1922 Rotogravure World War I Russian Soldiers Machine Gun Weapon Prisoners POWs

This is an original 1922 sepia rotogravure of a Russian soldier working with a machine gun. The lower image depicts captured Russian prisoners of war about to be shuttled to a German prison camp. The caption for the latter image writes, "Captured Russians being gathered for transportation to German prison camps. The time was in 1916, when the operations of von Hindenburg in the Russian area had resulted in the capture of so many prisoners, in some cases entire regiments at a time, that the disposition of the captives taxes the resources of the victors." As for the top image, machine guns used in 1914 usually needed 4 to 6 men to operate. They overheated very quickly, and could not be used for sustained firing. By 1918, the military had designed a gun that could be used by one man. They were much lighter, but it was still a problem getting sufficient amounts of ammunition. From this information, we can deduce that this image was taken late in the war.

CONDITION

This 89+ year old Item is rated Very Fine ++. Light aging throughout. No natural defects. No surface rub. No tears. No water damage. Please note that there is print on the reverse.

• Product Type: Original Rotogravure; Sepia
• Grade: Very Fine ++
• Dimensions: Approximately 10 x 15.25 inches; 25 x 39 cm
• Authentication: Serial-Numbered Certificate of Authenticity w/ Full Provenance
• Protection: Packaged in a custom archival sleeve with an acid-free black board (great for display, gift-giving, and preservation)

RTO2C22