Ian Ference's 3D blog on all things stereographic, from classic scopes & stereoviews to historical context & modern analysis
A month-long French offensive known as the Second Battle of Verdun is the subject of this 10-slide series put out by the SDV division of LSU. Featuring scenes from the recaptured regions surrounding Esnes, the series really portrays the devastation caused by 4 million shells impacting a region localized around a few miles of space.
On 1 April 1915, an MoS-3 piloted by Sergeant Jean Navarre took to the skies - where it encountered a German Albatros B.II. Some sharpshooting by the observer, Lieutenant Jean Robert, brought down the biplane - leading to the capture of the craft and its occupants, and the first victory for the MS 12 Escadrille, and medals for Navarre and Robert.
A look at the Canon de 75 mm Modele 1897, in use for almost a century, and the central role it played in defending the Meuse Heights in 1916 at the Battle of Verdun.
A simple cross sits above a pile of German corpses - in a 1,000-year-old village that was completely leveled in a year, and finally came to be home to the largest military cemetery in France.
A new box of slides from Brentano's - stamped "Verdun" on the front - gives me the opportunity to make some side-by-side comparisons of both duplicate and same-subject images from my collection.
The Tranchée des Baïonnettes - where 21 men of the 137th Infantry's 3 Company were supposedly buried alive, with only their bayonets poking out above the earth - was photographed after it was excavated during the planning phases of the 1920 monument built on the site.