Matania Collection (page 8)

Gunners working through German gas attack by Matania
A storm of poison gas shells breaking over a British battery of 18 pounders, showing the gunners working to serve their guns while wearing gas masks. Date: 1918

General Ferdinand Foch by Matania, WW1
Front cover of The Sphere featuring General Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929), Marshal of France by Fortunino Matania. Date: 1918

Retreat of Serbian Army
A group of Serbian soldiers bivouac in the mountainous district of Western Serbia during the armys retreat. Gathered round a camp fire

Hauling Italian Artillery in Trentino
In the province of Trentino, on the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy, a heavy Italian mortar is hauled into position up a mountain slope

Sphere cover - evacuation of civilians in France, WW1
A Knight-Errant on wheels - an incident in the evacuation of civilians in France. A British motor cyclists helps an old French lady

Serbian Outpost guards
At a Serbian outpost on a single track railway bridge on the Nish-Salonika Railway, guards stand to arms in the early hours of the morning having heard suspicious sounds

Sphere cover - First Armistice between Russians & Germans
The First Armistice by Fortunino Matania, showing Russian emissaries presenting their credentials to German officers. The first step towards peace negotiations was taken by the Russian

Bengal Lancers return from Port Arthur after the capture of Neuve Chapelle following a prolonged battle. Date: March 1915

British and Italian sentries in Italy by Matania, WW1
The Dual Guard - Camerati in Armi. A town in Northern Italy where both British and Italian troops were quartered and the guarding of which was shared by both

Sphere cover - Intercession Day by Matania, WW1
The scene inside St. Pauls Cathedral on Intercession Day, 6 January 1918 with the Bishop of London preaching from the pulpit and the building filled, predominantly with men in khaki. Date: 1918

Sphere cover - British & French meet at Combles, WW1
Front cover of The Sphere showing a scene on the morning of 26 September 1916, when British patrols entered the town of Combles and through the smoke-blackened dawn met with French soldiers

Sphere cover - destruction of zeppelin, Potters Bar, Matania
Front cover of The Sphere with an illustration of the German Zeppelin destroyed over Potters Bar, Hertfordshire on 1 October 1916

British artillery advances through Flanders mud
British gunners and horses drag their gun through the swamp of Flanders mud on their way to take up a forward position Date: November 1917

Motor bus on the Western Front
An ex-London motor bus, transporting British troops to the front line, comes under shell fire on an exposed road. Date: September 1917

British Gunners under fire
A British artillery battery, on its way to take up a position further forward, is stopped in its tracks by an enemy shell which lands in the road immediately ahead. Date: July 1917

General Brusilov by Matania
A portrait of Russian General Alexei Alekseevich Brusilov by Fortunino Matania. Brusilov had been appointed Commander in Chief of the Russian army in May 1917

The Kilt in Italy by WW1
A Highland officer wearing his kilt attracts much attention as he walks down the main street of a little town in Italy during the First World War

Clearing away wreckage at Cuffley by Matania, WW1
A scene at Cuffley, Hertfordshire showing the wreckage of the L-21 German zeppelin airship brought down by Lieut. William Leefe Robinson on the night of 2 September 1916

Lectures at the Front, WW1
A lecture on scouting by a British officer in a small theatre behind the firing line on the Western Front. The audience, comprising British officers

Sphere cover - Germans leave French village, 1918
Ruckwarts (meaning backward-going) - the Long March of Grey Uniforms towards the Rhine. A scene drawn by The Sphere special artist Fortunino Matania

Sphere cover - German retreat from Lille, 1918
Front cover of The Sphere featuring an illustration by Fortunino Matania showing a scene in Lille when the British finally recaptured the town from the retreating Germans in October 1918

Sphere cover - Allied soldiers in Macedonia by Matania
Front cover illustration by Fortunino Matania showing a group of Allied soldiers in Macedonai surveying a monument bearing an inscription in Bulgarian placed by General Mackensen beside a road built

Sphere cover - General Franchet by Fortunino Matania
Sphere front cover illustration by Fortunino Matania of Louis Felix Marie Francois Franchet d Esperey (1856-1942), French Army General during the First World War when he was Commander-in-Chief of

