These two real-photo postcards (photographs printed on paper that had postcard markings pre-printed on the back) document the crash of a French twin-engine Caudron G.4 bomber sometime during WWI. The G.4 initially flew in 1915 and was one of the first bombers produced in large quantities, with over 1400 built. The aircraft was quite primative in design, and used wing-warping for roll control.
Initially, the G.4 was used as a day reconnaisance bomber, but as soon as Germany started lofting fighter aircraft, the slow bomber was relegated to night missions. Whether our photos show a victim of enemy fire or merely an accident is unknown.
Only one G.4 survives, and is on display at the Air & Space's Hazy Center.
Accompanying the two G.4 photos when the Archive acquired them was this photo of a landing field. The fact that it is printed on identical paper suggests that it was a WWI aerodrome in either England or France.
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