Indian mule train

Drawing depicting Indian soldiers leading a mule train carrying ammunition near the beach at Gallipoli; a dead soldier lies at left foreground; crosses signifying graves can be seen on the right.

This drawing was included in 'Crusading at ANZAC: pictured and described by Signaller Ellis Silas, A soldier -artist serving with the Australian Imperial Forces' published in 1916.

Silas described the scene 'After the incessant roar of the firing line, it seemed comparatively quiet at this spot. It was the end of a glorious afternoon. All the landscape was tinged with the warm glow of the sun. In the distance the blue ocean sparkled like a jewel. Up the winding narrow path, with its border of sad little mounds, placidly came the Indians with ammunition mules. It seemed more like a scene in a play than one of the most tragic dramas in the world's history. But one was never left long in doubt as to the reality of it all. A buzzing, as of a huge bee - a flash of yellow flame - on the ground a mangled heap, from which slowly trickles a dull red stream. Far away across the sapphire ocean, just a few more will be waiting in vain for the return of their loved ones.' [Anzac, May 1915]