A little French girl sits on a British artilleryman’s knee. The image was taken just behind the front line of the Somme, either during or just before the terrible battle which began 100 years ago next month.
On each day until the centenary on 1 July, we are publishing a “Selfie from the Somme” – an image chosen from a collection of more than 700 long-lost photographs brought to light by The Independent in recent years. The images were taken in late 1915 and in 1916 for a few francs by a local photographer, Alfred Depire, for British soldiers to send home as postcards to their loved ones. We know the little girl’s name was Rose. She was the niece of the photographer. Like most of the soldiers in the collection, the artilleryman’s name, and fate, is unknown. His shoulder badge reads RFA: Royal Field Artillery.
