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TOGETHER AGAIN
By Michael Goodall
Now that we have seen the successful and thankfully rapid conclusion of yet another conflict where Britain and America have stood shoulder-to-shoulder to defeat an evil regime with little support from the rest of the World, I thought it would be fitting to mark the occasion by writing something about one of the great cartoon characters of World War I - the first of the Anglo-American alliances. This was "Old Bill" created by Bruce Bairnsfather.
Bairnsfather was born at Meerut in 1887, the son of an officer in the Indian Army. He was educated in India and Stratford-on-Avon and after leaving school he enlisted in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment of the British Army. Peacetime soldiering lacked excitement so he left the Army and became a student at the art school of the cartoonist John Hassall. After completing his studies he became a commercial artist and designed posters for products such as Flowers Beer, Liptons Tea and Players Tobacco.
On the outbreak of war in August 1914 he rejoined his old regiment and was quickly given a commission. He was posted to France and put in charge of a machine-gun section in Flanders, near Ypres. To relieve the tedium of trench life he commenced drawing cartoons of some of the characters and humorous situations he met every day. His most famous character was the archetypal British "old sweat" private soldier.
The Bystander magazine quickly recognised the appeal of Bairnsfather's cartoons and published one each week. The first 43 cartoons were republished as an anthology entitled "Fragments from France" and following its enthusiastic reception, a further seven volumes were published during the course of the War. The success of "Fragments" led to The Bystander publishing other products such as postcards, prints, jigsaw puzzles, cigarette cards and playing cards. The cartoons also appeared on ceramic ware and as "Old Bill" car mascots. All Bairnsfather souvenir items are now very collectable and command high prices. Jigsaws fetch $150//200, plates and everyday crockery items - $100/150, teapots - $300/350 and car mascots $400/500. Playing cards fetch $75/125 per deck.
Thirteen of Bairnsfather's cartoons appeared on the backs of playing cards printed by Charles Goodall & Son. The cards appeared in two additions - standard printed on smooth cards and deluxe with gold edges and a Linette finish.
In 1916 Captain Bairnsfather was appointed "officer cartoonist" to the War Office. French Intelligence asked him to live with units of the French Army and produce a set of cartoons about them. He was asked to do the same for the Italian Army and when the Americans entered the War in 1917 he produced many cartoons featuring the "doughboys" when they arrived in France.
After the War, Bairnsfather and his famous "Old Bill" character were keenly sought for lectures, films, plays, books, magazines, articles, strip cartoons, and souvenirs and other items of merchandise. During World War II Bairnsfather served with the U.S.A.A.F. as official cartoonist and humorous writer, but was little used by the British. After the War he led a quiet life in retirement but continued to paint watercolours of the English countryside. He died in 1959, largely forgotten.
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