Old Bill by Bruce Bairnsfather.

[algy]

I have reposted this topic as I believe posted in the wrong section originally - Chit-Chat

I have located six books by Bruce Bairnsfather featuring his experiences in WWI most with a large amount of his cartoons in them, all on the Internet Archive and out of copyright, all may be downloade in pdf format.

Bullets [and] billets

The Bystander's fragments from France

From mud to mufti with old Bill on all fronts

More fragments from France

Back to Blighty : battle stories

http://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Bairnsfather%2C+Bruce%2C+1887-%22

[anthw]

Algy,

Thanks for finding those, I found them most enjoyable.

Thanks

Anthony

[Stoppage Drill]

OK, here's a bit of a riddle.

Old Bill saw active service in WW2.

How ?

[Chris Foster]

As a B17

[gilbo139]

As a cartoonist for the American Army...died just a few miles from where I live but I was only 7 so didn't get to know him...Colin

[algy]

CAPTAIN BRUCE BAIRNSFATHER

Royal Warwickshire Regiment

09.07.1887 ~ 29.09.1959

Born on 9th July 1887 at Muree on India's North West Frontier, Charles Bruce Bairnsfather was destined to become the best known and best loved of Britain's Great War artists.

At the outbreak of war in 1914 he joined the Warwickshire Regiment and served on the Western Front. He experienced the strange Christmas truce of 1914 and later wrote about it in his best-selling autobiographical account 'Bullets & Billets'.

It was whilst serving in the infamous Ypres Salient that he created the first of what were to become his 'Fragments from France' cartoons on the wall of his billet - a battle-scarred cottage in the village of St Yvon. He also created the character of 'Old Bill', he of the walrus moustache and tin hat who so epitomised the poor old British Tommy and struck a nerve with them.

In April 1915 Bruce was wounded and shipped back to 'Blighty'. With his cartoons attracting attention at home he was approached by the Bystander magazine and so began the publishing phenomenon 'Fragments from France' - a series of cartoons which sold in millions.

Bruce returned to active duty in France in late 1915. However, his health again deteriorated and he was hospitalised and formally classified as no longer fit for active service.

In 1916, with the French suffering heavily at Verdun they requested Bruce be loaned to them to create cartoons for them to help raise moral. The British appointed him 'Officer Cartoonist' (the first ever such title in the British Army) and sent him back to France. He also toured the Italian front and drew for the Italians, and when the Americans entered the war he toured with them too.

Following the war Bruce earned his living through his cartoons. At the time of the Second World War he offered his services to the British, but was not used to any great degree and so ended up serving with the American forces as a cartoonist.

Throughout his life he suffered many ups and downs and turns of fortune, but through it all Old Bill was always with him.

In September 1959, after three major operations, he succumbed to bladder cancer and died, aged 72.

[Stoppage Drill]

Here is the man, Bruce Bairnsfather ranked Captain, US Army, in front of "Old Bill" at Chelveston (305th Heavy Bombardment Group) on 15 May 1943. Bairnsfather had painted the nose art.

Old Bill had been repeatedly frontally attacked over Heligoland, and cannon fire caused the damage shown, plus much which doesn't show here, including a buckled starboard wing and a 20mm shell which entered the cockpit through the co-pilot's windscreen. The story of how her crew brought her back with a 200 mph slipstream coming through the fuselage is a true epic. There was an extra man on board ( a photographer) and of the 11 only two were unwounded. Her crew rightly became the most decorated in the 8th AF.

[WhiteStarLine]

Algy, many thanks. To my shame, I had never got around to reading 'Bullets and Billets'. We saw the Christmas Truce site and Bairnsfather cottage near Plugstreet Wood last September, so I read the book yesterday. It is very readable and a great download.