The Incomparable 29th and the "River Clyde" Part 7

The Turks have had little stomach for fighting to-day. Sniping has gone on, of course, and occasionally a regular fusillade, but to us the day on the whole has been peaceful. From 5 a.m. we have been very busy among the Australian wounded, these being the princ.i.p.al sufferers in yesterday's fight, owing, it is said, to their charging with the bayonet at an inopportune moment. Many of their senior officers pa.s.sed through our hands, and their men, fine, big fellows, in large numbers.

Thomson and I were in charge of our dressing station at the "Five Towers" from 9 a.m. yesterday till noon to-day, and were busy the whole time, except from about 1 to 5 a.m. to-day, when we lowered ourselves into a trench and tried to sleep.

Last night I started to go as far out as possible with five stretcher squads, but in the dark it is difficult to move, nearly every spot is taken up by men, horses, and transport, and you are continually challenged by sentries. After showing our men across a brook with a dark lantern, some others crossing with stretchers asked for a light, and as soon as I threw a flash on the water a bullet whistled past me from a sniper who must have penetrated our front line. I heard the whistle of many a bullet at close quarters yesterday, and to-day big sh.e.l.ls have fallen on all the four sides of our dressing station, coming from Achi Baba.

Yesterday when the battle raged at its worst a telegram was handed to me, and read: "Good luck and fondest love--Mabel," and the date was April 2 (March 16 it should have been). This had followed me all the way from Avonmouth where it failed to find me as I was leaving for this expedition.

The amount of horrors Thomson and I came through yesterday and this morning was most sickening and depressing to both of us. The Australian Aid Post was a perfect shambles, about an acre of stretcher cases, horrible wounds, and all the surroundings soaked with blood.

But such brave fellows!

_May 10th._--We were very busy last night erecting tents for wounded, being the overflow from the casualty clearing station, which, along with the hospital s.h.i.+ps, is absolutely full. We had sixty-seven to find shelter for and succeeded. Two died during the night, and nineteen more in other parts of the camp. Thomson and I were still on duty and we were busy changing dressings, setting fractures, etc., up to 2 p.m. to-day, when an order came to evacuate completely to a hospital s.h.i.+p which had arrived. Welcome news! This gave us an afternoon's rest which we much needed. I spent the time making "couples" for our dugout, which was arched over before with two stretchers interlocking at a slope.

The chief topic of conversation to-day is the brilliant dash of the Australians on the 8th, in their bayonet charge over 300 yards of ground without cover. The Turks with five machine-guns mowed them down, but they dashed on. Their casualties were about 2000. We were all eager to a.s.sist them, their own Ambulances being unable to cope with the work.

_May 11th._--What we know as "h.e.l.les" is the point of the peninsula as far north as Achi Baba. It is five miles long, and varies from two to four in width. The whole valley is saucer shaped, with a more or less complete high edge, except at a small part on the Dardanelles side, where the land shelves to the sea at Morto Bay, this low lying part being moist and fertile, with fairly heavy timber and huge downy topped reeds 12 feet high. Across this valley there has once been an aqueduct--perhaps centuries ago--the "Five Towers" being the remains of the structure. While Achi Baba remains in the hands of the enemy there is not a safe inch in what we occupy, the whole being within easy gunfire.

Thomson and I are at present at the Five Towers Dressing Station for twenty-four hours' duty. From the amount of heavy gun ammunition that is being hurried past us we expect a heavy bombardment this afternoon, with a repet.i.tion of the trying work we had when last on duty.

A Frenchman has just come into our station with half a loaf under his arm. Great excitement! We were all willing to purchase it at any price, but he handed it over to one of our men who had been hobn.o.bbing with him in the morning. All are deadly sick of army biscuits, the only form of bread we have, hard as the nether millstone and tasteless. The only decent food we have is McConnachie's ration of meat and vegetables, which is excellent cold or hot, or as soup.

7.30 p.m.--Had a weary day--little doing. Thomson in very low spirits, thinking everything is going wrong. News we get from a padre is that in France everything goes badly. Pirie, M.O. to the Lancs, has just looked us up and reports no progress here. We are certainly making little speed, and it is now announced, whether correctly or not, that Achi Baba is to be besieged into submission by starvation if necessary, owing to the great loss of life a direct attack would entail. In the afternoon I went out with a few bearers to the Lancs.

Aid Post to find they had gone into reserve for forty-eight hours, a rest they much needed. Sh.e.l.ls were coming fast and furious round us, a battery we had to pa.s.s being the object of attack. Two big sh.e.l.ls fell very near our dressing station this afternoon, a pile of stores being taken for ammunition boxes, the first sh.e.l.l landing among these with terrible crash, and destroying a lot of jam. Rather a hot bombardment of Krithia goes on to-night, while a number of Tommies are enjoying a game of football close to our camp.

