'Gun captured in Farbus wood by Canadians. These emplacements were used by us as observation posts as they commanded good views over the plain beyond Vimy', 1917

Photograph, World War One (1914-1918), 1917 (c).

A captured German concrete gun emplacement amongst the shattered trees of Farbus Wood. Piles of wicker ammunition carriers and abandoned rifles and equipment can be seen in the foreground.

On 9 April 1917, four divisions of Canadian infantry recaptured the four-mile long strategic height of Vimy Ridge as part of the Battle of Arras (1917). Vimy Ridge had been occupied by the Germans since October 1914. Fortified, it commanded the flat countryside for miles around. Heavy bombardment prior to the attack helped neutralise numerous German gun positions.

From an album of 253 photographs compiled by Charles William Stulpnagel (known as Swinton after December 1914), 50th Heavy Artillery Group, 1889-1920.