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Two men up to their necks in a muddy trench, their heads level with the ground: mud, explosions and shrapnel. One is looking at the other: 鈥淲ell if you knows of a better 鈥榦le, go to it.鈥�

That is one of the most popular cartoons published during World War One and it was by war cartoonist and Warwickshire man Bruce Bairnsfather. Mark Warby is a collector of Bruces鈥� work and shares his story.

Bruce Bairnsfather moved with his family to Warwickshire in order to follow in his father鈥檚 military footsteps and attended a military training school in Stratford-upon-Avon but he didn鈥檛 make it into Sandhurst so pursued a career in art.

Being an artist wasn鈥檛 an accepted profession at the time. He started drawing adverts for Beechams tablets and Lipton tea. But that didn鈥檛 pay the bills so he took a job as an electrician鈥檚 apprentice and installed the first electric lighting at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. But then war broke out.

He rejoined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and within three months he was posted to Flanders.

He began sketching at the front line and sending images to Bystander magazine in London, which was a popular weekly at the time. His sketches were an instant hit.

Bruce鈥檚 cartoons feature a character called Old Bill; he became the loveable Tommy of World War One. He has a walrus moustache and isn鈥檛 fit. He grumbles his way through the war but that is how he gets through it.

Soldiers liked the cartoons because Bruce knew what it was like to be at the front line. But only a month after his first sketch was published, the first Royal Warwickshire Regiment were involved in the Second Battle of Ypres.

Bruce was one of many shelling causalities in their regiment. He was sent home to recuperate in Victoria Spa Lodge in Bishopton, Stratford Upon Avon.

It was here that his sketches changed in tone: one of them illustrates a man asleep in bed with a large bullet coming straight for him, and the caption reads: 鈥淢y dream for years to come.鈥�

Bruce had suffered shell shock. As a result his personality changed, he became less outgoing.

After a period of sick leave he returned to active service but he had never fully recovered from his original injuries and in 1916, the War Office appointed him officer cartoonist and he was sent to the French, Italian and American soldiers to draw their men as he had done the British. He was given a unique opportunity to see all the fronts.

Bruce Bairnsfather may not have received military medals for his time in the trenches but he was dubbed 鈥渢he man who won the war鈥� by General Sir Ian Hamilton for keeping morale high from those at the front and at home.

He went on to be the first cartoonist to appear on television and took Old Bill to further successes on the stage and the big screen in America.

Location: Victoria Spa Lodge, Bishopton, Stratford upon Avon CV37 9QY
Image: Courtesy the Mark Warby collection
Presented by Siobhan Harrison

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