'Wreckage of Liege forts', 1914

Lantern slide, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1914.

Liege was defended by 12 forts and was attacked by the Germans on 5 August 1914 in what was the first major battle of the war. Each of the forts was reduced by heavy calibre siege howitzers. These penetrated the concrete roofs and walls and then detonated inside by means of delayed fuses. This photograph shows the ruins of Fort Loncin after it was hit by 420 mm howitzer shells. Its magazine was hit and most of the garrison were killed in the subsequent explosion. The town itself was secured by 16 August.

From a box of 70 lantern slides associated with attack on Belgium, 1914.