This Able Seaman Produced Incredible Drawings Of The Gallipoli Campaign

On 18 March 1915, a powerful naval force of British and French ships failed spectacularly in an attempt to force its way through the Dardanelles and threaten the Turkish capital, Constantinople (Istanbul). A decision was therefore taken to supress the Dardanelles defences by landing soldiers on the Gallipoli peninsula before making another attempt.

The naval forces supporting this campaign included HMS Manica, a tramp steamer which had been rapidly converted and equipped with a 'kite balloon' to provide aerial observation for naval gunfire. One of the crew was a 46-year-old naval reservist, Able Seaman Herbert William Hillier, in civilian life an architect and artist. Hillier’s naval career was brief - by early August he had returned to London, and is recorded as resigning in September 1915 - but he produced over 160 sketches of the scenes he witnessed during the period from April to the end of July. These were purchased by IWM in 1926, apart from one sheet that was presented in memory of his two brothers who had been killed in 1918. Two large paintings were also purchased.

The sketches, mainly pencil drawings, are predominantly eyewitness records produced at the time of the events portrayed. He was apparently able to do this even during actions when his sentry duties allowed. The sketches were produced on small sheets of paper about the size of a hand. Many have annotations about the events, both on the drawings and on mounts to which many were later glued, as well as comments about light and colour that were presumably intended to inform any subsequent paintings. Hillier also provided extensive additional typewritten notes to accompany the presentation.

Hired by the Admiralty on 11 March 1915, the ship was converted into the Navy’s first specialised balloon ship. The main alteration was to construct a long, sloping wooden deck from forecastle to waist. A hydrogen compressor was installed to inflate the balloon, while anti-aircraft armamentand additional accommodation completed the work. The balloon allowed observers to play an important reconnaissance role, spotting targets and assisting the naval gunners on the other warships with accurate ranging on targets. The ship was consequently present for most of the significant military and naval operations at Gallipoli until returning to Britain in mid-August. It was irreverently known as 'HMS Maniac' and '…home of the balloonatics…'

Hillier produced numerous images of the ship. Some show the balloon ship spotting for the ships providing fire support, but many show aspects of shipboard life ranging from the balloon deck to the mess deck, the miserable task of coaling, the crew off duty and even the cat mascot, 'Mowler'.

The headquarters of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force was located on the island for much of the campaign, together with an airfield, hospitals, camps and stores. HMS Manica frequently operated from Kephalos Bay on Imbros, and consequently Hillier produced numerous sketches of shipping and activity in the harbour. Hillier apparently did not visit Tenedos.

HMS Manica started reconnaissance work, and by 21 April he noted that having '…seen practically the whole of the coast on the Aegean side of the Gallipoli Peninsula, we cannot - in spite of the innumerable "buzzes" [rumours ] going around - … imagine whereabouts the troops can possibly land there if there is opposition…' After spotting for the warships undertaking preparatory shelling on 24 April, Hillier noted that HMS Manica '…beat about in the "Aegean" until keeping our rendezvous, place and time, when all is truly in the melting pot. A calm sea and a beautiful evening. Moon only about half full but too bright for our liking, while it lasted. Then dark enough. In the night the troops from Tenedos are on their way here, and the A & N.Z. Corps from Mudros…'

Even from the ship, he could gain a sense of the situation. '…Ever since the darkness began to thin out a little, the stuttering rattle, and the roll of rifle fire, more and more punctuated with enemy shrapnel-bursts show us clearly enough where the killing is going on along that beach and mountain-side still holding its misty veil. Well, - here’s the sun, and now we shall see - what we shall see…'

As night fell he recorded, '… there is an unceasing roll of rifle and machine gun fire ashore, and everyone knows that our losses have been very heavy. The fighting area that we are watching from the ship is flickering all over with the sharp splashes of rifle fire, much of it apparently at hand to hand distances. We can do no more on our job until the dawn lets us on again…' As the sun rose the next day, Hillier was reassured that '…the boys are holding on! after the most critical sort of night…' while he sketched what he described as the '…rather terrible debris washing about here and there - helmets, shell carrying cases, odds and ends - anything that will float…' including an abandoned lifeboat from the initial landings.

They also made limited progress inland, and on Wednesday 28 April an offensive was launched to push the front further up the peninsula. The aim was to capture the village of Krithia and a prominent hill - Achi Baba - which gave the Turkish forces a panoramic view across the Allied positions to the south. HMS Manica was spotting for ships supporting the attack. Initially the infantry met with some success, but as the troops encountered ground that was increasingly broken by ravines, as well as pockets of effective Turkish resistance, the advance bogged down. Turkish counter-attacks started to push the British forces back, and HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Swiftsure had to intervene, '…firing fast and furious…' to stem a determined bayonet charge against the British left flank. HMS Manica itself '…received rather close and personal attention from the enemy batteries…', but steamed closer inshore later in the afternoon to engage directly - but rather ineffectually - with its own 12-pounder gun.

An increasingly familiar story was repeated of rather ineffective bombardments, orders arriving late, Turkish positions inadequately located and the advance soon bogging down in the face of intense shrapnel and machine gun fire. By the afternoon of 8 May, it was clear that the attempt had failed comprehensively, but one final attempt was made using some troops who still remained in reserve. The Australian 2nd Brigade suffered over 1,000 casualties, many before they even reached the British front line, and although they advanced 1 km in the open under heavy fire, they never even reached the Turkish lines. Under cover of darkness that night, reinforcements occupied the ground that could not be taken during the day almost without loss. Ironically, a night attack had been proposed initially, rather than three days of daylight attacks, but had been rejected by General Hunter-Weston.

