Armistice Day 2014: Poignant photos show World War One battefields a century on

Ravaged by conflict and still showing the scars of battle a century on, these are the haunting pictures of World War One battlefields as they look today.

As the UK fell silent on Remembrance Day to commemorate the start of the First World War, these atmospheric images include views of the Somme and Allied attack positions - with trenches and shell holes still clearly visible from the air.

The collection, sponsored by The Royal British Legion, also shows the football which the London Irish Rifles kicked across No Mans Land on Sept 25th, 1915 as they attacked the German positions in the town of Loos.

There is also a picture of unexploded shells uncovered by ploughing near Munich Trench Cemetery - awaiting collection by the Bomb Squad and a World War I observation post near Hebuterne, south of Dunkirk.

Another image shows the Champagne Battlefield burial site memorial left intact on the Western Front with a soldier's equipment left on the grave, along with a plaque placed there by his father in 1919.

The photos, part of a collection called Fields of Battle-Lands of Peace 14-18, form an open-air exhibition featuring 60 freestanding images.

They were all taken by photographer Michael St Maur Sheil, who spent seven years on the project.

The exhibition recently moved to London's St James' Park and will run there until Armistice Day.

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Mike, from Ireland, wanted to show how even now, a century after the war started, the landscapes are still scarred.

He said: 'This collection represents a legacy which I hope will create a gateway to the battlefields themselves.

'I want to encourage people to visit these historic landscapes during the centennial period and create an awareness and understanding of the events and historical implications of the First World War.'