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A war graves photographer on the Western Front

  • Dedication ceremony at Bailleul British Military Cemetery, France, on All Saints’ Day (1 November) 1915. Three British army chaplains lead the assembled officers and men in a hymn. Nurses can be seen standing behind the soldiers on the left-hand side.

  • The grave of Lieutenant Edmund Lilley, killed in action on 31 July 1918, in St Amand British Cemetery, France. Known as Jack, he was one of Ivan Bawtree's cousins. This card is typical of what was sent to relatives when they requested a photograph of a particular grave.

  • The grave marker of CQMS Frederick Gosling, 1st Battalion Hampshire Regiment, killed in action on 1 November 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres. His grave was in Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery, but was lost at some point, probably destroyed by shellfire. Consequently, Gosling's name is recorded on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, opposite the cemetery.

  • The book features some of my own photos to provide then-and-now comparisons. In some cases, like this one of Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery near Ypres, I have blended Ivan's image with my own. Here you can see how wooden grave markers were replaced by headstones after the armistice.

  • Tyne Cot Cemetery in 1919, blended with my image from 2013, featuring a German blockhouse upon which the 'Cross of Sacrifice' would later be placed. It is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world.

  • The ruins of the Cloth Hall in Ypres, Belgium.

  • A mine crater on Hill 60 on the south-east side of Ypres. It most resembles the Caterpillar Crater. This was one of 19 mines detonated in the opening of the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917.

  • Ivan is in the sidecar outside the Lille Gate, on the south side of Ypres, in December 1918 or early 1919.

  • Ivan is very casually standing next to the wreck of tank D32, named ‘Dop Doctor’, April 1920. It was a British Mark IV tank that was knocked out of action during the Battle of Poelcapelle on 9 October 1917 in the Ypres Salient.

  • Photographing the Fallen: A War Graves Photographer on the Western Front 1915-1919 was published in 2017 by Pen & Sword Books.

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