eastern France in 1915REUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezFrench soldiers move a 95 mm cannon, on the rear guard near the front, at an unknown location in FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezA dog pulls a Belgian machine gun at an unknown location in northern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezField Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener meets French General Albert Baratier (on horseback) as French Marshal Joseph Joffre looks on, on the Champagne front, Eastern France in 1915REUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezMarch 1916: French General Joseph Joffre congratulates and awards medals to soldiers who fought in the Battle of VerdunREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezFebruary 14, 1916: Field Marshall Douglas Haig rides a horse at an unknown location in France. Haig was the British commander-in-chief during the infamous Somme battleREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezMay 1916: French officers inspect trenches on the Argonne front, eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezFrench soldiers stand in German trenches seized after shelling on the Somme front, northern France in 1916REUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezA French soldier aims an anti-aircraft machine gun from a trench at Perthes les Hurlus, eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezSeptember 1915: Captured German soldiers march through Chalons en Champagne, Eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezInjured soldiers arrive at a hospital before being evacuated on the Champagne front, eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette CarrezDecember 19, 1916: A French officer stands near a cemetery filled with recent graves of soldiers killed on the front lines of World War One, at Saint-Jean-sur-Tourbe on the Champagne front, eastern FranceREUTERS/Collection Odette Carrez
