July 23rd.—To-day we had a route march of nearly twelve miles, the first since we left England. We went through Rosapool to the northern shore of Lemnos, where the men bathed and rested for an hour. We found a fine beach of silver sand. We reached camp a little after 2, with excellent appetites. By a little clever man[oe]uvring—and with the aid of Sergeant-Major Shaw—Kellas and I managed to reach Rosapool while the men rested outside, and we had a long, cooling drink of Pilsner.
July 24th.—Went over almost every street in Mudros this morning. There were five of us, and we made many purchases for our mess—white wine, plums, Turkish delight, preserved fruit, tomatoes, etc. In the evening Thomson and I inoculated every one in camp against cholera—my second dose.
July 25th.—When we landed at Lemnos we chanced to meet Padre Komlosy, who has looked us up in camp a time or two since. He had a service at 10 for us and the Welsh Fusiliers who are on their way to Gallipoli for the first time. These Welshmen wear a cockade of white feathers in their helmets and the officers three black ribbons down their backs, from below their coat collars. Padre Hardie also visited us in the evening.
H.Q. of the lines of communication is on the "Aragon," a magnificent ship lying in Lemnos harbour. The "Aragon" is notorious for its number of monocles. Up to now any officer has been allowed to go on board to any meal on payment, but evidently that privilege is about to be stopped. If anyone went in his grimy, war-worn garments, and many now have nothing else, he was glowered at by these toffs, as if he had no right to be there. Besides, many officers who were not sick enough to enter a hospital, but too ill to carry on at the Front, were sent there for a rest. These too were attacked by these fellows and told that if they were ill they should be on a hospital ship or if not ill they ought to be at the Front. These men have no intention themselves of going nearer the Front, they are all fat and sleek and live on the fat of the land, are faultlessly dressed, and strut about with their monocles, looking with contempt on all the poor devils who are doing the dirty work. Every one is now up in arms against them.
In the evening the CO., Kellas, and I climbed a rocky hill of about 800 feet, lying to the east. The view of the harbour with over 100 big ships, and about as many small craft was very fine in its setting of rugged hills. We watched the sun go down in all his glory on the distant side of the island.
July 27th.—Still in Lemnos. There has been nothing doing to-day. We lie about camp a good deal where we have an abundance of light literature, sheltering under two large, double-lined Indian tents we were lucky enough to secure the day after our arrival. Yesterday we had a mail, which of course had to go to Gallipoli first, and was delayed at least a week by this short double journey.
At 9 a.m. Fiddes and I took the men for a routemarch through the village of Romano and up a hill beyond.
July 28th.—Another slow day. I amused myself in the morning with a fine specimen of a tarantula which I caught crawling up a tent. I had seen three others in Gallipoli but this was the finest of all. Kellas and I had a praying mantis in a large tin box with gauze as a lid so that we might watch him at his devotions. The mantis reminds one of a small, green monkey, the fore pair of legs being well developed and used in prehension. A large number of the insects we have are of the grasshopper tribe with well-developed hind-legs. The tarantula was put beside the mantis and he pounced on him like a cat at a mouse, seized him round the middle and with his great mandibles chewed right along to his head, squeezing every drop of juice out of him. Nothing was left but a few dry pellets. Kellas next gave him about a dozen flies and he found room for the lot. These he sprawled at with his fore-legs, rarely missing a dart, keeping his mouth open till a fly was grabbed and forced between his jaws. He has had another meal of flies and looks well satisfied with the easy way in which he has been able to capture his prey to-day, and is much inclined to sleep.
An aeroplane crossed directly over us at 4.15 this morning, coming from the S.W., probably Smyrna. It was flying at a moderate height, and was quite visible in the dim light. After completely crossing the harbour and taking careful note of our shipping, it turned and dropped a bomb at something about the harbour entrance. And all this happened without a single shot being fired by us—like our watchful authorities!
July 29th.—To-day I had a very enjoyable tramp with Stephen to the top of a hill, then to Rosapool, which isthe only place near where one can quench one's thirst with bitter beer, or even the local sweet wine. All shops are strictly forbidden to sell either, and military police are everywhere on the prowl. Still the trade goes on, a Greek can never refuse money, he will sell his soul rather than miss the chance of making a penny. Our usual place of call is kept by a very knowing and intelligent Greek, but he was from home to-day—gone to Varos, we were told, to buy beer. The son, a boy of eleven or twelve, was in sole charge, a keen little chap as ever lived, with a genuine Greek eye for business, but a fine and intelligent boy, and by taking a seat in the shop for fifteen minutes and threatening to spend the day if necessary, he was at last persuaded to produce a couple of bottles of beer from Salonika, which we found to be really good. The boy has a smattering of English and French, and says he has been at school. I have never seen any sign of a school in any of the villages so far. He says "the English soldier drink, drink, he no good," and shakes his head, as though the national curse would end in our losing the war. We discovered in a corner four barrels of mysterious looking stuff that attracted flies. These were full of cheese floating in water, little more than stiff curd, but palatable, and this along with biscuits and beer made an enjoyable little lunch. Then we set off for "home," Stephen carrying a kilo of cheese, I with a bottle of beer inside my shirt, as a very small treat for the other fellows.
