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textbook taken from a German prisoner of war that shows the cartoon, the clipping reads: "Obviously, the hole was not made by a mouse. It was made by a shell. There is no humor in this misstatement of facts. The man, Old Bill, was clearly mistaken in thinking a mouse had made it. People who can laugh at such mistakes are obviously not normal; therefore we should pay careful attention to their psychology. Their very decadence may prove to be a weapon of self-defense."
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John Pimm
Belcher "Thomas Henry Rafferty" The Original Old Bill of the Better Ole identified by Bruce Bairnsfather in Articles in the Weekly Despatch in August/September 1917 for the first time as Old Bill John pimm Belcher published a book in 2022 Old Bill the life of Thomas Henry Rafferty, it give
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obituary, discussing his career, came to the conclusion that he was "fortunate in possessing a talent ... which suited almost to the point of genius one particular moment and one particular set of circumstances; and he was unfortunate in that he was never able to adapt, at all happily, his talent to
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One famous cartoon that
Bairnsfather drew shows Old Bill sitting in a trench with a big shell hole next to him from a near miss. Old Bill says to the men around him "Mice!" What the Germans thought of this cartoon was revealed in a British newspaper clipping from World War II. Quoting a Nazi
520:, near Malvern in Worcestershire. The plaque was instigated by the Colwall Village Society and was unveiled by Mark Warby. Bairnsfather lived in Colwall from 1951 to 1954 and was well known at the British Legion Club in the village.
273:"Old Bill" and Bairnsfather himself continued in popularity between the wars. Many police officers of the time had similar facial hair, and that may have led to British police being referred to as
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broke out, Bairnsfather continued Old Bill work, but was not asked to help with the
British war effort. Instead, he became official cartoonist to the American forces in Europe, contributing to
369:"The Growth of Democracy" by Bruce Bairnsfather (1917). "Colonel Sir Valtravers Plantagenet gladly accepts a light, during a slight lull in a barrage, from a private in the Benin Rifles".
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There is a large mural featuring "Old Bill" smoking amidst the ruins of a French village, drawn on the wall of the main staircase in the Royal
British Legion Victory House Club in
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177:: "First Discovered in the Alluvial Deposits of Southern Flanders. Feeds Almost Exclusively on Jam and Water Biscuits. Hobby: Filling Sandbags, on Dark and Rainy Nights".
227:. The best remembered of these shows Bill with another trooper in a muddy shell hole with shells whizzing all around. The other trooper is grumbling and Bill advises:
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is named after Bruce
Bairnsfather's Great War cartoon characters. Yeo Hall at the College of Canada features sculptures of Bill and Alphie.
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was a
British t.v. series which shortened the original commonly-used phrase. Bairnsfather was the subject of one of the first British
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television transmissions in 1936. Old Bill appeared in numerous books, plays, musicals and films. Bairnsfather's autobiography,
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A plaque commemorating Bruce
Bairnsfather was unveiled at his former home, Victoria Spa Lodge, Bishopton, Stratford upon Avon (
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The
Biography of Bruce Bairnsfather: In Search of the Better 'Ole, Tonie and Valmai Holt, Pen and Sword Military, 2014, p. 12
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In Search of the Better 'Ole, A Biography of
Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, including a listing of his Works and Collectables
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Burke's
Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 1360
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In 1921, Bairnsfather married Cecilia Agnes Scott (née Bruton). She was the divorced wife of eminent golfer
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School of Art. Unsuccessful at first, he worked as an electrical engineer. Working in this capacity for the
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further information on the Rafferty, Old Bill research leaving no doubt who the original Old Bill was
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Bairnsfather spent his early life in India, but was brought to England in 1895 to be educated at the
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On 24 September 2011, a plaque commemorating Bruce Bairnsfather was unveiled on the wall of Colwall
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Despite Bairnsfather's immense popularity with the troops and a massive sales increase for the
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In Search of the Better Ole – the Life, the Works and the Collectables of Bruce Bairnsfather
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During later life, Bairnsfather had found himself typecast as the creator of Old Bill. His
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British Pathe film showing Bairnsfather sketching Prime Minister David Lloyd George, 1910
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161:"Well, if you knows of a better 'ole, go to it", Bairnsfather's best-known cartoon, 1915
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Hilton, Irene, "Enemy in the Sky," The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1964, page 69.