_May 12th._--At 8 p.m. yesterday a message reached us that the 29th Division had been withdrawn to give them a much-needed rest of forty-eight hours. We accordingly packed up and returned to our camp at W. Beach, and lucky for us we did, as it rained heavily during the night, and we had shelter against showers in our dugouts. On the whole very little fighting went on to-day till 6 p.m. when our big guns all along the line bombarded Krithia and the face of Achi Baba.

When studying our camp fires this morning before daylight I concluded that we really had made but little progress since April 28, and a Lancs. officer I saw this afternoon agrees with this conclusion. Still we are said now to have about 100,000 men here, while I cannot believe the enemy has anything like that number, but while they are on the defensive, with their well-planned trenches and the best positions, and possessing, as they do, a large number of machine-guns, the cost in life entailed by an open attack would be very costly to us.

Three sh.e.l.ls giving out coal-black smoke, and bursting with a terrific crash, were fired at our beach to-day, but, as far as I know, without damage. They all burst high in the air and with an unusual sound. (The first of the "Black Marias" or "Jack Johnsons" although we had been accustomed to other forms of high explosive sh.e.l.ls.)

The following "special order" from General Sir Ian Hamilton of to-day's date came this afternoon: "For the first time for eighteen days it has been found possible to withdraw the 29th Division from the fire fight. During the whole of that period of unprecedented strain the Division has held ground or gained it, against the bullets and bayonets of the constantly renewed forces of the foe. During the whole of that long period they have been illuminating the pages of military history with their blood. The losses have been terrible, but mingling with the deep sorrow for fellow-comrades arises a feeling of pride in the invincible spirit which has enabled the survivors to triumph where ordinary troops must inevitably have failed. I tender to Major-General Hunter-Weston and to his Division, at the same time my profoundest sympathy and my warmest congratulations on their achievement."

"(Signed) IAN HAMILTON, _General_."

_May 13th._--Resting all day--but already have had enough of the prescribed forty-eight hours' rest. It was besides rendered uncomfortable by a very hot sh.e.l.ling in the afternoon. It is said the Turks have placed a new disappearing gun in position, which is doing this, and is firing high explosives with jet black smoke. They have our range to an inch from Achi Baba. At least twenty-four sh.e.l.ls were fired at our Beach with a very creditable bag--three men killed, two mortally wounded, twelve severely wounded, and about fifteen horses and mules killed. I saw the remains of some poor brutes that had been standing in a group when a sh.e.l.l fell among them. There was really nothing left but a large red patch. Numerous pieces of shrapnel fell among our tents. A piece whistled between Thomson and myself on our way to attend a wounded officer near the lighthouse.

Later in the day I heard the Turk had got a larger mixed bag than I have stated. I now hear as a fact that sixty-four horses and mules were killed on our Beach.

H.M.S. "Goliath" was sunk by a torpedo at the mouth of the Dardanelles at 2 a.m. to-day; 200 are said to have been saved which means a death-roll of 500 or 600.

We hear that one, if not three, German submarines have pa.s.sed Malta.

The big fleet lying off the coast has always been brilliantly lit, but to-night all are in absolute darkness, except the hospital s.h.i.+ps which are still showing their long rows of green lights.

_May 14th._--The sh.e.l.ling we got yesterday has made us all think, and we all set to to-day and dug ourselves in deeper, the wagons going to Sedd-el-Bahr and bringing beams and boards from the ruins, and with these we are to make roofs strong enough to resist splinters. By 3 p.m. some of us had nearly finished and were getting disappointed that our funk holes were not being put to the test. By 4 o'clock we got more than we wanted, then before 5 one of our aeroplanes came to grief immediately behind us. Then commenced a terrible cannonade on this new target, and one big shot alighting just inside the entrance of one of our operating tents it was blown into tiny shreds, and ten stretchers were riven into matchwood. Strange to say, although this was in the middle of our camp not a soul was injured. The excitement was of course great, every little bit of sh.e.l.l and every tatter of the tent were carefully gathered to be kept as souvenirs. Three men and a number of horses had been killed in the afternoon's work. Many of the sh.e.l.ls to-day were bigger than usual and some think the "Goeben" is the culprit. She could easily fire from the Dardanelles over the east ridge of Achi Baba.

_May 15th._--A quiet day in camp: little firing by either side; three "Black Marias" reached us--no damage; a Taube fired three bombs--still no harm. Rumour says one of our flying machines reports the Black Maria gun was silenced by our fire, and her ammunition blown up this afternoon. Her last shot was at 1 p.m. and it looks as if this might be true.

