Single Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter caught in aerial photograph

[Olham]

Seeing through the aerial photographs at McMaster University, I found this picture. It is said to be over Polygone (wood?) of Zonnebeke.

First I though it would show an S.E.5a, but the annotations say it is probably a Sopwith Strutter 1 1/2.

 

I spent quite some time looking at it.

Looking at the black&white freeze of a moment in time, 94 years, 9 months and 18 days ago.

Looking down a crew, who are both already dead now. In this frozen moment they may be around twenty.

Did they survive the Great War?

Did they realise the recon craft above them?

Or were they an escort craft for it?

Did the observer, who made the photo, realise that aircraft, that was slipping into his picture?

However - I always find such finds somehow touching - makes me remember them.

 

The Info to the photography:

 

Area: Polygone De Zonnebeke

Year: 1917

Month: 6

Day: 12

Annotation on Front: No North arrow.

Annotation on Back: AIRCRAFT FLYING TOWARDS POLYGONE DE ZONNEBEKE. AIRCRAFT IS PROBABLY A SOPWITH 1 1/2 STRUTTER OF 70 SQUADRON R.F.C. printed in pencil.

 

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Edited April 18, 2012 by Olham

[HumanDrone]

Quite an interesting picture! I find them moving, as well, for much the same reasons. The ground details are interesting, too. It looks like some sort of racetrack top center, and are all those white spots signs of shelling (YOW!) or what?

 

Thanks, nice pic! It must have been a very difficult one to take back in the day!

 

Tom

[carrick58]

Super Pic.

[Dej]

Ah yes, Polygon Wood also sometimes known as Racetrack Wood. Blasted to stumps and mud by all the fighting that took place in and across it...

 

The wood was cleared by Commonwealth troops at the end of October 1914, given up on 3 May 1915, taken again at the end of September 1917 by Australian troops, evacuated in the Battles of the Lys, and finally retaken by the 9th (Scottish) Division on 28 September 1918.

 

Not much left of the 'wood' after all that, except for 'The Butte', a mound in the centre of the forest, where now stands the 5th Australian Division Memorial.

 

All back to peaceful leafy green NOW

 

[EDIT]Had to correct the mis-spelling of 'Australian'. Seemed disrespectful otherwise.[/EDIT]

Edited April 18, 2012 by Dej

[HumanDrone]

Thank you, Dej.

 

Tom

[Olham]

Thanks, Dej, for the additional info - yes, I wrote "forest", but I meant "wood".

 

Edit: yes, Human Drone, those are shell craters. And if you should ever see an aerial photograph

of the Paschendaele area after the third Battle of Ypres, you will see even many more.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Olham

[Heck]

Thanks for posting this, Olham. I have to admit I've spent many hours of my life perusing photographs from this period with a magnifying glass, trying to absorb every little detail of them that I could.

[Olham]

Welcome to the OFF Forum, Heck!

Do you fly Over Flanders fields? In that case: please send me a PM with your town & country/state -

I would like to add you to our "OFF Forum Pilots Maps" then.

[Wayfarer]

... those are shell craters. And if you should ever see an aerial photograph

of the Paschendaele area after the third Battle of Ypres, you will see even many more.

 

When I saw the date of the photograph, I thought that it might have been part of the reconnaissance effort prior to Third Ypres. I realised it probably didn't count as particularly heavily shelled compared to what came later.

[Olham]

Yes, indeed.

After the 8 days of preparing shelling day and night before the first Battle of the Somme,

A British Major said later, that they had not expected to find anyone alive to fire back.

But there were still plenty of German soldiers.

It is incredible, when I look at pictures of Passchendaele, or Fort Douaumont - that there were still souls alive down there.

[Olham]

Here are some photos of shell pockmarks - Douaumont, and two pics from the Verdun area in winter.

They almost look to me like Pollock's modern art; or like an art of war.

(I turned Douaumont 180 °, cause it looked headover through the shadows and lighting the other way).

 

 

 

 

 

The source was this great website here:

http://albindenis.fr...cadrille005.htm

Edited April 19, 2012 by Olham