My first encounter with the old battlefields of World War I was on a visit to the Ieper area in 2003.
Since that first visit my interest in World War I slowly grew .
Then on my first trip to Verdun in 2006 I bought the photobook ‘La Face Cachée/ Die Verborgene Seite’ about relics in the Argonne, Verdun and St Mihiel area, and I was hooked. Those where places I wanted to visit!
Through a Dutch/Belgian World War I forum I got to know more about these places. Then someone posted photo’s of bunkers in the Vosges mountains and I decided to go there on my next holiday.
I haven’t looked back since. Almost every holiday was spent visiting these places and in between the holidays I did research on how to find the relics, as most of them are off the beaten track.
As I already had photography as a hobby, photographing World War I relics became my passion. Over the years I have photographed many relics and so the idea of making this website was born.
Besides the websites and books I have used to find these places, I also owe thanks to people who were kind enough to help me find WWI relics.
These people are:
Hans Smeets, Frans Roos, Marc Caluy, Elfi van Leuven, Wim Degrande, Tommy van Doorn, Marij Koekoek,
Roy Vrinten, Maarten and Didi Otte, Mirjam Visser, Pierre Grande Guerre, Aris de Bruin, René Kappert
Geert Brouckaert, Johan Reyheul, M. Georges Haas, Jack Korneef
And the people from the Dutch WWI forum www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.nl
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Annelies Visser – 2013