43 Rare Color Photos From The First World War

Published on November 11th, 2017

The Great War began on July 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918. We usually see images of the WWI in black and white. But it was also the time when the global war was captured on camera in color.

As Britain remembers those who lost their lives in the conflict, pictures from the end of the conflict have been painstakingly brought into the 21st Century. With luck, we stumble upon this incredible collection of rare historical photos of the First World War in color images.

1. The stark devastation was clear at the end of World War One

2. Troops celebrate the conflict coming to an end

3. The relief is clear to see on soldier’s faces

4. Soldiers can finally return home

5. Weary troops make their way from the battlefield

6. Soldiers sit on top of a tank as the end of the war is declared

7. Soldiers survey the devastation on the battle field

8. Troops climb over the top of the trenches

9. A French soldier, circa 1915

10. French Gunners receive instruction, 1916

11. A French soldier with an acoustic listening device capable of tracking aircraft on the Western Front

12. Machine gunners take positions in the ruins during the battle of the Aisne in 1917

13. Sad troops look at fallen comrades

14. A huge graveyard shows the devastating cost of the conflict

15. Men collapse on the floor with exhaustion

16. Tired soldiers begin to make their way out of the trenches

17. Some of the troops were just too tired to move

18. Horses and soldiers stand side to side

19. Troops begin the long journey home

20. Soldiers pile into transport to take them home

21. Soldiers are greeted by grateful civilians

22. Ruin is all around

23. Troops leave the front line

24. Thousands of soldiers make their way home

25. Troops standing in the shell of a building

26. A crater caused by the explosion of 19 mines placed underneath German positions near Messines in West Flanders by the British on June 7, 1917.

27. The wreck of a German tank, which was destroyed during a battle on the Western Front

28. A soldier in uniform with three medals stands next to a cannon in Paris in 1918. His left leg has been replaced by an artificial limb

29. A French soldier stands next to a table with German shells and an aircraft propeller, along the Western Front in Reims in 1917

30. Two French soldiers from Africa heat up a meal on an outdoor fireplace made from brick on the Western Front in 1917.

31. A soldier is shaved by a barber in a French military encampment in Soissons, 1917

32. Graves of French soldiers killed at Laffaux on May 14, 1917 are seen in this colour photo taken by Fernand Cuville in Soissons, Aisne

33. Victory celebration at Arc de Triomphe, Paris, July 14, 1919.

34. A sergeant of the Lancashire Fusiliers in a flooded trench opposite Messines near Ploegsteert Wood. January 1917

35. Nine French soldiers investigate a fatally injured horse on the Western Front.

36. French officers of the 370th Infantry Regiment pose in the ruins after a German attack at the Chemin des Dames near Reims in 1917. They have a bicycle and the flag of the 370th Infantry Regiment. The region was one of the worst battle grounds on the Western Front during World War I.

37. Soldiers from the Kings Liverpool Regiment listening to the news being read out as they wait in their trench during World War One. 1918.

38. British soldier giving a light to a German prisoner of war. September 1914.

39. A British Cavalry Scout on alert. This image shows the care our men take of their horses, for although the horse has only a slight injury he is well bandaged. Circa November 1914.

40. King George V visits the Western Front. France. World War One. 26th July 1917. The King picks up a Boche helmet.

41. Carrying party of the 1/7th King’s Liverpool Regiment, 156th Brigade, 55th division bringing up rations in containers to the men in the trenches in the La Bassee Canal Sector. 15 March 1918.