Photograph postcard with greeting in Russian || Sub-ensign (rus: podpraporshchik) Karl Merk (left) and his brother Sergeant (rus: mladshij unteroffizier) Wilhelm Merk (right), 9th Finland Shooting Regiment (Imperial Russian Army). The photo is taken on May 1, 1916 in Smolensk. Backside's text translation: With kind remembrances to my dear sister O. Merk from W.M.

Our only family photograph of a young man now 17 years my junior lost, like many others, in the build up to the Somme Offensive, September 1916. The photo is of one of my heroes and reminds me of how strong a woman my Grandma (his youngest daughter) was. She grew up without a father and lost her husband in 1939. A different breed. much admired, much loved and very much missed. RIP || Front

This is a photo taken from approximately 1915-1916 during WW1. The dark complected man in the middle is my great grandfather. His name is Gnat Samsonovich Shevchenko. || || Gnat Samsonovich Shevchenko and fellow soldiers || Photograph