'L'Entente Cordiale', 1855

Photograph by Roger Fenton (1819-1869), Crimean War, 1855.

This picture could be interpreted as brazen propaganda showing both happy soldiers at the front and cordial Anglo-French relations. In fact, the friendly atmosphere it portrays seems to have matched reality. There were many instances of British and French soldiers enjoying time together and, by the time the photograph was taken, the bitter Crimean winter was long past and much had been done to improve conditions at the front.