Article about: Hello folks. A piece I received this morning. I awaited its arrival with both excitement and trepidation. Advance Warning: This book, an anti-war publication, features some very graphic phot
A piece I received this morning. I awaited its arrival with both excitement and trepidation. Advance Warning: This book, an anti-war publication, features some very graphic photographs taken by correspondents during the First World War. I've omitted the grisliest ones, but I feel it is the duty of the collector to understand the horrible circumstances under which the things we collect were made and used.
'Covenants with Death' was published in 1934 by the Daily Express, a year that all of us on this forum will recognise the significance of. It was only one year after the coming to power of Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP, and many could already see storm clouds brewing on the horizon. In an effort to instill a feeling of disgust and distaste for further conflict in the minds of the populace, this book was put to print.
It is a pictorial piece, with very little text. Most of the photographs featured therein were rejected for wartime publication due to their excessively unpleasant nature. There are some 'before and after' pieces, which show the obliteration of land and life by massed artillery bombardments. I do not believe that a single page of this book is without a photograph of a human corpse.
It really brings forth in the mind the terrible cost of armed conflict. Seeing the bodies of so many young men scattered across fields and sprawled in trenches like rubbish, it conjures in the heart feelings of disgust, confusion, outright horror. Each body was a life, and each one a life snuffed out.
Unfortunately, as we know, this book and many others like it failed to do its job. Five years later, the world was once again at war.
I was at pains to decide which pages to photograph for display here. The last fifteen pages are preceded by a warning, and those pages were originally sealed with a star or red tape. It is those ones which I have avoided for a reason. They showcase some of the most brutal acts mankind can inflict on one another. Most feature the aftermath of executions, hanging bodies, the decayed remains of starved civilians. One which I found particularly difficult to look at was the result of a 'Big Bertha' bombardment on Paris. One shell happened to land on a maternity hospital, which was unfortunately occupied at the time.
It is, certainly, a very difficult book to look through. But it is this book, above all, that symbolises just why I have chosen this hobby over others. It is important to preserve the artifacts of terrible world conflicts, to carry the stories and the lessons they hold forwards. Because it is from said artifacts that we learn, and future generations ahead of us learn, the ultimate price we humans pay for brutalizing one another.
Photos follow. Rest assured, I have avoided photographing anything that might cause severe upset. I merely wish to showcase this book as an historical artifact, and hope that you all find it as interesting and poignant as I do.
The U.S. Civil War was the first to be recorded in photos and helped
advance Matthew Brady's career. Your book shows basically the
same content of battlefield death, and war photos such as
these always stir the same feelings of sadness
and horror.
I suppose books like this need to be published to expose us to the
savagery and terrible cost - and it may have been the authors
intent to shock us into making sure these horrors are not
repeated.
The U.S. Civil War was the first to be recorded in photos and helped
advance Matthew Brady's career. Your book shows basically the
same content of battlefield death, and war photos such as
these always stir the same feelings of sadness
and horror.
I suppose books like this need to be published to expose us to the
savagery and terrible cost - and it may have been the authors
intent to shock us into making sure these horrors are not
repeated.
Perhaps one day we will get the message.........
We can only hope.
As long as there are things to fight and kill over, human beings will fight and kill one another.
To quote Blackadder: 'It was simply too much effort not to have a war.'
I shall keep this book, and use it as a 'historian's bible' of sorts. A way of espousing the importance of what we do and the untold tragedies behind the things we collect to future generations.
It's a grisly and oftentimes upsetting piece, but that is the nature of conflict.
War is hell on earth. No doubt about it. Add some context why many vets refuse to talk about it and why there is PTSD. I would never want to go through this.
"Please", Thank You" and proper manners appreciated
My greatest fear is that one day I will die and my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them
"Don't tell me these are investments if you never intend to sell anything" (Quote: Wife)
Those pic's remind me of photos I got from the great grand daughter of a AEF member who was a editor for a newspaper in his civilian life who was attached to a french artillery unit during WW1. He was the Intel officer and did after action reports of the damage done after a barrage. Of interest is the pic of the man in the tree . One of the pic's I have is a horse in a tree. I mentioned these in a post a while ago but have not scanned them yet.
The U.S. Civil War was the first to be recorded in photos and helped
advance Matthew Brady's career. Your book shows basically the
same content of battlefield death, and war photos such as
these always stir the same feelings of sadness
and horror.
I suppose books like this need to be published to expose us to the
savagery and terrible cost - and it may have been the authors
intent to shock us into making sure these horrors are not
repeated.
Perhaps one day we will get the message.........
The Crimea war was the first war to be photographed, slightly before the American Civil war.
I will be on the Somme next weekend, and on the Ypres Salient this autumn
Puts it all in perspective somewhat....
It does indeed.
Went to Ypres on a school trip when I was younger, toured the grave sites and watched a reenactment of the Christmas Truce. It was wintertime, freezing cold. Every step through the mud was difficult, as you'd sink into it up to your ankles. I can scarcely imagine what it would have been like, crouched in a muddy dugout with shells screaming overhead. Simply ghastly to even consider.
I had a great-great uncle who was killed at the Somme, and another plus my great-great grandfather who both came home. Don't know anything more about them, although I can't imagine they would have been too open about what they experienced.
I asked my grandmother once if her grandad ever talked about the war. She said he would only ever say the same thing: 'I saw and heard things, girl, that I hope you never have to see or hear.'
Went to Ypres on a school trip when I was younger, toured the grave sites and watched a reenactment of the Christmas Truce. It was wintertime, freezing cold. Every step through the mud was difficult, as you'd sink into it up to your ankles. I can scarcely imagine what it would have been like, crouched in a muddy dugout with shells screaming overhead. Simply ghastly to even consider.
I had a great-great uncle who was killed at the Somme, and another plus my great-great grandfather who both came home. Don't know anything more about them, although I can't imagine they would have been too open about what they experienced.
I asked my grandmother once if her grandad ever talked about the war. She said he would only ever say the same thing: 'I saw and heard things, girl, that I hope you never have to see or hear.'
B.B.
Please, try and research and learn about them.
We owe it to them, to show respect and remember them
I try to all the time
Everything else we collect or discuss is simply the detritus of war, memories and remembrance is whats important
Covenants with Death
.
by Walkwolf
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