Bruce Bairnsfather was born in Murree in India
in 1873 to an Army family. Educated at Stratford
Ho! (Rudyard Kipling's old school) he proved
a poor student - more interested in scribbling
caricatures of his masters than in passing his
exams. Eventually he scraped through the Army
entrance exam and enlisted in the Militia -
which he hated. He then studied at commercial
art school but re-enlisted with the Royal Warwickshires
when war broke out in 1914. Serving in the mud
and misery of the trenches of the infamous Plugstreet
Wood he started drawing cartoons which realistically
and yet humorously depicted the appalling conditions
of the trenches. They were soon published as
the series that came to be known as FRAGMENTS
FROM FRANCE and they became an immediate
roaring success. Soon his principal character,
a phlegmatic, moustachio-ed soldier known as
'Old Bill', was immortalised in the famous situation
of 'The Better 'Ole' and reproduced on pottery,
on postcards, playing cards, in books, plays,
films, in the UK, North America and indeed world-wide.
There followed an extraordinary career. Yet
Bairnsfather died in obscurity and relative
poverty and although Gen Sir Ian Hamilton called
him 'The Man Who Won the War' and he was courted
by the secret service, he received no official
award from his country for his evident genius
in raising the morale of the Nation during the
Great War.
In this engrossing human story the Holts
examine the life of this loveable man and go
a long way towards redressing his lack of recognition.
Chapter 10: The Moviemaker
Causes a Scandal (1927-1928)
Chapter 11: The Threat of
Divorce (1928-1934)
Chapter 12: Bankruptcy Looms
(1932-1934)
Chapter 13: New Variations
on an Old Theme (1934-1938)
Chapter 14: An Autobiography
and The Last Film (1938-1941)
Chapter 15: World War Two
with the Americans (1941-1945)
Chapter 16: Popularity on
the Wane (1945-1950)
Chapter 17: The Twilight Years
(1950-1959)
Chapter 18: Post Mortem
Chapter 19: Year 2000 Post
Script
The Collectables: A Listing
Index
The Birth of Fragments From France
Lt Bairnsfather draws his first cartoons on the wall of
his dugout under a cottage in the hamlet of St Yvon near
Ypres in Belgium. Today there is a plaque commemorating
Bairnsfather erected by the Holts on the cottage `which
stands on the site.
Sheet of 'Fragments' Transfers
The Staffordshire company, Grimwades, produced all manner
of pottery items - complete tea services, vases, shaving
mugs, bon bon dishes etc etc - decorated with the immortal
cartooons of Bruce Bairnsfather depicting Old Bill and
his pals, Bert and Alf, in the trenches.