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(50) N.467 - In Bethune showing a shell hole

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(50) N.467 - In Bethune showing a shell hole

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First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Tom Aitken > (50) N.467 - In Bethune showing a shell hole
(50) N.467 - In Bethune showing a shell hole
Permanent URLhttps://digital.nls.uk/74549080
DescriptionWith branchless trees framing this photograph and debris scattered all over the ground, these two British soldiers look into a bomb crater in a street in the shell-damaged town of Bethune. Behind the soldiers, one can see pockmarked and burnt-out residential buildings. The medieval town of Bethune suffered terrible damage during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. The town was vitally important to the Allies as it was the principal railway post for the Channel ports. Although the walled market town experienced great structural damage during the conflict, Bethune was restored to its former glory, using Flemish and art-deco styles, during the 1920s and 1930s. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. In Bethune showing a shell hole.']
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Tom Aitken
DescriptionTom 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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Photographers
DescriptionPhotographs by named photographers.
First World War 'Official Photographs'
DescriptionBlack-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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