"THE MISERABLE TWINS"

Southland Times, Issue 18810, 1 May 1920, Page 3

"THE MISERABLE TWINS"

EXPERIENCES OF A WAR PHOTOGRAPHER.

AVORK ON VARIOUS FRONTS,

LONDON, February 26. Mr Ernest Brooks, the official photographer in the Renown, is a very much | travelled man, and a man of wide experience i (says the correspondent of the Christchurch ; Press). Prior to the war he was the I King’s private photographer, and accom- ! panicd his Majesty on his trip to India, i taking all the photographs of the Durbar, j and the tiger shooting, and so on. He ; also went out to South Africa in a similar | capacity with the Duke of Connought on ; the occasion of the opening of the Union I Parliament. Immediately prior to the war ! Mr Brooks had taken a studio in Bucidng--1 ham Palace road, but this business collapsed | on account of the war. At the beginning of hostilities Mr Brooks I was an A.B. in the Anti-Aircraft Corps in | London. It was not very long before sug- | gestions came that photographs should be i taken concerning the war, and, approached j to suggest likely men, the N.P.A. recommended Mr Brooks, who accordingly was rej leased from the A.A.G., joined the Admiralty and went out to Gallipoli in the Queen Elizabeth, and he remained at that, centre of operations until the evacuation. Strangely enough, at the outset Mr Brooks had no rank above an A.8., and ho very soon found that without a commission it j would be impossible for him to get any photographs at all. The first day he went ashore he was arrested as a spy, as, of course, cameras were not allowed. Therefore he obtained an officer’s uniform, and gave himself his first rani:. Taken, to task by Admiral Sir J. M. dc Robcck, who asked what he was doing in officer’s uniform, Mr Brooks replied that he could get photographs thus equipped when he could not get them otherwise. As an A.B. he was not even allowed on the quarter-deck. The Admiral laughed over the situation, and Lieutenant Brooks retained his uniform and his rank. While on Gallipoli, of course, he made friends with a great many Australians and New Zealander?, and he is keenly looking forward to meeting many of them during the coming tour. i From Gallipoli Lieutenant Brooks went to i Salonica, thence to Egypt, and in April, | 1916, he found himself in France as the first photographer who had been to that front. I Now he belonged to the Army, and was j equipped with a car and chauffeur, and given carte blanche to go anywhere and do as he liked. After the Somme he was at ! the front practically every day, and naturally had a great many narrow shaves. Presently it was found that one photgrapher could not adequately cover the whole British Army, and by degrees several other appointments were made. New Zca- | land had her own photographer, so had Aus- | traJLia, and another man who represented i Great Britain, was Lieutenant J. Warwick | Brooke. Lieutenant J. \V. Brooke and I Lieutenant E. Brooks were commonly called i the “Miserable Twins,” or eke “The Bloom- ! j ing Brookses.” j | From France, Lieut, Brooks went to the j ! Italian front, and took a number of very i | interesting photographs. At two intervals I : during the later part of (.he war he was lent | ito the Admiralty by (he War Office, to j i whcjpn he had to return when wanted. Thus | | he spent three months in the North Sea, i | and ho was responsible for the magnificent | | collection of naval photographs which were j | exhibited at the Grafton Galleries in Lon- ! non. Strangely enough, Mr Brooks never | saw the prints of these photographs, hut j when he was in Canada recently with the i Prince of Wales he saw them lor the first 1 tune when tin exhibition, of which they i formed part, was opened by the Prince. j GERMANS AT CLOSE QUARTERS. ! Immediately afler the armistice Lieut, 1 Brooks and his chauffeur got into their car i and made for Brussels. On the road, lined , up in front of them was German sergeantmajor with seven men, and the chauffeur stop ped, calling the attention of his master. The 1 Germans were unarmed, and Lieut. Brooks ‘ got out of his car to walk towards them. , They saw him coining and they ran, but : they soon tame back with their rifles. Going ; up to them, Mr Brroks asked the sergeant- ’ major why they ran away, as all the arms I he carried was a camera. The reply was, “We brought them to salute you, sir. We ! were sent here to meet some British officers ; who were to take over these guns. I wish 1 you would sign for (hem and take them j over.” Of course Lieut. Brooks did not, i but what he did was to photograph the I group with the white flag and then pass on. j Five miles further on the road they came i across a German general, who gave per- j mission for the car to proceed to Brussels, | where Mr Brooks arrived two days before i the Germans left the town, and the result I

of this "scoop” v. as, of course, :t line coilectioii of photographs. On his return to British headquarters, however, tin* anient photographer gut into l rouble on account of this little trip on his own responsibility. With the British Anns- Mr Brooks went right up to the Rhine and took photographs of the armies marching into Cologne. Thence he went on to Berlin and liui.shcil up his official war work.

On very many occasions in his capacity of official photographer lie of course experienced narrow shaves, and he considers that i very oiten it was the wet ground that saved hna. because the enemy sliells before they burst buried them; elves in the mud, and it v.is possible for liim to trot :nv;iy uefore they : exploded. ' One day at Pozieres, with Captain Bean, i Mr Brooks w:ts at a part called "Gibraltar,” i and he was very anxious to gpt, photographs agam.M the evening sun; fur this purpose hi' found a shell hole to be the best vantage point. Into this hole lie got. "If I were you, sir. 1 wouldn’t slop there,” said one of the men, "because (his, is the time when the German shells fall round there in greatest number.” Ot cotirse he jumped out, and within twenty seconds, absolutely in his footprints, an enemy shell dropped and burst, ’i bus was one of his narrowest shaves. .Another time, with Mr V/anvick Brooke, i at Guillemom, they were taking photograph:; i of the German dead lying in piles along a ; trench. Shelling suddenly started, and again a hasty retreat was necessary. Krncst Brooks, who was just in front of his running companion, turned round quickly and took a photograph of hut! which showed a German shell bursting just at the back. Mr Brooks is very enthusiastic about his experiences generally and the wonderful tunes he has had on all fronts, but he did take exception regarding arrangements which were subsequently inside for overseas official photographers compared with those made for the British men. The former were given rank as captain, and they were also supplied with orderlies to carry their photographic equipment. "The Blooming 1 Brookses” were only lieutenants, and they i had to look after their own equipment. At the present moment, in preparation j for the coming tour, its official photographer is having lessons in cinema photography— I a branch which he has not before been acquainted with. Be has just returned from another trip to the British Army of Occupation.