Reims Cathedral WWI

My photo (top right), is of the exquisite, yet utterly destroyed (from artillery) Reims Cathedral in Reims, France.

The picture on the bottom right was taken at the moment that the destruction began (courtesy of http://www.public.iastate.edu/~kjg/wwi_mod/pics00.htm).

There is no date or info on my picture, yet there are various signs that could reveal the date:

The sailors, along with Yeomen (naval women who performed clerical duties), are American. Americans did not enter the war until April 6, 1917, so this picture dates itself after that. The weather also appears to be cold, which must be sometime in late fall or winter. In August-September of 1917, the German military retreated back and formed the famous Hindenburg Line (just to the north of Reims). In November of 1918, the war ended. The picture, therefore, must be from around the time the Germans evacuated Reims or at the end of the war.

I managed to find other interesting information regarding this photo. A picture found online shows Italian troops standing in the same spot in front of the cathedral. The brick building to the right of them has chimney stacks. In my picture, the chimneys of the brick building are gone. I also managed to find an article from The New York Times written by an American reporter on Christmas, 1916. In the article, he describes the condition of the cathedral inside and out. In his description, the stained glass circle on the facade still had glass on the right half. In my picture, no glass can be seen in any window.

The picture on the top left is the cathedral as it is seen today, taken from almost the same position (courtesy of http://image.rol.vn/Resources/2008/10/14_DOOL_081014_CD_L1_H1.jpg).


The New York Times article can be found at:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9800E7DC153BE633A25756C2A9649D946796D6CF

A New Hobby Emerges

Over the past decade, any place that has ever been deemed "home" has always been littered with my collection of various pieces of military equipment. Our current pillbox of an apartment has recently become one of the only, if not the only, military surplus establishments this side of the Medical Center (only because the 75th Infantry headquarters down the street recently became a barracks for weeds).

Tragically, much of what one finds when collecting militaria are pieces of dilapidated equipment, usually their purpose forgotten or disregarded (helmets used for holding water, or what seems to be once used as a flower pot, bayonets that served as machetes, mess kits harshly used as camping equipment and uniforms that became a moth & silverfish buffet).

I originally began this blog thinking that it would be a great way to showcase this equipment, from the moment items were bought, through the restoration phase and then the finished results. This was the case until yesterday, upon rummaging through a box of old photos in an antique store, that I found four brittle, unassuming snapshots taken from moments during both world wars. After purchasing these photos (all about $2-3 each), I began to ponder the notion that the pictures I had just purchased could be, and most likely were, the only copy of that snapshot in existence. Thinking more deeply, I may have just saved four moments in time that would otherwise disappear from existence completely.

Though I was simply able to add these to my militaria collection, these were, to me, a different kind of history. Just like each helmet, knife or Zippo lighter, each picture has a story to tell. Hence, this blog came into existence.

Many of these photos are not labeled. Consequently, a great deal of time and research is needed to decipher each snapshot. I shall do my best in this process. Through this blog I hope that, in some small way, these moments in time become remembered and animated once again...