RESTORATION OF WW2 NEWSPAPER

1942 The Halifax Chronicle newspaper describing an amazing story of WW2 rescue of Canadian merchant marine who survived three sinking of merchant ships torpedoed by German submarines.

Restoration of the newspaper began with careful humidification and flattening of the pages. After humidification the newspaper was unfolded the surface of the paper was cleaned from accumulated debris. Numerous tears and missing areas were reinforced and patched with archival backing material. To prevent further deterioration the paper was deacidified to neutralize any harmful chemicals that were originally contained in the paper and those that accumulated on it over the years.

High resolution scans of the pages were made using large format flatbed scanner and the produced digital images were retouched to remove the appearance of discoloration, rips, tears and other damages. The missing text was copied from a copy of the newspaper obtained from the newspaper archive. Particular attention was given to matching the typeface and the appearance of newspaper print.

The image of the restored newspaper was printed in full size on archival paper and together with the digital file was given to the son of the sailor to be used as illustration in a book about this episode of WW2 Arctic Convoys.

click to view before and after images