World War I as seen by an American doctor
Dr. P.A. Smithe was sent by the American Red Cross as a doctor and surgeon to work at a hospital in Vienna. He sailed to Europe in December 1915 and returned home in August 1916, according to his daughter, who donated his images to the National World War I Museum. Along the way he photographed what he saw in those months, before the Unites States declared war in 1917 against several of the countries whose troops Smithe photographed the most.
Here, Turkish soldiers ride in horse-drawn carts, still a frequently used means of transportation at the time.
The images are part of the collections of The National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo. On July 28, 1914 the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia, which escalated into World War I.
American doctor pictures WWI
Injured French soldiers standing outside the American Red Cross hospital at Vienna.
American doctor pictures WWI
The ruins of an unidentified church.
American doctor pictures WWI
Civilians at the Ruhleben Prisoner of War camp. Caption on back: Smithe writes "A typical scene from the Ruhleben Concentration Camp for Englishmen: Glimpse of the theatre hall for English civilian prisoners at Ruhleben. In addition to theatre and music hall performances, as well as concerts, moving picture shows are held in this hall.”
American doctor pictures WWI
German soldiers escort French soldiers at a prisoner of war camp.
American doctor pictures WWI
Austrian soldiers with large artillery.
American doctor pictures WWI
Fort Pralkowece after it was shelled. Translation of caption on back of image: "Przemysl - Fort Pralkowice after the storming."
The fort is located in a village of the same name in the Carpathian mountains of southeastern Poland, near the Ukranian border. The fort, built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the sieged by Russian troops in 1914 and 1915 and then retaken Germany in 1915.
American doctor pictures WWI
German soldiers and officers ride on horseback down an unidentified street in a town.
American doctor pictures WWI
German troops fire on French soldiers. On the back of the photograph Smithe wrote "German troops repelling an attack. West front (France)."
American doctor pictures WWI
Turkish army, including cavalry, infantry and artillery.
American doctor pictures WWI
Turkish soldiers firing a large artillery gun.
American doctor pictures WWI
A street scene in an unidentified town. Signs along the buildings are in German.
American doctor pictures WWI
The operating room at the Vienna Red Cross Hospital.
American doctor pictures WWI
Black and white photograph of an X-ray of the right leg of a man wounded on February 2, 1915 and admitted on February 12, 1915. Description of injury on back of image.
American doctor pictures WWI
Staff and patients at the Vienna Red Cross Hospital.
American doctor pictures WWI
A German soldier works on shaving a piece of wood with a prosthetic limb for his left arm.
American doctor pictures WWI
Black and white postcard photograph of Dr. P. A. Smithe, American Red Cross surgeon at the Vienna Red Cross Hospital.