First World War images on display
Photographs are like time capsules that preserve glimpses of history. People are easily forgotten once they die, certain segments of history might lose their significance but photographs that have captured people, place, memories and history can outlive the very elements they have captured.
A collection of 35 photographs of colonial troops engaged in war on different battle fields in the First World War are on display at a photography exhibition titled War and Colonies 1914-1918 at the La Galerie, Alliance Francaise De Dhaka. Alliance Francaise has organised the exhibition to mark the centenary of the First World War.
The photographs collected from different sources reveal soldiers and workers employed from the colony countries by the colonisers. The exhibition features images of troops from Entente Powers including countries like America, Britain, Italy and also from The Central Powers comprising of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and others during the war.
The Indian soldiers, who engaged in the war for colonial Britain, are also featured in the exhibited photographs. One of the photographs shows a group of Punjabi soldiers fighting for the British in First World War, posing for the photograph taken in France.
Ireland was Britain’s first colony but it was quite troublesome for its rulers. However, many Irish soldiers participated in the war and fought for the British. A photograph, taken in 1916, shows some Irish soldiers taking rest in a trench just behind the front line in France.
The Africans enlisted in the European colonial troops were known as Askaris. The Askaris mainly fought for the Germans in different battle grounds. Some Askari soldiers, on a fire drill in Germany that had colonised East Africa, have been captured in one of the photographs on display.
Some photographs also feature Moroccan soldiers in the French colonial troops in First World War. A rare image from 1918 shows a few Moroccan soldiers enjoying a respite and coffee at an army camp.
The French government recruited about 1, 00,000 Chinese workers to bolster the war efforts through various facilities like transportation of ammunition, digging trench, and others. Some of the images show Chinese workers arriving in Northern France to construct the railway line in Blangy-sous-Poix and Aumale.
The exhibition, which began on February 25, will remain open every day except Sundays from midday to 8:00pm till March 9.
-With New Age input