July 30th.—Stephen, Dickie, and I set off at 9.30 to have a day's enjoyment at Varos, a village we had heard a good deal about. The day was scorching but we covered the 6 miles, via Lychkna, at about 3½ miles an hour. In the last-mentioned village we were studying a notice on a house door when we discovered a nicely dressed woman beside us, evidently regarding us with someinterest, and, what was most unusual, with a smile on her face. "Are you English?" said Stephen. "No," she replied, "but I have been in England." "What part?"—answer "America". She went for her husband, who, she said, would give us beer, although she admitted it was forbidden, but he was hard as adamant and absolutely refused, saying "He cared for the notice" we had been reading. This vowed dire punishment on all who dared to supply anyone with alcohol. We shortly afterwards reached Varos, with its twelve windmills all in a row. This being in French occupation there is no prohibition for the British, so we searched out a suitable place for a cooling drink, and chose a very interesting spot in the village square. All the shops are somewhat alike, bare, black rafters, with earth or stone floor, and in this particular one a flock of swallows had their nests in every niche in the ceiling. Each of us had a bottle of beer on the pavement, alongside a French sentry whose sole duty was to see that no Frenchman had a drink. He seemed to think that it was unfair that his countrymen were not allowed to quench their thirst, so he defied the law by having a drink with us, and allowing every Frenchman who made the request to enter and have his big water-bottle filled with water—but really with red wine, a whole litre of which they could buy for sixpence. Delicious wine it was, although rather sweet.
We had very interesting talks with several of the younger men, who had all been in America, but had been recalled by their Government lately, when there were signs of Greece taking the field, which, according to our informants, she would do in September. All we spoke to seemed very desirous to have a blow at Turkey, they wished the Turk turned out of Europe. I had an idea there were no schools here, but I was told every village had its two schools. Young children were taught together, but as they grew up the sexes went to differentschools, and education is compulsory to the age of fifteen. All are taught to read and write English. This is due, our man told me, to Alexandria being their greatest mart.
We had coffee, real Turkish coffee, at another place, where we were attracted by a curious advertisement. It was an oil painting of a Scotch lassie in kilt and plaid, dancing with a jug of foaming beer above her head, and alongside her it was announced that they sold "tea, coffee, and milk". Stephen at once wished to buy it, but the terms were exorbitant. To make Turkish coffee you put a teaspoonful of ground coffee in a little pot with an equal quantity of sugar, then run in about two ounces of boiling water, and push this into smouldering charcoal until it boils. Along with this is served a large tumbler of ice-cold water, which you sip time about with the coffee.
Before we could get Dickie away from Varos he insisted on being photographed by Stephen, astride a huge cask in front of a shop, but the cask refused to keep steady—so Dicky asserted, although to all appearances it was most solidly fixed to a substantial stand. Plainly Dickie was feeling weak after his long walk.
July 31st.—Dickie much stronger to-day. I accompanied him to H.M.M.P. "Aragon" to get some money from the army cashier. We lunched on board and had a glorious meal, everything to eat good, excellent cider with ice, and comfortable lounges in which to smoke. Such things are almost unthinkable after our simple—very simple—fare on Gallipoli. I sat between two New Zealanders who had come over from Anzac last night. One of them said they were only 10 yards from the Turks' trench in one part of their line. The other day a New Zealander shouted across, "Do you want any jam this morning?" "Yes," said the Turks fromthe depths of their trench. "How many of you are there?" "Eight," was the reply. "All right, here's one pot of jam," and a pot of real jam was thrown over. The next morning the same proceedings were gone through, and the eight got together to get their jam. But this time the pot was filled with nitroglycerine and the Turks were blown to pieces. We are now using hand grenades from home, but till just lately when we had to retaliate on the Turks, who took to using deadly grenades, ours were made hurriedly of empty jam tins. These were filled with nitroglycerine mixed with pieces of old iron, such as shrapnel bullets and pieces of burst shells which we all collected—and most deadly weapons they proved, if a Turk got one in the stomach it simply blew him in two.
Word came in the early hours of last night that we had to prepare for our return to Gallipoli on Monday August 2. No one seems actually sorry, we feel that we have got all the good out of this place that is to be had, and the sooner we are all in our places the sooner will the war be over. We had much wind and dust in the morning, the wind falling later when it became uncomfortably warm. We had few flies in our camp at first, but they soon found us out and became as trying a plague as in Gallipoli. The Kaffirs say God made the bees, and the Devil made the flies.
