Henry Buckle was a whitesmith from Tewkesbury who volunteered for active service in September 1914. During his time in France and Belgiu...
Henry Buckle was a whitesmith from Tewkesbury who volunteered for active service in September 1914. During his time in France and Belgium with the 5th Gloucesters, he created over 60 paintings which show daily life in the trenches.
This image shows a Geman sandbag fort nicknamed "The Birdcage" in Belgium. "We blew this up with a mine on Sunday June 6, 1915," wrote Buckle in his diary.
This image shows a Geman sandbag fort nicknamed "The Birdcage" in Belgium. "We blew this up with a mine on Sunday June 6, 1915," wrote Buckle in his diary.
A picture of an army hospital in Rouen, France, November 1915.
“An idea of part of the trenches taken over from the French on 20 July 1915."
"One of our sentry posts, working in pairs, they relieve each other from dusk till dawn, neither leaving the post." Buckle painted this picture in Hebuterne, about 15 miles south-west of Arras.
“An artillery observation balloon, drawn with the aid of field glasses at Bayencourt," said Buckle of this picture. "This is the type of observation balloon in use by the Germans, this particular one is quite near us and is now used by the French... we call them 'Sausages'."
A French machine gun being fired at a "taube", a type of German monoplane, July 26 1915. “Dear Beck, this gun which we saw was an ordinary field machine gun, mounted on a wood stand in order to get a more upright position. This is the field service dress of the French Infantry, a kind of sky blue," wrote Buckle to the recipient of this sketch.
A sentry shelters in a destroyed building, France. "The enemy held the village on the skyline... The German trenches are directly in front. A sentry is looking over the sandbags with a periscope. The brown stuff hanging from the beam on the right is tobacco leaves, drying. Church & town in distance. The top of this building is completely smashed in by shell fire."
A civilian dug-out at Sailly-au-Bois, near Arras, 1915.
"One of our worst listening posts [disguised positions in No Man's Land used to monitor the enemy]. We had to crawl up an old ditch, 100 yards in front of our trench. The German lines are just below the skyline. Messines, Belgium."
"On the way... to the front line trench. Ploegsteert, Belgium. The lines tied to the sign post are field telegraph wires."
A series of portraits drawn during a week's stay in a field hospital in France.
"The most homely billet we ever had," said Buckle of this picture of a house in Hebuterne, where he stayed for eight days. The scribble on the bottom says that it was just 1,500 yards from the German forces.
In November 1915, Buckle was injured after a trench collapsed on him, and his service came to an end. This picture shows him on his motorbike.
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