Horace Moore-Jones (1868 – 1922) – British born New Zealand artist

With thanks to Paul Simadas for finding Horace.for us and researching the following information:

Horace was born in 1868 in England and later emigrated to Australia and then on to New Zealand. Pre-war he was a notable artist.  When he was 46, Horace enlisted in the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces and served at Gallipoli. He fought as a sapper in the Engineers, where his duties included drawing topographical sketches of the terrain for military use.

When he was wounded, Horace was evacuated to England to recover. There he completed a number of water colour and ink paintings depicting Gallipoli scenes. They were exhibited in London in 1916 to acclaim. 

Horace toured New Zealand with his paintings in 1916-17, in part raising funds for NZ returned servicemen. After the war, he became an art teacher. Horace tragically died in a hotel fire in Hamilton NZ in 1922, a sad loss for his country.

Many of his paintings, some seventy, had previously been sold to the Australian Government. 

‘The unpretentious tent of General Sir Ian Hamilton, Imbros’, watercolour over pencil on paper, Horace Moore-Jones, 1915.

NOTE Sir Ian Hamilton commanded the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that fought the campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula. This was his second headquarters’ location and would not be his last. 

The first HQ was aboard the super-Dreadnought battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth. German submarine activity in the Aegean Sea forced the ship’s withdrawal. Its loss would have constituted a serious loss and damage to British prestige in the East.

The scene for this painting is the shore of Lake Kephelos and the coast of the island of Imbros. The immediate area housed the HQ MEF and a number of military units, including the Australian Bakery, and the general insisted on living with his troops and sharing their deprivations. The Royal Naval Air Service maintained an airfield and seaplane anchorage nearby. Two aircraft are visible in the sky. Sir Ian may be the single figure seen standing outside the tent near the hut. Sir Ian often appeared in the pose the figure has adopted. An olive tree stands isolation.    Unfortunately this arrangement attracted enemy attention and attack. The headquarters moved to a more protected location on the hills overlooking the lake.

Imbros was retained as a British outpost after the final withdrawal from Gallipoli in 1916 and it was a British base into 1919 and later.

Credit: The AWM and Gallipoli Association archival research by Paul Simadas.

Sources:Wikipedia and https://www.facebook.com/groups/385353788875799/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=1902327100511786