This lantern slide, “Y.M.C.A. Lounge in Charleroi, Belgium (c. 1918),” shows depicts the lounge of the Y.M.C.A. in Charleroi Belgium. The room is packed with soldiers and Y.M.C.A. war workers. Australian Y.M.C.A. representatives in the image include Captain Frank Richard Edward Mauldon (standing on the left side of the doorway, rear of room) and Lieutenant F. R. G. Sanders. Charleroi was one of the principal commercial cities of Belgium during World War I, and it is located along the Sambre River, the city was a major battlefield in World War I. During World War I, the Australian Y.M.C.A pooled their resources with the United States, Canada, England, and New Zealand to form the International Hospitality League, which provided social services to all Allied troops. From January 1918 to April 1921, 826,338 men were dealt with by Y.M.C.A. street patrols; 1,195,496 were welcome in the social rooms; 55,008 provided with free hospitality and entertainment in private homes; thousands of men were taken from the streets and assisted to their quarters; 301,548 were kept from the temptations of the streets by free entertainments in theatres and other places of amusement; 170,637 were piloted round historic London by honorary guides, while no fewer than 2,197,840 inquiries were actually registered at the inquiry bureau. The Grand Café du Theatre in Charleroi, operated by the Y.M.C.A., performed operas for soldiers of the Australian Infantry during the war and in the period after when troops were waiting to return to Australia. The Australian War Memorial owns a duplicate photograph (http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/H01168/). This slide is part of Springfield College’s collection of lantern slides depicting Australian Y.M.C.A. war work during World War I. ; Text on border reads, "Australian Y.M.C.A. Historical Record Section; Grand Lounge Music Room Inquiry Bureau Charleroi."