JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

The caption for this photograph describes it as action at St. Quentin, though I can find no evidence as to what particular battle at St. Quentin it refers to, which means it can be from 1914 to 1918.  The photograph was taken by the German photographic journalist Hermann Rex, and was published in Der Weltkrieg in seiner Rauhen Wirklichkeit…in 1926.  I’ve written a little about Rex elsewhere on this blog, and how his work seems to have been subjected less to censorship of “difficult” images than many.  Certainly his book is grittier than many I have seen, though I cannot identify his work as it was published during the war. (It is my impression, in general, that after having looked at all of the issues of Illustrated London News and Illusrirte Zeitung for 1914-1918, that the German illustrations/photos seem to have been less restrictive in displaying death and destruction.)

The image below made a very strong impression, stronger still as I looked more closely.