'Sedd el Bahr burning after Bombardment by "Queen Elizabeth" and "Agamemnon"'; V-Beach at Gallipoli, Dardanelles, 25 April 1915

A semi-aerial view towards the Turkish fort of Sedd-el-Bahr at V-Beach, Cape Helles, Gallipoli, after the bombardment and landing of 25 April. It is signed, lower left, by the artist, 'W L Wyllie from a sketch by a naval officer' and further inscribed along the bottom to describe features shown: 'River Clyde' (troopship, back left), 'Trawler Towing six lifeboats' (though none are shown under tow here), 'V Beach', 'Seddul Bahr [Turkish fort] burning after bombardment by [HMS] Queen Elizabeth and Agamemnon' (with 'Hill 141' written above 'Queen Elizabeth') and 'Picket boat towing [three] lifeboats to De Tells landing'. The three-funnelled destroyer behind the trawler is one of the 'G' Class: all 16 of the class were serving in the Mediterranean at this time. Wyllie included this drawing in his and M.F. Wren's 'Sea Fights of the Great War' (1918) f. p. 154, though whether he originally did it for that purpose and exactly when is not clear.

Object Details

ID: PAF0926
Collection: Fine art
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Wyllie, William Lionel
Places: Dardanelles; Gelibolu
Date made: circa 1915; 1915-18 1915-1918
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Caird Collection
Measurements: 204 mm x 428 mm