ISBN 978-0-9563667-0-2
Publisher: Keith Collman Publishing
This is a fine book that one can approach and appreciate from many levels. Firstly, it is a wonderful work of art, with a superb design and layout, elegant yet simplistic. The imagery is haunting and evocative. Secondly, it is clearly an important personal project for the author, Keith Collman. Keith has achieved his aim most admirably and has produced a fine testimonial to the veterans portrayed in the pages. Third, it is an important record of a small group of survivors of the Great War. It is important, for there is an argument that the survivors - those who came home in 1918 and in the few years following - have not been "remembered" so well as those who died in the conflict. Those who came back from the battlefields were scarred both physically and mentally. They had to endure their own injuries and suffering, whilst at the same time remembering through their own grief the many good and true friends they lost in the 1914-18 years. It was not until recently that this group of men and women, ably and fittingly personified by Bill Stone, Henry Allingham and Harry Patch, have been adequately recognised by the general public for their courage, their stoicism, their comradeship and the contribution that their generation made.
And it is this final point that warrants amplification. I sometimes feel that the obituary columns of the Daily Telegraph should be made compulsory reading for today's teenagers in school assemblies. The tales of derring do that the aging generation of participants in the Second World War tell through their personal history in that intense period of a few years make wonderful reading and put our own relatively puny experiences into pale perspective. And I feel the same reading Keith Collman's book of portraits. Each of the group of images, and the relatively sparse text, actually speak volumes about the men and women they portray. Although the book is in black and white, the intense colours of the veterans' Great War experiences shine through every page.
Great War Portraits is a personal project by Keith Collman spanning 25 years, and marks the passing of the Great War generation. The book includes photographs of the final three British veterans who saw active service, all of whom died in 2009. Fittingly, the final image shows the funeral of Harry Patch - "the last fighting Tommy" - as his coffin is carried into Wells Cathedral.
Great War Portraits is a photographic record of veterans Keith Collman met on trips to the battlefields, visits to their homes and at reunions, compiled over the last twenty-five years.
The book includes over forty veterans. Each portrait has a brief description of their service, many with touching and intriguing short stories from their wartime experiences and the meeting with the photographer.
Great War Portraits remembers the survivors. Men and women who lived into old age, unlike many of their contemporaries. The veterans included took part in some of the most historic battles and campaigns of the Great War: Ypres, Gallipoli, Loos, the Somme, Arras, Messines, Salonika, Passchendaele, the Middle East, Italy etc. Their experiences are wide and varied, such as: serving with the BEF in 1914, releasing gas at Loos, receiving gallantry awards, being shot down in the Royal Flying Corps, being wounded, made a prisoner of war, nursing in Salonika, and enlisting when 15 years old. Included are the final three British veterans who all died in 2009, William Stone, Henry Allingham and, as referred to above, Harry Patch.
Keith has made available PDFs of extracts of his book for you to sample his book, and these can be downloaded below.
Reviewer: David G Henderson
| File | Description | File size | Last modified |
|---|---|---|---|
 great_war_portraits1.pdf | Great War Portraits Sample 1 | 1417 Kb | 20/11/09 09:13 |
| great_war_portraits2.pdf | Great War Portraits Sample 2 | 1784 Kb | 20/11/09 09:14 |
