First World War sketches unveiled in Britain after 94 years

LONDON - A series of previously unseen drawings of the First World War have been unveiled 94 years after they were deemed to be too sensitive for the British public.

The drawings by Sir Muirhead Bone were first published in newspapers to boost morale at home, and in a 1916 book entitled ‘The Western Front’.

However, they did not make it past the censor, who judged it as too demoralising in light of the need for new recruits.

Now, Sir Muirhead’s family has provided the images for a new edition of the book.

The sketches include a dying soldier, a crippled tank, and stretcher bearers carrying the wounded from battle.

Sir Muirhead was sent to France during the Battle of the Somme, where thousands of British Army personnel were slaughtered as they attempted to drive back the Germans.he intelligence and propaganda chiefs, however, told him that his job was to record the war in a manner that would not dissuade young men from enlisting.

“It was more propaganda than recording the reality. It was all about presenting the right image to show our war effort was just, with one eye on recruiting more soldiers,”The Scotsman quoted Tim Barlass, publisher of The Western Front’s new version, as saying.

“He wasn’t to show the true horrors of war, the carnage, and for that reason many of the drawings he did never made it on to the pages of The Western Front. These unseen images show the reality,” he added. (ANI)