August 2nd.—We left our camp in Lemnos at 12.15 and marched in a solid cloud of dust to Australian Pier, where we had to wait in the grilling sun for another hour before we got off to the "Abessiah," of the Khedivial Line, which sailed at 4.15, taking a long time to man[oe]uvre before she got her head towards the entrance of the harbour. We had a good afternoon tea of crisp toast and real butter, likely our last respectable meal for many a day.
As we passed through the shipping the old familiar cry of "Are we downhearted?" came from some of the shiploads of fresh troops. There was but a feeble reply from our men, very unlike their shouts as we passed through Malta on the way out. We could not raise a cheer now-a-days, we are still too tired in spite of our rest. We feel a lot of desperate men, prepared to go back and face the worst if need be. We passed a British and French submarine just inside the boom guarding the harbour.
Before midnight our ambulance was transferred to a mine-sweeper and landed at V. Beach, leaving myself and twenty-one men behind to look after the baggage, which is always landed at W. We had a weary night of it, the trans-shipping of our heavy goods with fifteen mail bags which we picked up just as we were leaving Lemnos, being a big job. On coming round to W. Beach we were told we would have to remain where we were till 7 o'clock, or perhaps later.
August 3rd.—It is now 6.30 a.m. and the captain and crew are still sound asleep, at any rate not a soul is stirring.
We overlook our old Beach, which looks as forbidding from the sea as it is in reality. A few minutes ago I watched a Taube drop a bomb beside our Ordnance Stores, another near the C.C.S., and a third a little further on. What has come of that French monoplane whose purpose was to chase such visitors? At 7 we transferred to a pinnace, and after much bother about baggage we reached our familiar dug-outs about 8. On our way up from the Beach, we passed the Signal Station which was a heap of ruins. A shell fell on the roof two days ago, killed six men outright, and wounded ten, one of these afterwards dying. The numerous recent shell holes in the road and elsewhere showed that theTurks had not been idle in our absence. The 88th F.A. beside us had several casualties, one day losing ten mules and three another, with one man wounded.
August 4th.—It is twelve months to-day since war was declared by England on Germany. The number of men slaughtered in that time should be an easy record in the whole history of the world.
We are ordered to relieve the 88th F.A. at their dressing station near Pink Farm on the West Krithia road, and I walked out in the morning to view the place and to see what extras it would be necessary for us to take with us. I found Whitaker there with thirty men. Towards evening Fiddes and I came out with thirty-two men, and we are now in our dug-outs, which are really part of an old trench. It is a narrow bedroom but airy. We have a stretcher or two as a roof to keep the sun out, but with their huge blood stains they do not form an artistic ceiling.
It is now 10 p.m. and having come 2 miles nearer Achi Baba I had to go out and study what was doing. The usual all-night rifle fire goes on; roars occasionally from the batteries near us; Asiatic shells I can hear exploding over at V. Beach; star shells are going up from our lines, and the French, but theirs are superior to ours. Ours are merely rockets, theirs have parachutes which open when the rocket reaches its highest point, and they remain practically stationary for a considerable time.
We are in a very exposed position and have been warned that we will be sniped at once if we show a light. A few stray bullets have come about us, and I could wish that my parapet was a trifle higher, and I am, moreover, doubtful whether my candle light is not reflected through the roof stretchers which have a wrong tilt. But I will risk both dangers to-night, and will heighten my wall by daylight.
The Achi Baba guns shelled W. Beach rather furiously to-day, and in the afternoon a large number of shells fell in the harbour.
August 5th.—Had a quiet day at Pink Farm (in some of our maps this is called Saliri Farm). In the forenoon, our water-cart not arriving when expected, I had a long hunt for a well where we could draw a small quantity of water, but it was with great difficulty we got it, every well being reserved for some particular unit.
We are on the eve of a big battle. To-morrow the front of Krithia is to be captured at any cost. We must get on and the cost must no longer be counted. In preparation for this there has been much ranging by all the batteries, to which the Turks feebly replied. We have no right to have our dressing station where it is, we have dumped ourselves down, and have erected our largest Red Cross flag, in front of several closely packed lines of reserve trenches, which is contrary to the rules of warfare, and if we get shelled it is our own lookout. To-day these trenches swarmed with men, and four shells were fired at them, the first just grazing the trench we are in. In the same way two submarines lie off the coast, close to the C.C.S. on one side and the hospital ships on the other, hence shells are continuously dropping in the former, but for this we cannot blame the Turk. So far, all are agreed that the Turk has not only put up a valiant fight, but a straight one, and if he continues as he is doing it will be better for him when the day of reckoning comes round.
