The Dardanelles: Colour Sketches From Gallipoli

"The Dardanelles" by Norman Wilkinson is a book that illustrates war in colored paintings and water-color drawings. The author well-describes the battles and conditions in the trenches as well.

Norman Wilkinson CBE RI (1878 – 1971) was a British artist who usually worked in oils, watercolors, and drypoint. He was primarily a marine painter, but also an illustrator, poster artist, and wartime camouflage. Wilkinson invented dazzle painting to protect merchant shipping during the First World War.

Excerpt:

"THE LANDING AT SUVLA BAY, AUGUST 6-7

The strictest secrecy was maintained with regard to the new landing in Gallipoli, thus preventing anything but the vaguest rumours leaking out as to the point chosen for disembarkation. It was presumed that the Turks must have taken every possible protective measure to guard against surprise. I was very fortunate in being attached to the ship which the Admiral conducting operations had chosen as his temporary flagship.

It is difficult to give any idea of the strange feelings that possessed us as we crept through the darkness on the night of August 6, knowing that big events loomed ahead. Would it be a surprise to the enemy?"