Sphere cover - Italy receiving shield of gold by Matania
Front cover illustration by Sphere special artist Fortunino Matania showing Italy in allegorical human form (with an impressive chest plate protecting her bosoms)

Evivva Italia
Long Live Italy! Fortunino Matanias illustration celebrating Italys entrance into World War One in May 1915. As British, French and German symbolic figures fight in the background

Moving sand bags forward
With the order for an advance having been given, British soldiers scramble out of their trench to move forward to occupy a captured German trench

British ammunition carriers
During an offensive, two British soldiers haul a box of ammunition forward to a newly captured trench. In such situations

New Years Day with a Highland Regiment
On the Western front, a Highland Regiment celebrate the New Year in traditional Scottish style, with sword dancing, bagpipe playing and singing. Date: 1 January 1917

Sphere cover - The Kaiser at Nish by Matania, WW1
Kaiser Wilhelm II pictured on a visit to Nish (Nis), the largest city in Southern Serbia, where he attended a banquet given by King Ferdinand of Bulgaria and inspected Bulgarian troops

Russian General Aleksei Brusilov
Front cover of The Sphere featuring a portrait of General Alexei Brussilov in command of the Russian Armys left wing in 1916. Date: 1916

French trench artillery in action by Matania, WW1
French gunners firing mortars and trench guns across " No Mans Land" to the German positions. The French used special artillery for use in the trenches

Entrance hall of the Union Jack Club by Matania, WW1
Soldiers and sailors back from the front, arrive in the entrance of hall of the Union Jack Club near Waterloo Station. The club was funded through public subscription

RFC after reconnaissance work on Western Front, WW1
The pilot and observer of a Royal Flying Corps aeroplane are helped back to their rest quarters after returning from a reconnaissance mission over the Western Front

Christmas leave 1916, scene at Victoria station by Matania
Soldiers exiting Victoria train station, arriving in London on leave for Christmas during the First World War. The central figure

Sphere cover - His Xmas letter from the trenches, Matania
Front cover of The Sphere featuring an illustration by Fortunino Matania of a British soldier writing a letter home to his family at Christmas

Sphere during WW1, advertisement, 1916
Advertisement IN The Sphere magazine FOR The Sphere magazine, declaring it had the finest war artists in Signor (Fortunino) Matania and Christopher Clark

Storming of Heudicourt Village
Following a short artillery barrage, British troops rush the German entrenchments stretched across the street in the French village of Heudicourt

Cardinal Bourne addresses Dublin Fusiliers
During a visit to Irish troops on the Western front, Cardinal Bourne, Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, addresses men of the Dublin Fusiliers brigade from a transport waggon. Date: 1917

British staff car avoids shell hole
A British Staff Car veers to one side to avoid a large shell hole in the middle of the road on which they are hurrying. Narrowly avoiding ending up in the roadside ditch

Zeppelin engine gondola
A scene in the rear gondola of a German Zeppelin airship. In the centre, two engineers are tending the powerful Maibach motors

Italian Infantry advance
An illustration by Edouardo Matania showing the method of approach to enemy positions adopted by Italian Infantry when under heavy shrapnel fire

Italian soldiers depart for front
The scene at an Italian railway station as soldiers board a train to leave for the front. The troops bid an emotional farewell to their families and loved ones, and one to his pet dog

Pro Italia
A drawing by Fortunino Matania celebrating the alliance between British and Italian troops. He presented the drawing to his compatriots of Italian organisations in London

The Communication Trench
British soldiers dash past a gap in the sandbag wall of a communication trench, keeping their heads down so as not to attract the attention of snipers. Date: 1915

Munitions Factory 1915
A scene in a British munitions factory, owned by Vickers Ltd. Shown here is the process of nosing a shell. Metal cylinders are heated in a furnace by the man shown in the foreground

Russian Soldiers demonstrate in Petrograd
Russian soldiers march through the streets of Petrograd (St Petersburg) proclaiming, Death or Victory and carrying a banner, the message of which is War to the end Date: May 1917

Liner approaching British waters
An emotive drawing by Fortunino Matania showing a concerned mother with her two children on the deck of a liner approaching British waters, nearing port

Tricolour restored
A symbolic illustration by Fortunino Matania showing a French woman raising a Tricolour flag in the ruins of her home, land regained following a German retreat. Date: March 1917

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