´óÏó´«Ã½

Explore the ´óÏó´«Ã½
This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving.

15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

´óÏó´«Ã½ Homepage
´óÏó´«Ã½ History
WW2 People's War Homepage Archive List Timeline About This Site

Contact Us

Uncle Jim: Send Him Pictorious!

by hemlibrary

You are browsing in:

Archive List > United Kingdom > London

Contributed byÌý
hemlibrary
People in story:Ìý
Jim French
Location of story:Ìý
Essex, Somers Town & Islington in London
Article ID:Ìý
A4363382
Contributed on:Ìý
05 July 2005

Jim French. Soldier, Family Man and Arsenal Football Team Supporter.

Uncle Jim: Send Him Pictorious!

By Alan French.

Person in article: Jim French.
(Before moving to Essex, a resident of Somers Town and Islington in London.)

The above photo is of Jim French. Commonly known to me as Uncle Jim. His dramatic/traumatic story is told elsewhere. I am not going to re-iterate on the aspect of his life that has already been recorded for posterity in this exercise. Instead, I am going to discuss the photograph and some other things.

This picture has been presented to the world as a post card. This must have been common practice by the armed forces. The interesting thing about it, is that the design and presentation in some ways, is not all that unlike the approach that, at the time of writing, countless people are making, using computer technology.

It is not comprised of dots as the conventional newsprint. It has not been produced by some printing process such as photogravure. It is in fact, a genuine photograph. It is both artistic and informative. It confirms the regiment that the respective soldier is in. There is reference to some of the campaigns which the Royal Fusiliers have partaken. For good measure, both for decorative and patriotic reasons, the said regiment’s emblem is given pride of place in three places. But then there is the centre piece. The main subject and visual purpose of the card. The photo portrait of my uncle. His family and friends can see him in a presentation that gives the post card that extra finesse. All achieved by impressive and clever photographic jiggery-pokery. At the back there is conventional printing announcing that this is a post card. Two small printed sub-headings appear. Correspondence and address. The rest is a complete blank, therefore allowing the soldier to write and send the card to whomever. It must have been a marvellous morale booster to the recipient when delivered. (Postmen would give a rat-a-tat knock years ago when putting something through the letter box.)

There. All achieved by human ingenuity. No computers.

But computers were not completely unknown. Was there not an encoding machine which was a computer used during the war?

Was there not a form of CCTV camera system also utilized during this period? Moving pictures had started to be broadcast before the war. The only television channel broadcasting to the public in this country was what we would today call ´óÏó´«Ã½ One. (Nazi Germany also had a television service.) The ´óÏó´«Ã½ was broadcasting a Mickey Mouse cartoon which they decided to interrupt when war was declared. They subsequently closed their television service down. Their valuable historic radio service continued. But television did continue in another form. According to a documentary on the subject, television was utilized to assist some bombing operations. This forerunner of our CCTV aided the bomb crew to drop these weapons more accurately. The programme stated that it was however, a secret at the time. Sssssh! (Well, the Nazis had the reel to reel magnetic tape recorder as theirs.)

The Mickey Mouse cartoon resumed after the war.

So there you have it. As far as Uncle Jim’s photo is concerned, yes, it still stands out as an achievement of human skill. No computerization needed.

Who needs computers anyway? Too many people are reliant on them. I will never become a computer addict.

Now I think that this article is ready and the photo for submission to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Peoples’ War Campaign. Now let me see … What is it I have to do? … Is there anything I need? Hmmmnn!

Oh! Dear! It can’t be! … I need a computer!

What does humble pie taste like?

The End.

Also by the same contributor:

Alan French: War Baby: Interview. Parts one and two.

The Three English Brothers French.

The White Figure. A true war time ghost story.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.

Archive List

This story has been placed in the following categories.

London Category
icon for Story with photoStory with photo

Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the ´óÏó´«Ã½. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please Contact Us.



About the ´óÏó´«Ã½ | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy
Ìý