Bruce Bairnsfather was a British officer with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, joining on the 11th September 1914 as a second lieutenant. He was born in Murree, Pakistan on the 9th July 1887.
He was a renowned cartoonist whose work from the war period featured in Fragments from France (1914) and the autobiographical Bullets & Billets (1916). Although his cartoons initially drew criticism from a member of the House of Commons who described them as "these vulgar caricatures of our heroes", he remained immensely popular with his fellow comrades. His body of work was credited with raising morale and led to a War Office appointment to create similar cartoons for other Allied forces. From 1915 his illustrations were published in The Bystander magazine.
Bruce participated in the 1914 Christmas Truce and his accounts of the event are some of the most vivid and unsentimental ever recorded.
Recalling the Weather on Christmas Day
On Christmas morning I awoke very early and emerged from my dug-out into the trench. It was a perfect day. A beautiful, cloudless blue sky. The ground hard and white, fading off towards the wood in a thin low-lying mist... — Bruce Bairnsfather
The Unusual German Activity
Walking about the trench a little later... we suddenly became aware of the fact we were seeing a lot of evidences of Germans. Heads were bobbing about and showing over the parapet in a most reckless way... A complete Boche figure suddenly appeared on the parapet, and looked about itself... — Bruce Bairnsfather
Meeting the Germans in No Man's Land
I clambered up and over our parapet, and moved out across the field to look. It all felt most curious: here were these sausage-eating wretches, who had elected to start this infernal European fracas, and in so doing had brought us all into the same muddy pickle as themselves. This was my first real sight of them at close quarters. Here they were — the actual, practical soldiers of the German army. — Bruce Bairnsfather
On the Atmosphere — and the Will to Win
There was not an atom of hate that day and yet, on our side, not for a moment was the will to war and the will to beat them relaxed. It was just like the interval between rounds in a friendly boxing match. — Bruce Bairnsfather
On Being Less Than Impressed
Unimaginative products of perverted kulture. These devils... all wanted to be friendly; but none of them possessed the open, frank geniality of our men. — Bruce Bairnsfather
Bairnsfather's honest comments are not the most romanticised quotes from the Christmas Truce, but this final one still shows the great fondness he held for the experience.
I wouldn't have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything... I spotted a German officer, some sort of lieutenant I should think, and being a bit of a collector, I intimated to him that I had taken a fancy to some of his buttons... I brought out my wire clippers and, with a few deft snips, removed a couple of his buttons and put them in my pocket. I then gave him two of mine in exchange... — Bruce Bairnsfather
A Legacy That Endures
Bruce's work — including his most famous character "Old Bill" — is still celebrated today in books, stage and screen. He went on to become an established author, playwright and lecturer, directed and wrote a movie screenplay, and regularly contributed to British and American publications.
Following a career that spanned 45 years, Bruce Bairnsfather passed away on the 29th September 1959. Once famously described by General Sir Ian Hamilton as "the man who won the war", his legacy lives on through enthusiasts and collectors of his work.