By evening rain clouds appeared in the north and I have been preparing my dugout for a wet night.

_May 16th._--We have just returned from church parade which was held at 9.30, amidst a continuous rattle of rifles to the front, the booming of howitzers on the right and left, while just behind us lay the "Swiftsure," which had evidently got word in the middle of the service to open fire on some particular spot. Her guns roared till the concussion made the leaves of our hymn books flutter. While writing a Jack Johnson fell very near me (so close that in my original diary my pen made a big dash across the page). How helpless one feels! Now comes another in the very middle of W. Beach--a very big fellow too--and still another. We are to have a day of it. Eight of these brutes now in a few minutes.

The C.O. has gone to a meeting at H.Q.; all the other officers are wisely at the edge of the sea under cliffs, while I am in my dugout too lazy to join them--but I may be forced to go yet, it is folly to sit here in the line of fire.

Major Ward of the 88th Field Ambulance, which is alongside us, has just taken a photograph of a bursting-sh.e.l.l at 70 yards, which he joyfully declares is "absolutely it". He got well battered with flying dirt.... The sh.e.l.ling got too hot for my continuing my notes and I was forced to close for a short time.

Here we are shut up in the very point of Gallipoli, 100,000 of us, and nearly as many horses and mules, every inch within easy range of the enemy's guns, and for three days now he has peppered us more furiously than at first. For three weeks and a day we have had an almost continuous roar of cannon, sometimes many hundred shots per minute, at other times with a lull of a few minutes. To-day and last night the howitzers have been unusually busy, and I believe an attempt is to be made this coming night to straighten our lines. The horns of the line, especially the left, which is held by the Gurkhas, is too far forward for the centre. This centre is directly opposite Achi Baba, and is exposed to the whole opposing line, and has less help from the fleet than the flanks. It is held by the flower of our troops, and these will make any sacrifice to do what is expected of them. May we soon have a little more breathing s.p.a.ce than this fouled little piece of the peninsula affords us.

_May 17th._--Three different spells of Black Marias to-day. One killed three men and wounded nine. We have several others wounded and a number of horses and mules killed. Altogether not a very pleasant day.

In the afternoon Thomson and I went to Sedd-el-Bahr and photographed the "River Clyde," Major Frankland's grave, the whole of V. Beach, etc., and brought back sh.e.l.l cases of the French 75's and 65's. Before this, while helping Pirie to build his dugout, Kellas shouted to me to look up, and I beheld what I at first took to be a huge flock of enemy aeroplanes, and expected a shower of bombs, but they turned out to be cranes--fifty-five of them in solid formation. They were an interesting and beautiful sight. They hovered over us for a considerable time, and two of our men stupidly fired several shots at them which got us into trouble with the powers that be. They had never taken into consideration the danger from dropping bullets where there was such a congestion of humanity.

The day has been fiery hot as usual, with the usual glorious sunset behind the mountains of Imbros. Yesterday Stephen and I studied the Plain of Troy, the monument of Ajax, and the town of Troy itself--the old and the new--all of which are visible from the rising ground behind Sedd-el-Bahr.

_May 18th._--Black Marias paid their visit earlier than usual, three bidding us good morning at 6 o'clock. All got into our clothes at once, so that now at 7 p.m. we have had a long day. Curiously these "coal boxes" have not been seen since, and they never trouble us after this time of night.

About an hour ago I was watching one of our s.h.i.+ps sh.e.l.ling a gully I once visited on a memorable night, and got into a shallow trench and watched from there. I was out in the middle of the valley where I could easily be seen from Achi Baba and a sh.e.l.l came singing straight at me. All the time sh.e.l.ls had been pa.s.sing high over my head but my ear at once detected the change of flight and that a low one was certainly coming my way. I had just time to throw myself flat in the trench, which was about eighteen inches deep when the sh.e.l.l burst in a straight line for me. I raised myself intending to bolt when I heard the song of another at its heels. I again fell flat, but as soon as it burst still nearer than the last I sprang and was just on my feet when a third burst three or four yards to my right. The concussion and shower of earth and stones sent me flying, and I peeled the palms of both hands and sprained my right wrist. Then I made a sprint for my funk hole at record speed, arriving quite out of breath after covering about three-quarters of a mile. I felt that turning a big gun on a solitary individual was not playing the game. I was wearing a waterproof cover to my cap which had got bleached almost white, and I may have been taken for some "big pot," as I sat on the edge of the trench with this unusual head dress, peering through my gla.s.ses.

