Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Friday, August 24, 2018

A Classic Great War Photo: Hawthorne Mine, 1 July 1916


Top—1 July 1916; Lower—20 Aug 2016

Photographer Ernest Brooks and cinematographer Geoffrey Malins recorded the most famous images of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916 at 7:20 a.m.

In May 2016 I was able to visit the location where they observed the explosion. It is on a sunken road used by elements of the 29th Division as a jumping-off point that morning. The sunken road is immediately west of the village of Beaumont Hamel, just off road D163.

5 comments:

  1. I'm still amazed. What a hard shot to get.

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  2. It is a still from a film. Also the troops waiting in the sunken Road for the attack were filmed

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  3. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g8YfJmwY5Uo

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  4. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sb7urnjEaE

    Troops in the sunken Road preparing for battle

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    Replies
    1. Ah, thank you, Jip. Two great clips. And it is much, much easier to get a still from a film than to take a short of something so sudden.

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