Photographers > Ernest Brooks
(363) C.979 - Tommies arriving home at Mud Terrace
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Ernest Brooks > (363) C.979 - Tommies arriving home at Mud Terrace |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74546812 |
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| Description | Four soldiers walking towards the camera. The man on the far left is wearing a long overcoat, the other three have waterproof capes. All four are wearing steel helmets. To the left there is a row of tents. It is unclear from this photograph what the tents are being used for, possibly accommodation or storage of supplies. The ground they are walking on is extremely wet and muddy, and the way the men are walking suggests it is cold. 'Tommy’ is 'Tommy Atkins’, a fictional hero figure representing the average British soldier. [Original reads: 'Tommies arriving home at Mud Terrace.'] |
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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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