The Destruction of Epinal, 1940 / 1944

2 comments to The Destruction of Epinal, 1940 / 1944

• Brent Eades

  August 19, 2011 at 12:08 am · Reply

  Hello Chris,

  I’ll take you to task again for the lack of context. Where is Épinal, and why do these photos matter amongst the countless other such photos from the war?

  This article from the French Wikipedia tells me the town was hammered by the Germans in 1940 as they tried to kill retreating French troops; and that in 1944 it was battered again as the Americans moved in to liberate it.

  A couple of sentences at the start of the photos explaining this would have been very helpful.

  Cordially,

• Ron Holmes

  October 31, 2011 at 4:34 pm · Reply

  Not sure why anyone would want to ‘take you to task’ over this. Reference to Epinal is easy enough to find and the images speak for themselves. They only take on a resonance if you know the places before and after the assaults.
  My father was in the British army and left volumes of pictures on towns that he helped to liberate, including a concentration camp. The pictures meaning to him is obviously more powerful than their meaning to anyone else, other than those who knew the area or people.
  So good job, and what a great site this is! Some people are never happy and always seem to want their hand held.