Drawing his breath
Drawing his breath
Bild von National Library of Scotland
The soldier in the middle of the scene has his back to the camera and a bundle of curly metal rods balanced on his shoulders. He is half sitting on a wall of sandbags and looks like he is about to swing his legs over the artificial wall. The higher land to the right looks like it maybe the edge of a trench. John Warwick Brooke is believed to have taken this picture.
Barbed wire was one of the cheapest weapons used on the front and it proved to be quite effective.
[Original reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. Drawing his breath. A Tommy has a rest whilst taking up corkscrews used for putting up barbed wire in front of new positions.']