August 6th.—When sitting at dinner with Fiddes word reached us that Kellas had been killed. Such a blow to us and to all who knew good and gentle Kellas. Curiosity had frequently led us both into positions of danger where we ought not to have been, and I alwaysnoted how fearless he was. To-day he had been along a deep communication trench, along which wounded were to be carried in the action we knew was about to take place, and he had been viewing the ground, and while standing at the extreme end of this trench a sniper had caught sight of the group he was standing in and a shot laid him low. About an hour after this sad event I had orders to take his place in The Gully. As the fight was to begin at 2 p.m. I had little time to get into my place, at least three miles distant. I set off at once to our advanced dressing station at the Zigzag, three-quarters of a mile up The Gully from Aberdeen Gully.
To-day's battle has been a most bloody affair, wounded beginning to drop in at once. As often happens, out of our four first cases three were wounds in the left hand—one a bullet through the centre of the palm, another was minus the first phalanx of his fore finger, the third minus another finger. All these were undoubtedly self-inflicted. We are bound to notify all these suspicious cases to their C.O.'s and until a guard is sent for them we retain them under a guard of our own men. If a hand is found blackened it of course shows that it was done at very close quarters, but to avoid this a glove or bandage is applied before firing.
I was kept very busy and had no time for food during the rest of the day. The wounds were particularly severe, and very few had single wounds, many having four to six.
August 7th.—The Turks failed to make their usual counter-attack last night, though firing never ceased. I worked for nine hours without one minute's halt, and by night felt very tired. I lay down on a stretcher and tried to get a little sleep, but got none. The snores of my neighbours, the groans of a few wounded we had retained over-night, and the death rattle of two dying men beside me were sufficient to banish sleep.
Two of our battalions have each lost 700 out of the 900 they went into action with. We have gained very little ground; we took trenches and lost them. The long interval from the last fight to the present gave the Turks time to dig trenches almost proof against shell fire, so that when the bombardment began they retired back to these, knowing there could be no assault on their front trenches by the infantry while this lasted.
Yesterday our army made a fresh landing which we hear was most successful, one Division landing at Anzac, the other a short way beyond on fresh ground. Our casualties we are told were two, another report says five, so that it was practically unopposed. Our attack yesterday and during the night kept the whole of the Turkish army concentrated here. Looking at it in this light some think our losses were not excessive.
Yesterday I spoke about three cases we suspected to be self-inflicted. A guard took these away to-day, and they are to be court-martialled to-morrow. Our fourth case also came in just as the action was beginning. A zigzag path comes down a steep cliff behind us, and down this came a man at full gallop, and I thought he was coming to warn us that the Turks were using gas, but, instead, he threw himself on the ground and yelled and kicked like an infant, and for about an hour nothing could calm him. It was a simple case of funk, quite a common ailment. A Tommy was sympathising to-day with another who was severely wounded and he replied, "I don't care a damn, I did for the bloke who shot me". That is the sort of men we want in the army.
August 8th.—Two Divisions were landed at Suvla Bay, beyond Anzac, and it is said a third Division will also land there. They are said to have made good progress inland, on their way to Maidos, and if they succeed in cutting the Turkish line of communication Achi Babais likely to be evacuated—so it is said, but the Turk has already given us more than one surprise—we shall see.
On my hurry round from Pink Farm two days ago an orderly dumped my pack at the Zigzag among a pile of packs belonging to the wounded, and since then it has not been seen. I set off to-day for Gully Beach half expecting to find it there as it was from here the wounded were transferred to the hospital ships. I next went on to W. Beach and inquired at Ordnance and the C.C.S. but all to no purpose; however, I was able to pick up a few necessities from each of these places. I dined at our base, the C.O. and Dickie being the only officers present.
I afterwards attended Kellas's funeral. We buried him in the little cemetery inland from our Beach, to the music of flying shells, one landing at the entrance as the ambulance wagon with his body drew up, and several others followed. The padre who officiated said this was the first time he had seen a funeral shelled. During the service we all stood in the big grave for safety, and, I am afraid, were forced to think more of our own protection than the solemnity of the occasion. The whole company consisted of four officers and eight men, all that we could muster. Poor Kellas we left sewn in a blanket of the usual military type and covered with a Union Jack. I never met a man I respected more than Kellas, he was most gentle and brave, and in every way a good sort. If a man really deserved to be "sat upon" no one could squash him better than Kellas.
August 9th.—Fiddes and I came to Aberdeen Gully last night with most of the men, leaving twelve and an N.C.O. to act as bearers in the Zigzag track, these to be relieved every twelve hours. A few wounded stragglers reached us, but there was little doing to-day. We hadone cowardly chap, who had had his fill of fighting and tried to do away with himself by taking a draught from a cresol tin. He is now under close arrest and will be handed over to the tender mercies of a court-martial.
