A Soldier's Sketches Under Fire Part 1

A Soldier's Sketches Under Fire.

by Harold Harvey.

FORENOTE

A t.i.tle such as "A Soldier's Sketches Under Fire" indicates at once the nature, scope and limitations of this unpretentious volume of annotated drawings to which it has been given.

Faked pictures of the war are plentiful. Sketches taken on the spot they depict, sometimes by a hand that had momentarily laid down a rifle to take them, and always by a draughtsman who drew in overt or covert peril of his life, gain in verisimilitude what they must lose in elaboration or embellishment; are the richer in their realism by reason of the absence of the imaginary and the meretricious.

All that Mr. Harold Harvey drew he saw; but he saw much that he could not draw. All sorts of exploits of which pictures that brilliantly misrepresent them are easily concoctable were for him impossible subjects for ill.u.s.tration. As he puts it himself, very modestly:

"There were many happenings--repulsions of sudden attacks, temporary retirements, charges, and things of that sort that would have made capital subjects, but of which my notebook holds no 'pictured presentment,' because I was taking part in them."

He also remarks:

"Sketched in circ.u.mstances that certainly had their own disadvantages as well as their special advantages, I present these drawings only for what they are."

Just because they are what they are they are of enduring interest and permanent value. They have the vividness of the actual, the convincing touch of the true.

Mr. Harvey was among the very first to obey the call of "King and Country," tarrying only, I believe, to finish his afterwards popular poster of "A Pair of Silk Stockings" for the Criterion production. To join the Colours as a private soldier, he left his colours as an artist, throwing up an established and hardly-won position in the world of his profession, into which--sent home shot and poisoned--he must now fight his way back. His ante-war experiences of sojourn and travel in India, South and East Africa, South America, Egypt and the Mediterranean should again stand him in good stead, for the more an artist has learned the more comprehensive his treasury of impressions and recollections; the more he has seen the more he can show. To Mr. Harvey's studies of Egyptian life, character and customs was undoubtedly attributable the success of his "Market Scene in Cairo," exhibited in the Royal Academy of 1909. Purchased by a French connoisseur, this picture brought its painter several special commissions.

I venture to express the opinion that the simple, direct and soldierly style in which Mr. Harold Harvey has written the notes that accompany his ill.u.s.trations will be appreciated. His reticence as regards his own doings, the casual nature of his references--where they could not be avoided--to his personal share in great achievements, manifest a spirit of self-effacement that is characteristic of the men of the army in which he fought; men whose like the world has never known.

ROBERT OVERTON.

PART I.

ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT.

A SOLDIER'S SKETCHES UNDER FIRE.

INTRODUCTORY.

ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT.

CHAPTER I.

FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO MALTA.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

On the outbreak of the war I joined the Royal Fusiliers, uninfluenced by the appeal of wall-posters or the blandishments of a recruiting sergeant. My former experience as a trooper in the Hertfordshire Yeomanry being accounted unto me for military righteousness, I sailed with my regiment from Southampton on September 3rd, 1914. We thought we were bound for France direct, and only discovered on the pa.s.sage that we were to be landed, first, at Malta.

I think I know the reason why the short trip across Channel was avoided, but, as it behoves me to be very careful about what I say on certain points, I don't state it.

I show the fore part of the boat, the bows being visible in the distance. The doorways on the right are those of the horse boxes, specially erected on the deck. In fact, the whole liner, with the most creditable completeness and celerity, had been specially fitted up for the use of the troops, still retaining its crew of Lascars, who did the swabbing down and rough work required.

My sketch shows a crane bringing up bales of fodder for the horses from the hold, with two officers standing by to give orders.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ABOARD THE TRANSPORT.]

We experienced some exciting incidents on the way out; for instance, in the Bay we ran into a fog, and the order was given for all to stand by.

For the next two or three hours all were in doubt as to what might happen--of course there was fear of torpedoes.

We heard in the distance several shots fired, presumably by the battle-cruiser which was our escort. When the fog lifted, we could just see the smoke lifting on the horizon of some enemy craft, which had been chased off by our own warship. We again steamed ahead towards our destination and were soon sailing into smooth and calm waters, the temperature becoming quite genial and warm as we approached the Straits of Gibraltar. As we pa.s.sed through the Straits the message was signalled that those two notorious vessels, the "Goeben" and the "Breslau," were roaming loose in the Mediterranean.

AT MALTA.

On arrival at Malta, I and others were put through our firing course, and the regiment took over the charge of prisoners and interned Germans, of whom, together, there were on the island--so soon after the beginning of hostilities--no fewer than 8,000. One of the first sketches I made was of our Bivouac.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BIVOUAC AT MALTA.]

MALTA AND THE PIRATES.

Malta, which has been called "the master key of the Mediterranean and the Levant," "the stepping-stone to Egypt and the Dardanelles," and "the connecting link between England and India," is one of our Empire's most valuable possessions, and its physical formation has made it for generations past of great maritime value. The island is, in itself, a rock, and all its earth and mould has been imported. In the days when there were no submarines or warships, it was the headquarters of pirates roaming at large in the Mediterranean. These pirate crews, after capturing their prey, used to bring their captures into one of the entrances of the island, now called the Grand Harbour. At the base of the harbour is the town of Valetta, which was catacombed in those early times, and tunnels were made through the island rock. When pirates had brought a ship under cover of the natural harbour to these tunnels, they took all the merchandise ash.o.r.e and then broke up the vessel, so as to leave no trace of the incident. The crew were usually ma.s.sacred to a man, and when chase was given, no trace whatever could be found of either the pirates or their captures, and later on their ill-gotten gains would be shipped off from the other end of the tunnel in another part of the island.

Looking through between the trees in my sketch of the Cas.e.m.e.nt Gardens, under the Barracks of Floriana, which stand on an eminence overlooking the spot, a portion of the harbour is seen which commands the back moorings, and the water where the P. & O. liners lay up. Beyond the vessel drawn I indicate the island of Fort Manoel, which is an ancient fortress which possesses a very handsome gateway, which may have been built by the Romans. In fact, all over this island are remarkable relics, some of them probably as old as those of Stonehenge, but how or by whom the original materials were brought there or the original buildings constructed is now left by historians to conjecture.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAs.e.m.e.nT GARDENS, MALTA.]

Other public gardens are those of Biracca and Floriana. Public establishments include the biggest Fever Hospital in the world, the Castille Prison, and the Governor's Palace.

SERGEANTS' MESS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SERGEANTS' MESS AT FLORIANA, MALTA.]

The view of the site of the Sergeants' Mess at Floriana gives a good idea of the ma.s.sive style of architecture and the palatial design of many of the buildings. The big construction of the walls will be noted, and the height of the chimney. All the houses have flat roofs, and on them people sleep at night because of the intense heat. From the roof of this house is obtained the best view of the island. Although Malta is composed entirely of rock, flowers grow profusely, and a variety of creeper, very similar to our own azalea, climbs up the front of the forts, requiring little or no root. A garden of this flower was attached to the Sergeants' Mess house.

FORTIFICATIONS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT, MALTA.]

The ancient fortifications proved impregnable for ages, and are now modernised for the use of up-to-date artillery equipment. I show the exterior of the Army Ordnance Department, Fort Tigne, and on the extreme left, on the other side of the harbour, a portion of Fort Manoel.

THE MALTESE.