Photographers > John Warwick Brooke
(97) D.1271 - Big gun (just finished firing) being covered up prior to moving
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > John Warwick Brooke > (97) D.1271 - Big gun (just finished firing) being covered up prior to moving |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74548078 |
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| Description | As shown in this image, some of the guns used during the conflict were so big that they could only be moved around on railway lines. The men in the photograph are unfolding the tarpaulin to cover the gun and protect it from any adverse weather conditions. It may also have been used to camouflage the gun from enemy reconnaissance. Railway artillery was ideal for deployment during 'the Great War' because of the static nature of the fighting, and all the warring armies used such guns. At first, the railway artillery used by the British army was surplus naval artillery moved onto hydraulic railway wagons. The German army also used railway artillery on the Western Front. One of their most powerful rail guns was the famous 'Paris Gun', which shelled the capital from a distance of 130 kilometres. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. A big gun (just finished firing) being covered up prior to moving.'] |
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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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