Photographers > Tom Aitken
(34) N.432 - View of Amiens
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Tom Aitken > (34) N.432 - View of Amiens |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74549048 |
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| Description | British soldier observing the skyline of Amiens, in France, during World War I. With the Cathedral dominating the skyline, this photograph shows a British soldier taking in a view of the town of Amiens with its cathedral. Although many buildings in Amiens were destroyed during the conflict, amazingly, the cathedral itself remained virtually undamaged. The cathedral is very similar in design to Notre-Dame, in Paris. Amiens, in Picardy, was a strategic objective because it contained a massive rail junction. Although briefly held by the Germans in 1914, the town remained in Allied hands for the rest of the war following the Battle of the Marne in September 1914. During the German Spring Offensive of 1918, the town once again faced up to the prospect of German occupation, but the Allied counter-attack in August 1918 eliminated that danger. In recognition of its valour and suffering, the town was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the French army’s highest award. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A view of Amiens.'] |
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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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