August 10th.—Walked up to our advanced dressing station at the Zigzag, and found some unknown persons had dumped there, during the night, a body in an advanced state of decomposition. I managed to unearth his recent history. He had been killed on the 7th, being wounded by the Turks, and when crawling back to our lines, along with some others in the same condition, he shouted in the dark, "Don't fire, we are English". Thinking this was a ruse so often practised by the Turks an officer ordered his men to fire, and this poor fellow was killed.
In the afternoon a well-known lion hunter looked in and had a shrapnel bullet removed from his shoulder. He was a most interesting man, and gave us all his views about the conduct of the war. Every mistake that it is possible to make has been made, he thinks. Once more we are hung up for want of ammunition. He is no optimist with regard to the duration of the war. Unless the new landing pushes on and keeps hitting he fails to see how they will do much. Even though Austria and Turkey are knocked out, Germany is one vast fort, with everything within herself, and will hold out for long. He condemns our statesmen for even now not initiating conscription, and making every unmarried man serve. He severely criticises the quality of our shells, half per cent. of which burst prematurely. The fuses of all those available, where this has happened, have been picked up and examined and all have been correctly set. A French battery of 75's is stationed behind this man's battery, firing its shells just 8 feet above his head, and since it took up its position it has only had two premature bursts,and one of these was caused by the shell striking the branch of a tree. We have been buying shells everywhere, and he says those supplied by America are far and away the worst.
August 11th.—While we were at tea this afternoon de Boer rushed into our mess in Aberdeen Gully to say that he had brought down, by our bearers at the Zigzag, Captain O'Hara, whom I have spoken about before as the only officer of the 86th Brigade left alive and unwounded. He had lately been sent to Egypt to look after prisoners, and I was unaware that he had again joined the firing line, but I fancy he had found the other job much too slow. He was full of pluck, it was not from attempts to save his skin that O'Hara had escaped so long. To-day he and a Turk were sniping each other, and after a time O'Hara had such a poor opinion of his opponent's firing that he got upright to walk away when the Turk hit him through the back. When I went up to him I said, "Hullo! O'Hara, I haven't seen you for ages". "No," he answered, "and perhaps you'll never see me again." He was one of our greatest heroes, and a most likeable fellow. (Long afterwards I heard that he progressed well for three weeks when he suddenly grew worse, and died on his way home.)
Twenty-four K.O.S.B.'s came in between 2 and 4 a.m. to-day. They had blown up a Turkish sap, and on rushing forward to seize and hold it they found themselves greatly outnumbered. Most of them were very badly wounded, and four died in our station before morning.
August 12th.—Feeling lazy I rode from Aberdeen Gully to W. Beach, where I spend the next four days. This is only about the fourth time I have been on horseback since I left Mex, the reason for my walking is that I require exercise—and a lot of it—and besides you cannot dodge a shell when mounted.
August 13th.—We had a big mail to-day. The papers of July 21 announce that all lieutenants in the R.A.M.C., T.F., become captains after six months' service. My captaincy will thus date from April 16 last. The Turks made an attack on the French and our centre last night. We replied with a furious cannonade, then rifle fire continued for the remainder of the night.
August 14th.—W. Beach. Beautiful, still morning, as most mornings are, but to-day is unusually calm. The sea without a ripple, and a heat haze hangs over all. Our harbour at W. Beach is full of ships, and just beyond it, at anchor, with their smoke rising lazily, are two hospital ships, white to their mast heads except for their surrounding belt of green broken by three large Red Crosses, all dazzling in the sunlight. The harbour is a busy place, and is now a good and commodious one, formed by a pier which it has taken months to build from the rocks of Tekke Burnu. As the work proceeded slowly, the water it was desired to enclose was further shut in by sinking two large steamers, a costly method of pier building perhaps, but here I believe it may be the cheapest, as Greek labour which built the stonework is dear, and the Greeks poor workmen. They are so nervous that when a shell comes their way from "Asiatic Annie" they bolt like a lot of rabbits to their holes, where they cannot be unearthed for the next half-hour. They were not engaged, they rightly say, to work under shell fire, and this often happening several times a day the pier made little progress. We have also put the Turkish prisoners on this job, and this morning I watched two bodies of these being marched down under French guards with fixed bayonets—a capital idea this to put the Turks under their own fire.
