Tompkins Scrapbook Essay
ca. 1917-1921
28.5 cm x 37.5 cm x 5.5 cm
Special Collections and College Archives, Musselman Library, Gettysburg College
In this album approximately100 photographs, many with detailed captions, record the experiences of American Francis M. Tompkins 1st Lt. 305 Engineers in the First World War. Tompkins and his fellow engineers were in charge of repairing the devastation of the war to expedite troop movements such as surveying, bridge and road repair, constructing buildings, maintaining communication lines, removal of land mines and "booby" traps, digging trenches and constructing shelters, providing clean water and removing barbed wire. They also launched gas attacks, built hospitals, barracks, mess halls, stables, target ranges, and repaired miles of train tracks. Their extensive and time consuming duties left them little time for rifle practice and drills and they were not relied upon for frontline combat.[i] Because of these duties many of Tompkins’s photographs depict European scenery and large bustling cities, rather than the carnage of war. Tompkins’s photographs tend to be touristic in nature as he includes a postcard set of the major sites in Paris such as Versailles, the Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower. These colored images are contrasted starkly by shocking, first-hand views of the trenches and decomposing bodies. Tompkins also included photographs of machinery and artillery, with a special interest in airplanes, which are situated in the book next to luxurious gardens and palaces. Tompkins also included photographs of cemeteries and wounded soldiers awaiting treatment at a French hospital. As he and his platoon traveled, they witnessed horrible atrocities, such as destroyed cities and towns and battlefields littered with the decaying remains of men and horses.
Tompkins photographs German tanks and airplanes, as well as remains of German bases, but does not capture German officers or soldiers. Many of these photographs are accompanied with a caption explaining German involvement, such as “One of the first shell holes we had seen. This was made by a six inch German shell,” or “A French Chateau destroyed by a German shell.” Another photograph of the aftermath of a skirmish is captioned “The toll of one shell: Hethincourt 10-2-18;” the remains of multiple horses and men are strewn across a battlefield after being hit by a German shell. Along with these photographs, more personal images include interactions with superior officers, formations, sleeping arrangements, and indicate Tompkins’s friendships with other soldiers. The album highlights the dangers of distilling the wide range of experiences of war into a handful of images and shows the totality and multiple perspectives that are integral to understanding a soldier’s reality.[ii]
