Photographers > Tom Aitken
(38) N.436 - View of the altar in Amiens Cathedral showing the protective measures taken inside the Cathedral
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Tom Aitken > (38) N.436 - View of the altar in Amiens Cathedral showing the protective measures taken inside the Cathedral |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74549056 |
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| Description | The wooden supports that were built to shield the altar at Amiens Cathedral from shell damage. In addition to these supporting planks, sandbags were also used to protect the interior furnishings and ornaments from bomb damage. Underneath the wooden support to the far left of the photograph, one can see some sandbags piled up on top of one another. Located in the heart of Picardy, Amiens Cathedral, is one of the largest 'classic' Gothic churches of the 13th century, and is very similar in style to Notre-Dame in Paris. Construction started in 1221 and was eventually completed in 1289. The tallest complete cathedral in France, it represents the pinnacle of gothic engineering in France and was the last of the extremely tall church buildings. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. A view of the altar in Amiens Cathedral showing the protective measures taken inside the Cathedral.'] |
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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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