WWI HD Colorization — Flying over the Western Front Battlefields, 1919

[1srelluc]

Incredibly restored footage of WWI battlefields as seen from an airship, one year after the war ended. Filmed by Jacques Trolley de Prévaux, a French Navy officer and a pioneer of French Naval Aviation. He was retrained to fly dirigibles (airships) which were crucial for artillery spotting, detecting sea mines, and anti-submarine warfare during WWI.

For his service and actions, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur and the Croix de guerre.In 1919, just months after the Armistice, Jacques undertook a remarkable flight with a motion picture camera attached to his airship.

He flew over the war-torn landscapes from the Belgian coastline to the French city of Verdun, documenting the unparalleled devastation. His footage captured the flattened ruins of places like Ypres, the flooded shell craters of Passchendaele, and the miles of zigzagging trenches still visible from the air.

I look foreword to more restored footage such as this.

 

[odanny]

They did an amazing job with that footage, I wonder if the full 78 minutes of this video will be released, probably will be part of a documentary (hopefully) in the future.

 

[JGalt]

Such a great war that was. Thank God it ended all wars.

 

[Manonthestreet]

Believe you can still see them today