1918 Gallery

Wartime Toby jugs, WW1

Advertisement for Soane & Smith of Oxford Street, promoting their range of Toby jugs based on wartime leaders, principally Sir David Beatty, Sir Douglas Haig, Lord Jellicoe, Marshal Joffre, Lord French, Prime Minister David Lloyd George, President Woodrow Wilson and Marshal Foch. Last but not least is a special design based on the character Old Bill, portrayed in the hugely popular cartoons by Bruce Bairnsfather in The Bystander magazine. Date: 1918

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Our ?Little Contemptibles?, 1914

Our ?Little Contemptibles?, 1914.Oil on canvas by William Barns Wollen (1857-1936), 1918 (c); exhibited at the Royal Academy 1918 (No 260).Composed of regular soldiers and reservists, the British Expeditionary Force landed on the Continent in August in 1914. During the early months of World War One (1914-1918) it was engaged in slowing down the German advance. This painting depicts open warfare with British infantry wearing large packs, taking cover behind a hedge; German artillery in the distance. The British Army?s experiences in the Boer War (1899-1902) had resulted in major reforms in organization, administration, tactics, weapons and equipment. Introduced in 1906, the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle, shown in this painting, enabled troops to produce very rapid, accurate fire. Infantry training now placed more emphasis on the ability to shoot straight and fast, and on mobility. These professional soldiers, drilled in new methods of attack, defence, and withdrawal, were taught to take greater advantage of cover.The title of the canvas relates to an order given by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (1859 -1941) to the commander of his First Army, Alexander von Kluck (1846-1934), in August, 1914:- ?It is my Royal and Imperial Command that you concentrate your energies? and all the valour of my soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous English; walk over General French's insignificant [or contemptible] little Army. In fact the German advance was checked, and the men of the British and Indian Expeditionary Forces who survived these heavy engagements proudly adopted the ironic title, ?The Old Contemptibles?. These men who served between the outbreak of war and midnight on 22 November 1914 were awarded the 1914 Star.In the 1880s, the artist, William Barns Wollen, served in the 20th (Artists?) Volunteer Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort?s Own), popularly known as the Artists? Rifles. Date: 1914

© The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

9th Hampshire Regiment in Vladivostock

The 9th (Cyclist) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment march through the streets of Vladivostock, about to set off for Omsk in Siberia, as part of the Allied Intervention Force in the Russian Civil War. They had arrived in Vladivostock from their previous posting in India at the end of November 1918, and were equipped with Arctic clothing before making the 23 day, 4000 mile rail journey to Omsk on the Trans-Siberian Railway, arriving on 7 January 1919. There, they formed part of a multi-national military presence supporting the anti-Bolshevik White forces. Moving on to Ekaterinburg in May 1919, they were forced to evacuate in August due to the rapid Bolshevik advance, and left Russia in November 1919

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10272342