Photographers > David McLellan
(7) L.1127 - Army chaplain conducts a service from the cockpit of an aeroplane, France, during World War I
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > David McLellan > (7) L.1127 - Army chaplain conducts a service from the cockpit of an aeroplane, France, during World War I |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74548938 |
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| Description | Preaching from a rather unusual form of pulpit, this photograph shows an army chaplain giving a service to the men from the front seat of an aeroplane. The troops are gathered round to listen to the sermon, with the officers prominent - and separate - in the middle of the congregation. The big building in the background looks like an aircraft hangar. This striking pose shows that the photographer had an eye for the unusual. The two-man aeroplane shown in this image is called a 'pusher'. 'Pusher' is the term given to planes in which the propeller and engine were located behind the pilot and co-pilot. This style of design was particularly popular at the start of the conflict, since placing the propeller behind the pilot made it easier for him to fire his machine-gun. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A Sunday morning service in an aerodrome in France. The Chaplain conducting the service from an aeroplane.'] |
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| Description | Formerly a photographer with the 'Daily Mirror’, a newspaper which led the field in pictorial journalism, McLellan was appointed as an official war photographer in December 1917 along with Tom Aitken whose work also features in this collection. McLellan is especially noted for his work capturing the huge scale of operations on the Front. McLellan was one of five official photographers working on the Western Front, for the propaganda department during the last two years of the war. The photographers were driven to the site the authorities wanted them to photograph, which meant that most of their material was also largely censored. This did not, however, mean that the photographer did not get to know the people in the picture. |
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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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