"Man and arm boats" (colour photo)

"Man and arm boats." The Royal Navy is at times called upon to send ashore armed landing parties on hostile coasts. An historic case is the landing at Gallipoli in 1915. The landing parties are generally embarked in pulling boats, which have more space and are capable of being "beached" if necessary to allow disembarkation where no piers are available. These pulling boats are usually towed in as far as possible by power boats which, armed with a 3-pounder or machine gun, then lie off shore to cover the landing. The picture shows a 50-ft picket boat armed with a 3-pounder gun, and rigged with a mast and halyards on which she can hoist flag signals to other boats or to her parent ship. Illustration for one of a set of 50 cigarette cards on the subject of Interesting Customs and Traditions of the Navy, Army and Airforce issued by Lambert & Butler in 1939.