Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(196) D.1641 - One of our Tanks at Flers
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (196) D.1641 - One of our Tanks at Flers |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74547946 |
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| Description | A tank is surrounded by infantrymen at Flers in France. The manner in which the soldiers are gathered together around the tank and looking directly at the camera, suggests that this could be a staged photograph taken for propaganda purposes. It is believed that this photograph was taken by John Warwick Brooke. The Battle of Flers-Courcelette formed a supplementary part in the third phase of the great Somme offensive in mid-September 1916. The battle is important because this was where tanks were first used during the conflict. Winston Churchill, then fighting as a lieutenant colonel of infantry on the Western Front, complained that Haig’s contentious decision to attack at Flers with a small number of tanks was wrong, and lamented that 'my poor 'land battleships’ have been let off prematurely on a petty scale'. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. One of our Tanks at Flers.'] |
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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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