Striking Colourised Images Show British Soldiers at the Frontline During WW1

By Mark McConville

STRIKING images of Scottish regiments at the frontline during the First World War have been brought back to life after being expertly colourised.

The action shots show Jock soldiers marching to the frontline in France, carrying an injured comrade back on a stretcher and huddling in a trench.

Other poignant pictures show injured soldiers being attended to by medic in the field, soldiers posing for pictures and relaxing during a break in the fighting.

The images of WW1 were expertly colourised by Welsh electrician Royston Leonard (54), from Cardiff.

“This project was to show the work of Ernest brooks and the photographs of the western front mostly taken from 1916 to 1918,” he said.

“Before joining the army, he was a photographer with the Mirror newspaper.

“I like the way he captures the action and still giving a feeling of seeing it from the soldiers’ point of view of everyday life at the front.

“World War One was the first time a conflict was followed on a daily basis by the media of the day with photographs and film being shown to the public as it happened.”

Ernest Brooks was a British photographer, best known for his war photography from the First World War.

He was the first official photographer to be appointed by the British military, and produced several thousand images between 1915 and 1918, more than a tenth of all British official photographs taken during the war.