DARDANELLES: A midshipman's Diary by H. M. Denham : A yellow cloth bound book with gilt lettering to the spine. The spine and back board are in excellent condition but unfortunately the front board has some impact damage. On the two edges of the top corner, 6 to 8 centimetres in are two dents, the longest two centimetres, the other, less than one, and a dent five centimetres up from the middle of the bottom edge of the front board.

 

 

DARDANELLES

A midshipman's Diary

by H. M. Denham

First published 1981 by John Murray (Publishers) Ltd., London

CONDITION: at least VERY GOOD.A yellow cloth bound book with gilt lettering to the spine. The spine and back board are in excellent condition but unfortunately the front board has some impact damage.  On the two edges of the top corner, 6 to 8 centimetres in are two dents, the longest two centimetres, the other, less than one, and a dent five centimetres up from the middle of the bottom edge of the front board. Because the page block and all pages are pristine I would still rate the condition as VERY GOOD. The VERY GOOD condition unclipped wrapper’s front flap appears to have been in contact with damp top and bottom. The spine and back are perfect and the impressions as the result of the contact damage to the front board have not broken the surface.

ISBN 0 7195 3858 0

DARDANELLES: A midshipman's Diary by H. M. Denham : Flash photographs taken from either side to show the general appearance. Remove cursor to restore image seen from the left side.

Please email if you need larger, more information or different images.

Price £6.00 plus postage. Postage quoted is for period to 31st. March 2012 only.

 UK First class postage £3.05.  Airmail to Europe £5.36      Airmail to U.S.A. etc. £9.81

JACKET BLURBS

This diary, richly illustrated by unpublished photographs and plans, is an important addition to the Gallipoli archive. Henry Denham's account reveals the courage, waste, muddle and triumph that are associated with the names of Gallipoli and Dardanelles.
Denham, well known to cruising people and travelers for his Mediterranean Sea-Guides, began his colourful career in the Royal Navy at the naval colleges of Osborne and Dartmouth. It was as a cadet that he first went to sea on the outbreak of war in 1914: he found himself aboard HMS Agamemnon and within weeks was steaming down the English Channel for an unknown destination.
On reaching the Dardanelles, midshipmen were prohibited—for security reasons—from keeping official journals. Denham, contrary to regulations, kept a private diary in which he recorded day-to-day combat as well as outspoken comments on his seniors and on the actions in which he was involved. His powers as an observer and recorder are seen clearly: his keen pen- portraits of personalities, British and foreign, and his noting of the minutiae of naval warfare put you aboard an old broadside battleship with reciprocating engines during one of the last setpiece actions, played out according to the old tactics. He saw much of the action aloft in the precarious and often violently lively crow's-nest and sometimes had fine views of Turkish gunners and occasional infantry charges. On the sea he commanded a steam picket-boat in the Suvla Bay landings—a splendid observation post for the foibles and failings of the commanders.

The scans to the right are intended to show in detail the damage, and its effect, on the general appearance of this book. The front of the wrapper and front board have been affected, as mentioned above. Moving the cursor over the image will show the front board and the spine. The spine and the back board are clean and even coloured and the spine and back of the wrapper are first class. With all pages and illustrations immaculate it is still a very useful book.

   The front board mirrors the marks on the front of the jacket but the spine and the back board are clean and evenly coloured as is the spine and back of the wrapper. With all pages and illustrations immaculate it is still a very useful book as can be seen from the list of contents.

Author's obituary from Daily Telegraph

CONTENTS:

Preface
Prologue: Joining Agamemnon

  1. Voyage to the Dardanelles
  2. Bombardment of the Outer Forts
  3. Landing of demolition parties
  4. Preliminary bombardment of Narrows' Forts
  5. Minesweeping our inadequate equipment
  6. Fleet's final attack on the Narrows
  7. Preparations for landing military expedition
  8. Landings on Gallipoli
  9. Agamemnon refits at Malta
  10. Military frustration on Gallipoli
  11. New landings at Suvla Bay
  12. Transport losses and frustration
  13. Arrival of Lord Kitchener
  14. Winter storms and heavy casualties
  15. Evacuation of Gallipoli

Good-bye to Angie
Aftermath
Index

ILLUSTRATIONS:

