'Then & Now'
'Refocusing Perspectives:
Then and Now Photography of the First World War.
Project Aims
In 2017 I joined a project run by Dr James Wallis from Exeter University in partnership with the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and supported by the 'Living Legacies' Public Engagement Centre at Queens University Belfast. Over the past 100 years examples of 'Then and Now' images from the Great War have been produced. This project aims were to co-investigate and create new photographic representations of First World War spaces, ranging from the prominent to the nigh-on forgotten.
Each voluntary member, drawn from the RPS Documentary Group, picked their own theme which broadly fitted into three categories of Battlefield Landscapes, Home Front and Hidden History. Topics ranged from burial sites of Zeppelin crews in the UK, War Memorials, the Indian hospital at the Brighton Pavilion and my own on the Wounded Evacuation Chain.
In 2017 I joined a project run by Dr James Wallis from Exeter University in partnership with the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) and supported by the 'Living Legacies' Public Engagement Centre at Queens University Belfast. Over the past 100 years examples of 'Then and Now' images from the Great War have been produced. This project aims were to co-investigate and create new photographic representations of First World War spaces, ranging from the prominent to the nigh-on forgotten.
Each voluntary member, drawn from the RPS Documentary Group, picked their own theme which broadly fitted into three categories of Battlefield Landscapes, Home Front and Hidden History. Topics ranged from burial sites of Zeppelin crews in the UK, War Memorials, the Indian hospital at the Brighton Pavilion and my own on the Wounded Evacuation Chain.
Transporting the wounded at Crucifix Corner near Aveluy October 1916 © IWM (Q 1348)
Personal Journey
For this project I set out to document, through photography, one man's journey from battlefield to 'Blighty'. Naturally I was to use what I knew about my great grandfather, Thomas Whiston, to take it to a more personal level. I had no idea if this was going to be possible.
At the end of 2016 I discovered that Thomas had been wounded on the same day he won his Military Medal. Documents transcribed by the Forces War Records website gave brief but telling details of dates and locations he passed through. My research into these details were in their infancy when I was invited to join this project.
I primarily used the War Diaries of his Field Ambulance, the Casualty Clearing Stations he passed through and the Ambulance Train he travelled on to confirm what I already knew. My investigations took me to Aldershot, Central London, Eastbourne, West Bay in Dorset plus Grandcourt, Thiepval, Aveluy, Bouzincourt and Puchevillers in the Somme.
Using original postcards of the time, images available through the Imperial War Museum and the Wellcome Libraries I was able to chart the route my great grandfather took in images. My task now was to produce 'Now' versions the best I could.
This was not going to be as easy as I hoped. Nature more than anything was to get in the way. A view of a field 'then' and a new housing estate 'now' was to be expected but the shear number of trees standing in the way of the view was disheartening. During the war places like the surrounding countryside of Eastbourne had very few trees, today hills and roadsides are covered with them. On the Somme I found it less difficult to match images, even if it meant from a different direction.
Two parts of the journey evaded my efforts. The Hospital Train he had been transported on was well documented with several images inside and out during an inspection for the French press. The Hospital ship also had before the war and during postcards available. In both cases it was proving difficult to find a 'now' image. The National Railway Museum in York had a WW1 hospital train display but it didn't use original rolling stock. The ship was sunk during WW2 and I couldn't track down another in time. By chance I found a repurposed hospital train carriage in Dorset but the ship evades me to date.
The project concluded on the 18th November 2017 with a symposium at the Winchester Discovery Centre were each partaking member had a pop up display and gave a short talk.
The next two pages follows Thomas Whiston's journey from the battlefield to convalescence. My project had the title 'The Highway of Suffering: From The Somme to Camp Summerdown.'
The Journey Continues
The following are the images I discovered and reproduced by the end of the project. This journey started just over 100 years ago when my great grandfather went 'over the top' into battle with just a stretcher. I have been researching my family tree for nearly 40 of those years and still discover new facts each year. It is possible this journey of discovery may never end.
For this project I set out to document, through photography, one man's journey from battlefield to 'Blighty'. Naturally I was to use what I knew about my great grandfather, Thomas Whiston, to take it to a more personal level. I had no idea if this was going to be possible.
At the end of 2016 I discovered that Thomas had been wounded on the same day he won his Military Medal. Documents transcribed by the Forces War Records website gave brief but telling details of dates and locations he passed through. My research into these details were in their infancy when I was invited to join this project.
I primarily used the War Diaries of his Field Ambulance, the Casualty Clearing Stations he passed through and the Ambulance Train he travelled on to confirm what I already knew. My investigations took me to Aldershot, Central London, Eastbourne, West Bay in Dorset plus Grandcourt, Thiepval, Aveluy, Bouzincourt and Puchevillers in the Somme.
Using original postcards of the time, images available through the Imperial War Museum and the Wellcome Libraries I was able to chart the route my great grandfather took in images. My task now was to produce 'Now' versions the best I could.
This was not going to be as easy as I hoped. Nature more than anything was to get in the way. A view of a field 'then' and a new housing estate 'now' was to be expected but the shear number of trees standing in the way of the view was disheartening. During the war places like the surrounding countryside of Eastbourne had very few trees, today hills and roadsides are covered with them. On the Somme I found it less difficult to match images, even if it meant from a different direction.
Two parts of the journey evaded my efforts. The Hospital Train he had been transported on was well documented with several images inside and out during an inspection for the French press. The Hospital ship also had before the war and during postcards available. In both cases it was proving difficult to find a 'now' image. The National Railway Museum in York had a WW1 hospital train display but it didn't use original rolling stock. The ship was sunk during WW2 and I couldn't track down another in time. By chance I found a repurposed hospital train carriage in Dorset but the ship evades me to date.
The project concluded on the 18th November 2017 with a symposium at the Winchester Discovery Centre were each partaking member had a pop up display and gave a short talk.
The next two pages follows Thomas Whiston's journey from the battlefield to convalescence. My project had the title 'The Highway of Suffering: From The Somme to Camp Summerdown.'
The Journey Continues
The following are the images I discovered and reproduced by the end of the project. This journey started just over 100 years ago when my great grandfather went 'over the top' into battle with just a stretcher. I have been researching my family tree for nearly 40 of those years and still discover new facts each year. It is possible this journey of discovery may never end.
© Alan Graham 2021