To Commemorate The 100th Anniversary of The End Of The Great War, 100 Colourised Images Have Been Released

By Mark McConville

THE GRIM reality of World War One has been remembered in a series of 100 colourised images to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the end of the Great War.

The incredible images show Royal Garrison Artillery gunners pushing a light railway truck filled with shells in 1917, a British soldier helping a wounded German prisoner walk along a railway track in 1916 and British officers standing outside the mouth of a German trench in Messines, Belgium, 1917 after capturing it.

Other striking pictures show King George V sitting next to an army commander, Thiepval, France on the site where Thiepval Chateau once stood, a soldier receiving a haircut from an Alpine barber on the Albanian front and a group of Irish soldiers recuperating with nurses c1917.

The original black and white photographs were painstakingly colourised by Tom Marshall of PhotograFix to mark the 100^th anniversary of World War One ending.

“I began colourising black and white photos professionally in 2014, coinciding with the centenary of the outbreak of WW1 in 1914,” he said.

“Around the world there was a renewed interest in a war that had not been fresh in the public memory for many years.

“Since 2014 I have been very fortunate to have been able to work with some high profile clients around the world on exhibitions, press articles and books commemorating significant WW1 anniversaries, but I have also been honoured to work on clients personal family photos, which all have unique insights into what was truly the first global conflict.

“To mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, I have decided to collate 100 images I’ve colourised in tribute to the men and women who lived through the war, and those who lost their lives.

“I have chosen to include men and women of several nationalities, races and religions, as the entire world was affected by the war, and I hope the photos will show an insight into the lesser known stories and events.

“Please consider making a donation to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, or to a local memorial appeal in your home country. Lest we forget.”

World War One was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as the “war to end all wars”, it led to the mobilization of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history.

An estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war, while it is also considered a contributory factor in a number of genocides and the 1918 influenza epidemic, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide.