The Artists - B.W.

[Nickc]

There were a large number of artists who produced patriotic postcards during the war.

Most of them are probably lost to history but a few of them are still well known:

First World German postcard war artist Brynolf Wennerberg (who signs his work B. W. )

Brynolf Wennerberg was actually Swedish not German, his style of romantic postcards are not to my taste, but they are very popular with postcard collectors.


For example I have never had one in stock for mor than a week!
I do own one of his postcards, because of what it depicts really.

As a method of raising funds a large wooden Iron Cross was mounted on a wall and people paid between 1 - 5 marks to have a nail hammered in, having read about this fund raising idea.
Having read about it in books and seen it the remastered movie someone here posted, sorry I foget who did, with HIndenburg on the Eastern Front.

Apart from one film and this one postcard I have never seen any other photographs or postcards of this fund raising event.

 

[b.loree]

I read about that happening as well years ago.

 

[Nickc]

I read about that happening as well years ago.

Its one of those things that I want to know more about, I have emailed two of the dealers I do a lot business with to see what they can find out. Also asked if they have ever heard of a surviving EK of nails coming up for sale. That would be really something for me to have one.

We do seem to read a lot of similar books

 

[b.loree]

Now that I think on it.....was it not a wooden statue of Bismarck that nails were hammered into to raise funds during the war? My thanks for the list of books, unfortunately the latest author/translator you recommended could not be found on Amazon CN. I will keep trying......perhaps when I hit Florida again in December ?

 

[Nickc]

Now that I think on it.....was it not a wooden statue of Bismarck that nails were hammered into to raise funds during the war? My thanks for the list of books, unfortunately the latest author/translator you recommended could not be found on Amazon CN. I will keep trying......perhaps when I hit Florida again in December ?

The wonders of the internet, I set up VPN to Dallas and looked on Amazon.com and found this

https://www.amazon.com/This-war-this-death-Verdun-ebook/dp/B088PXQ526

I hope this works for you

There is also an interesting British comparison story The War Diary Of The Master Of Belhaven 1914-1988 Ralph G A Hamilton, at the begining of the war he had an shell explode under him, I think it was March 1918 a shell exploded under him and his luck ran out. Lots of interesting stories about shelling with gas and being shelled by gas. He was a battery commander Royal Artillery with 18 pounder field guns, as was my maternal great grandfather, very proud. I never knew my him sadly but I did have until the mid 1980s with his youngest brother who was Royal Artillery in Palestine with Allenby. He had some stories, and he was a hell of a character, but with that stoicism of that generation that never bitched or whined about their lot but just got on with it. More importantly he was the first person to give me a shot of burbon when I was 9!

 

[b.loree]

Bought it! Thank you very much Tony My Scottish grandfather was with the HLI...Dardanelles, Egypt, and France. I met him once in 1961 but no stories were told and there was no offer of a dram of whiskey.