A pair of photos I found in a flea market a few days ago. They appear to have been taken during the British offensive against the Turks in 1917. In the first photo grinning British soldiers are posing with a wrecked German-built AEG C.IV fighter plane. The bottom photo of troops resting in trench has a pencilled note on the back which I still haven't fully deciphered (perhaps you can help) which includes the words "second day of the Battle of Gaza".
Photographs I've gleaned from flea markets, junk shops and sometimes ebay. The cheaper the better. Anything with a story that can be extracted from hand written notes, location research, local histories, census records......anything. A small band of fellow enthusiasts worldwide have helped me with many of these. Of course there are always mysteries that defy research, but there's even a story inside these. All images can be viewed at super-size on Flickr.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Palestine. First World War.
A pair of photos I found in a flea market a few days ago. They appear to have been taken during the British offensive against the Turks in 1917. In the first photo grinning British soldiers are posing with a wrecked German-built AEG C.IV fighter plane. The bottom photo of troops resting in trench has a pencilled note on the back which I still haven't fully deciphered (perhaps you can help) which includes the words "second day of the Battle of Gaza".
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My best effort: "204[?] Platoon in reserve on the second day of the Battle of Gaza. Your Humble [as in 'your humble servant'?] having a does [sic for doze?] with knees up marked with a cross." I see that there is what looks like a cross on top of the tent at center right, the one just above the rifles stuck into the ground. And the cross appears to be over the head of a soldier lying on top of the tent cloth. Perhaps he marked himself with a cross so whoever he sent the photo to could pick him out--I didn't realize there was a person there until I looked closely.
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