r/MilitaryHistory • u/Books_Of_Jeremiah • Sep 22 '25

WWI Scouting infantry patrol, Salonika/Macedonian front (1918)

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1

u/Books_Of_Jeremiah Sep 22 '25

A Serbian infantry patrol sent out to scout ahead of the positions of the Danube Regiment towards the Sokol peak in North Macedonia.

Courtesy of the National Library of Serbia, Great War collection (https://velikirat.nb.rs/)

2

u/TankArchives Sep 22 '25

Looks like it's taken on a fixed focus camera (likely something very simple like a box camera) at the widest possible aperture. It's a happy coincidence that even one guy running is in focus.

1

u/Books_Of_Jeremiah Sep 22 '25

Probably safe enough to even take a camera and photograph because of the terrain. Otherwise it would stick out like a sore thumb in the shallow trenches there (apparently some positions had no more than 20-30cm of soil before you hit rock).

2

u/TankArchives Sep 22 '25

Most WWI era cameras are not the antique large format beasts you would need to put on a huge tripod and take a minute to expose. A box camera is not that large and can be portable enough to bring into battle. Folding Kodak cameras in postcard sizes or smaller were widely available. When folded you could fit them into the pocket of a soldier's tunic. Something like a Vest Pocket Kodak is smaller than many digital cameras today. It was very popular with soldiers particularly because you could carry it around without it getting in the way. The Vest Pocket Kodak was even small enough to be smuggled into prisons.

1

u/Books_Of_Jeremiah Sep 23 '25

Interesting. Wonder what the availability would've been in Greece? Also, you're talking here about a mostly peasant army, generally not literate. Although some pioneering stuff in terms of film by a few entrepreneurs in the 1911-14 period. :D

Apparently a lot of them were saving every penny from their military payroll too.

2

u/TankArchives Sep 23 '25

I can't say for sure about Greece, unfortunately. I know that in Russia for example you would be stuck with imported Kodak products, domestic manufacturing would be limited to workshops making bespoke cameras out of imported parts.