London: British soldiers, posted in India during the First World War, had a roaring time, a fascinating photo album of a trooper's military campaign has revealed.
Private Wally Langrish's 60 black and white pictures, all dated and labelled, show the British troops having fun -- swimming, riding camels and visiting the Taj Mahal while they were posted in India during World War I.
The album, 'Great War', paints a very different picture to the grim images of the trenches and corpses on the Western Front.
The soldier -- of the 1/9 cycle battalion of the Hampshire Regiment -- left home in Aldershot in May, 1915, and was posted to India and Mesopotamia (now Iraq) before finally returning home in 1919.
His pictures show the men of the "Nimble Ninths" football team playing the 1st Kents at bicycle polo on August 12, 1916 -- as the Battle of the Somme raged.
Michael Stephens, curator of the Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum, Winchester, said: "The ninths went to India and Mesopotamia and in 1919 went to Russia and saw a bit of
action."
The album is expected to fetch 300 pounds at an auction later this week, the 'Daily Express' reported.
Auctioneer Michael Bowman in Chudleigh, Devon, said: "We had troops in many areas worldwide. This album shows what some were doing."
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 19, 2010, 09:26