Amazing images of WW1 diggers during downtime on overseas postings

YOUNG soldiers relax in the trenches while an army sergeant is caught napping, in candid photos of World War I.

YOUNG soldiers relax in the trenches while an army sergeant is caught napping, in candid photos of World War I.

The personal photos captured by soldier Henry Charles Teitzel, who served with the 2nd Light Horse Brigade throughout the war, have been released by his 88-year-old son Lionel Teitzel.

The black-and-white photos were taken with a Kodak pocket vest camera and developed in the sun on the shores of Gallipoli and in Egypt.

“My mum had them kept in a drawer and she was going to throw them out but my daughter was there and grabbed them,” Mr Teitzel said.

GALLERY: The pictures that bring to life 100 Years of Untold Stories

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Mr Teitzel, who lives at Raby Bay, said the photos were important to him, particularly as he had lost his father when he was 17, his then 49-year-old dad killed in an explosion on his farm.

Mr Teitzel also contacted the family of Sergeant Shanahan, who was his father’s commanding officer and who had been ­captured in one of the hundreds of photos.

“He (Shanahan) used to get crook at them for going to sleep during the day and one day someone said, ‘Have you got your camera? The major is asleep under a palm tree’. So he walked around him, sat on his hunches and took the photo.”

Private Teitzel, who was working on Warburton Station near Gympie when he enlisted, was known as a scallywag, documenting military movements, the marsh­alling of his fellow soldiers and even his trusty horse Joe.

He was sent to NSW to pick out horses before becoming a member of the mounted infantry brigade of the Second Australian Imperial Force, which served in the Middle East, leaving Australia on December 20, 1914, aboard HMAT Boorara.

Private Teitzel’s regiment was sent to Egypt in 1914, heading on to ­defend at Gallipoli on May 12, 1915.

“He was promoted to lance corporal but he reckoned he couldn’t see his mates digging trenches, so he gave it back,” Mr Teitzel said.

The young soldier continued to take photos even after he was injured, returning to the front after being hit by a sniper at Gallipoli.

The photo set includes one of the soldiers lining up to be praised for their work in Palestine, the shadow of Private Teitzel captured in the corner.

GALLERY: The pictures that bring to life 100 Years of Untold Stories

Some photographs were lost when a fabric wallet, stuffed full of the images, was thrown out years ago.

Mr Teitzel has since had the images put on disc and said he wanted to share them with as many as possible.

Read more ANZAC stories - 100 Years of Untold Stories

GALLERY: The pictures that bring to life 100 Years of Untold Stories