Daily Mail War Photographs

The Daily Mail was a major metropolitan newspaper founded in London in 1896 by Harold and Albert Harmsworth and was an immediate success with circulation exceeding 1,000,000 copies daily. Aimed at the lower and middle classes of English society it often found itself editorially at odds with the British government, a sentiment that carried into the early days of World War I. While the paper often took aim at Lord Kitchener, a British hero and Secretary of State for War, and Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, it was very much still patriotic in tone and very supportive of the common soldiers who filled the ranks. During the war the Daily Mail published a number of battlefield images in postcard form.

The postcards were issued in sets of eight postcards. Each is identified by a series number and a chronological running number (i.e. Series 2, No. 9). Oddly, series numbers were printed in both Roman and Arabic numerals. Whether this was inconsistency or multiple printings has not been determined.

The initial three sets totaling 24 postcards were printed in color. Postcards Nos. 25-80 were then printed in black and white format with a number of scenes identical to earlier issued colored ones. It was then back to color for postcards Nos. 81-88, a set featuring a visit of King George V to the trenches on the Western Front. Black and white sepia toned views followed for Nos. 89-96 with color returning for postcard Nos. 97-120.

The checklist which follows has many missing numbers. Hopefully the checklist can be finished in the near term as other postcards from the sets are found and indexed including numbers above 120.