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The Great War in colour: Reworked WW1 images show grim reality of conflict

From smiling soldiers to wounded prisoners and valiant workers, these colourised pictures provide an emotive perspective on World War One.

The original black and white photographs were painstakingly colourised by Tom Marshall of PhotograFix to mark the 100th anniversary of World War One ending.

The incredible images include Royal Garrison Artillery gunners pushing a light railway truck filled with shells in 1917, a British soldier helping a wounded German prisoner walk along a railway track in 1916 and British officers standing outside the mouth of a German trench in Messines, Belgium, after capturing it.

Other striking pictures show King George V sitting next to an army commander, Thiepval, France on the site where Thiepval Chateau once stood, a soldier receiving a haircut from an Alpine barber on the Albanian front and a group of Irish soldiers recuperating with nurses.

Tom Marshall, from PhotoraFix, said: ‘I have chosen to include men and women of several nationalities, races and religions, as the entire world was affected by the war, and I hope the photos will show an insight into the lesser known stories and events.’

Commemorations are planned nationwide to mark the end of World War One.

In London, 10,000 flames have been placed in the moat encircling the moat of the Tower of London to commemorate the centenary.

Director Danny Boyle has also organised a nationwide ‘gesture of remembrance’ on Britain’s beaches, which will be etched with the faces of those who lost their lives.