These pictures are rare for a number of reasons, not the least being they are larger format than is usually seen from a regular soldier’s camera. Taken from an album in the possession of Lyle Blackman’s grandson James Coghlan, they show daily life during the Dardanelles campaign.
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Combat and behind the lines pictures show the rough condition of the campaign, where illness was as great an adversary as any mortal enemy. Devastating are the final two images of F Company, 8th Battalion: one taken before the April 25 landing with a full strength of 67 men; the other following the evacuation later in 1915, showing the remaining 27 soldiers.
Officers in the field: Lt-Col Carl Jess (in cap) later became a general in the AIF. Lieutenant Alfred Plumley Derham, a Melbourne University student, was wounded and later became a doctor.
Egyptian allies: Under-prepared and poorly armed, the Egyptian army nevertheless fought alongside the Allies and suffered huge losses.
Field bakery: providing fresh food for the Australian troops was an enormous and crucial undertaking for the field kitchens such as this.
Caleb Cluff
Senior Journalist, The Courier
