Purchased by the Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College on August 12, 2020 from Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.

German Gas Shells Exploding: The Germans are fighting frantically to check the American, British and French drives. They are shelling the advancing armies with gas to halt the hammer strokes of General Ferdinand Foch's armies. Two of these shells are seen exploding near the Canadian lines. British official photo.

Ferdinand Foch (1851- 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless, commander at the First Marne, Flanders, and Artois campaigns of 1914–1916, Foch became the Allied Commander-in-Chief in late March 1918 in the face of the all-out German Spring Offensive. That offensive pushed the Allies back by using fresh soldiers and new tactics that trenches could not contain. Foch successfully coordinated the French, British and American efforts into a coherent whole, deftly handling his strategic reserves. He stopped the German offensive and launched a war-winning counterattack. In November 1918, Marshal Foch accepted the German cessation of hostilities and was present at the armistice of November 11, 1918.

Credited in plate with typeset credit and title on label affixed to verso.

Ferrotyped prints are processed in such a way that they are shiny. The print has a sensitive surface, usually thinner, because it was put through a press while still wet.

Ferrotyped prints have a sensitive surface, usually shiny and thinner, because they are put through a press while still wet. Ferrotyping makes the surface of the photograph smoother. Light does not scatter as much on a smoother surface, so this increases contrast. That makes ferrotyped images better for press photography.

This object has the following keywords:

• Battlefields
• Canada
• Explosions
• Gas attacks
• Germany
• Shells
• World War I

This object is a member of the following portfolios: