04 Works, The Art of War, Maxwell, Donald's British Navy in Syria, 1st World War, with footnotes

Maxwell, Donald

The Headquarters of the Hedjaz Army, Damascus, c. 1918

Watercolour

Height 254 mm, Width 387 mm

Imperial War Museums

A street scene with a crowd of men in Arab dress and horses standing outside a building with a white stucco facade. There are other figures sitting on the floor in the left foreground just outside the crowd.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz was a state in the Hejaz region of Western Asia that included the western portion of the Arabian Peninsula that was ruled by the Hashemite dynasty. It was self-proclaimed as a kingdom in June 1916 during the First World War, to be independent from the Ottoman Empire, on the basis of an alliance with the British Empire to drive the Ottoman Army from the Arabian Peninsula during the Arab Revolt. More on The Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz

Maxwell, Donald

A Seaplane flying over Damascus

Watercolour

Height 254 mm, Width 336 mm

Imperial War Museums

An aerial view of a seaplane flying over a distant landscape with Damascus below.

Maxwell, Donald

Australian Light Horse at Damascus

Watercolour

Height 285 mm, Width 450 mm

Imperial War Museums

Five troopers of the Australian Light Horse sit slumped on a wooden bench in the shade next to the wall of a building. To the right numerous horses are grazing on the flat ground of a valley, with some of the buildings on the outskirts of Damascus visible beyond. A rocky hill lines the horizon.

In 1918, 12,000 Australian Light Horsemen advanced across the Middle East, covering nearly 450 miles of treacherous desert and mountains. After twelve days the Great Ride climaxed in the taking of the city of Damascus. The Ride was praised as ‘The greatest exploit in the history of horsed cavalry…’. More on Australian Light Horsemen

Maxwell, Donald

Hodson's Horse at Aleppo

Encamped about a mile from the town, on the Alexandretta Road

Watercolour

Height 285 mm, Width 450 mm

Imperial War Museums

Troopers of the Indian Army cavalry unit Hodson's Horse stand and sit amongst tents on the outskirts of Aleppo in Syria. Their tents are arranged in a long line, with their horses grazing behind and the buildings and citadel of Aleppo visible in the background.

Hodson's Horse was a British regiment created during the Indian Mutiny in 1857. This irregular light cavalry of two thousand horses was named after its leader, Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson (1821-1858). The regiment included British military officers as well as native soldiers, many of whom were Sikhs from the region of Punjab.

Hodson's Horse regiment, under General Allenby, swept on into Syria, occupying Damascus, Beirut and, on 25 October, Aleppo. A composite squadron from each regiment took part in a formal and official march through Damascus on 2 October. It was intended as a show of force rather than a triumphal entry. More on Hodson's Horse at Aleppo

Donald Maxwell (1877-1936) was a painter, etcher and illustrator, born in Clapham, south London the son of a Methodist minister. Maxwell studied at Clapham School of Art, the Slade School of Fine Art, and the Royal College of Art all towards the close of the 19th century. After his marriage in 1907, he and his wife resided on a yacht moored on the River Thames before relocating to Rochester, Kent. He soon began writing and illustrating extensively for The Yachting Monthly and other magazines and in 1909, he came to the public's attention with his dramatic sketch, 'The Battle Fleet off Southend', published by the Daily Graphic in 1909. He thereafter embarked on a career as a naval artist and correspondent and became a regular correspondent for the Daily Graphic and the weekly illustrated paper The Graphic continuing to do so until the latter's closure in the 1930's. During World War I was an Official War Artist attached to the Admiralty, visiting Palestine and Mesopotamia. He accompanied the Prince of Wales on his tour of India and illustrated The Prince of Wales' Eastern Book and wrote and illustrated many books on travel and topography and also received poster commissions from Southern Railways. He showed at the Royal Academy, Manchester Academy of Fine Arts and at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Examples of his work are in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. More on Donald Maxwell

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

Please note that the content of this post primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online.