Drake's Way 

• 1918 
• Partridge, Bernard 
• Drawing 
• Historical item 

5942999

Drawings / paintings

Drake's Way

48 x 39 cm

1918

Original political cartoon on board in pen and ink published in Punch magazine, 1918, shows Zeebrugge, St. George's Day 1918, and the ghost of ‘Admiral Drake’ saying to Admiral Keyes: ‘Bravo Sir! Tradition holds: my men singed a King's beard and yours have singed a Kaiser's moustache.’ On St. George’s Day (April 23) Keyes led a raid on Zeebrugge and Ostend in German-occupied Belgium. The purpose of the raid was to stop the marauding German submarines and destroyers working out of Belgium. The threat came from the main German naval base at Bruges, the inland town linked to the sea by two canals, one to Ostend and one (usable by the largest vessels) to Zeebrugge. Keyes’ plan was to close the canal entrances at the two ports with blockships. The action at Zeebrugge was successful, though that at Ostend was not. Although the action is compared here to those of Sir Francis Drake in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the significance of the Zeebrugge raid lay more in its psychological and morale-boosting effect in Britain, an effect which the cartoon itself also has. Mounted for an overall size of 48 x 39 cm, image size 34 x 25 cm, signed lower left. Appeared in Punch on 3 July 1918. Cartoon is in very good condition, although the mount (with printed caption in lower border) has staining, particularly in lower left border.