Posts Tagged The Great War

Photograph shows a group of nurses aboard the “Red Cross” bound for Europe in mid September 1914 at the beginning of World War I.

(Library of Congress)

In this photograph . . . soldiers are shown digging a trench, viewed between strands of barbed wire. The men have only dug to about knee level and are very exposed, so it seems probable that they were not within sight of enemy trenches. Nearer the front line, trench digging was done under cover of night.

Barbed wire was used by both sides as a deterrent to slow an enemy attack as it approached the front of the trenches. It had been invented in 1873 in America as cattle fencing, but its nickname there seems even more apt to its use in warfare. It was called ‘The Devil’s Rope’.

(via the-seed-of-europe; source National Library of Scotland)

Soldier demonstrates his scar and pierced helmet, during World War I. This photograph would have made ideal propaganda material as its accompanying caption demonstrates. The soldier in the middle of the scene is happy and triumphant. Despite the bandaging on his head, he is still carrying all his equipment and looks ready for action. The story, helmet and resulting scar would probably have provided first rate barrack entertainment! [Original title reads: 'Saved by shrapnell [sic] helmet. This soldier, on the way to hospital after being bandaged at Field Dressing Station, shows the helmet which saved his life.’]

(National Library of Scotland)

Anyone watching the news, browsing the internet or is a fan of James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster, Titanic, knows that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. While the ill-fated voyage is certainly getting a great deal of media attention and new information seems to find its way to the top (ugh…no pun intended), I decided to take a different route. No, I’m not going to see Titanic 3-D, because let’s be honest it will always end the same, except this time I would get the added bonus of a slight headache due to the 3D glasses. Nor am I going to bid on the estimated 5,500 recovered artifacts from the Titanic’s watery grave because it seems a bit creepy and sacrilegious. Instead, during the media/information overload I came across an iconic Titanic photo and it was not the subject of the ship that intrigued me, but rather the story of the newsboy in the picture.

The Boy in the Picture

Newsboy Ned Parfett sells his papers in front of the White Star Line’s London offices, April 16, 1912.

Every now and then you come across a photo and you began to think about the people in it and their stories (or it could just be me). This was the case when I stumbled upon the photograph of newsboy Ned Parfett. The particular photo has been listed among the iconic photographs about the Titanic. The National Archives (UK) described it as: “One of the most poignant images of the Titanic disaster is of a young newsboy outside the White Star Line offices in London, holding an Evening News poster announcing ‘Titanic Disaster Great Loss of Life’.”

As I did a little more research into the photograph, I found the story of Ned Parfett’s short life. About six and a half years after this photograph was taken, Ned was killed in World War I. At the time of his death he was only 22 years of age. Ned, along with his three other brothers, joined the British forces during The Great War. In 1916, he enlisted into the Royal Artillery where he served as a dispatch rider. Later, he would be assigned to reconnaissance duties. Though he was young, his youth did not factor in on his sense of duty. Because of his gallant conduct and bravery in a series of missions, he was awarded the Military Medal.

On October 29, 1918, while Ned was collecting some clothes before going on leave, the Germans begun a bombardment. A shell landed on the quartermaster’s stores, killing Ned. Tragically, it was just days before the Armistice and the end of the war. His other three brothers served in other disastrous and bloody battles against the German army, one brother was wounded and gassed at the third battle of Ypres. But Ned was the only one who did not make it home.

An officer, who recommended Ned for special recognition, wrote to one of his brothers after Ned’s death:

On many occasions he accompanied me during severe shelling and I always placed the greatest confidence in him.

[Zim's Note: If you have been reading many of my war posts and the battle of Ypres sounds familiar, you may be thinking about a previous post - Henry Tandey's History Changing Decision. Quite a while ago I also did a post on the Cancelled Passengers of the RMS Titanic.]

Information – National Archives (UK)
Photograph – Smithsonian Institute

Bath in a ruined wood, Western Front, during World War I. This image of a British soldier curled up in the remains of a cast-iron bath in the middle of a devastated wood is typical of a range of ‘joke’ photographs taken by the war photographers. It is not clear if these were intended as artistic perceptions by the photographer, or if they were simply a record of a lighter side of war. The juxtaposition of banal and jokey images in a scene of war has been continued by war artists in more recent conflicts. A notable example would be John Keane’s Gulf War painting, ‘ Mickey Mouse at the Front’, painted in 1991.

John Keane’s “Mickey Mouse at the Front,” 1991

“A view along the beach at Kuwait City with blocks of hotels and beach defences lining the seafront in the background. In the foreground there is a shopping trolley filled with anti-tank rockets, the Kuwaiti flag, dead and damaged palm trees, and a Mickey Mouse model from a fairground ride. The beach is also covered in excrement.”

(National Library of Scotland; Imperial War Museums)