More Soldiers Sleeping

A sequel to this post (from almost two years ago now-- where does time go?). I always find photographs of soldiers asleep very touching. This photograph of a young soldier asleep in a WWI trench, in fact, is partially responsible for getting me so into old photographs. The emotional effect, for me, comes partly from the sense of sheer exhaustion you get from the men's poses, conveying the physical pressures of war, but even more so from the contrast between relaxed, sleeping, usually very young faces, and the context surrounding them-- the conditions and military apparel you see in the photographs as well as the wider wartime context the photograph fits into. Asleep, these men don't look like hardened soldiers off to fight for their lives; they look like young men who should be sleeping somewhere much better, not caught up in a war at all. 

© IWM (TR 1520)

A British lieutenant sleeps in the hay during fighting in Italy, 1944. Source

Larry Burrows, LIFE © Time Inc.

An American soldier asleep in Cambodia, 1970. Source

LIFE © Time Inc.

British soldier sleeping in a shallow foxhole in the Libyan desert, 1941. Source

Myron Davis, LIFE © Time Inc.

Australian soldier asleep in a hammock during a lull in the fighting, Papua New Guinea, 1943. Source

LIFE © Time Inc.

An Allied soldier (noted as probably Australian) sleeping in a foxhole, Tobruk, Libya. 1941. Source

George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldier sleeping in a foxhole, Minturno, Italy, 1944. Source

George Strock, LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldier sleeping against a tree, after fierce fighting to take control of the area. Papua New Guinea, 1943. Source

© IWM (Q 4389)

Soldiers sleeping at the entrance to their trench during the Battle of the Somme, 1916 (note the photographer's shadow in the foreground). Source

LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldier sleeping on a bed belonging to Goering after capture of his lodge, Germany, 1945. Source

© IWM (Q 5848)

An engineer sleeps amid wreckage during the Battle of Ypres, 1917. Source

George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldier sleeping in a foxhole after a march through rugged mountain, Minturno, Italy, 1944. Source

© IWM (D 18758)

British servicemen sleep aboard a troopship, 1944. Source

© IWM (Q 11065)

British soldiers sleeping in Crecy Forest, 1918. Source

© IWM (Q 71962)

A cavalry trooper sleeping in the open at his unit's camp, South Africa, Boer War, 1899-1902. Source

George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldiers sleep beside a haystack, Minturno, Italy, 1944. Source

 © IWM (Q 4213)

Soldiers sleeping in the open during the Battle of the Somme 1916. Source

LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldiers sleeping and resting, Germany, 1945. Source

© IWM (Q 2289)

German POWs sleeping after the Battle of Messines Ridge, 1917. Source

George Silk, LIFE © Time Inc.

American soldier sleeping against sandbags, Anzio, Italy, 1944. Source

© IWM (TR 1529)

A British soldier sleeps in Italy, 1944. Source