English gun taken at Ypres (LOC)
Bain News Service,, publisher.
English gun taken at Ypres
[between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915]
1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Notes:
Title from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative.
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Format: Glass negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.19654
Call Number: LC-B2- 3559-12
Comments and faves
artolog (2 days ago | reply)
The Belgian city of Ypres (Ieper) saw some of the worst horrors of the war. From the dated pictures in the Bain flow near this one, this scene is likely after the Second Battle of Ypres (there were to be five during the war). During this battle, Chlorine gas was first used by the Germans, inflicting thousands of deaths. The town itself was more or less completely destroyed by the end of the war.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Ypres
There were more than a hundred thousand dead, wounded or missing in the battle. In the Third Battle of Ypres there were 450,000 to 800,000 casualties.
John McCrae wrote his famous poem "In Flanders Fields" during this battle.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.