Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(469) D.645 - Idea of the strength of the German barbed wire at Beaucourt
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (469) D.645 - Idea of the strength of the German barbed wire at Beaucourt |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74547958 |
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| Description | Front line trenches on both sides of the Western Front were guarded by belts of barbed wire. The dilemma facing the attacking soldiers was how to cut through such barbed wire defences while under heavy machine-gun fire. Until tanks were used more effectively later on in the struggle, no major breakthroughs were achieved, so the conflict became a war of attrition. As if the deadly combination of barbed wire, snipers and heavy machine-gun fire was not enough, landmines also became a standard defensive strategy on the Western Front - though they were considered far too barbaric to be deployed during the war’s early stages. Night patrols had the unenviable task of fixing any parts of the barbed wire defence that had been breached by artillery fire. Given the defensive strength of the opposing trench systems, it is easy to see how the situation soon became one of bloody stalemate. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE WESTERN FRONT. An idea of the strength of the German barbed wire at Beaucourt.'] |
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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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