War in pictures (2) - World War I images

The first months of the war saw desperate measures taken to move troops to the front. Most famously, 1,200 Parisian taxicabs were used by General Gallieni to move part of his garrison to the front. In October 1914, London omnibuses serve in the transport fleet of the British Expeditionary Force.

A French officer observes the fall of a shot using a periscope. Periscopes such as this were invaluable to give some idea of what was going on over the other side without being shot by enemy snipers.

A totally different kind of view. Here, a forward observation officer of the 82nd Battery, Royal Field Artillery, observes the fall of a shot during the advance on Kut in the autumn of 1915. 10,000 British troops surrendered to the Turks at Kut on 19 April 1916, one of the worst defeats in British military history up to that time.

The Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides. In Australia and New Zealand, the campaign was the first major battle undertaken by a joint military formation, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries.

Here, two Australians guard a well-camouflaged Turkish sniper. All the Turk has to do is jump into the bushes and he would have escaped scot-free - LOL

Tanks were first used at the battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916, as part of the Somme offensive. Every single tank then available, 49 in total, was deployed in the attack. Only 15 actually crossed into No Man's Land, the rest falling victim to mechanical unreliability. Even in such small numbers they proved quite effective as the attack gained over a mile of ground, a dramatic advance for the Somme campaign.