The closest railway to the peninsula was still 150 km distant and roads were poor, so the Turks initially relied on shipping for transporting men and supplies across the Sea of Marmara to the Dardanelles. Although the ships and port facilities were invisible from the British ships on the opposite side of the peninsula, the observers in the kite balloon from HMS Manica could see them clearly and they targeted the heavy naval guns accurately. A German eyewitness described the result: '…at half-past four we reached the burning town of Maidos, whose inhabitants we could see crawling along the coast, in miserable plight with what few articles they had been able to save from the fire. A perfect picture of misery…'

A series of much more localised operations were planned, supported by a far greater concentration of artillery fire. On 28 June, HMS Manica was in position, spotting for HMS Talbot, as an intensive British barrage and retaliatory Turkish fire engulfed Gully Spur and Fir Tree Spur on the left of the British line. At 10.45am, Hillier recorded the shelling as the 1st Border Regiment went over the top and swept into the formidable Boomerang Redoubt. An hour later, he drew this sketch as the left flank of the 29th Division advanced along the cliff tops of Gully Spur and overran several Turkish trench lines. This was the most successful part of the attack, as the 29th Indian Brigade captured Fusilier Bluff, the furthest point reached during the entire campaign. The Allies had given up any real hope of capturing Achi Baba, and the fighting through to mid-July did little but deplete the available Allied forces.

Hillier sketched the upturned hull of the ship, men in the water and other ships rushing to the rescue. Naval tactics changed drastically, as ships were withdrawn wherever possible to the protected anchorages of Kephalos Bay on Imbrosand Mudros harbour on Lemnos. Henceforth, ships ventured out only when essential for much more fleeting visits with supplies or to provide fire support.

In December 1914, a British submarine torpedoed an old Turkish battleship, while a French submarine was sunk in January. However, the main campaign started in April, and by the end of the year 13 British, Australian and French submarines had sunk seven naval ships including a battleship, 11 troop transports, 44 supply ships, and 148 sailing vessels. The cost was high, with eight Allied submarines lost, but the main supply route for the Turkish forces was seriously affected by the campaign. Hillier recorded several of the submarines. On the afternoon of 3 July he sketched E14 returning to Kephalos Bay. Some of the crew can be seen on deck, cheering, as they return safely. Commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Boyle, this submarine survived several passages through the straits to the Sea of Marmara and sank numerous vessels. Boyle had been awarded the Victoria Cross following his first, spectacularly successful voyage which started in late April.

From February onwards, British aircraft started flying over Turkish-held territory. This was primarily to carry out reconnaissance, but also increasingly to bomb Turkish targets, to assist in directing the fire from warships and to search for submarines. The effectiveness of the reconnaissance flights by seaplanes from HMS Ark Royal and land-based aircraft flying from nearby islands was limited by mechanical unreliability and primitive radio communications, particularly early in the campaign.

A heavy bombardment by HMS Bacchante suddenly engulfed an unsuspecting Turkish encampment which had hitherto been hidden from Allied view. However, Turkish and German aircraft also started attacking the Allied forces, and the number of their aircraft increased substantially by June. HMS Manica had been identified quickly by the Turks as a particular threat and was the target of bombing raids and artillery shelling. Hillier recorded several attacks including the first raid, on the evening of 30 April, when the ship was straddled by bombs dropped from an Aviatik but suffered no direct hits.

HMS Manica visited the Helles area quite frequently, and Hillier recorded the mass of activity and the shell fire. He also went ashore and produced one watercolour of the River Clyde, which had been beached to assist the initial landings at V Beach.

Powered by steam turbine engines and designed to sail at nearly 25 knots, Mauritania and Aquitania could carry 6,000 men each and complete the journey in a week. Their speed also gave some protection from lurking U-Boats, but the sinking of their sister ship Lusitania in May 1915 had shown that even they were still vulnerable. On 20 July, Hillier also sketched a new kind of boat and noted '…the new "Beetles" for landing troops on beach…much better than the boats used in the original landings…' More ominously, he also recorded the waiting hospital ships. The August offensives, despite their ferocity and fleeting moments of promise, simply prolonged the campaign and the losses without changing the fundamental reality: the Turks occupied the high ground and the Allies were no closer to breeching the Dardanelles or reaching Constantinople. Ultimately, the Allied soldiers who had not been killed left as they arrived - by sea.

Hillier and Collins returned to London just before the August offensives, but another naval reservist arrived off the coast of Gallipoli in time to produce a substantial artistic record. Norman Wilkinson was a well-established artist in 1915, with a particular interest in maritime subjects. He produced numerous watercolour paintings and ink sketches, particularly relating to the Suvla landings in August. Later in 1915, he went on to produce a copiously illustrated book about his experiences, The Dardanelles: Colour sketches from Gallipoli. In 1919 he was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to produce several oil paintings. Several other artists who produced works of Gallipoli and the Dardanelles campaign are also represented in the IWM collection. Another major collection of works of art relating to Gallipoli is held by the Australian War Memorial,  which focuses strongly, but not exclusively, on the events around Anzac Cove.