Rare color photos show reality of WWI

The UK’s Press Association has released a new selection of colorized images from a century ago to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Photographers captured a number of emotional scenes after armistice was declared, including a shot of the Victory Parade in London and the burial of the Unknown Warrior at a memorial service in the British capital in 1920.

The Unknown Warrior, an unidentified British soldier killed on a European battlefield, is buried in London Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Another powerful photograph shows members of the public paying their respects to fallen soldiers at the Cenotaph in London, where the UK’s National Service of Remembrance takes place each year.

Others show German prisoners of war clearing rubble in the French town of Bethune, and the surrender of a German U-boat at the British port of Harwich. The photographs have been released ahead of Armistice Day on November 11.

A German U-boat is seen surrendering at the end of the war. Credit: Press Association via AP Images

A number of events are planned to mark the end of the war, in which around 8,500,000 people died and more than 21,000,000 were wounded.

Veterans and members of the public will gather at the Cenotaph for Sunday’s remembrance service, a ceremony that is attended by Queen Elizabeth II as well as other dignitaries.

Journalists look down into a First World War trench. Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Crowds file past the Cenotaph, a war memorial in London. Credit: Press Association via AP Images

Elsewhere in Britain, film director Danny Boyle has set up an initiative called “Pages of the Sea,” inviting members of the public to gather on beaches to remember those who lost their lives in war.

“This will be a unique moment to say goodbye and thank you, together, to the millions of men and women who left their shores during the war, many never to return,” reads a statement from Boyle.

British soldiers guard German prisoners of war in France. Credit: Press Association via AP Images