This colourized image of soldiers in the trenches shows the camaraderie and support that was essential for survivors of the horrors of the First World War’s four-year conflict.
The photos, which have also been carefully restored, feature in The Great War Illustrated 1915, which is being re-published in paperback by Pen & Sword later this month.
Roni Wilkinson, under Jack Holroyd’s pen name, wrote this book, and his son Jon colored it.
The majority of images were taken on the Western Front in France or Belgium, while others depict troops fighting soldiers from the Ottoman Empire during the terrible Gallipoli campaign.
One photo depicts Scottish troops, who were nicknamed “devils in skirts” or “ladies from hell” by German soldiers. They were seated in a trench at the Western Front with a dog.
The York and Lancaster Regiment soldiers are seen outside their dugout, near the Yser Canal. This was July 1915.
Another image shows an enormous 210 mm heavy howitzer Mörser 10 being used by German soldiers.
Royston Leonard, an electrician, has colored additional photos to commemorate Armistice Day.
One depicts King George V, London at the Cenotaph, Whitehall as he puts a wreath upon the coffin the Unknown Warrior, November 11, 1920.
These colourized images show soldiers fighting in trenches as Britain celebrates Armistice Day. They reveal the camaraderie that helped them survive the horrific conflict of the First World War’s four-year period. They feature in The Great War Illustrated 1915, which is being re-published in paperback by Pen & Sword later this month. Above: Scottish troops – who had been dubbed ‘devils in skirts’ or ‘ladies from hell’ by German soldiers who had never seen men in kilts – sitting in a trench on the Western Front whilst accompanied by a dog
Three soldiers of the York and Lancaster Regiment are also seen standing near their dugout at the Yser Canal, Belgium in July 1915. These were Lieutenant Colver, Lieutenant Cattle, and Captain George Hewitt.
British troops, from Royal Fusiliers, are seen at Gully Ravine (in Gallipoli), where they faced troops from Ottoman Empire. It was a terrible campaign that turned out to have been disastrous.
Another image shows an enormous 210 mm heavy howitzer Mörser 10 being used by German soldiers. Roni Wilkinson wrote the book under Jack Holroyd and William Langford, while his son Jon colourized the images.
In 1915, a British machine gun squad is seen cleaning the Vickers weapon at Ypres (Belgium). Two of their comrades are looking straight at the photographer as one man works on the barrel.
British soldiers are shown loading an 18-pounder gun. This was the most common artillery piece used in the First World War.
A Company’s 1/5th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment men are seen first in trenches at Fleurbaix. This is on the southern border of Belgium’s wet Flanders plain.
Captain Hugh Parry Smith (far left), commanding officer for C Company, 1/5th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment is seen with a folding scope. Originaly, the device was used to view over top crowds at horse races.
British soldiers prepare hand grenades for the Battle of Loos, France, October 1915
British soldiers are seen tempting Turkish snipers into giving up their positions, while others steal some shut-eye in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915.
A battery of British 60-pounder Mk I guns are seen in action at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula in June 1915
One soldier can be seen looking at his enemy from a trench scope during Gallipoli’s Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.
Royston Leonard has also colored several additional series of photos for Armistice Day. One depicts King George V unveiling the permanent Cenotaph in Whitehall on Armistice Day 1920.
Another image shows the King placing a wreath upon the coffin at Cenotaph of the Unknown Soldier, before the cortege went to Westminster Abbey.
Another, more sombre picture, from Armistice Day in 1918, shows a platoon of soldiers gathered around a Union Flag on a mound of dirt, remembering all of the comrades they have lost
Returning home: Soldiers can be seen waiting to get into their trucks after the 1918 end of the First World War.
After the four-year war with Germany, British soldiers are seen jubilantly waving their helmets high in the air.