t is the apocalyptic aftermath of dogged fighting along the Western Front during World War One when Allied and German forces tried to shell each other into submission with little success other than leaving a trail of utter carnage and killing millions.
Apocalypse: This was all that remained of the Belgian town of Ypres in March 1919 after fierce fighting during World War One reduced it to mere rubble
In rehab: An aerial view of Ypres under construction in 1930 which gives an idea of how the city looked before it was bombarded during the Great War
Felled: Trees along an avenue in Locre, Belgium, lie torn to shreds. These images are from a series documenting the devastation caused along the Western Front
Destroyed: The Hotel de Ville in Arras, Northern France, looks more like a medieval ruins after it was heavily shelled during World War One
Shaping nature: A huge bomb crater at Messines Ridge in Northern France, photographed circa March 1919, soon after the end of World War One
Reflected glory: A peaceful pond is what remains today of the craters made by massive mines on the Messines Ridge near Ypres. Their explosion was heard in London
The strategically important Belgian city of Ypres, which stood in the way of Germany's planned sweep into France from the North, bore the brunt of the onslaught.
At its height, the city was a prosperous centre of trade in the cloth industry known throughout the world. After the war, it was unrecognisable.
The Cloth Hall, which was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages when it served as the city's main market for the industry, was left looking like a medieval ruin.
Its stunning cathedral, St Martin's, fared little better.
Outside of the towns and cities, the countryside also cut a sorry sight.
Sorry sight: The Cloth Hall at Ypres, which was one of the largest commercial buildings of the Middle Ages when it served as the main market for the city's cloth industry
Standing proud: How the Cloth Hall looked just before before the 1st bombardment by the Germans during the first battle of Ypres in October 1914
Doomsday: St Martin's cathedral at Ypres, which was rebuilt using the original plans after the war. At 102 metres (335 ft), it is among the tallest buildings in Belgium
Devastation: St Martin's Cathedral was the seat of the former diocese of Ypres from 1561 to 1801 and is still commonly referred to as such
How it looked before: The cathedral was rebuilt to the original Gothic design, with a spire added, as seen here in 1937
War of attrition: The front wall of the Hotel de Ville at Bethune in Northern France (left) and St Martin's cathedral (right) are barely left standing after heavy shelling
Clear-up effort: The East end of the Nave in the Basilique at Saint-Quentin in Northern France photographed soon after the end of World War One, circa March 1919
The moat and the ramparts at Ypres: The city was the centre of intense and sustained battles between the German and the Allied forces
One tree-lined avenue in France was left looking like wasteland, while a huge bowl sunken into Messines ridge near Ypres is the legacy from the huge explosions of buried British mines that were heard 160 miles away in London in 1917.
Some 7.5million men lost their lives on the Western Front during World War One.
The front was opened when the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium in 1914 and then moved into the industrial regions in northern France.
In September of that year, this advance was halted, and slightly reversed, at the Battle Of Marne.
Wasteland: The canal at Diksmuide in Belgium. The Western Front was opened when the German army invaded Luxembourg and Belgium in 1914
Shot to pieces: The wreckage of a tank. Some 7.5million men lost their lives on the Western Front during World War One
Forlorn: A little girl cuts a sorry figure surrounded by the ruined buildings in the Belgian village of Neuve Eglise, also known as Nieuwkerke, which was heavily bombed
In the line of fire: Two soldiers pose for the camera at a Franco-Belgian frontier post in Northern France during the war
It was then that both sides dug vast networks of trenches that ran all the way from the North Sea to the Swiss bord
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2282108/World-War-One-wasteland-Haunting-rare-images-apocalyptic-destruction-Western-Front.html#ixzz2b1R6GUP1
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