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First World War Centenary: Powerful photographs bring wartime Britain to life

Composite images put moments from the conflict in the present day

Lizzie Dearden
Friday 08 August 2014 07:06 EDT
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People pass the Royal Courts of Justice next to Serbian soldiers marching in the Lord Mayor's show, London, in the last days of the First World War in November 1918
People pass the Royal Courts of Justice next to Serbian soldiers marching in the Lord Mayor's show, London, in the last days of the First World War in November 1918 (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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The First World War is quickly vanishing from living memory but a series of photographs merging moments from the conflict with the present day have brought it back to life.

A tank rolling through the streets of London in 1917 is shown in one image, German prisoners of war can be seen marching through Southend-on-Sea and wounded soldiers play football in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, then used as a military hospital.

The images were released to mark the centenary of the First World War and events are happening across the UK today to mark the outbreak of the conflict in Britain.

Germany declared war on France and invaded Belgium on 3 August 1914 and when the country ignored Britain’s ultimatum to withdraw by the end of the following day, the Government declared war.

More than 9 million soldiers were killed in the bloody conflict, including around 800,000 British soldiers and more than 120,000 civilians who died as a result of military action, malnutrition and disease in the UK.

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