Photographers > Tom Aitken
(16) N.397 - Cheery pilot and observer with their mascot pup ready for a flight over the German lines
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Tom Aitken > (16) N.397 - Cheery pilot and observer with their mascot pup ready for a flight over the German lines |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74549010 |
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| Description | Pilot and observer inside the cockpit of a two-man biplane, in France, during World War I. Holding up the regimental mascot of a pet dog and with big smiles on their faces, a pilot and an observer are pictured before setting out on a journey over enemy lines. Note the old-fashioned flying helmets and goggles that both men are wearing. The machine-gun fixed beside the rear cockpit has a swivel attachment on it, so that it can provide the plane with all-round firepower. During 'the war to end all wars', an aerial battle between two or more aeroplanes was called a 'dogfight '. At the start of the conflict, fighter planes had two seats, with the pilot sitting in the front cockpit and a gunner-cum-observer occupying the rear cockpit. As the war continued, however, single-pilot aircraft became more prevalent, since these planes were clearly more effective during a 'dogfight'. During a 'dogfight ', pilots used cloud cover as an aerial form of camouflage, and often swooped down on their prey from out of the sun. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A cheery pilot and observer with their mascot pup ready for a flight over the German lines.'] |
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| Description | Tom Aitken was a newspaper photographer from Glasgow who was assigned in December 1917 as a war photographer along with David McLellan and Armando Consolé. McLellan's work also features in the National Library of Scotland’s Haig Papers. War photographers held a hybrid position during World War I, being part of yet not ultimately responsible to the military. |
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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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