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This article centres on four albums compiled by a British soldier of low rank serving in the Mandates of Iraq and Palestine from 1922–1926. It addresses how they have taken on new meaning as family albums after decades of neglect. In addition, it argues that the content of the albums brings into focus those whose role in history is usually overlooked, and simultaneously acts as a catalyst to shed light on a relatively unknown chapter of British history.

While the discussion of images of graphic violence has focused mainly on their reception, this article centers on questions about their production and circulation. For the first time, with the rise of the internet, we now have access to online communities of soldiers sharing their thoughts and feelings about photographs of body horror. Drawing on a case study of the graphic photographs and verbal commentary posted by coalition soldiers on the online bulletin board NowThat'sFuckedUp.com, this article argues that the soldiers' repetitive creation and use of violent images should be understood primarily as symptoms of an affective reliving of traumatic war experiences. Moreover, the soldiers use the images in ritualistic ways that serve to establish the borders and core values of the military community against the outside world - while simultaneously allowing external audiences to bear witness to their hideous, and hidden, reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]