British Western Front
(51) X.32019 - Shave and a clean up after coming out of the trenches
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| First World War 'Official Photographs' > British Western Front > (51) X.32019 - Shave and a clean up after coming out of the trenches |
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| Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/74549274 |
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| Description | Two soldiers just out of the trenches. Both men appear to be at the entrance to a dugout. They have taken off their helmets and are in shirt sleeves. One of the men is shaving. Apart from military discipline there was a practical reason for shaving as any growth of beard got in the way when wearing the gas masks and made them less effective. Harold Saunders, who served in France between 1915 and 1918, remembered one long spell in the trenches, ' Water was scarce, and even the tea ration was so short there was none left over for shaving. I had a nine days' growth of beard when we went down to rest ...'. [Original reads: 'A shave and a clean up after coming out of the trenches.'] |
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| Description | Photographs, all taken on the British Western Front, that are not attributed to a particular photographer. |
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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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