Damage to the town of Albert in WW1

Local photographers in the areas of fighting across northern France recorded the impact on their communities. They produced packs of postcards which were bought by soldiers as mementos and later in the war by families and tourists visiting the battlefields. Many pictures are marked “The Great War of 1914 to 1916” in the forlorn hope that the crisis would be ending sooner than it ultimately did. Most of the postcards were captioned in both French and English to widen their audience.

Harry Harby bought some of these pictures including these of the town of Albert and brought them home to add to Florrie’s album collection. Albert is a commune mid-way between Amiens and Bapaume in the Somme. It was the scene of focused fighting in September 1914, July 1916 and especially in the Second Battle of the Somme in August 1918 when the Germans were finally driven from the town having occupied it since April that year.