1914: Day by Day Cartoons: Zoom Rockman

Twelve British cartoonists and graphic artists have responded to the events that happened across the world as the world was heading to war one hundred years ago.

The Bachelors Walk Incident by Zoom Rockman

27 July 1914

There’s grim news from Ireland. The British Army opened fire on Irish nationalists in Bachelors Walk, Dublin. There’s four dead and dozens seriously injured. There’s long been talk of a civil war in Ireland, now it looks closer than ever. One eyewitness Patrick Wynne gives an account:

‘I heard an officer give the command “load” and his charge obeyed. Held up in the thick of the throng I was near enough to see that they loaded with ball cartridge.’
There’re riots on the streets and the army is confined to barracks. Once again the worsening crisis in Europe is kept off British front pages.

Wynne:

‘Seeing the danger I tried to get a couple of women and a little girl out of the way. The little girl I shoved out of the line of fire as six of the front rank knelt to fire. The women then showed the greatest terror and at my advice several threw themselves on the ground. I saw the first volley fired and I was uninjured but I saw others stricken and fall.’