Bid to find out more about haunting images of fallen

PRIVATE Tickle was “one of the very best”, according to a hand-written note on the back of an old photograph by the mother of a young man killed during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

The haunting image of the fallen soldier is just one of a hundred portraits of those who served in the First World War published today by the Imperial War Museum (IWM).

The museum is appealing to the public to help find out more about all the servicemen whose images make up the online exhibition but about whom very little else is known.

The collection of photographs – Faces of the First World War – is part of the IWM’s preparations to mark the centenary of the Great War of 1914-18. The snapshots of servicemen have been sourced from thousands of portraits acquired by the museum when it was founded in 1917.

Many of the photographs have not been widely seen before and some are accompanied by just a name, rank and unit.

Diane Lees, director general at the IWM, said: “The First World War centenary is a landmark anniversary for Britain and the world. The war was a turning point in world history.

“It claimed the lives of over 16 million people across the globe and affected the lives of millions more.

“Everybody in the world has a connection to the First World War.”

The exhibition can be viewed at www.1914.org/faces.