36 Rare Color Photos from the First World War

The Great War began on July 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918. We usually see images of the WWI in black and white. But it was also the time when the global war was captured on camera in color. With luck, we stumble upon this incredible collection of rare historical photos of the First World War in color images.

1. A French soldier, circa 1915.

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©Mark Jacobs Archive /The Image Works

2. View of Verdun after 8 months of bombing, September 1916.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

3. French Gunners receive instruction, 1916.

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©TopFoto / The Image Works

4. The remains of a dead French soldier and his gun rest under a tree on the Western Front in France.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

5. French soldiers of the 370th Infantry Regiment eat soup during the battle of the Aisne in 1917.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

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6. French Artillery soldiers are shown at the entrance of their shelter on the Western Front.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

7. A French soldier with an acoustic listening device capable of tracking aircraft on the Western Front.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

8. ection of machine gunners take positions in the ruins during the battle of the Aisne in 1917.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

9. A crater caused by the explosion of 19 mines placed underneath German positions near Messines in West Flanders by the British on June 7, 1917.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

10. The wreck of a German tank, which was destroyed during a battle on the Western Front.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

11. A little girl plays with her doll in Reims, France in 1917. Two guns and a knapsack are next to her on the ground.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

12. A soldier in uniform with three medals stands next to a cannon in Paris in 1918. His left leg has been replaced by an artificial limb.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

13. French soldiers rest in the grass after lunch on the Western Front in Aisne, France, in 1917.

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Colour photo by Fernand Cuville.(Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

14. A French soldier stands next to a table with German shells and an aircraft propeller, along the Western Front in Reims in 1917.

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Colour photo (Autochrome Lumière) by Fernand Cuville. (Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

15. Two French soldiers from Africa heat up a meal on an outdoor fireplace made from brick on the Western Front in 1917.

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Colour photo (Autochrome Lumière) by Fernand Cuville.(Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

16. A soldier is shaved by a barber in a French military encampment in Soissons, 1917.

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Colour photo (Autochrome Lumière) by Fernand Cuville.(Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

17. The town of Soissons in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France was taken over by German troops twice during the First World War and heavily damaged by artillery fire.

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Colour photo taken in 1917 by Fernand Cuville.(Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

18. Three French soldiers stand with their truck in front of a heavily damaged building in Aisne.

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Colour photo taken by Fernand Cuville in 1917.(Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

19. Graves of French soldiers killed at Laffaux on May 14, 1917 are seen in this colour photo taken by Fernand Cuville in Soissons, Aisne

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colour photo by Fernand Cuville in Soissons, Aisne(Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

20. Victory celebration at Arc de Triomphe, Paris, July 14, 1919.

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via veergorkha.com

21. Soldiers pose in a concrete trench.

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©TASCHEN/LVR LandesMuseum Bonn/Photo: Hans Hildenbrand

22. A sergeant of the Lancashire Fusiliers in a flooded trench opposite Messines near Ploegsteert Wood. January 1917.

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via Liverpool Echo

23. Troops walk along a duckboard track through the remains of Chateau Wood, Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), 29 October 1917.

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Imperial War Museum

24. Nine French soldiers investigate a fatally injured horse on the Western Front.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

25. The corpse of a French soldier of the 99th infantry regiment, who was poisoned during a German gas attack on March 23, 1918 and died eight days later of pneumonia.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

26. French officers of the 370th Infantry Regiment pose in the ruins after a German attack at the Chemin des Dames near Reims in 1917. They have a bicycle and the flag of the 370th Infantry Regiment. The region was one of the worst battle grounds on the Western Front during World War I.

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©R Schultz Collection / The Image Works

27. Ammunition depot in France, 1918. The photo was taken on assignment of the American Committee for Devastated France (1917–24).

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©Collection Mark Jacobs/Photo: Shells-Lafaux

28. Soldiers from the Kings Liverpool Regiment listening to the news being read out as they wait in their trench during World War One. 1918.

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via Liverpool Echo

29. British soldier giving a light to a German prisoner of war. September 1914.

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via Liverpool Echo

30. As the sun rose over the distant hills heralding the dawn of another day it revealed the lonely figure of a British sentry standing at his post. The picture was taken “somewhere in France.” March 20th 1915.

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31. Members of the Scots Fusiliers are seen taking cover in front of a German trench they had just charged and captured. 16 June 1915.

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via Liverpool Echo

32. A British Cavalry Scout on alert. This image shows the care our men take of their horses, for although the horse has only a slight injury he is well bandaged. Circa November 1914.

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via Liverpool Echo

33. King George V visits the Western Front. France. World War One. 26th July 1917. The King picks up a Boche helmet.

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via Liverpool Echo

34. Carrying party of the 1/7th King’s Liverpool Regiment, 156th Brigade, 55th division bringing up rations in containers to the men in the trenches in the La Bassee Canal Sector. 15 March 1918.

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via Liverpool Echo

35. Female road sweepers cleaning the streets of Liverpool as the men are away fighting. 21st March 1916.

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via Liverpool Echo

36. British official observes from a distance the destruction of an ammunition dump before retreating from the advancing German army. April 1918.

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via Liverpool Echo