Advancing Gallery

WW2 - British infantryman in desert fatigues

Photograph of a British infantryman in desert fatigues advancing with fixed-bayonet and a shell bursting in background, El Alamein, 1942. One of seven black and white official photographic prints relating to the 2nd Battle of El Alamein, 1942. Associated with El Alamein, World War Two, North Africa (1940-1943). At the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October-4 November 1942) Allied forces in Egypt under the command of Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery broke the Axis lines and forced them in a retreat that pushed them all the way back to Tunisia. Date: 1942

© The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

An action at Bucquoy, Western Front 1918

The Great Battle on the Western Front: open warfare - an action at Bucquoy, a village on the Arras-Albert road. Stand by British infantry at Bucquoy: a thin khaki line pouring rifle and machine-gun fire into on-rushing German hordes seen advancing from Longast Wood in the right background towards the Nissen huts and bayonet practice gallows on the left. In the distance are the ruins of Ablainzeville. British infantry in the foreground. British artillery officer in the right foreground behind a rampart of ammunition boxes, giving orders to the signaller to transmit to the battery behind. Two German sausage-balloons in the air over Longast Wood. Date: 1918

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

WW1 - Battle of Sari Bair - Heavy artillery advancement

WW1 - Battle of Sari Bair - The main operation started on 6th August 1915, with the intention of gaining a fresh landing north of Anzac at Suvla Bay. This was to be in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps mounting an attack north into the rugged country, alongside the Sari Bair range. Hidden in the road of a ravine in the Sari Bair landscape, the army advance their heavy artillery to a new position in the face of a hail of shrapnel. Date: 1915

© Mary Evans Picture Library