Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(269) D.2166 - Letter home!
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (269) D.2166 - Letter home! |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74547290 |
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| Description | A Scottish soldier writing a letter. He is sitting on the top step of a spiral staircase leading to nowhere. The staircase has either been taken from a building and placed outside, or it is the only remnant of a building which once stood there. Although he seems oblivious to the camera, it does appear to be a posed shot. It is likely this photograph was taken by the British official war photographer, John Warwick Brooke. Letters provided soldiers at the Front with a vital link to home. When writing to their loved ones, few men at the Front chose to reveal the true horror of the war. Although officers were instructed to censor all letters being sent by their men, many of them were reluctant believing it to be intrusive. [Original reads: 'BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE WESTERN FRONT. A letter home! A gallant Jock writing home finds a smashed staircase makes a good writing desk.'] |
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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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