10 p.m.—Tremendous blasts came floating in from the sea about 5 o'clock, so I went over to the lighthouseruins to find out what was doing. One of our monitors lay beside Rabbit Island and was throwing her 14-inch shells at a ridge on the Dardanelles beyond Kum Kale, where we know "Asiatic Annie" and her sisters live. These had been firing at V. Beach and the French lines just before. All very well, I thought, the monitor can do no harm, but she will stir up these guns to give us a lively time at W., and I was not many minutes back when they started, the shells coming in fours, just to prove to us that their guns were all there. We received about fifty shots in all. We had seven destroyers all afternoon at the mouth of the Dardanelles, which looked as if they intended something unusual. Now again after a pause these guns are firing at their hardest at V. Beach—aye, and here too.
August 15th.—I wrote the last clause (aye, and here too) just before a shell burst behind me. It was one of a group of four, and was two seconds at most in front of the other three, which were simultaneous absolutely. Howls and cries for help at once came from a tent 15 yards in front of my dugout. A shell had crashed into this tent where five men were lying, exploding at the feet of one, and shattering his leg at the ankle. The other four were untouched. Some of the fuses of yesterday's shells have been dug up to-day, and we find from the brilliant orange colour on these that lydite had been used, in some of the shells at least.
To-day a snake 38 inches long was caught in our camp. About twenty men armed themselves with sticks, axes, etc., and surrounded it, but kept a most respectful distance away, having great faith in its springing powers. Sergeant Gavin Greig, who has been in Ceylon and knows otherwise, got it by the neck and put it in a bottle which he filled up with methylated spirit much to the poor brute's dislike as was witnessed by its contortions.
An order came yesterday from the A.D.M.S. asking if we could move off with our present equipment on a sudden call. This has stimulated all those responsible to overhaul all our material, which, though deficient in some points, is adequate. Our greatest deficiency is in personnel; we are short of our original number by three officers and thirty-eight men, this being due to casualties and sickness. Kellas was killed nine days ago, Whyte and Morris are home on sick leave.
August 16th.—At 8 a.m. as Fiddes and I were preparing to go out to Pink Farm, a message came that we were to embark any time after 17 o'clock (i.e. 5 p.m.). We withdrew all men and equipment from our two advanced dressing stations, and had a busy day in camp packing up all we possessed. We left at 8.30 after a supper of chicken and champagne—something very unusual—and got on board the "Ermine," a Glasgow boat. The officers made themselves as comfortable as possible for the night in the smoke room, where several K.O.S.B. officers had already deposited themselves. I managed to sleep a little at first, but my nearest companion, a K.O.S.B., being unable to persuade me to put my legs over his, placed his over mine while I was in an awkward position, and rather than disturb him, I lay still. My friend was less considerate, he next planked his big, dirty boots alongside my face, which were anything but pleasant, they smelt as if their owner kept cows.
We only steamed about one and a half hours when the anchor was let go with the usual rattle, and we heard some one from another boat shouting that the troops were to remain on board till morning. No one took the trouble to look out to see where we were, such a thing seemed to be of no interest.
August 17th.—Suvla Bay. Tuesday, 2 p.m. Welanded at Suvla Bay about 5 a.m. and marched to the point of the projecting piece of land on the north side. The bay is entirely closed by a boom, and inside we have a fairly large fleet of battleships and transports, and a large number of smaller boats, while three hospital ships lie outside. The Turks have been shelling these rather furiously, but I have seen no hits. Our troops on land are also having their share. All our equipment was sent off on a lighter, which has not yet arrived, and as all our rations are with it we are in dire straits. Luckily another ambulance took pity on us and gave us tea and hard ration biscuits, but there is no sign of further meals, nor do we expect any.
I am sitting on the side of a rocky slope, and just in front, in a dip of the hill, are crowded the whole of the 87th Brigade to which we are for the present attached. All arrived this morning and there is nothing but confusion. The heat is terrific, and is intensified by the large amount of bare rocks, which are so hot that it is impossible to lay your hand on them. The surrounding hills, especially hill 972, S.E. of the Salt Lake which glistens in the distance, are barren and rugged, with no sign of cultivation, except about the foot of that hill, where there is said to be a village, but it is invisible. Round the Salt Lake a good many trees are dotted about, likely olives and figs, and a good deal of bright green scrub exists on the lower hill slopes. This scrub Ashmead-Bartlett calls furze in his articles, but I have never seen furze in Gallipoli. This plant is generally 2 to 3 feet high, is in very solid bushes of a stiff, fibrey nature, with an ovate, dark green glaucous leaf. Thyme and numerous other plants abound. I have been interested in the weathering of the rocks beside the sea, this reminding me of the Brig at Filey. This follows a most peculiar pattern, like a number of leopard skins spread out on the rocks.
I wish night was here, even though we are to go supperless to bed; one would give anything for the cool air one can be sure of after sundown.
