Gas Shell Bombardment. 1918. For Real. World War I. Victor test Pressing E/E+
$
382
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Description
This is a recording taken of a gas shell bombardment by the Royal Garrison Artillery. It was made in a ruined farmhouse outside Lille, France, not far from the Belgian border on October 9, 1918, a month before the armistice. It is the only recording made of an actual engagement during World War I . It ends with a plea to buy War Bonds
Will Gaisberg, theGramophone Company recording expert, wrote the following: “Gradually we came within the sound of the guns, and eventually, when only a short distance from Lille, we pulled up at a row of ruined cottages, in one of which the heavy siege battery had made its quarters. In the wrecked kitchen we unpacked our recording machines and made our preparations before getting directly behind a battery of great 4.5' guns and 6' howitzers, camouflaged until they looked at close quarters like giant insects. Here the machine could well catch the finer sounds of the "singing," the "whine," and the "scream" of the shells, as well as the terrific reports when they left the guns."
It is claimed that this is the only authentically recorded sound of the First World War - all archive film has dubbed in effects. It is recorded acoustically.
Will Gaisberg accidentally inhaled some of the gas from the attack, which damaged and weekend his lungs. In London he fell victim to the international flu epidemic that was then ravaging the city, and died on November 5, six days before World War I came to an end and less than a month after this record was made.
This unusual edition is a U.S. Victor test pressing from the original English matrix. It displays the typeface of the HMV matrix series of that time, There is no record number in the dead wax and there is no run-off groove. It is similar in appearance to Victor pressings of the time, thinner and smoother than the products the English were manufacturing then. This test pressing implies that a mother was sent to the U.S. and that it was being considered for issue here.
In addition to the inked handwritten annotation, the Victor white label is signed in penciil, H. D. Smith in what I believe to be Harold Smith’s handwriting, having handled many records and test pressings from his estate. Mr. Smith was the Victor executive whose responsibilities included Victor’s foreign language catalogs. It would have been his decision whether to release it in the U.S. It was not.
It was issued in England as HMV 09308 (matrix Ho 3479 af)
This example is a 12-inch, single-sided 78rpm disc with the Victor Sample label and no catalog number. Side 2 is blank. The surface is rubbed and has light marks, one or two of which may slightly contribute to the din. E/E+
Shipping: $ 4 to U.S. Elsewhere, calculated by location of buyer.
