Picture from the Western Desert battle area shows six British infantrymen returning from a sortie with 44 German prisoners to add to the many taken by the Eighth Army during its big new offensive. In the foreground is a 50mm German anti-tank gun, captured intact with some of its ammunition and ready to be turned against its former possessors, March 1942.

Sheet: 7 7/8 x 9 3/4

Wire photographs were originally transmitted over phonelines, then later, by satellite. They were first used in the early 1920s. Associated Press became a leader with this. After pigment touch-ups, etc., the print is put into a drum (like a drum scanner). The image gets converted into audio tones that are transmitted. The tones are received and beamed onto photo-sensitive paper. Wire photographs are copies without originals---they are hybrid, transmitted objects. (Britt Salvesen, Curator and Department Head, Photography Department, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, March 30-31, 2022)

This object has the following keywords:

• Antitank Guns
• British Eighth Army
• Deserts
• European Theater
• Germany
• North Africa
• Prisoners of War
• Soldiers
• Western Desert Campaign
• World War II

• Image Dimensions: 4 3/16 x 9 11/16 in. (10.64 x 24.61 cm)

This object is a member of the following portfolios: