World War One

A selection of images relating to the First World War. Also check out our: Teaching Activity WW1: Joining Up and the Somme Teaching Activity WW1: Women's War Work

Add to My Favourites Copyright English Heritage Photo Library World War I Battery Observation Post, Pendennis Castle, Cornwall A reconstruction of the Battery Observation Post (BOP) showing how it might have looked during World War I. Construction of the castle began in 1540 as part of Henry VIII's defence of the south coast against possible invasion. This site is now in the care of English Heritage (2010).	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR Taxis outside the AA offices at Fanum House, Whitch Motor cars, each with the banner 'We are enlisting for War', are lined up outside the Automobile Association Company's head office at Fanum House, Whitcomb Road. They are ready to take a band of Road Scouts to enlist while a crowd gathers to cheer.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR War work at Waring & Gillow, Hammersmith, London Waring & Gillow's furniture factory was converted to War work. Here markings are painted onto wing sections of military aircraft. Note that the workforce consists of women and of young men below the age of military service.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR General Accident Insurance Building, Aldwych, London A crowd of Belgian refugees gather outside the General Accident Insurance Corporation Building in Aldwych during the first days of the First World War.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR AA Road Scouts parade outside Fanum House, Whitcom Road Scouts from the Automobile Association Company on parade outside their headquarters in Fanum House, Whitcomb Street. They are about to enlist for duty at the beginning of World War I whilst a crowd gathers to watch.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR First World War Aircraft Works, Waring and Gillow, London Waring and Gillow owned a factory at Hammersmith, which was used during WWI to make parts for aircraft, instead of the furniture that normally made there. The company's knowledge of woodworking, design, and fabric covering made them an ideal choice for this.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR Hamptons Munitions Works, Belvedere Road, Lambeth, An interior view of a workshop where men are making aircraft propellor blades at Hamptons Munitions Works in Belvedere Road. The floor is covered in wood shavings. During World War I many factories were converted to support the war effort.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR Preparing projectile heads at Cunard Shell Works, Merseyside Shell heads of various sizes are being processed in this picture. Despite the shortage of male labour during the War, men were still often used as managers and skilled workers, although many women did become supervisors and checkers.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR Checking shells at Cunard Shell Works, Birkenhead, Merseyside An important aspect of armament manufacturing is to ensure that all components, shells in this case, are identical. This man is carefully checking the dimensions of the shells before they are sent to the factory in Aintree, where they will be filled with high explosives.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR Checking shells, Cunard Shell Works, Birkenhead, Merseyside These women are checking shells to ensure that they meet the standards set; an irregular shell may explode in the barrel of the gun. Rigorous controls were applied to the manufacturing processes at this site, which still managed to produce nearly 5,000 shells a week.
Add to My Favourites Copyright English Heritage.NMR Bull Sand Fort, Humber Estuary, East Yorkshire The larger of two Island forts built to defend the mouth of the Humber during the First World War. The octagonal concrete and steel structure was originally armed with four 6" breech loading guns and four 90cm spotlights. The armoury was upgraded during WWII to include two 6-pounder quick firing guns to help guard against the threat of motor torpedo boats entering the estuary. The fort's remote location has recently attracted a plan to convert it to a drug and alcohol detoxification centre.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of Oxfordshire County Council First World War greetings card This greetings card was published by Henry Taunt. He also wrote the verse, and left a blank for a photograph no doubt to be taken by him.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of Oxfordshire County Council Vicarage, South Stoke, Oxfordshire Captain G.M Morrell and Mrs E. Morrell (nee Nind) posing for a wartime wedding photograph with the wedding party and guests in the gardens of South Stoke Vicarage. Captain Morrell was the son of the owner of the famous Morrell Brewery in Oxford.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of Oxfordshire County Council Title page for Every man a soldier Title page of a song written by Henry Taunt intended to encourage men to enlist in the forces during World War I. It is dedicated to Field Marshal Lord Roberts.
Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR Certificate, Great Dixter, Northiam, East Sussex A certificate commemorating the role of Great Dixter as an army hospital during the First World War.	Add to My Favourites English Heritage.NMR Great Dixter, Northiam, East Sussex A view showing Red Cross staff and patients posed outside Great Dixter. The house was used as a convalescence home for wounded soldiers during World War One.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR Red Cross Hospital, Little Kineton, Kineton, Warwickshire Soldiers recuperating from injuries sustained on the battlefields during World War I are photographed with the nurses caring for them at this hospital in Kineton.	Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR War memorial, Paddington Station, Praed Street, Westminster, London A plaque giving information about the Paddington Station War Memorial to the 2,524 employees of the Great Western Railway who died during the First World War. The memorial itself was unveiled on Armistice Day in 1922 by Viscount Churchill.
Add to My Favourites Reproduced by permission of English Heritage.NMR War memorial, City of London School for Boys, Victoria Embankment, City of London This memorial by Banister Fletcher was erected after World War I to commemorate those old boys from the City of London School for Boys who died during the Great War. Its size gives an idea of the extent of the slaughter.	Add to My Favourites Copyright English Heritage.NMR The Fovant Badges, Wiltshire Thousands of soldiers were stationed in training camps near to the village of Fovant, Wiltshire during the 1914-1918 war. In memory of those who died on the battlefields, many regiments created replica cap badges on the adjacent chalk downs by turf cutting and infilling with chalk. Although many badges have not survived, several were recently restored and are now Scheduled Ancient Monuments.