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TVVOFllTS
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ON TWO FRONTS
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Cr.KRK MANGAT RAJ IN HIS HUG-OUT AT ANZAC-
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ON TWO FRONTS
BEING THE ADVENTURES OF AN INDIAN
MULE CORPS IN FRANCE AND GALLIPOLI
BY
Major H. M. ALEXANDER, D.S.O.
S. * T. CORPS, INDUN ARMY
H^ITH MAf AND FRONTISPIECE
NEW YORK
E. p. DUTTON AND COMPANY
1917
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7h«KutL y^^-^-^
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TO
D. M. R.
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF
INVALUABLE HELP
IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS BOOK
Printed tn Great Britain
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FOREWORD
This book has been written during a long
period of enforced idleness. It makes no claim
either to literary or historical merit, but is a plain
tale of personal experiences in the War. Having
been written almost entirely from memory, assisted
only by the briefest of diaries, I fear that it must
inevitably contain some inaccuracies for which I
ask indulgence.
To those officers and men whose names appear,
I apologise for the liberty I have taken, and
sincerely trust that I have said nothing that may
cause annoyance.
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CONTENTS
CHAP.
I OFF TO THE WAR
II A LONG TIME ON THE WAY
III A GREAT RECEPTION IN FRANCE
IV HALF-WAY HOUSE
V IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY
VI THE INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY
VII ATTACHED TO THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS
VIII THE SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS THE DIVISION
IX " NOTHING TO REPORT ON THE WESTERN
front" ....
X THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE
XI THE SCENE CHANGES
XII EASTWARD BOUND
XIII MUDROS BAY ....
XIV . THE FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI
XV EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC
XVI AN ATTACK, AN ARMISTICE AND SUBMARINES
XVII "THE DAILY ROUND, THE COMMON TASK**
XVIIl .PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE
XIX THE SUVLA LANDING ...
XX A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK
XXI CONCLUSION . , .
rxoB
I
13
27
39
52
65
79
93
106
"5
119
132
139
149
165
182
194
210
225
234
245
Vll
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ON TWO FRONTS
CHAPTER I
OFF TO THE WAR
Am BALL A in July is very hot and very dull.
Any event however trifling which serves to break
the monotony is therefore welcome to the weary,
sleepy little coterie which gathers nightly at the
Sirhind Club. July 19 14 was no exception to the
rule, so that, when the thunder-cloud of European
war burst upon us, every one woke with a start
and began to sit up and take notice.
On August 5 came a Reuter's telegram an-
nouncing that England had declared war on Ger-
many. Bridge and billiards were superseded by
discussions, first as to how long the war would
last, and secondly how it would affect us in India.
The general opinion was that three months would
see it finished, and that the Indian Army, mobil-
ised, would sit tight in India, ready to cope with
any disturbances there. Very few even imagined
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2 ON TWO FRONTS
that Indian troops would be sent to serve in
Europe.
But soon we heard that the Lahore and Meerut
Divisions were to be 'mobilised for service abroad.
Excitement grew. Officers began to overhaul
their kits, and, figuratively speaking, to sharpen
their swords. Fresh rumours cropped up every
day. The 8 th Hussars were under orders to
leave at once for France. The origin of this
.turned out to be that the provident 8 th had sent
their mess silver to the bank! There had been
no orders at all, but they wished to be ready. Then
we heard that all officers and men throughout India
had been recalled from leave, and that officers in
England had been ordered to return. This proved
correct. One of the most sleepy and fed-up of
our little circle had sailed for home only a week
or two earlier. He had gone to get married, and
one pictured him arriving at Southampton to be
greeted with the news that he must return at once.
Some of the gunners had just gone off on a shoot-
ing-trip in the hills, the preparations for which had
formed one of the chief topics of conversation for
the last month : they, too, had to come back imme-
diately. But the feeling of each individual was
that, so long as he got to France, nothing mat-
tered. B Battery, R.H A., belonged to the " In-
ternal Defence Scheme", and I remember their
Major, whose command of language was great, and
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OFF TO THE WAR 3
whose medals were few, enlarging on his mis-
fortune very forcibly; but he found his way to
Cape Helles eventually and greatly distinguished
himself there.
I commanded at that time the 9th Pack Mule
Corps, which was employed in Amballa and in
sending convoys to the various stations in the
Simla Hills. For the benefit of the uninitiated, I
will describe briefly the organisation and uses of
a Mule Corps, a unit peculiar to the Indian Army.
The Corps, at service strength, consists of eight
troops of 96 mules each, in charge of a kot
duffadar or troop-sergeant-major, assisted by two
naicks or corporals, and about fifty Indian drivers.
