2-691-923 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Damaged spire of Notre-Dame de Brebières, Albert, northern France, c1915-c1918. The statue of Mary and the infant Jesus on top of the cathedral was hit by a shell on 15 January 1915. The statue, known as the Golden Virgin, was knocked to a near-horizontal position. Further shelling in 1918 destroyed the tower completely. Photograph from a series of glass plate stereoview images depicting scenes from World War I (1914-1918).