Exhibition of war photographs Ypres 1917 1918

[michaeldr]

The man himself; Captain Frank Hurley examining Turkish shells left by them near Qatra, 4th January 1918

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Guest dinkidi]

And here is one of my particular favourites taken by him of an Australian Light Horseman picking anemones near Deir-el-Balah

Goodonyer Michael.

The Australian Army has spent 85 years trying to live that one down

Pat

[michaeldr]

Thanks Pat,

I can see now that it might cause a raised eyebrow or two in some quarters,

but then the contrast with other pictures showing the horrors of war is one of the things which makes this one so especially appealing

The incurable romantic in me says that the Light Horseman was probably going to place the flowers on the grave of one of his mates

Regards

Michael D.R.

[Guest dinkidi]

G'day Michael

Only Joking! Personally, I wouldn't be game to tell him he looked a bit sissy for picking flowers. The picture is certainly striking, partly because it was the earliest WW1 picture I remember, and as you say, contrasts so vividly with the desolation of most of the others in any collection.

Strangely enough, though, the appreciation of scenery seems a fairly common theme in writings of the AIF, whether it be by the common soldier or in official unit histories. I often find it strange that the horrors of war, and the casualties can be recorded almost clinically, and then scenery described as 'pretty', 'lovely', etc.

Any account of the trip from Marseilles to the Western Front just raves about the French countryside and usually mentions the drought in Australia & the barren sands of Gallipoli & Egypt. Of course by the time the ALH got to see the flowers in Palestine anything green or coloured would be welcome. This lot is from Trooper Idriess' "The Desert Column"

"The country is becoming more attractive. Every hill has its village, much larger and cleaner and more prosperous than any we have seen before. Perched on the hills surrounded by their cactus hedges, with the roofs and domes of the queer eastern buildings peeping above the trees, and a white stone mosque crowning all.

Numbers of them have quite a 'Sinbad the Sailor' appearance. The green fields in between are intensely cultivated. Two miles ahead of us is a quaintly pretty little town; all white walls, red roofs and the greenest of trees. The inhabitants are prosperous looking, numbers of them are actually clean. The young girls at times are surprisingly pretty, tinted browns and whites with flashing black eyes. Shrapnel is bursting over towns & villages - we hear the roar of machine gun & rifle fire."

The paragraph preceeding this quote described his regiment galloping into a turkish camp and swarming over the cases of tobacco & cigarettes like "ants swarm honeycomb". The Turks just stared as if convinced they were literally mad.

So, A smoke, pretty scenery & flashing black eyes. Strange order of preferences after nearly 4 years away from home.

ooRoo

Pat

[Auimfo]

Here's one from my book on Hurley photos. Actually, it's only half the photo because it's a double page spread and I couldn't fit it all onto my scanner but this will give you an idea.

It is listed as:

Stirling Castle sector, Ypres. During the Battle of Menin Road troops of the 1st and 2nd Australian Division operated over the ground shown in this picture. The 'Castle' was a concrete redoubt which was eventually blown to pieces.

I don't know of too many 'colour' photos of the actual battlefield and when viewed like this it really brings the horror of the conditions into perspective. How in the world anyone could 'operate' over this ground is beyond me!!

Pat,

The Hurley photos being displayed on this thread are interesting because some of them (not all) are in reverse to how they are printed in my book. I know we discussed another photo elsewhere but I've just realized that there appears to be others including the Lighthorseman. Who's correct I wonder? The book is titled 'Hurley At War - The Photography And Diaries Of Frank Hurley In Two World Wars.' and was produced by The Fairfax Library in 1986.

[Auimfo]

Frank Hurley taken in 1919.

[Guest dinkidi]

Tim

Have never seen that one! It would probably show the area around Black Watch Corner where Jackie was wounded. I had always thought the Lighthorseman was the earliest colour shot in the collection. Must try and get a copy of that book.

ooRoo

Pat

[bkristof]

G'day Kris.

With all due respects, Aussies were specifically forbidden to take pictures.

Even "Battalion-owned" cameras were confiscated.

BIG can of worms there!

ooRoo

Pat

Sorry mate,

i was mis- informed then

[paul guthrie]

Why no barbed wire in the trench scenes?

[Guest dinkidi]

G'day again Kris

But they were also specifically forbidden to do lots of other things.

No barbed wire ? Don't you think it cost enough money to bulldoze great expanses of the Australian countryside, erect the realistic derelict buildings and other civilian props. Buy all that Army Surplus Equipment, organise dummy bombing runs by both air forces, scatter human and animal corpses around the place etc etc etc. The producers did seem to go overboard with all those papermaiche pill boxes, tree stumps and board walks scattered around all over the place.

I understand the real reason is despite the kitting out of so many "Allied Soldiers" the re-enactors & their horses mules etc kept tripping over the bloody barbed wire.

Below is a shot of one scene being 'set-up' but down came the bloody rain and spoiled everything.

ooRoo

Pat

Then again, some participants and witnesses did mention something called MUD, & that the odd angry shot falling in the area had pulverised everything, but what would they know?

[Auimfo]

Pat,

There is one copy of the book available on 'Abebooks'. It's going for about AUS $40.00.

Paul,

If you look closely in the foreground of the photo you will see a couple of posts sticking up out of the mud and these have remnants of barbed wire on them. On the full page spread in the book it's a little easier to see.

Tim L.