| Place | Middle East: Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Cape Helles Area, Sedd-el-Bahr |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | G00963 |
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Negative |
| Maker |
Bean, Charles Edwin Woodrow (C E W) |
| Place made | Ottoman Empire: Turkey, Marmara, Chanak, Gallipoli Peninsula |
| Date made | May 1915 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
A flake from a shell fired by the battleship the Queen Elizabeth, found near Sedd-el-Bahr. The ...
Description
A flake from a shell fired by the battleship the Queen Elizabeth, found near Sedd-el-Bahr. The soldier in the centre holding the spade and rifle is 901 Private (Pte) George Gowthorp Martindale, 5th Battalion, of Brighton, Vic. In a letter to his mother dated 13 May 1915, Pte Martindale wrote, ' Mr Bean (war correspondent) took a snapshot of me standing near a fragment of 15" shell - it only weighed about a couple of hundredweight - it may be republished in "The Australasian" or the "Weekly Times" - there were 3 of us there. You'll know me - in the centre - laden like a pack mule of infantryman - an awful wreck I look. Pte Martindale transferred to the 59th Battalion and reached the rank of Sergeant. He survived the war but was wounded in France in 1917, suffering many major injuries including the loss of his right eye. He died of complications from his wounds in 1922.