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

Monday, January 18, 2016

Our World War I Documentarian Steve Miller

On my Western Front tour in 2008 the most tireless shutterbug in the group was my fellow Air Force veteran Steve Miller. It was only afterward, though, that I came to understand Steve's passion for recording the important sites of the war, both famous and forgotten. Not only did Steve present me with an excellent set of  images from our trip together, but since then he has also provided me an endless stream of  images from around the world — places I've never had a chance to visit myself —that I've been able to use in all my publications, especially here on Roads to the Great War.  Here is a selection of images for you from my "Steve Miller" folder.  You'll be seeing more of Steve's work in the future, of course.

Spectacular Dinant, France,  with its high citadel and cathedral was the site of important
fighting during the Battle of the Frontiers in 1914, as well as the  brutal murder of
hundreds of civilians.  Lt. Charles de Gaulle was wounded on the bridge over the Meuse.

Burial site of Manfred von Richthofen, Südfriedhof, at Wiesbaden, Hessen, Germany

At the Verdun Citadel, depiction of the final selection at the original location

Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem, Israel: General Edmund Allenby, accompanied by
Lawrence of Arabia, entered the city here on 11 December 1917.

Ornamental detail from the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial,
located just outside Paris in Marnes-la-Coquette


Ordnance collected from a single site on the Somme battlefield

Both Quentin and Ted, Jr., were veterans of the Great War.


Mural at the Town Hall in Doullens, France,
depicting the meeting held there on 26 March 1915, after which Ferdinand Foch
was designated generalissimo of the Allied Forces



5 comments:

  1. I noted the Jaffa Gate Image.
    Allenby was the first Christian soldier to enter Jerusalem since the twelfth century Crusades.
    Also he walked into the city instead of driving, in deference to the three monotheistic religions to whom Jerusalem is a holy city.

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    1. Yes, he walked also to contrast himself with the Kaiser who rode a horse.

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  2. Great Pictures! I thought Foch was appointed Generalissimo in 1918, not 1915?

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  3. I really appreciate all the great work Steve does! David Beer

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