Photographs taken on the Western Front have been brought back to life with splashes of colour, showing British troops making the most of moments of ceasefire during World War I.
One photo shows a soldier smiling as he jokingly poses inside the remains of a bathtub, while another shows a man accompanied by his trusted mule as they make their way through the muddy fields of the Western Front.
Another shows a group of Royal Artillery soldiers smiling for the photographer behind two large shells with the words ‘Guarantee for Peace’ etched on to them, whilst some of the men enjoy a smoke on their pipes.
Ready for war: A group of Royal Artillery soldiers are seen sitting on two large shells, painted with the words RMA – which could stand for Royal Military Academy – and ‘Guarantee For Peace’ etched on them, circa 1918
Take cover! A British soldier is seen curled up inside what remains of a bathtub on the Western front in one of the photographs which have been colourised by a British electrician from Cardiff inspired by his grandfather who fought in World War I
A soldier and his mule making their way through the muddy fields on the Western Front. Animals were a crucial part of the war effort with horses, donkeys and camels carrying food, water, ammunition and medical supplies to men on the front lines, with dogs and pigeons regularly ferrying messages
The Western Front saw the lion’s share of fighting during the Great War, and was first ‘opened’ when the German Empire first invaded Luxembourg and Belgium in August, 1914.
The German Army’s efforts during the initial assault became known as the Rape of Belgium, which saw troops destroying villages and razing towns to the ground, executing innocent civilians.
Germany were given a deadline to retreat, and when this expired on August 4, Britain joined the war on the continent. German troops were in France in less than a month and the Western Front would eventually become a more than 440 miles from the Swiss border to the North Sea.
Between 1915 and 1917, there were several offences along the Western Front that saw massive artillery bombardments and infantry advances.
Horses were vital for transport, during World War I and they ended up dying in their droves on the Western Front. In 2014, the British Army only had 25,000 horses at its disposal, and so bought up any they could find – purchasing over 460,000 horses and mules from across Britain and Ireland over the course of the war. In addition over 600,000 were shipped from America
Somme life: Troops are seen making dinner in one of the trenches at the Battle of the Somme, which took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916. More than three million men fought, and one million either died or were seriously wounded, making it one of the bloodiest battles in history
The other side: This image shows the German trenches on the Somme frontline. Some 434,000 to 500,000 German Empire troops died during the nearly five-month long battle
Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and artillery inflicted severe casualties during the attacks and few significant advances were made.
The most costly of these was the Battle of the Somme. It took place between 1 July and 18 November, 1916 and saw more than three million men fight in trenches in northern France.
One million either died or were seriously wounded, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history
Other devastating battles were the Battle of Verdun in 1916 which saw an estimated combined casualties of 700,000 and the Battle of Passchendaele with 487,000 estimated casualties.
To break the deadlock that occurred in trench warfare, both sides employed new military technology such as poison gas, using aircraft and tanks.
A reconnaissance patrol from the Royal Scots are seen in Meteren, a village in the Netherlands in June 1918. Méteren had been occupied by British troops for a majority of the war, but it fell into German hands in April 1918 after which it was retaken by Allied forced in July
An Allied soldier looks out through an empty window frame of a shattered house in the village of Villers-Carbonnel in Somme, near Amiens in France. The village was less than 3 kilometers behind the German frontline during the battle of the Somme, and came under heavy shelling to stop German supply deliveries
On yer bike: British cyclist troops advance from Brie, Somme through a bombed out town in muddy terrain in 1917
Destruction: Armoured cars are seen parked in a heavily-shelled town at an unknown location in France
Horses carry soldiers and carts through the destruction on the Menin Road in Belgium, 1917
The pictures were colourised by electrician Royston Leonard, 56, from Cardiff, in Wales, after being inspired by stories of his own grandfather’s time on the Western Front.
‘For me, colourisation started off as a hobby as I would colour photos for my family and friends,’ he said.
‘I got the idea for this set after hearing stories about by grandfather who was there for almost four years.
‘The photos show how hard life was and how the men were just trying to live in the terrible conditions that were on the Western Front for both sides and trying to make the best of it.
‘They show how life was at every moment and remind us just how cruel war is but at the same time these men carried on and made the most of it.’
‘As they pass from living memory to just remember them as people and not just images in a book or old photographs in a museum is so important and colourisation brings these people into the modern day,’ added Mr Leonard.
‘For they had dreams of a better world just like us today.’
Pass us a cuppa: A wounded soldier covered in mud is passed a hot beverage on the Western Front
Walking back: American engineers are seen returning from Battle of Saint-Mihiel in northeastern France which lasted from three days, from the 12th to 15th of September, 1918
Prisoners of war: Watched by a group of locals, German POWs walk down a street in the French town of Solesmes, on November 1, 1918, near the end of World War I