Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(480) D.662 - Building a saw mill on the Western front
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (480) D.662 - Building a saw mill on the Western front |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74547982 |
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| Description | Soldiers building an open-air sawmill. While the soldiers in the foreground are cutting the fallen tree trunks with two-man manual saws, the soldiers in the background are doing mechanised work with the steam engines. It is likely that the steam engines provided the power that was required to operate the large, circular machine-powered saws and any heavy lifting or pulling duties that were required. The rough skeletal framework of wooden beams that form the main part of this sawmill raises a number of questions. Though this framework might be covered in tarpaulin to protect the men and wood from the rain, it might also be to help camouflage the valuable steam traction engines from artillery or aerial attack when they are not being used. The army’s desperate need for a never-ending supply of wood during the conflict led to massive deforestation back in the UK. [Original reads: 'BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE WESTERN FRONT. Building a saw mill on the Western front.'] |
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| Description | John Warwick Brooke, of the Topical Press Agency, was the second British official war photographer to go to the Western Front in 1916. The demands placed on he and his colleague, Ernest Brooks, were heavy. They had to take as many photographs as possible, with as much variety as possible, a difficult task for two men covering an army of over two million. Despite this, Warwick Brooke managed to take what would become some of the most memorable images of World War I. As an officially appointed photographer, Warwick Brooke was assigned to the Western Front to follow the progress of the British Army. During his time there, between 1916 and 1918, Warwick Brooke is estimated to have taken over 4,000 photographs. |
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| Description | Photographs by named photographers. |
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| Description | Black-and-white photographs mainly of the Western Front during the First World War. Official British war photographers took many of them for propaganda purposes. Unless otherwise stated, titles are the photographs' original captions. From the papers of Field Marshal (Earl) Haig (1861-1928). The Haig Papers also contain Douglas Haig’s diaries. |
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| Shelfmark | Acc.3155 |
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