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The unearthed personal photo album of a Jersey soldier believed to have been too short to be allowed to join battle efforts has offered a rare glimpse of the faces and stories of Jersey during the First World War.
Although John Edward Coombs was in the Jersey Militia, he did not join his four brothers in serving in the war, likely due to his small stature.
But while he wasn’t able to create a legacy fighting on the front line, his actions back home in collecting and preserving photographs recording the impact of the war on the island were still of “great value for the generations that followed”, according to the Societe Jersiaise.
They were donated his previously unseen photographs back in 2014.
Pictured: A photo album compiled by John Edward Coombs and his son Gordon Owen was donated to the Société Jersiaise in 2014.
The First World War generated more photographs than all previous conflicts put together.
However, until recently, Jersey’s photographic archives contained very few records of the impact the 'Great War' had on islanders’ lives.
"With the First World War now beyond living memory, photographs are vital as objects with the power to transport us back in time to witness the experiences of our forebears,” Sociéte Jersiaise explaned.
Luckily, with the centenary approaching, photographs emerged from attics, albums and shoeboxes "to reveal the faces and tell the stories of islanders during the Great War.”
Pictured: The images show rare glimpses into the lives of soldiers.
One of those was the special album belonging to Mr Coombs and Gordon Owen, his late son.
In all, it contained 208 photos, which Mr Coombs himself said would "each and all speak for themselves."
Largely unseen until 2014, the album documents the island community from 1914 to 1918 before it was forever changed by war, as well as different aspects of soldiers’ lives.
One shows a training session taking place at what is believed to be People's Park, while official ceremonies in the Royal Square and sadder images, such as funeral processions in town, also feature.
Pictured: Nurses also feature in the series of photographs.
Women's war efforts are also displayed in the black and white photographs, with a group of nurses posing in their uniforms. Two of them are also pictured standing by the bed of two soldiers.
The photographs also show the impact war had on islander's lives, with women being seen unpacking food possibly for rations.
More importantly, they give a rare insight into what the island looked like during war. Town streets are portrayed in crowd pictures while other images show the St Helier harbour and the areas now known as Liberty Wharf and Liberation Square before they underwent renovations.
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