A photograph was donated to the State Library of Queensland in 1938 but no one knows when or why it was taken

IT IS a picture from the Gallipoli campaign with so much detail, but which leaves so many unanswered questions.

The picture with 132 stories

IT is picture littered with so much detail, but which leaves so many unanswered questions.

The shot is of Anzac Cove during the Gallipoli campaign and signed by about 140 men from Queensland’s 9th and 15th battalions.

But no one knows when it was made, when it was signed, why it was made or its connection to the donor.

State Library of Queensland Anzac curator Robyn Hamilton says the picture was donated to the library in 1938 by a Mrs Bishop, but Ms Hamilton had no idea the donor’s link to the picture which is considered a significant artefact by the library.

Similarly, there is no clue as to when it was done as it includes one soldier who died on April 25, the day of the Gallipoli landing, and others who died later on the Western Front in France.

“We thought it might have been the result of a reunion after the war, but a person researching the picture found some of the men died had died after the war’s end, so it must have been even earlier than that,” Ms Hamilton said.

The Gladstone Genealogical Society heard about the picture about three weeks ago and began researching the names around the picture. Secretary Yvonne Cooper said the society had the shot blown up to A1 and has been analysing the signatures, finding one more name than the SLQ had managed to find bringing the total to 132 names.

“When you look at it long enough, the names start to come out at you,” Ms Cooper said.

Her research had turned up some interesting finds, such as the society’s president finding her grandfather’s name on the list – Stanley Maurice Horn, a 19-year-old student from Grafton, NSW, when he enlisted.

Another was a Russian, Peter Karelin Alexander, who came to north Queensland as a sailor in 1907 and enlisted in April 1915. Ms Cooper said the list included six Military Medals, 2 Distinguished Conduct Medals, one Military Cross and Victoria Cross winner Henry Dalziel from far north Queensland.

Of the 132 names identified so far, only nine were killed in action on the Western Front, indicating the picture may have been created some time between the Gallipoli campaign and the men’s arrival on the Western Front.

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Originally published as A photograph was donated to the State Library of Queensland in 1938 but no one knows when or why it was taken