Throughout history there have been writers and artists who have journeyed to the front lines to report on the conflicts.  Artists like William Simpson and Paul Mansard and so many others travelled with the troops to keep the public at home informed.  Now-a-days we have satellite feeds, internet broadcasts, and live TV and radio feeds but in years past reporters used land mail, sea mail, and pigeons to return their stories to their papers.

Bringing Up the Guns
by Schreyer
for The Graphic Illustrated 1870

Artists like W L Wyllie, William Lionel Wyllie, CW Wyllie, Sydney Hall, Henri Lanos, J Nash, John Charlton, H M Paget, Frank Dadd, Caton Woodville, R Weguelin, Chas E Fripp, Frank Brangwynn, Phil May, Alexander Boyd, James H Dowd, Harry Furniss, Ernest Prater, Leonard Raven-Hill, J C Dollman, Edmund Sullivan, George Stampa, Sidney Sime, Bert Thomas, Charles Johnson “Snaffles” Payne, and F H Townsend and many others drew for #TheGraphicIllustrated.  Some became famous artists in their own right – some became household names but each in their own time were important artists in the illustrating of the news of their days. A few lived through the conflicts of their time.

Charge of the French Cuirassiers
for ‘The Graphic Illustrated’ 1870

The strife of war and the images of battle brought home not just by the written word but by image.

The utter  devastation of the conflict brought into the home for all to read and see.

Bravery, strength, despair, futility, fear, the mud, the filth – described in word and image.

In the Trenches for ‘The Graphic Illustrated’ 1870

But in the end war brings

death,

destruction,

and defeat

– even for the winners in some aspects.

Flight of French Peasants from Bazeilles
for ‘The Graphic Illustrated’ 1870

Memory of those who were displaced or fled from conflict only to suffer in doing so should not be forgotten.

Innocents devastated by war.

This year we remember the onset of WWI.  Let us not forget the sacrifice of those brave men and women.  For it will be at our own peril.

Lest we forget.