The Paratrooper’s Selfies : 12 Snapshots Whilst Falling to Earth in 1944

In 1944, Picture Post photographer Haywood Magee boarded an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber at RAF Ringway, Cheshire, England. Already onboard were men of the 10th Battalion Parachute Regiment. As one paratrooper prepared to jump, Magee handed him a camera with the instructions to aim it at his face, don’t drop the thing, and click.

In 1944, Picture Post photographer Haywood Magee boarded an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bomber at RAF Ringway, Cheshire, England. Already onboard were men of the 10th Battalion Parachute Regiment. As one paratrooper prepared to jump, Magee handed him a camera with the instructions to aim it at his face, don’t drop the thing and click. The resulting images, which you can see below, are blurred and grainy but engaging, not least of all because they might well be the first selfies taken by a British soldier. The images were published in the magazine’s March 18, 1944 issue under the headline: “A Paratrooper Makes a Jump – And We Jump with Him.” Well, we watch: