Photographers > Ernest Brooks
(232) C.1813 - Summer has been changed to winter by the British guns
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Ernest Brooks > (232) C.1813 - Summer has been changed to winter by the British guns |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74545956 |
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| Description | Battlefield on Messines Ridge, Belgium, 1917. The landscape is dominated by broken off and stripped trees. The ground is very muddy and full of craters. The entrance and supports to a dugout are outlined in the middle of the picture. The Battle of Messines Ridges (June 1917), commanded by General Plumer (1857-1932), was a successful relief of German pressure on the French Army. The British dug under the German trenches, and blew them up with TNT. A reporter for the 'Guardian' newspaper on 8th June 1917 states 'How many mines went up at once I do not exactly know, but it was nearly a score. Many of these mines were made over a year ago, and since then have lain under German feet undiscovered. In all I believe over 600 tons of explosives in twenty or so blasts were touched off along an arc of ten miles.' [Original reads: 'GREAT BATTLE OF MESSINES RIDGE. Summer has been changed to winter by the British guns. Last week this wood was beautiful and green.'] |
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| Description | Ernest Brooks was the first British official war photographer to be assigned to the Western Front in 1916. Previously a 'Daily Mirror' photographer, he was given the honorary rank of Second Lieutenant. His remit was to take as many photographs as possible, with as much variety as possible. Using his inconspicuous hand-held camera Brooks was free to wander, sometimes capturing his subjects unawares. Many of the images taken by Brooks were used to fuel the propaganda machine at home and abroad. Despite this Brooks, who was very aware of composition and light, produced some very artistic and thought-provoking images. |
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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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