Images of places before and after bombardment during World War OneSmall cream covered postcard booklet containing 12 postcards of Ploegsteert with gold printing on front cover.In gold print - Souvenir de PLOEGSTEERT 12 vues du bombardement de PLOEGSTEERT-CENTRE et du BIZET on front cover. "1917" on right hand side front cover in gold print. "Elizabeth-anne in blue biro and pencil on RHS top corner" handwrittenworld war one, wwi, 1st ww, 1917, ploegsteert, postcards, souvenir, bizet, bombardment, 1915, church, 1916, soldiers, post office, the armentieres, armentieres, therry, burgomaster, doctor, rectory, "marshal" public house, bombarded church, le bizet, convent, girls school, school, world war, flanders, world war one, wwi, 1st ww, 1917, ploegsteert, postcards, souvenir, bizet, bombardment, 1915, church, 1916, soldiers, post office, the armentieres, armentieres, therry, burgomaster, doctor, rectory, "marshal" public house, bombarded church, le bizet, convent, girls school, school, world war, flanders

Le Bizet is a village in the Belgian province of Hainaut . It lies in the district of Ploegsteert and is near the French border. This postcard was purchased by an Australian soldier during World War One. Black and white postcard showing houses in Le Bizet, Belgium in ruins after bombing during World War One. This card was purchased by an Australian soldier, probably Henry Smerdon Holmes, during World War One. chatham-holmes family collection, le bizet, belgium, ploegsteert, world war, world war 1, bombing, world war one, western front

Frame timber with no glass front, rear plywood. Square black &white photo of a WWI soldier looking through a telescope, sitting on ammunition boxes in a muddy trench. Photo top right: “IDA POST” Frame bottom left: “E1834” (maybe an AWM collection number) Frame bottom centre: “Observation post, in the Ploegsteert Sector, Belgium, Jan 1918”brsl, smirsl, trench

Taken during World War I on the Western Front, this photograph depicts four soldiers dressed in full uniform and kit walking through muddy trenches on wooden duckboards.On the Western Front, the war was fought by soldiers in trenches. Trenches were long, narrow ditches dug into the ground where soldiers lived. They were very muddy, uncomfortable and the toilets overflowed. These conditions caused some soldiers to develop medical problems such as trench foot. There were many lines of German trenches on one side and many lines of Allied trenches on the other. In the middle was no man's land, which soldiers crossed to attack the other side. 'Duckboards' (or 'trench gratings') were first used at Ploegsteert Wood, Ypres in December 1914. They were used throughout the First World War being usually placed at the bottom of the trenches to cover the sump-pits, the drainage holes which were made at intervals along one side of the trench. This made it easier to pump out the pits when necessary. The raised edges of the boards in theory helped protect men's feet from accumulated water; walking along them (especially at night and in the wet) was something of an art as it was easy to lose one's footing and slip or trip on the fequently misaligned sections.Sepia rectangular reproduced photograph on matte photographic paperReverse: 6528/ (A copyright and reproduction notice from the Australian War Museum, printed in blue ink)/burke museum, military album, trench warfare, duckboards, soldiers, ww1, wwi, world war 1, world war i, western front