It was here that a landing was made by Kitchener's army ten days ago. They are said to have put up a very poor fight. Trained and steady troops, it is said, would have had practically a walk over, as the opposition was slight, little more than a brigade of Turks having checked two divisions of our men. A few shells fell on the top of a ridge where they were advancing. This made a number of the men bolt, others were seized with panic, and all seem to have got out of hand. A splendid opportunity of turning the Turks' flank, joining up with the Australians, and seizing Achi Baba from the north, has been lost, and the difficulties in front of us are much increased. There is nothing for it now but to land troops in such numbers that defeat is out of the question, and it must be done quickly before the wet season sets in. I am afraid we must be content to hold the Germans in check in France, and withdraw the necessary troops from there.
August 18th.—Yesterday and to-day have been the warmest days we have experienced in Gallipoli. The reason that our present station is warmer than the point (Helles) is the attraction and retention of heat by the rocks, and our camp is on the south face of a high ridge, where we have absolutely no shade. Last evening a Taube sailed over us and discharged four bombs at the warships, all missing, but one was within a few yards of its mark. This evening two came over together, but were fired at before they got overhead, and bore off to the left, unharmed although numerous shots from the ships followed them.
After breakfast I went to Brigade H.Q. to announce that the ship ("Manitou"—B.12) which brought our baggage came in yesterday, and after discharging about athird of our belongings set sail for Lemnos, as she had to be there by a given hour. I had to explain that we could not open a clearing station with our shortage of equipment, but that by afternoon we would be prepared to put patients into improvised blanket shelters. The Brigadier for the time being is Colonel Lucas, who was absent on a visit to his regiments, and I had an interview with Major Brand of his staff. He gave me orders that our unit had to dig itself in before night. This is very necessary as we are still under shell fire in every part we hold here, and are just as exposed as in Helles. Another ambulance is encamped beside us, and two shells bursting among them this morning killed two men and wounded two. A big piece of shell hurtled over my head last night, hitting a rock about two yards away.
Three rumours have come to us this evening, which have put us all into the best of spirits, although we know one is a story, and we are so accustomed to rumours that we doubt the truth of the other two:—
1. Achi Baba has been captured!—certainly not true. The ships in the bay were well bombarded this afternoon, and we saw two shells hit a big transport. A section of an ambulance was on board this ship, and, on their landing in the evening, their comrades gave them a rousing cheer, and when this was heard in other parts the only interpretation that could be put on it was the capture of this troublesome hill.
2. Warsaw we could guess had to fall to the German army, but we hear they soon had the worst of it and fled with enormous casualties.
3. We hear we have advanced 26 miles in France. We try to believe there is some truth in this, but it must be a great exaggeration.
The Turks are supposed to have a number of big guns mounted on rails behind one of the higher ridges overlooking us, and rumour says this railway was takenthis afternoon, but I do not believe it. Ugly ridges they are, and certainly we can never capture some of them except by turning, many having a sheer, rocky face of 400 or 500 feet. We know extremely little about what is going on within a few miles of us. I have seen eleven sour-looking Turks marched in as prisoners to-day, which shows we are doing something at any rate. Constant fire goes on, and the ships strike in several times a day for half an hour or so, but naval guns are not well suited for this work. Down about Helles—15 miles off—we can hear much booming too.
August 19th.—Two days ago I spoke about the scrub Ashmead-Bartlett calls furze. I now find it is almost certainly the plant from which our briar pipes are made. The stem is slender, but the root expands to a considerable extent, and I have seen parts of these, which our men have dug up when clearing the ground, about 4 to 6 inches thick. The fibres are twisted in all directions, giving the wood the well-known bird's eye appearance. What is exposed to the weather seems quickly to darken.
The geology is interesting. I have spoken about the strange weathering of the rocks at the Beach. All the rock on this point of land dips at an angle of 45 degrees, and points northwards. I put it all down as Devonian, it is almost exactly like Hugh Miller's old red sandstone, as seen in Ross-shire, the matrix of a paler red, but the mass of water-worn pebbles embedded in it is the same. The matrix contains lime as is seen in the large amount of calcite that exists. A vein, perhaps 5 feet thick, of a slatey substance runs across just in front of us, and contains a well, which is the only sign of fresh water I have seen so far. The Engineers have sunk a well in a marly part near this, but the earth they are throwing up is perfectly dry, and they might as well give it up.
Later.—Some one now tells me that the rocks areTertiary and not Devonian, and that my slatey vein is cobalt. Much of the stone peels readily into large flat slabs which we find useful in building our dug-outs.
There was much rifle and big gunfire last night. The ships have displayed about a normal amount of activity to which the Turk has replied, but his marksmanship is worse than it was yesterday.
We had rain this morning, which was heavy enough to be disagreeable, and it was with difficulty we kept ourselves and our belongings dry. It gives us a foretaste of what to expect soon. But before then we must get on. About Helles the naval guns are very busy.
