History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days. ~Winston Churchill

16 July, 2012

A Return to the Battlefield

A photo series from 1947 following an ex-GI and his new wife re-visiting the battlefields of France where he fought in the war. I find it so striking that he felt compelled to do this, and especially that she felt compelled to do it with him. 

By Tony Linck for LIFE magazine. From the LIFE archives. 



The ex-GI, Ernest Kreiling, and his wife overlook a valley where he fought in WWII. Source



The woman puts a helmet on her husband in the foxhole where he first heard an enemy shell. Source



The man gives his wife a demonstration of how he washed his socks during the war. Source




The man shows his wife the hayloft where he spent Thanksgiving  night, 1944. Source



A battlefield tour. Source



The couple bicycle past a German grave. Source



The couple talk with a French farmer. Source



The couple visit a French family the man met during the war. Source






The pair walk a train station platform. Source



The couple look at a wrecked jeep on the battlefield. Source



The couple walk a cemetery. Source



A visit to the grave of the man's best friend, killed in the war. Source



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's a beautiful series of photographs. Very powerful.

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