Photographers > Tom Aitken
(20) N.405 - Paddy, a gassed case
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Tom Aitken > (20) N.405 - Paddy, a gassed case |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74549018 |
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| Description | Bandaged dog that worked in the front line trenches, in France, during World War I. With bandages on all four paws, this dog - called 'Paddy' - carried out a range of hazardous duties in a front line trench, despite the shellfire and poison gas. Dogs and cats were used in the trenches to kill rats and mice, thereby protecting food supplies. In addition to carrying out duties such as this, having a regimental mascot in the trench also helped to maintain the troops’ morale. Most of the armies involved in 'the war to end all wars' had specially trained dogs in many of their regiments. These dogs performed a wide range of important tasks, including carrying messages, sentry duty, acting as decoys, ambulance duties and killing vermin. Keeping a pet also helped to raise the morale of the soldiers, by adding a touch of domestic home life to the trenches. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. "Paddy", a gassed case. He worked to and fro in an area covered with shell holes and gas.'] |
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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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