La lyddite est le terme anglais pour désigner l'acide picrique.
Cette photographie représente des femmes en train de charger
des obus avec de l'acide picrique, connu en France sous le nom de mélinite et
au Royaume Uni sous celui de lyddite. On les
Ces deux illustrations (ci-dessus et ci-dessous) parues dans " The London Illustrated News " montrent les effets des explosions de la lyddite.
Une autre illustration témoigne d'une explosion dans les tranchées
Tout comme la mélinite, la lyddite est à l'origine de plusieurs graves explosions accidentelles, comme celle survenue le 2 décembre 1914.
Il y a aussi celle du 8 août 1908
Ci-dessous le texte en anglais
The Maypole Colliery explosion on 8th August 1908 in Wigan.
England.
The postcard was produced by Warner Gothard of 6 Eldon
Street, Barnsley, Yorkshire, England within about ten days of the event taking
place, Warner Gothard is described as a "photographic artist" and the
disaster montage postcard was his speciality and produced between the years of
1908 to 1916. He had studios in Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Halifax and
Dewsbury.
The victims were often shown in the clothes that they were
married in as these were the photographs which were readily obtained from the
family of the deceased.
Just for information, Warner Gothard produced many postcards
of mining disasters between the years of 1905 and 1916 you may be familiar with
them, the general theme was a scene of the colliery with the photographs of the
deceased and sometimes the rescuers, postcards were published of the explosions
or fires at :
Glebe colliery, Washington, Durham.
Barrow colliery Barnsley.
Wharncliffe Silkstone colliery, Barnsley.
West Stanley colliery, Durham.
Hamstead colliery, Birmingham.
White Lea company owned by Henry Ellison who were
manufacturing Lyddite, an explosive chemical used in artillery shells in WW1.
Heckmondwike and Hoyland Silkstone colliery, Barnsley.
