'Then & Now'
'Refocusing Perspectives: Then and Now Photography of the First World War.
The Highway of Suffering:
From The Somme to Camp Summerdown
Part 1. From the Front.
Fig. 1a. No Man's Land looking towards Stuff Redoubt from Ferme Du Mouquet. This is currently the closest image I can find to Stuff Redoubt and clearly shows the open landscape of the area. © IWM (Q 1379)
Fig. 1b. Stuff Redoubt (9th October 2016), 100 years to the minute the attack on the German strong hold by the 10th Cheshire Regiment began. The Grandcourt Military Cemetery, with many of the fallen from the attack, sits on the site of the battle. © Alan Graham LRPS
Fig. 2a. Crucifix Corner towards Aveluy Oct 1916. Trench maps from this time shows tramlines running from Ferme Du Mouquet down to Crucifix Corner by the River Ancre at Aveluy. From the battle field to the farm casualties like Thomas would have been carried by stretcher or even on piggyback. With a foot injury it is unlikely he would have sent back as walking wounded. © IWM (Q 1348)
Fig. 2b. Crucifix Corner (10th Oct 2016). 100 years and one day after the battle my own car is carried past Crucifix Corner. It is ironic that Thomas took 8 days to make the journey back to a hospital in London, my car took twice as long to be shipped home! © Alan Graham LRPS
Fig. 3a. Chateau Aveluy (c. Spring 1918) A German postcard that could only have been taken during the Spring Offensive of 1918. The Chateau was the Advanced Dressing Station of the 76th Field Ambulance in October 1916 and from where Thomas would have left before the battle. During the next couple of days it came under heavy bombardment and the 76th FA withdrew to Bouzincourt. It is still likely Thomas passed through the grounds on his journey along the casualty evacuation chain. © Feldpost 14, Postcard Collector, Belgium.
Fig. 3b The Site of Chateau Aveluy (2017) Using trench maps together with other postcards of the chateau owned by Feldpost 14 this is as close to a 'now' image possible. The garden and field have a large height difference under the thicket of the modern day trees. This would account for the wall on the left of the before image.
© Alan Graham LRPS
© Alan Graham LRPS
Fig. 4a. Bouzincourt Cemetery Oct 1916 The location of the Advanced Dressing Station at Bouzincourt is unknown but the local cemetery, where the fallen were buried, still remains. It is likely Thomas was passed through quickly and onto Puchevillers. © IWM (Q1542)
Fig. 4b. Bouzincourt Cemetery (2017) The Commonwealth War Graves are at the far end of the cemetery. An engraving of the WW1 photograph is mounted on the right hand pillar. © Alan Graham LRPS
Fig. 5a. Puchevillers No.3 Casualty Clearing Station. Thomas arrived at the No.3 CCS on the 10th. The next day he would have been transported on this trolly line to the ambulance train siding. The sign reads 'Blighty Junction'. Puchevillers also had the No.44 CCS based there. Image taken from 'The Great War', vol.8, author's own copy.
Fig. 5b. Puchevillers (2017) This image was taken just outside the village and looks across the fields towards the main Puchevillers war cemetery. The cross can just be seen between the clump of trees to the right. Using arial images the old train line can be followed through scars on the land. The lush grass in the foreground is where a level area is cut into the natural sloping field. This will be very close to where the first image was taken.
© Alan Graham LRPS
© Alan Graham LRPS
Fig. 6a. The No.14 Ambulance Train. Thomas continued his journey back to Blighty on the No.14 Ambulance Train. No.3 CCS sent 65 stretcher cases and 103 walking wounded to the train including 7 Germans. It departed Puchevillers at 7.15pm on the 11th October passing through Abbeville towards Boulogne were it arrived at 3.15am the following morning. These journeys could take days sometimes depending on the need to move men and munitions in the opposite direction. They could end up in sidings for hours. This image is of the exact same train being inspected by the French press in 1915. © IWM (Q 28851)
Fig. 6b. An Ambulance Carriage today. (2017) This WW1 Ambulance Carriage has been turned into an extension of The Station Kitchen at West Bay, Dorset. I would like to thank the owners of the restaurant for allowing me to photograph the carriage. © Alan Graham LRPS
Fig. 7a An Ambulance Train at Boulogne. The No.14 Ambulance Train unloaded 499 patients and was on it's way within 3 hours. Boulogne had a number of Base Hospitals but Thomas had a ticket for an Ambulance Ship. He was heading straight back to Blighty. © IWM (Q 14760)
Fig. 7b. Inside the Ambulance Carriage 2017. A bit of a transformation. © Alan Graham LRPS
© Alan Graham 2021