With distant eyes, strained smiles and the mud of the trenches still on their boots, they posed for souvenir photos behind the First World War front lines in the French town of Vignacourt, many wondering whether this would be their final record.
The prints that British Tommies, Australian Diggers and French Poilus sent home to their families while on rest and recuperation from the 1916 Battle of the Somme may have long since faded. But the portraits have come back to life since 2010, when Australian researchers discovered 4,000 glass plate negatives in the attic of the farmhouse where they were taken.
Only a fraction of the veterans have been identified, however, and researchers are making a fresh appeal for the public and potential relatives
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