_May 19th._--Am feeling very tired, the result of my bad tumble, and my wrist feels stiff and tender. No doubt my behaviour made the Turk think I was a superior officer and worth a sh.e.l.l or two. With my gla.s.ses I had examined very carefully the whole length of the lines, then stepped into a half-filled-in trench and sat on the edge for some time, watching operations at the gully I have mentioned. The second sh.e.l.l was so near that I felt certain the third would have me. A fourth sh.e.l.l followed and burst, but by this time I had picked myself up and was at full gallop, and paid no heed to its whereabouts. The whole four were fired in five or six seconds. (I got the fright of my life; I felt that they were determined to have me, but the fright was entirely due to the fact that I was alone. Never before or afterwards did sh.e.l.ls, however near, cause me the slightest discomfort.)

A camp story has it that a mule had to be shot the other day because its cry was so confoundedly like the sound of an approaching sh.e.l.l and caused needless alarm. This is presumably only a story, but it is extraordinary how often one fancies one hears the song of a sh.e.l.l. One day just before tea we were treated to a Jack Johnson, and during our meal in the tent those of us who had not made off to our funk holes ducked at every sound under the table, or behind a biscuit tin or any other flimsy object utterly useless to give cover. Each time we raised our heads we had a good laugh at our stupidity.

Those in the firing line are pitying us at the base to which nearly all the sh.e.l.ls are directed. Padre Hardie (afterwards V.C., D.S.O., M.C.) told me he had a major to tea the other day when the Jack Johnsons started, and he bolted in the middle of tea, saying he could not stand the life here, and made off to the firing line which he thought much safer.

I asked a man to-day if he kept a diary. "No," he said, "there's naething to say, I dee naething bit sleep, jink sh.e.l.ls, and rin to the Beach." It is amusing to see the "Beach Subdivision" move off when the sh.e.l.ls start, all pretending they are off for a quiet stroll, and saunter away with their hands in their pockets.

_May 20th._--Still in reserve and absolutely idle. I was up early, being requested by an officer of the 88th Field Ambulance to view his tent which one of our water-carts had backed into and upset a number of boxes of breakables, which he was terrified to look into, especially one which contained several bottles of whisky. This gave me a long day, and as a heavy cannonade was in progress it gave me an opportunity of watching it. We have had no heavy sh.e.l.ls at W. Beach (now known as Lancas.h.i.+re Landing in honour of the brilliant work by that battalion on April 25) so far, but we must not brag, they may give us a visit to-day yet. Shrapnel we have had--but we do not care twopence for shrapnel.

6.40.--We have had no sh.e.l.ls since I wrote the above, for which we are thankful. When examining the situation before breakfast I felt that the whole valley up to Achi Baba was to be ours before night. Advances all along the line have been made, some units having gained about 700 yards, the French also taking a trench which they afterwards lost.

This is the usual way with the French, they have repeatedly broken our line across the peninsula.

The Turks have to-day used their heavy guns much more freely than on any previous day, and doubtless have inflicted considerable damage on our troops, but the range they have been firing at pointed to their having removed their guns further back, which points to their expecting to lose Achi Baba, which they have certainly held with the utmost fort.i.tude. I am attributing the peace we have had to-day at Lancas.h.i.+re Landing to this fortunate event, if my conjecture is right.

I visited the "River Clyde" to-day to find she has a number of new holes punched through her, those on the water line having completely flooded her. Her stern now rests on the bottom, and the lowest hold is full of water. All this time only one sh.e.l.l has actually burst inside the s.h.i.+p, and it entered a cabin on the starboard side, blew all the fittings to pieces, chunks flying through everything, some entering the engine room where they perforated and carried away pipes, and blew the roof of the cabin off. An officer showed me the effects of the rifle and machine-gun bombardment on the night on which I spent four hours in a boat and watched the thousands of bullets striking fire over my head. Many had actually perforated the steel plates, 9/16th-inch thick, and there were deep dints innumerable. We had twelve machine-guns on board that memorable day, the one in the bow being managed by the son of the Earl of Leicester. This gun was said to have done brilliant work. A large pile of empty cartridges still lies where the gun was posted, and I carried away a few of these as the only memento I possess of April 25, barring the memory of a h.e.l.lish day and night.

To-day we felt that we were probably beyond the reach of the enemy's big guns, and a load is apparently off every one's mind. Many sang late into the night, and various hilarious games were indulged in, the one giving most fun being a bull fight, where one man held the end of a string about three yards long and tied to a peg, and carried a jug with a stone as a rattle, the other with a similar string having as a weapon a small bag stuffed with hay. Both were blindfolded, and the man with the bag let fly at the spot he thought the sound came from, the hit being usually many yards wide of the bull.

The casualties among the Turks up to May 8 are said to number 40,000.

Since then the Australians have accounted for another 7000. To the present date the total is probably not less than 60,000. We ought to be well enough pleased with our work.