This morning we had sixty-nine cases of sick and wounded in our hospital. We are expected to keep all minor cases of wounds, and cases of sickness likely to return to duty in a few days, while the more severe cases we send to the hospital ships for the various bases. We saw besides about fifty walking cases, all belonging to our 86th Brigade.
August 20th.—Last night was very chilly, and for the first time for weeks we had to put on our tunics and unroll our shirt sleeves. But the weather has again changed and to-day is uncomfortably warm.
On landing on the 17th a man I chanced to speak to told me that a rumour is afloat that the Kaiser was suing for peace through the Pope. This I give no heed to, but to-day we have it on better authority, and it is said he is prepared to give up Belgium, Poland, and Alsace-Lorraine. He will have to give these up and a great deal more, nothing but unconditional surrender will be listened to, with partition of his fleet among the Allies. The Emperor of Austria is also said to have declared that he will not allow his people to endure another winter campaign.
7 p.m.—The bearers of our Ambulance have beenordered to proceed to the foot of a hill 3 miles off, beside the Salt Lake, and to take up their position before dawn. I for one will have to go too. I know the spot well in the distance, and know it is a favourite dumping ground for Turkish shells. At present it is pitch dark at night, and we have no idea what we have to encounter on the way.
August 21st.—Last night we were all busy preparing for our start at 3 a.m. We got off punctually at that hour, and marched in the dark for nearly 3 miles, by an unknown road, which was only a rough twisting track with many off-shoots. We were bound for "Chocolate Hill," east of the Salt Lake, but we have not got there yet. We floundered, and squabbled about what should be done so that daylight was on us before we passed the bar between the bay and the lake, where the main Clearing Station is, also three or four Ambulances. One of these took pity on us, and gave us breakfast, and the use of their ground until we should hear from the A.D.M.S. to whom we have sent a message for instructions. The A.D.M.S. Lt.-Col. J.G. Bell, appeared about 10, and we were planted by him in the middle of the bar, facing the bay, where we can get no shelter from the sun or shells, the bank behind us rising after much digging to less than 5 feet. Our orders are to form an Aid Post here, catching all the wounded that come our way.
We have an attack at 3 p.m., and apparently a very big one is expected, and we are waiting for its commencement. I have explored the bar which is about a mile long, and 300 yards wide, and have studied its flora. There is a large lily with a bunch of sweet-smelling flowers, not unlike the Madonna lily, but the flower is more notched and less of a funnel. It has enormous bulbs, some of which I scraped out of pure sand ata depth of 2 feet. Other bulbous plants are common, and huge downy reeds.
It is now 2 p.m. I am sitting in a juniper bush in the middle of the bar, scribbling, all the country in a scorching haze, the shells from the ships screeching over our heads, searching all the ridges and hollows in front of us. The Turks' guns have been silent for the last hour, no doubt in anticipation of giving us something warm; our bearers are off and have just passed in twos and threes across the north side of the lake, which at this period of the year is dry, except in the middle. On our side all is ready to give the Turk a good hiding, but every time at Helles we were just as prepared and the result always a practical failure. Now for the battle, and little chance of concluding my notes to-day.
6.50 p.m.—Ever since the appointed hour a very big fight has been in progress. To me the most exciting part was the advance of the 11th Division from the south side of Lala Baba, over a mile of absolutely unprotected country, where our men could not fire a shot in return to the perfect hail of shrapnel to which they were subjected, shells coming in fours and fives at a time right in their midst. There was the breadth of the lake between us, but with our glasses we had a good view of the whole proceedings. The number bowled over seemed small, considering that the last half-mile had to be crossed at the double, in a dense cloud of smoke from bursting shells. Whenever the cloud cleared off we saw distinctly that many dead and wounded lay about the field.
What I admired most was the plucky way the bearers did their work, all round the north and east side of the lake, while all the time they were subjected to fire, and towards the end of the day, when the Turk, apparently desperate, sent shell after shell among the bearers andambulance wagons, at a time when there were no other troops near.
We have tried to dig ourselves into the banks of soft sea sand for the night, but the constant stream of fine sand fills up our excavations as fast as we dig. Four ships still keep firing—"Lord Nelson," "Swiftsure," "Agamemnon" (?) and "Euryalus"—and every shot brings down more sand.
Being off the direct track from the battlefield we have missed the wounded we expected. In spite of our tramping about all night in the dark we feel very fresh, and disappointed at having nothing to do, although in good spirits over our victory—for such we take it to be.
This is the first occasion on which we can find fault with the Turks' method of fighting, but to-day they have fired on all and sundry—bearers, ambulance wagons, Red Cross flags, and the C.C.S.