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Rare photos show devastation of WW1 from sinking German battleship to veterans with prosthetic limbs

Rare images of the First World War are set to go on display at the Imperial War Museum to mark the 100-year anniversary of Armistice Day

RARELY seen photographs showing the destruction of First World War weapons are going on display as part of an exhibition on the aftermath of the conflict.

From Armistice Day celebrations in Birmingham to treatments for injured servicemen and military equipment being re-purposed for civilian use, the images show the fallout from the war and the new world that emerged.

Armistice celebrations in Birmingham in 1918
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Armistice celebrations in Birmingham in 1918Credit: PA:Press Association

They are part of an exhibition of more than 130 black and white photographs, documents and objects from the Imperial War Museums' archives, Renewal: Life after the First World War in Photographs.

They include rarely seen photographs such as images of 32,000 destroyed German rifles, a shearing machine cutting sword blades in half and the German battleship SMS Bayern sinking at Scapa Flow.

The exhibition at IWM London charts the initial optimism after the end of the First World War.

But it also reveals the extent of destruction and dislocation it left behind, and how the promise of rebuilding the world did not always deliver.

British prisoners of war after reaching Tournai
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British prisoners of war after reaching TournaiCredit: PA:Press Association
Patients being taught how to use their new prosthetic limbs
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Patients being taught how to use their new prosthetic limbsCredit: PA:Press Association
Finishing touches being put to a cosmetic plate for a disfigured patient
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Finishing touches being put to a cosmetic plate for a disfigured patientCredit: PA:Press Association
Over 30,000 destroyed German rifles
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Over 30,000 destroyed German riflesCredit: PA:Press Association
A shearing machine that was used for cutting sword blades in half
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A shearing machine that was used for cutting sword blades in halfCredit: PA:Press Association
Horses and men of 1st Anzac Corps on their way past the ruins of the Cathedral and Cloth Hall in Ypres
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Horses and men of 1st Anzac Corps on their way past the ruins of the Cathedral and Cloth Hall in YpresCredit: PA:Press Association
A refugee family returning to find their home in Amiens, France, in ruins
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A refugee family returning to find their home in Amiens, France, in ruinsCredit: PA:Press Association
German battleship SMS Bayern sinking at Scapa Flow
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German battleship SMS Bayern sinking at Scapa FlowCredit: PA:Press Association
British men handing in their rifles before boarding the Rhine steamer at Cologne on their way back home to England
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British men handing in their rifles before boarding the Rhine steamer at Cologne on their way back home to EnglandCredit: PA:Press Association
Discarded fuselages from dismantled German planes in Cologne
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Discarded fuselages from dismantled German planes in CologneCredit: PA:Press Association
Workers breaking up a Mark V Tank, probably at the Steelbreaking and Dismantling Company of Chesterfield
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Workers breaking up a Mark V Tank, probably at the Steelbreaking and Dismantling Company of ChesterfieldCredit: PA:Press Association
Dismantling German defences on the island of Heligoland
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Dismantling German defences on the island of HeligolandCredit: PA:Press Association

While the Belgian city of Ypres which was devastated by the fighting was rebuilt along its medieval lines, in the UK social measures such as "homes fit for heroes" ran out of money.

The exhibition also shows the ingenuity employed in helping servicemen injured in the conflict, through plastic surgery and prosthetic limbs.

And it highlights how companies such as aeroplane manufacturers switched tack to survive, in one case initially by bolting wicker chairs inside bombers to develop civil aviation as a peacetime alternative to warplanes.

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Alan Wakefield, head of First World War and early 20th century conflict at IWM, said: "Drawing primarily on IWM's rich and varied photography archive, this new exhibition presents images from both official and personal collections, giving insight into the innovation, opportunism and resourcefulness that shaped the rebuilding and regeneration of the post-war world.

"Both surprising and inspiring, the exhibition highlights the resilience and ingenuity of the human spirit in a time of unprecedented social and political change."

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