'6" german naval gun under railroad at Farbus - Used to annoy us badly till taking of Ridge', 1917

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

A captured German concrete gun position at Farbus. Two soldiers pose with an emplaced naval gun. One holds a large shell in his arms. The caption continues, 'my souvenir cartridge came from here'.

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.