A superb collection of 60 vintage photographs showing life in the trenches at Gallipoli, possibly taken by Albert Percy Bladen, Methodist chaplain with the 23rd Battalion
The gelatin silver photographs (approximately 82 × 107 mm or the reverse) are numbered 1-62 on the verso (lacking numbers 11, 13 and 56, with two images numbered 61); two images are duplicated; a handful have minor marks, chips and creases; three have short closed tears (repaired with tape); overall, the collection is in excellent condition, loosely inserted in a modern album, with the original captions transcribed next to each print.
The photographs are captioned on the verso by a member of the 23rd Battalion, 315 Private George Harold Clarence Coleman (and they all carry the later ownership signature of one G.W. Coleman, presumably a relative). Fifty of these photographs graphically depict conditions on the Gallipoli Peninsula during the invasion. They range from the unsanitary conditions in the crowded trenches and gullies (two images show Diggers with their trousers around their ankles, delousing), to the dramatic landscape at ANZAC, including Whyte's Gully, Monash Gully, Brown's Dip and Gun Lane. Bladen appears in two photographs: one is captioned 'This is our Padre who took all the snaps. He is censoring letters'. The captions are often very detailed: examples included 'The spinx [sic]. This is the place where the Turkish sniper got over 200 of our men and officers the day of the landing. Note the dug-outs'; and 'Graves of our heroes of the 23rd. Harry Gagino and Vern Higgs are buried here' (19 Private Harry Gagino, KIA 13 September 1915; and 1099 Private William Arthur Vernon Higgs, KIA 29 November 1915). Of the photographs not relating to Gallipoli, one shows members of the 23rd Battalion on board HMAT 'Euripides', and nine relate to the unit's time in Egypt after the evacuation. The Australian War Memorial holds the negatives for approximately eight of these images, but they do not appear to hold the rest. [60 items].
Item #117319
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