Map of the Dardanelles
I HMS Britannia at Dartmouth
2 Our Black Cutters on the Dart
3 HMS Agamemnon at Malta, prior to the Dardanelles
4 Plan of Agamemnon's main and secondary armament
5 Section through Agamemnon's 12-in. gun turret
6 A bird's-eye view of the Dardanelles
7 Gunroom officers on Agamemnon
8 Agamemnon leaving Malta for the Dardanelles
9 Our latest Super-Dreadnought, HMS Queen Elizabeth
10 Conveyance by trolley to bunkers
11 Filling bags in collier
12 Fluter: The Monarch of the Glen'
13 Midshipmen in life-saving waistcoats
14 HMS Ark Royal, our first aircraft-carrier
15 A B.E.2 at Tenedos aerodrome
16 A Farman F.11 Shorthorn at Tenedos
17 Henri IV, one of the French battleships
18 The Russian cruiser Askold
19 Goeben, one of Germany's latest battle-cruisers
20 Submarine E 11, cheered by Ribble
21 Plan of bombardment of the Outer Forts
22 The Outer Forts we knocked out
23 Agamemnon's armour protection
24 Damage to Agamemnon: fragments of Turkish shot and shell
25 Map of demolition parties, Asiatic shore
26 Armour-piercing shell-hole in protected deck
27 Agamemnon's picket-boat in a strong current
28 Lt Crookshank's sketch of Fort 6
29 A dummy ship, Orion, subsequently sunk at Kephalo
30 The dummy guns dismantled
31 Plan of operations against Forts 13 and 19
32 Model of a battleship's 32-ft galley
33 A minesweeping trawler with HMS Implacable in background
34 Minesweeping 'Beagle'-class destroyers
35 Foxhound, with kite davits protruding over stern
36 Plan of attack on the Narrows, March 18th 1915
37 French battleship Bouvet: magazine explodes
38 Bouvet: two minutes later
39 Near-miss from howitzer battery
40 The beached French Gaulois after severe enemy damage
41 Queen Elizabeth under howitzer fire
42 End of the day: Irresistible slowly sinking
43 Gallipoli shore: the old fortress at Kilid Bahr
44 Asian shore: a Krupp gun at Fort Hamidieh
45 Agamemnon's reconnaissance before the landing
46 The dead from HMS Inflexible being brought aboard for burial
47 At Dede Aghatch: our cutter rows to fetch Bulgarian governor
48 Picket-boat leaving Agamemnon after Bulgarian visit

ILLUSTRATIONS: continued


49 Transport Manitou on arrival at Mudros
50 A battleship's net protection
51 Australian 5th Infantry Division on board Agamemnon
52 Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck
53 General Sir Ian Hamilton
54 Map of Allied landings, April 25th 1915
55 Langmaid's sketch of boats passing HMS Swiftsure
56 Landing at 'W' Beach, April 25th, sketched by Langmaid
57 Detail of Cmdr Douglas's survey of Seddul Bahr coast
58 HMS Vengeance protecting boats laden with troops
59 View of River Clyde approaching Cape Helles
60 Author's sketch of Morto Bay
61 Destroyer Racoon, hit on steam-pipe
62 The 'square' map used during the campaign
63 Wounded being evacuated
64 La France: a French transport at Mudros
65 Agamemnon's gunroom v. Lord Nelson at football
66 Author's sketch of first sighting of an enemy periscope
67 HMS Triumph with her nets out
68 Keel of HMS Majestic, sunk by submarine
69 Agamemnon's worn-out 12-in. guns being changed
70 Our refit at Malta
71 We hoist out our damaged funnel
72 Mutineers of Reliance made to climb aboard
73 A French ammunition ship sinking off Cape Helles
74 HMS Racoon at Malta
75 Aquitania arriving with Kitchener's army
76 Scourge's torpedo track
77 Testing the nets
78 Air from torpedo, stopped by nets
79 The new monitor Abercrombie
80 A diesel-powered small monitor
81 A 32-ft cutter and a 42-ft launch 82-3 Agamemnon's picket-boat
84 Map of Suvla Bay prior to landing, August 6th/7th 1915
85 Map of night landing at Suvla Bay
86 Landing beach and 'Chocolate Hill'
87 Our headquarters ship, HMS Jonquil
88 Embarking wounded for transfer to hospital-ships
89 Towing wounded in lifeboats to hospital-ships
90 Aeneas, which helped save the water crisis
91 The hospital-ship Soudan at Suvla
92 Queen and Duke of Albany: ferries used as minesweepers
93 Disembarking a mule from Manitou
94 Agamemnon's water-polo team
95 Submarine E 11 with Mauretania in background
96 Sarnia ferrying troops between Mudros and Gallipoli
97 Egyptian labour corps
98 New shipping routes: Doro Channel to Salonika
99 Disembarking the Gurkha Rifles
100-1 Vice-Admiral Guepratte visits Agamemnon
102 Lord Kitchener and General Birdwood at Mudros
103 Agamemnon with Mauretania and Aquitania
104-5 Kephalo after an autumn gale
106-7 Sketches of Kayak Bridge before and after bombardment
108 Dummy guns made in Agamemnon for Gallipoli evacuation
109 Map of Suvla and Anzac evacuation area, December 1915
110 Abbasieh, one of the evacuation troop-carriers
111 Hospital-ship Britannic with Lord Nelson and Triad
112 Ionic, one of the transports at Mudros
113 Coastal road near 'W' Beach at time of evacuation
114 Final state of 'W' Beach Harbour at time of evacuation
115 View of 'V' Beach Harbour, including beached River Clyde
116 Extract from the Daily Mail, January 20th 1916
117 The countryside and inhabitants at Lake Beshik
118 Pazarkia: the mosque and ruins of Roman barracks
119 My harem from Pazarkia
120 My command at Lake Beshik
121 My crew: we all wore Australian hats
122 As the Romans did: our excavated hot bath
123 Wreckage of the Zeppelin LZ 85, shot down by Agamemnon
124 Shooting down LZ 85: Lt Crookshank and L. S. Coleman
125 The author's certificate of conduct, signed by Fluter
126 Diagram of French 12-knot convoy, June 17th 1917
127 Diagram of British formation at same time
128 The last of Cestrian
129 My bird! A good shot with my 4-in. gun — but the wrong bird
130 The end of our flotilla leader, HMS Scott