Somme selfies: have you got a light?

In the run-up to July’s centenary of one of the bloodiest battles in human history, The Independent is publishing a different Tommy’s picture every day

Two British soldiers in “Gor Blimey” soft caps share a cigarette in the months before the battle of the Somme, which started 100 years ago this week. The lack of foliage in the background suggests that this image was taken in early 1916 when the British army was starting preparations in northern France for its “Big Push” on the Somme. Neither the cap or shoulder badges of these soldiers can be read with certainty. In the battle, which lasted until 18 November, 125,000 British and empire soldiers died – many of them from the “pals” or “chums” battalions who volunteered in 1914. This photograph is part of a series of images that were taken in late 1915 and in 1916 for a few francs by a local photographer behind the front line, Alfred Depire, for British soldiers to send home as postcards to their loved ones.