THE PRIME MINISTER SETS A GOOD EXAMPLE - An original Second World War press photograph of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill carrying his gas mask and helmet during The Blitz on 31 January 1941.
London: BIPPA press agency, 2 February 1941. Photograph. This original press photograph captures Winston S. Churchill carrying his gas mask and helmet during The Blitz on 31 January 1941. The image, measuring 6.5 x 8.5 in (16.5 x 21.6 cm), is a gelatin silver print on glossy photo paper. Condition is good only. There are two strong horizontal creases in the bottom third of the photo, some loss to the upper left corner, and a closed tear on the lower edge. The verso bears the copyright stamp of “BIPPA” and indicates that this is a “British Official Photograph Crown Copyright Reserved”, with a typed caption titled “THE PRIME MINISTER SETS A GOOD EXAMPLE” reading "When he paid a visit recently to Southampton and Portsmouth the Prime Minister set a good example by carrying his gas mask and steel helmet. He was accompanied by Mrs Churchill, and Mr Harry Hopkins (President Roosevelt’s Special Envoy) and got a good reception at both places.”
When Churchill became Prime Minister, the war for Britain was not so much a struggle for victory as a struggle to survive. Churchill’s first year in office saw, among other near-calamities, the Battle of the Atlantic, the fall of France, evacuation at Dunkirk, and the Battle of Britain. Hitler intended the Battle of Britain as the preparatory effort to gain air superiority prior to an invasion of England. Indeed, at the time this photo was taken, invasion by Nazi Germany remained a credible threat.
On 4 September 1940 Hitler gave a speech in Berlin promising to “erase their [Britain’s] cities from the earth” in response to “Herr Churchill’s” promise to increase attacks on German cities. On 7 September the Luftwaffe commenced the Blitz; by the day’s end the Germans had dropped 447 tons of bombs on London, killing 448 civilians. On 11 September 1940 Churchill’s broadcast to the British people reminded the nation of its past victories: “we must regard the next week or so as a very important period in our history. It ranks with the days when the Spanish Armada was approaching the Channel… or when Nelson stood between us and Napoleon’s Grand Army at Boulogne. We have read all about this in the history books; but what is happening now is on a far greater scale and of far more consequence to the life and future of the world and its civilization than these brave old days of the past. Every man and woman will therefore prepare himself to do his duty, whatever it may be, with special pride and care.”
Churchill’s encouragement to his people extended from the airwaves to the streets of London. He frequently visited bomb sites to boost morale. In his WWII memoirs he recalled one such visit to a devastating bomb site in Peckham, “Already little pathetic Union Jacks had been stuck up amid the ruins. When my car was recognized the people came running from all quarters, and a crowd of more than a thousand was soon gathered. All these folk were in a high state of enthusiasm… ‘Give it ‘em back,’ they cried, and ‘Let them have it too.’ I undertook forthwith to see that their wishes were carried out”. (WWII, Vol II, 307-8) When this photo was taken the Blitz was nearing its end. In mid-May, one year after Churchill became Prime Minister, German forces shifted focus to the invasion of Russia.
This press photo originated from the BIPPA photo agency. During the first half of the twentieth century, photojournalism grew as a practice, fundamentally changing the way the public interacted with current events. Newspapers assembled expansive archives, with physical copies of all photographs published or deemed useful for potential future use, their versos typically marked with ink stamps and notes providing provenance and captions. Photo departments would often take brush, paint, pencil, and marker to the surface of photographs themselves to edit them before publication. Today these photographs exist as repositories of historical memory, technological artifacts, and often striking pieces of vernacular art. Item #008979
Price: $250.00