Somme selfies: the British medic and Marguerite

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

A British medic and a little French girl pose for the camera just before or during the battle of the Somme. This image was taken in Warloy-Baillon, eight miles behind the Somme front in July 1916, by local photographer, Alfred Depire. It is part of a collection of 700 long-lost photographs brought to light by The Independent in recent years. The medic is unidentified. The little girl we know to be Marguerite. She was a niece of the photographer and has appeared in this series before. She seems to have been a favourite “prop” for British troops who wanted to send a reassuring photograph from the front to their loved ones.