rotogravure

"In 1918, the German Army established its principal Headquarters in Spa, and it was from here that the delegates set out for the French lines to meet Marshal Foch and sue for peace in the consultations leading up to the Armistice which ended the First World War. In July 1920 it hosted the meeting of the Supreme Council. German delegates were invited to this to discuss war reparations." From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spa,_Belgium "On the morning of 7 November 1918 the delegation under Matthias Erzberger one of the new political leaders arrived at the German OHL in the Belgian town of Spa. ... At 2020 hours four cars, with full headlights, displaying white flags and carrying a trumpeter sounding the cease fire approached the French lines at La Pierre d'Haudroy. It was pouring with rain and a thick mist hung over the ground." From www.webmatters.net/france/ww1_haudroy.htm books.google.com/books?id=gQ4fAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA620&l... lays out details of the logistics of surrender.

Wow... amazing. I've never seen this or even heard the exact story of the delegates crossing the lines. On a side note, my middle daughter Amelia was born exactly 90 years later on Nov. 7th, 2008.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_D._Baker

The upper picture is interesting, although obviously posed, since they appear to be using captured Russian Moisin-Nagant rifles. This suggests second-line troops, but the standard field caps seem to rule out Landsturm which leaves either Landwehr or a reserve formation. I admit to the caption to the lower picture raising a smile - I doubt very much whether these men could haul that gun into position as it's set in a concrete emplacement! The Germans seem to be either infantrymen who have been pressed into service to help their Austrian comrades-in-arms or Bavarian artillerymen, since the only man wearing a pickelhaube has a spike rather than the artillery's ball (only Bavarian artillery wore spikes on their pickelhauben).