12th July 1915 saw the centenary of the final attempt by Allied Forces to take the ‘strategically important’ hill of Achi Baba, a critical cornerstone in the Gallipoli Campaign’s objective to advance into Constantinople
and the Ottoman Empire. Like so much of the controversial campaign, it was a failure. Magic Torch, an arts and heritage group from Inverclyde, have been supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, to research and create a new graphic novel, Achi Baba, which explores the story of the Gallipoli campaign and the involvement of the area’s own 5th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
The graphic novel is now available to read or download for free online at www.magictorchcomics.co.uk.
Project volunteer, Ross Ahlfeld explains, “Obviously the most well known aspect of the Gallipoli campaign is the role of the Anzacs, and that whole sense of national identity which almost grew out of that. But of course there were troops from many countries fighting and dying on the peninsula, and we wanted to explore that too.”
Colin McLean, Head of HLF Scotland, said “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching every corner of the UK. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £60million in projects –
large and small - that are marking this global Centenary; with our small grants programme, we are enabling even more communities like those involved in the Achi Baba project, to explore the continuing legacy of this
conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”
Rather than directly retell the story of the campaign, the book uses contemporary documents to tell the story from a range of perspectives, and includes poetry, military records, letters home, memoirs and propaganda.
Writer Paul Bristow explains, “Normally our projects focus on myths and legends, or the importance of storytelling, and with this project, we were really struck by how, even at the time, the whole effort was associated with The Iliad - turning it into this heroic epic. There’s an immediate and obvious contrast with the much less romantic reality of life and war on the peninsula. We have all these contrasting views and voices, and comics are a really effective medium for blending that together.”
