J. Patras, World War I Photographs

Photographs taken by J. Patras in France and surrounding areas during World War I. The photographs illustrate areas of France affected by the war, soldiers in camps and bunkers, cemeteries and burials, hospitals, churches and trenches.

This collection contains black and white photographs of war scenes in France during World War I. The photographs are arranged according to the group name and number assigned to them by the creator. Group B contains images of Allied cemeteries and a shelled American outpost. The photographs in group C show soldiers outside of field hospitals, inspecting damaged buildings, preparing burials and soldiers sitting in trenches. There are also several photographs of cemeteries and shelled churches. Group L contains photographs showing patient treatments inside hospitals, destroyed buildings and the outside of a field hospital. The photograph in group N depicts a cathedral at Reims before 1916. There are more photographs of this cathedral taken after 1916 when the cathedral was nearly destroyed by bombs or artillery shells. The photographs in group P show the remains of Fort La Pompelle, south of Reims on 1 Oct. 1918 and the Arc de Triumphe in Paris. There are several photographs in Group R; most show destroyed buildings and bridges. There are also photographs of the damaged cathedral at Reims, a downed airplane in a field, and German graffitti inside a French building. Group S contains only two photographs that depict the nearly destroyed Soissons Cathedral. The photographs in group V mainly depict destroyed or damaged buildings. They also show ambulance trucks parked on roads, French and American soldiers in the field, first aid stations, and cemeteries.