Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(107) D.1302 - Making a light railway
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (107) D.1302 - Making a light railway |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74548102 |
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| Description | A working party of British soldiers constructing a narrow gauge railway. In theory, light railways such as these were quickly built in order to keep up with the advance so as to supply the troops with everything they would need. After the advance had been secured, a full-size railway would then be built. Ironically, however, few real advances were made on the Western Front until the latter stages of the war. Compared to the Germans and the French, the British Army was rather slow in its adoption of light railway and tramway systems. Initially, the War Office was keen to move supplies by lorry. Early lorries were not to be depended upon, however, and it soon became clear that a more reliable mode of transport was required, if the war effort was not to suffer. In 1916, Sir Eric Geddes, the Minister of Munitions, advised the War Cabinet that a narrow gauge railway system should be built to ferry troops and supplies to the front line. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. Making a light railway.'] |
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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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