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Description: | NORMAN WILKINSON CAPE HELLES
image: A scene of several troop-ships under fire from the shore in a rough sea. To the left of the composition, the 'River
Clyde' is run aground and listing to one side. Over to the right another ship is seen vanishing beneath the surface, and there are two
small boats filled with troops in the foreground. A high sand-coloured cliff runs almost the length of the composition in the background,
and a clear sky above. From the surrounding gunfire there are two large sprays rising from the sea, and two clouds of grey
smoke.
SS River Clyde, a converted collier, was deliberately run aground beneath the old Sedd-el-Bahr fortress at V Beach
during the initial landings on Cape Helles on 25 April 1915. This was to aid the landings of men of the 1st Battalion, Royal Munster
Fusiliers and of the 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, both of 29th Division. The troops were to disembark along ramps directly onto the
shore. The Turkish defenders were ideally positioned to inflict massive casualties on these attacking infantry units. The suffering of
heavy casualties was something that was to become a regular occurrence during the unsuccessful Gallipoli campaign, which eventually drew to
a close in late 1915. The last Allied troops were evacuated on 9 January 1916.
Imperial War Museum, Art Section commission
Access | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | Merchant Navy Landscape military manoeuvres seascape Gallipoli 1915-1916 01/3(496.1) shipping RIVER CLYDE (SS) Dardanelles Ottoman Empire Action Gallipoli 1915 British Army 1914-1918 British Army 29th Division First World War | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Wilkinson, Norman | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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