Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(523) D.763 - On their way to the trenches through the snow
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (523) D.763 - On their way to the trenches through the snow |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74548064 |
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| Description | British soldiers marching over snowy ground towards the frontline, during World War I. With each soldier carrying a full kit, this photograph shows a single-file line of British troops marching over snowy terrain to the frontline trenches. Looking closely at the image, one can see the bulging kit bags and mess tins that the soldiers carried as part of their supplies. Some of the men’s rifles are also wrapped up in protective covers. To pass away the monotony of marching and to raise morale, the soldiers often sang songs while taking part in a march such as this. In his book of war memoirs, 'Goodbye to All That', Robert Graves describes some of these songs. Unlike propaganda songs such as 'Pack up your troubles in you old kit-bag', however, Graves writes that their marching songs were usually about getting a 'cutie' (slight wound) in order to get back home to 'Blighty' (Britain). So the military songs back in Britain seemed to be about leaving home and going to war, while the soldiers' songs were mostly about leaving the war and going back home. [Original reads: 'BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE WESTERN FRONT. On their way to the trenches through the snow.'] |
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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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