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.
One-shot #31: La Stéréoscopie Universelle (LSU)’s SDV division really steps in it…
Bad puns aside, LSU really screwed the pooch on a 45x107mm glass plate stereoview - not only did they print the image horizontally reversed, but they managed to rotate the right-hand frame of the stereo pair by 180º. In this post, we explore the printing process that must have been employed by LSU in making an extremely goofy glass plate.
One-shot #29: 1915 Capture of an Albatros B.II by Sgt Navarre and Lt Robert
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.
One-shot #28: Camouflaged English batteries (LSU no. 9198)
Sometimes, whilst one is sorting through a newly acquired collection, a new slide or card proves just captivating - and one winds up just admiring it through their favorite stereoscope for minutes on end. This was one from my latest acquisition which had this effect on me.
One-shot #19: A Cross at Ablain
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.
One-shot #18: On the Road Again
As I head out to what I often describe as "a snowbound hellhole" of a hometown to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, I share an image of soldiers trudging through an *actual* snowbound hellhole on their way to battle.