This week’s postcard is another from the Daily Mail’s War Picture series, this time of British heavy guns in action:
This image was actually used in at least two series of these cards and can also be found in a black and white version. This example is however colourised. The main focus of the image is of course the gun itself:
I am not actually sure which gun the image illustrates, but it certainly seems to be particularly large and may be something like a breach loading 60 pounder. Shells for the gun can be seen being prepared to the left of the image, the shells and their propellant charges can be seen being prepared for firing:
An officer and a couple of gunners stand to the right watching proceedings:
A curious item sits on the ground in the foreground. I suspect that this is some sort of device for cleaning out the barrel of the gun, but I am not entirely sure so if you recognise it please comment below:
The Daily Mail’s postcard series was hugely popular, as the paper was keen to report at the time:
The popularity of the Daily Mail Official War postcards was manifest yesterday. They met with a ready sale in the shops and won enthusiastic praise from the public.
Wherever the cards were displayed they attracted groups of people throughout the day, and there were many favourable comments on the extraordinary wide range of subjects, the clearness of detail, and the wealth of human and historic interest in the series.
A Chaplain’s Discovery
An interesting incident occurred at on the large West End Stores. An Army chaplain came in to see the postcards. Suddenly he came upon the postcard entitled “An Army Chaplain Tending British Graves.” With a look of surprise he bent forward and examined it more closely. The he turned to the attendant:
“As a matter of fact,” he said, “that’s myself!”
He had recognised the little field cemetery with his own figure bending over a grave in the foreground of the picture. He belonged to a famous Highland regiment. They had buried their adjutant in the field cemetery that morning, he said. He pointed to the little crosses laid on the heroes’ graves and spoke of the tender care with which the soldiers had fashioned them.
The Gordons are of course the Gordon Highlanders and again Scottish regiments were a popular choice for postcard manufacturers with the traditional Scottish dress of the kilt being seen as more exotic than the drab khaki worn by other troops:
This was a continuation of the Victorian interest in all things Scottish, when the Royal Family’s love of the highlands, tartan and traditional Scottish garb had been copied by the public at large.
The chap pushing the prisoner is probably the regimental stretcher bearer, and around his neck can be seen the webbing strap used to support a stretcher when it is being hand carried:
This is obviously unnecessary in this instance and just lies draped conveniently round the body.
In the foreground can be seen a soldier keeping guard of the aircraft:
Behind can be seen a pair of aircraft:
These have been identified by a friend as being most likely BE2 aircraft. This was a single engined, two man crewed training aircraft introduced in 1912 and used throughout the First World War. It was initially used as a front-line reconnaissance aircraft and light bomber; modified as a single-seater it proved effective as a night fighter, destroying several German airships.
The white ensign flying beneath shows this airship belongs to the RNAS rather than the RFC. Britain never used airships to the same extent as Germany and its Zepplins, however they saw sterling service patrolling the channel and on anti-submarine patrols.
This cruiser was laid down in 1904 and served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. She had a displacement of 11,000 tons and measured 473 feet from bow to stern. Her bow had a typical cruiser shape with a distinctive pointed slope:
Her stern was also traditional in shape, with the rounded shape seen on many turn of the century cruisers:
The ship was powered by two four cylinder triple expansion engines that used fifteen niclausse and six cylindrical boilers, the smoke from which exited via the ship’s distinctive four funnels:
The ship had a crew of 610 men and was commanded from a large open bridge just forward of the main mast and boilers:
The ship was armed with four 7.5 inch guns on the main deck, one fore, one aft and two amidships. Her secondary armament was six 6 inch guns, four carried in case mates on the ship’s hull.
This card is captioned “The glorious first of July 1916”- our first prisoners. It depicts German prisoners of war being passed down the lines after their capture on the first day of the Battle of the Somme:
The ruins of a farmhouse are visible in the background:
Whilst in the foreground British soldiers watch on curiously:
These men wear the distinctive soft trench cap with its top strap. The standing man also carries a gas mask, possibly a PH hood, in a small pouch slung across his body:
Unusually for this series of cards, this image was not taken by an official army photographer, but rather by a member of No 1 Printing Company, Royal Engineers. The series of cards carefully played up the few successes of the Somme battles and missed out the disasters and horrendous loss of British life, the images being carefully chosen and captioned to portray the battle in a better light with those back home. The Germans were to lose 400,000 men during the Somme fighting, including 40,000 taken prisoner. Basil Clarke was a reported for the War illustrated and described the German prisoners coming in:
Although one of these cases magnetos is dated 1918, I cannot find a /|\ mark on either one so it is impossible to say if they are military or civilian in origin; they are however interesting objects from a century ago and worthy of closer inspection. The smaller of the two magnetos is a free standing unit, with rubber feet, a hinged lid secured with a small screw and a large winding handle on the side:
Inside the case is a set of magnets and a large brass cog wheel which is part of the gearing used to spin the armature and generate current:
The second magnetos is designed to be mounted on a wall or bulkhead and has a backing plate with a series of brass reinforced screw holes for attaching it vertically:
Two large brass screw terminals are fitted to the top of the box to attach the telephone wires to:
The front of the box is hinged and this was originally lockable, with a small lock escutcheon visible:
Next to this is the date 1918 and the maker’s mark for ATM Co. The initials are repeated on the magneto inside the box:
These are the initials for the Automatic Telephone Exchange Company of Washington. This company had set up a factory in Liverpool in 1889 but quickly distanced itself from its American parent company. During World War One the company produced shells for the military but continued its core business, manufacturing telephone equipment for both the War Office and Admiralty, producing private exchanges for both. Whether this is one of the pieces of equipment bought by either the Admiralty or War Office is unclear, but I suspect it is likely as investment in 1918 was far more heavily skewed to the military than to civilian infrastructure projects but it is impossible to be certain.
This card was posted in 1917 and it is hard to tell if it was a commercial image in the sentimental style of the day or a genuine portrait of a sailor and his daughter. I hope it is the latter, but of course it is impossible to say now. One item of interest however is the cap tally on the sailor’s cap worn by the girl:
The name of the ship has been unpicked, just leaving the outline of the embroidery, whilst the initials ‘HMS’ remain. The reasoning behind this is unclear and again would be dependent on whether this is a genuine sailor’s issue cap or a photographer’s prop. If it is the latter then it has probably been unpicked to allow it to be used in portraits without any obvious connection to a vessel which could have proven awkward to the sitter. The alternative is that this is a wartime expedient for security issues, much like sailors in the Second World War had simple ‘H.M.S.’ cap tallies. If this is the case, which I suspect might be the real story, then the sailor becomes far more likely to be an actual sailor, the girl becomes his actual daughter and this is a sweet picture taken to send to relations- a far nicer story than a twee image taken just to sell postcards!