This photo shows German soldiers who died in a trench during World War I. It captures the harsh realities of the being on the frontline of war, showing the hard and dangerous realities of the trench life. Soldiers here faced constant danger from gunfire and artillery while also living in muddy and overcrowded areas. It shows that the suffering was not just on the side of the Allies but also on the side of the Central Forces, that all soldiers end up getting affected by the war in one way or another.
This photo connects to They because it shows the cruelty of war that Siegfried Sassoon was talking about. It shows the suffering and death that the soldiers in the trenches ended up experiencing. The poem is supposed to challenge the idea that war is noble or heroic by showing how the war can mentally and physically mess a person up whcih this photo reinforces by physically showing some of the real life casualties and costs of war.
German Casualties at the Somme, 1916 by John Warwick Brooke is licensed under Public Domain.
Sassoon, Siegfried. “They.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/siegfried-sassoon
“World War I.” New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/World_War_I