By A E Haswell Miller, edited by John Mollo
Published by Mogzilla Life, £20
Osprey publishing
Published: 13 October 2009
Like many soldiers who served in WWI, Haswell Miller made an account of his life in the military. The army officer, who was a travelling watercolour artist before war broke out, took to painting the things he saw around him. What is unusual, is that he chose not to paint death and destruction, and instead painted fashion. Miller was fascinated in the different military uniforms worn all over Europe – charting the changes from more formal wear right through to more modern attire.
Looking a bit like one would imagine the accomplished portfolio of a fashion designer to look, Vanished Armies depicts scores of soldiers from all over the continent in various army clothing, along with valuable historic notes.
The detail Miller employs is touching. He has made something extremely beautiful out of a theme that much of art and literature has illustrated as ugly. However, it isn’t just this, but a wider study of why uniforms were employed in the first place that is the interesting part. Sources will tell you the bright colours were for protection, to show up deserters and to intimidate the enemy. However, by 1914, armies were already beginning to adopt duller colours for their clothing, preferring the camouflage effect it afforded them. These pictures are a stark reminder about how war and the way we fight it has changed.
Soldiers from all ranks and regiments are shown, and as well as European uniforms, the pictures show the clothing worn by soldiers fighting in Indian, South African and Canadian regiments.
Put together by editor John Mollo, with the help of the Army Museums Ogilby Trust, Vanished Armies harks back to a different, and more remote time. It’s ideal for a military enthusiast, and thanks to its beautiful illustrations, would make a very thoughtful gift too.
