Photographers > Tom Aitken
(78) N.535 - Civilians saving their property near the line
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > Photographers > Tom Aitken > (78) N.535 - Civilians saving their property near the line |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74549136 |
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| Description | Aftermath of an incendiary bombing in France, during World War I. People apparently making for the entrance of a burning building while fire-fighters with hoses attempt to tackle the fire through an open window. The building does not look like a house - its large scale and the height of its windows suggest that it was originally an industrial building or perhaps even a church - yet it clearly houses something of value to the people in the picture. A less optimistic scene than many in official photographs taken during World War I, this image might nevertheless have had value as propaganda, demonstrating the courage of Britain's civilian allies. [Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT IN FRANCE. The effects of an incendiary shell. Civilians saving their property near the line.'] |
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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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