Jeff Gusky

Railroad technology was used extensively during WWI, underground, above ground and inside large forts like Fort Souvillle at Verdun. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Machine gun posts like this surround the perimeters of large French Forts near Verdun, France. They are accessed via long tunnels that lead back to the fort. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Beneath this large metal enclosure is a large cannon inside one of the French forts which ring the town of Verdun. When deployed, the metal enclosure would extend upward, revealing the cannon. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

These gears were used to rotate one of the large canons that still remain inside Fort Douaumont on the battlefield of Verdun, France #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Many Jewish American soldiers fought and died for their country in WWI. Benjamin Silver, from New York City, passed away on September 27, 1918. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

The physical scars of the world’s first modern mass destruction…WWI…remain even after a hundred years. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Canadian sniper Alex McCrae, serial number 118087. He was part of the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles and fought in Ypres 1915-1916 and Ghent in 1916. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Original British front line trench in Sanctuary Wood near Ypres, Belgium. After the war the farmer who owned this land decided to preserve the trenches that passed through his land in the state which they were left when the fighting stopped. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

After a hundred years, the scars of WWI remain. Millions of high explosive shells were fired. In the forests of Belgium and France located along the former Western Front, many evidences of the trauma of war caused by WWI still can be found. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Spout of rum bottle, once used by WWI soldiers and now repurposed by a farmer as a component of his fence. Along the Western Front, it is fairly common to find original WWI war materials repurposed by farmers to build fences, sheds and more. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Sadness hangs in the air at this German WWI cemetery. 44,000 German soldiers are buried here. There is a mass grave containing nearly 25,000 bodies, about 7,000 of which are unknown. It’s located in a small village in Belgium. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Temperatures underground are cool year round (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit). This fireplace in a French underground city was created by drilling an exhaust port to the surface. Some underground cities were only about 5 meters beneath the surface. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

In 1914 & 1915, this French WWI-era army unit recorded its military campaigns in stone. I found this at the entryway of larger French underground city. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Bullets were stored here in this French WWI tunnel system #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

This arrow pointing towards Paris is carved into the stone of a German WWI tunnel system. It’s shows us the lighthearted side of war. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Primitive carving of a naked woman found in a German WWI offensive tunnel. The tunnelers must have had sex on their mind. In the same tunnel are highly graphic, anatomically correct carvings of female genitalia. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

The entrance to a German WWI tunnel which originates in a German underground city and courses underground towards the front line trenches. The tunnels often had electric lights and telephone lines. WWI was a modern war fought my modern people. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Probably carved by American soldiers in 1918, this underground space has a number of mask-like faces like this carved in stone. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

Carving at the entryway of a German WWI underground city located near the former front line. The soldiers who occupied this place showed a bit of humor. Nearby is a carving that jokes about the soldier’s food. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography

An ornately carved French mail box underground. This is where French soldiers in this underground city sent and received their mail. #ww1 #blackandwhitephotography