Flamethrowers — known as flammenwerfer during the war — were a German invention: they appeared on the Western front in 1915. The special violence of death by fire was a shocking development. The British press was fascinated by the gruesome new device, Wartime propaganda condemned them as another example of German ‘barbarism’, but the British […]
read moreNew death: pictures of the flamethrower in action
Pilots decorate their fighter planes
With a twist of dark humour, these Belgian planes have been painted for extra fighting spirit. One shows comedian Charlie Chaplin, superstar of the early cinema. The newspaper commented on the oddity, as ‘one more testimonial to the universality of fame which a really humorous and original player commands’. The second plane bears an image […]
read more5 pictures: dogs who saved lives on the front line
Dogs were valued comrades for soldiers at the front line, particularly in the French, Belgian and German armies. Highly trained and reliable, these service animals gave essential strategic and medical support. Their companionship was also good for morale: some regiments even adopted dogs as their mascots. Here are five ways dogs took part in the […]
read moreZeppelin shot down in a blaze over London
Civilians watched in the streets one night in 1916, when an enemy zeppelin was shot down near London. It caught fire and blazed like a lamp in the sky: a long balloon burning brighter every second as it crashed, slowly, north of the city. The light reminded witnesses of the gas-fuelled lightbulbs in their homes: […]
read moreFirst World War facts: communication experiments
A world war meant the movement of vast numbers of people, increasing the demand for communication, but also increasing the difficulties and dangers. All the warring nations were faced with challenges to their communications networks. In this era of ships and trains — and bombs and torpedoes — the need to send information quickly […]
read moreRussia’s heroic “Battalion of Death”
As I was browsing through the archive, I came across an article in The Tatler that immediately caught my attention. The role of women in the First World War, including nursing, driving and in factory work, has received considerable attention over the last few decades. However, an area that seems to have been more or […]
read moreMarching songs in the war
An iconic feature of war for centuries, soldiers’ songs are a “go-to” for boosting morale and raising the spirits of the men as they marched to war. In this image, printed in The Sphere in October 1914, the soldiers are depicted merrily singing along to “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” as they march through […]
read moreDavid Lloyd George’s suffragette chauffeur
A curious one from the archives today: pictured here in The Tatler, January 1916, is Charlotte Marsh, who was David Lloyd George’s new chauffeur. Although he would end 1916 as Prime Minister, Lloyd George was still Minister for Munitions when Marsh joined his staff. He had spent 1915 implementing a massive overhaul of the munitions […]
read moreThe machine gun
As most of us know, machine-guns inflicted appalling casualties during the First World War. Thousands of men, charging towards the enemy line, were mown down by the rapid fire of these devastating weapons.
read moreBattle buses: The Chariots of Mars
I imagine that most Londoners would sympathise with me when I say I have a love-hate relationship with Transport for London.
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