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new times and new circumstances". He died in 1959 aged 72 of complications from
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Old Bill, the life of Thomas Henry Rafferty, Brewin Books by John Pimm Belcher
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on aircraft. His works are considered to have influenced artists such as
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33:(9 July 1887 – 29 September 1959) was a prominent British
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551:, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, May 2006
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appears outside one of his old studios, 1 Sterling Street,
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Mark Bryant, "Bairnsfather, (Charles) Bruce (1887–1959)",
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He resigned in 1907 to become an artist, studying at the
75:) to Major Thomas Henry Bairnsfather (1859–1944), of the
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Many of his cartoons from this period were collected in
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505:. The plaque was instigated by Mark Warby, Editor of
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Two works by Bruce Bairnsfather on Great War Theatre
287:in 1927, wrote and directed the 1928 Canadian film
627:Capt. Bruce Bairnsfather: Creator Of "Old Bill",
966:Deaths from bladder cancer in the United Kingdom
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181:In 1914, Bairnsfather was commissioned into the
254:appointment to draw similar cartoons for other
894:British Pathe film of Bruce Bairnsfather, 1923
698:Shropshire War Memorials, Sites of Remembrance
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332:. He also drew cartoons at American bases and
231:Well, If you knows of a better 'ole, go to it.
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25:Photo of the author, 1918, by Pirie MacDonald
889:Bairnsfather 50th Anniversary Commemorations
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986:Participants of the Christmas truce of 1914
732:Bairnsfather, A Few Fragments from His Life
209:, he developed his humorous series for the
976:People educated at United Services College
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185:as a second lieutenant and served with a
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197:and hearing damage sustained during the
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549:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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832:Bruce Bairnsfather and Old Bill Dugout
41:. His best-known cartoon character is
961:British Army personnel of World War I
956:Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers
642:"Bruce Bairnsfather plaque in London"
501:) on 10 September 2005 by cartoonist
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608:. London: John Long. p. 252.
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606:Wide Canvas: An Autobiography
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604:Bairnsfather, Bruce (1939).
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859:(public domain audiobooks)
853:Works by Bruce Bairnsfather
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834:– The first tribute website
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183:Royal Warwickshire Regiment
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523:Bill & Alphie's, the
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63:Bairnsfather was born at
744:Holt, Tonie and Valmai.
667:"Bishopton 2005 Reunion"
389:Download coordinates as:
129:, who introduced him to
909:12 October 2018 at the
696:Francis, Peter (2013).
516:Club in Crescent Road,
507:The Old Bill Newsletter
153:First World War service
88:United Services College
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877:Bairnsfather biography
489:52.205018°N 1.731122°W
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812:Legeran Films (1941)
801:Old Bill's Christmas
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514:Royal British Legion
494:52.205018; -1.731122
301:, appeared in 1939.
119:Old Memorial Theatre
51:magazine during the
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809:Old Bill & Son
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299:Wide Canvas
285:sound films
195:shell shock
187:machine gun
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542:References
477:52°12′18″N
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330:Shropshire
252:War Office
102:, and the
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480:1°43′52″W
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304:When the
248:Bystander
225:balaclava
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123:Stratford
907:Archived
880:Archived
857:LibriVox
761:44534036
334:nose art
280:The Bill
262:Post-war
258:forces.
243:(1916).
217:trenches
189:unit in
173:", from
171:Old Bill
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73:Pakistan
43:Old Bill
35:humorist
29:Captain
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