Bruce Bairnsfather -part 1

Charles Bruce Bairnsfather (1888-1959) served with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the Western Front during World War One (1914-1918). Before the war he had attempted to make his living as a commercial artist and he continued to sketch while at the Front. The horror of trench warfare had a profound effect on the young infantry officer but it was the stoic good humour of his men that inspired most of the cartoons he produced. Encouraged by his work's popularity with officers and men alike, Bairnsfather submitted a cartoon entitled, 'Where Did That One Go To?', to the 'The Bystander' magazine and it was accepted and published. Compilations of his cartoons, notably the 'Fragments from France' series, followed. Bairnsfather's artwork was reproduced widely in various forms and became the subject of successful theatrical and film productions. Invalided home, Bairnsfather became quite a celebrity but the British authorities seemed disinclined to promote the artist or his work. Bairnsfather was however in demand from Britain's allies and he went on to work with the French, Italian and United States armies. In October 1915. while training machine gun officers at Sutton Veny, Bairnsfather produced his most famous cartoon depicting two soldiers sharing a shell hole, entitled, 'Well if you knows a better' ole, go to it'. It was published in the Christmas issue of 'The Bystander', on 24 November 1915.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series on the works of Bruce Bairnsfather:

1910s Our Democratic Army
postcard

1915 Army Service Corps
ink and wash on paper 16 x 26 cm

1915 Army Service Corps
detail

1915 Army Service Corps
detail

1915 Another Maxim Maxim
"Machine guns form a valuable support for infantry"
postcard

1915 The Bystander cover: 22 December
Five days leave! Taxi!

1915 My Dug-Out: A lay of the trenches

1916 The Intelligence Department
"Is this ere the Warwicks?"
"Nao, 'Indenburgs blinkin' Light Infantry"

1916 The Conscientious Exhilarator

1916 Bullets & Billets
by Bruce Bairnsfather

1916 A Hopeless Dawn

1916  My Hat!
Helmets, Shrapnel, One.
The Bystander magazine

1916 War!
This interesting view for 6 months... or -As it is for most of us
The Bystander March 1, 1916

1916 Those Superstitions
Private Sandy McNab cheers the assembly by pointing out (with the aid of his pocket almanac) that it is Friday the 13th and that their number is one too many

1916 There are times when Private Lightfoot feels absolutely convinced that its going to be a War of Exhaustion
The Bystander Christmas Number

1916 The New Submarine Danger
"They'll be torpedoin' us if we stick ere much longer, Bill" 

1916-19 The Bystanders Fragments from France published January 1916-1919:

On 5th January 1916 The Bystander published an advertisement announcing that their new Bairnsfather book, to be titled Fragments from France - described as “48 pages of screaming comicality” -  would be on sale shortly. Three weeks later, Fragments from France appeared in bookstalls across England, and was an instant hit. In a full page advertisement on 26th January, The Bystander stated “Letters we have received by the score from officers and men on active service in all the theatres, assure us that nothing since the war began presents the actual facts and feelings of the fighting men so realistically or so humorously as do these sketches by one of themselves….To get an immediate copy of Fragments from France is a duty you owe to yourself. No dug-out, billet or mess room will be complete without it. And if you ever feel in a generous mood towards the enemy, cheer him up too by hurling a copy over to his trenches. It will prove a high explosive of mirth, even to him.”

Over the next three years a further seven volumes of Fragments from France and a larger format Edition De Luxe were published, each one a best seller. 

"They've evidently seen me."

"There goes our blinkin' parapet again"

"The Same Old Moon"

"The Push" -in Three Chapters.

"Where did that one go to?"

"Well, if you knows of a better 'ole, go to it."

"Watch me make a fire-bucket of 'is 'elmet."

1916 (January) The Bystanders
Fragments from France

A.D. Nineteen Fifty.
"I see the War Babies' Battalion is coming out."

Keeping His Hand In.
Private Smith, the company bomber, formerly "Shinio," the popular juggler, frequently causes considerable anxiety to his platoon,

Humours from the Front - No. 32
Situation Shortly Vacant

Dear - "At present we are staying at a farm..."

Coiffure in the Trenches.
"Keep yer 'ead still, or I'll 'ave yer blinkin' ear off."

So Obvious.
The Young and Talkative One: "Who made that 'ole?"
The Fed-up One: "Mice."

My Dug-Out: A lay of the trenches.

The Eternal Question.
"Ehen the 'ell is it goin' to be strawberry?"

The Bystanders Fragments from France

That Sword.
How he thought he was going to use it-
-and how he did use it.

That Evening Star-shell.
"Oh, star of eve, whose tender beam
Falls on my spirit's troubled dream."