fortune for two years to be one of the Official War
Office Kinematographers. I was privileged to move about on the Western
Front with considerable freedom. My actions were largely untrammelled; I
had my instructions to carry out; my superiors to satisfy; my work to
do; and I endeavoured to do all that has been required of me to the best
of my ability, never thinking of the cost, or consequences, to myself of
an adventure so long as I secured a pictorial record of the deeds of our
heroic Army in France. I have striven to make my pictures worthy of
being preserved as a permanent memorial of the greatest Drama in
history.

That is the keynote of this record. As an Official Kinematographer I
have striven to be, and I have tried all the time to realise that I was
the eyes of the millions of my fellow-countrymen at home. In my pictures
I have endeavoured to catch something of the glamour, as well as the
awful horror of it all. I have caught a picture here, a picture there; a
scene in this place, a scene in that; and all the time at the back of my
mind has always been the thought: "That will give them some idea of
things as they are out here." My pictures have never been taken with the
idea of merely making pictures, nor with the sole idea, as some people
think, of merely providing a "thrill." I regarded my task in a different
light to that. To me has been entrusted the task of securing for the
enlightenment and education of the people of to-day, and of future
generations, such a picture as will stir their imaginations and thrill
their hearts with pride.

This by way of introduction. Now to proceed with my task, the telling
of the adventures of a kinematograph camera man in war-time.

From my early days I was always interested in photography, and boyish
experiments eventually led me along the path to my life's vocation. In
time I took up the study of kinematography, and joined the staff of the
Clarendon Film Company (of London and Croydon), one of the pioneer firms
in the industry. There I learned much and made such progress that in
time I was entrusted with the filming of great productions, which cost
thousands of pounds to make. From there I went to the Gaumont Company,
and I was in the service of this great Anglo-French film organisation
when war broke out.

During the early days of the autumn of 1914 I was busily occupied in
filming various scenes in connection with the war in different parts of
the country. One day wh