Revival History

 German soldiers posing for a photograph with a trophy boar they took down, December 17, 1916. . This photograph, colourised by ROCOlor was taken today 106 years ago. . The following is a letter home from 24-year-old Danish-German soldier Kresten Andresen, detailing of a French artillery bombardment near Lassigny on the Western Front on December 17, 1914 - today 109 years ago. Translated by myself:  ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "Dear parents. I should write to you more often, for I expect you get nervous at times. You shouldn't, for when only one man is wounded in a three-hour-long bombardment, then it's not all that dangerous, and we have since constructed dug-outs where we're safe. .  In the past nights, we've had clashes just to the right of us by Roie. I was on night watch and I could feel there was something in the air. At 6 AM on December 17, I was dragged out of bed by a terrible alarm. .  When I got up, the sky was illuminated like a sea of light from incessant flares. Can...

 British soldier playing with a kitten in the snow, December 17, 1917. .  This photograph, colourised by Colourising History was taken today 106 years ago today at Neulette. . An estimated 500,000 cats served in the First World War, both in the Army and in the Navy of the warring nations. .  On ships at sea, the cats would hunt rats and mice, and the more superstitious sailors believed them to bring good luck. In the trenches, soldiers used various methods for killing rats, who ate their food and corpses. But no method was more effective than deploying cats in the trenches to hunt and kill those damned rodents.  .  Cats were also used as gas detectors, since they succumb to the gasses quicker than humans, and thus acted as an alarm to the soldiers of an incoming gas-attack. The cats also served as mascots and pets in the trenches, comforting soldiers and reminded them of home. .  One incredible and dramatic story of a cat in the First World War comes from t...