Dump of empty ammunition boxes, July 1916

Lantern slide, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1916.

These boxes contained shells that were used during the bombardment of Fricourt on the Somme. They were a fraction of the 1.5 million shells fired during the seven-day preliminary barrage prior to the attack of 1 July 1916. The bombardment was supposed to cut the enemy wire, destroy emplacements and knock-out German gun batteries.

From a box of 50 lantern slides.