Original reprint of British Official Photograph - Women Carpenters in France 3

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Ministry Of Information

1918

Overview

World War One era black and white photograph of British women carpenters working in France.
There are a large number of women working on the construction of a timber hut. Seven (including a lady supervisor seen in the other two photos) are perched on the roof beams and ladders and are adding rafters, purlins and other lengths of structural timber. A further ten women are on the ground engaged in various activities. They are wearing a range of different dresses and hats as would be expected from a civilian rather than military group.
The ground is littered with timber offcuts as well as a stack of planks used for cladding the walls of the huts. A mostly completed hut is behind the hut currently being built, with the two layers of vertical cladding visible.

The reverse of the image has a stamped label for 'British Official Photographs' and gives copyright information and ordering details. The number D2850 is written in pencil.

Historical information

This photograph was one of three original reprints of 'British Official Photographs', all of which are now held by the IWM, albeit with different numbers on the backs. The IWM number for this image is Q6767.
The photographer is listed as Lieutenant John Warwick Brooke of the Topical Press Agency, who was the second British official war photographer to go to the Western Front in 1916. The production date was 28 June 1918.

The three photographs came with a small souvenir booklet entitled 'Souvenir of W.G.T.'s Women Carpenters in France, 1917-1919'. According to the information in the booklet, 'four score' of women went to France to build wooden huts and during the course of their employment from 1917-1919, 37 000 huts were completed. Miss Dorothy Catt seems to have been one of those 80 women carpenters working at the W.G.T camp near Calais in France.

The 'W.G.T.' on the cover of the booklet refers to a building company from Surrey established by Walter George Tarrant (1875-1942). An excellent overview of the company and their use of women to fill worker shortages during World War One is attached.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00553

Item type

Collectibles

Ephemera

Photographs

Themes

Social History
War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 1

Material

Ink

Pencil

Photographic Paper

Width

205 mm

Height or length

150 mm

Inscriptions and markings

On reverse of photograph:

"BRITISH OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS,
THIS PHOTOGRAPH IS CROWN COPYRIGHT AND MUST NOT BE RE-
PRODUCED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PERMISSION.
FURTHER COPIES MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
PHOTOGRAPHIC BUREAU, 10, 11, 12 COVENTRY STREET,
PICCADILLY CIRCUS W1.
QUOTE REFERENCE No. "

"D2850"

Keywords

Place made

London, United Kingdom

Year

1918