A Russian adjustable mobile shield captured by the Germans, 1914

The immobility of the trench warfare characterizing the First World War led to a need for a device that would protect soldiers from enemy fire and could help them move on the extremely irregular terrain of battlefields. Apart from a few exceptional cases, …

U-118, a World War One submarine washed ashore on the beach at Hastings, 1919

When the people of the town of Hastings awoke one morning to see one of the Kaiser’s U-boats on their beach, it caused some shock. Thousands of visitors flocked to see the beached submarine. The Admiralty allowed the town clerk to charge a fee for people t…

German troops trying to rescue a French soldier from sinking in a mud hole, 1916

Picture taken during the Battle of Verdun, one of the most deadliest battles of the Great War. The concentration of so much fighting in such a small area devastated the land, resulting in miserable conditions for troops on both sides. The shells turned up …

Spectators climbing over furniture to watch the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, 1919

On 28 June 1919, the peace treaty that ended World War I was signed by Germany and the Allies at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. Allied interests were represented by the ‘Big Three’: British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Premier George Cleme…

British tanks maneuvering trenches during the Battle of Cambrai, the first use of tanks in mass, 1917

When the British dispatched 400 tanks against the German army at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, the result was a draw — but legend quickly declared the tank a winner following its first major role in combat. The Battle of Cambrai, fought in November-December…

Two German soldiers and their mule wearing gas masks, 1916

Many animals were used during World War One. Horses, mules, dogs and pigeons were vulnerable to poison gases so that special protection was necessary for them. Horses were equipped with gas masks over their muzzles and were protected from inhalation of poi…

Archduke Franz Ferdinand with his wife on the day they were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, 1914

In an event that is widely acknowledged to have sparked the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, nephew of Emperor Franz Josef and heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot to death along with his wife by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, …

Lucky British soldier shows off his damaged helmet, 1917

A British soldier with a bandaged head smiles as he shows the cameraman his helmet and the large hole blown straight through it. His smile says it all. Back then the main reason for wearing a helmet wasn't protection from gunfire, but from shrapnel from expl…