The " superior establishment '', as it is oflScially
called, includes the Commandant (usually a Major
or Captain), two British warrant-oflScers, each of
whom commands a ** sub-division " of four troops;
two British stafF-sergeants as Sergeant-Major and
Quartermaster-Sergeant; two Indian oflScers as
Adjutant and Veterinary Oflficer, and two Indian
clerks. In peace-time the Corps has 200 small
carts, and four of the trodps are then used in
draught. The total strength is 768 mules and,
roughly, 500 men.
The mules are recruited from the Argentine,
China and the Punjab. Some are bred in India
at remount-depots from country-bred pony mares
and imported English donkeys. The average
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4 ON TWO FRONTS
height is about 12.2; anything over thirteen hands
is a big mule. When carrying a pack (160 lbs.) a
mule can go over any ground where a man can go.
An Army Transport cart is a two-wheeled
vehicle, weighing only 5 cwt. It will stand any
amount of rough usage and knocking about, and
will carry a load of 800 lbs. on an ordinary road.
With a lighter load, it can be used on the roughest
of tracks.
These Mule Corps, which are units of the Indian
Supply and Transport Corps, are intended to pro-
vide the first-line transport for battalions of
infantry, regiments of cavalry, and sapper com-
panies. Water, ammunition, entrenching tools,
signalling and medical equipment are carried on
the mules, which accompany the troops wherever
they may be sent. Mules, in fact, perform the
same duties as are carried out by the regimental
pack-horses under the British Army system.
No doubt when the war is over the Indian Anriy
transport system will be revised. The material is
; excellent, and in some campaigns no other form of
transport would be of any use; but in my humble
opinion the organisation is wrong, and does not
adapt itself easily to the various circumstances
which may arise. The personal factor — which is
so essential in all dealings with Indian troops —
cannot be maintained with the present organisation.
For the most part, nien enlist in a unit because
}
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OFF TO THE WAR , 5
their friends have already joined it, but on service
these men get separated from each other and from
the officers and N.C.O.s whom they know. A
transport unit has every bit as much esprit de corps
as a regiment, and once it becomes a mixed unit,
composed of men of various corps under strange
officers, its work deteriorates. Then, again, one
British officer is insufficient : this was proved over
and over again during the war, and was fully
recognised by the authorities in Gallipoli.
On August 9 came orders for the mobilisation
of the 9th Mule Corps, and an inquiry whether it
could entrain for Bombay and Karachi on the
1 2th. This could scarcely have been dbne had
we not started to mobilise the very day war broke
out on the chance of receiving some such order.
Full steam ahead was the programme, and right
well did all ranks play up. There were many
hitches and complications, for the whole Corps hap-
pened to be away from Amballa at the moment.
Orderlies had to be despatched to recall two troops
from Kalka: they arrived, two days later, having
marched eighty-two miles in about sixty-eight
hours — ^not a bad performance in the month of
August, with the thermometer at somewhere about
110°. My orders recalling detachments from
Simla and Dagshai were cancelled by superior
authority, on the ground that they could not be
spared from their present duties. This was rather
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6 ON TWO FRONTS
a poser, but it was circumvented by marching the
38th Mule Cadre into the 9th Mule Corps lines,
and taking their men and animals instead. Their
CO., Captain Jack Rendall, of tennis fame, an
old school friend of mine, placed all his resources
absolutely at my disposal: without his aid we
could not possibly have got away to time.
Other complications arose from telegrams de-
scending upon us from various sources. As
Brigade Headquarters were at Kasauli, Divisional
Headquarters at Dalhousie, and Army Head-
quarters at Simla, perhaps it was natural that diffi-
culties should arise, especially as this was the first
unit in India to be despatched to the war.
The fact that it was the leave sejison added to
our jToubles : telegrams take time to reach remote
Indian villages, and in many cases do not arrive
at all, and it was impossible to get back more than
a small percentage of the absentees. Then the
amount of office work to be done can only be
realised by those who know what Indian official-
dom means. A less complacent and iniperturbable
person than Clerk Mangat Rai would have lost his
head; but nothing upsets him. He worked all
day and all night, and never made a mistake or
overlooked, a point. Throughout the campaign
he has been the same — always calm and cheerful,
never complaining, and always ready to do any-
thing in his power to help.
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OFF TO THE WAR 7
The last straw, however — and what, no doubt,
to any one but a transport officer would seem a
very small straw indeed — came in the shape of an
order to take with us our 200 Army Transport
carts, of which 112 were to go to Bombay, and
88 to Karachi, This meant overhauling all the
draught gear, as we had been mobilising as a
Pack Corps. The allotments of troops to trains
for Bombay and Karachi respectively had either to
be changed, or the draught gear redistributed. I
chose the latter course as the lesser evil, and
somewhere about midnight on August 11 it was
finished. Then there was the taking to pieces of
the carts, getting them to the station and loading
them into the trucks — an exercise we had never
practised in the 9th Mule Corps, as carts were
considered for use in peace-time only. It was
about two miles from the lines to the station. The
method we adopted was to tow three dismantled
carts behind one complete one.
The men were delighted with the idea of going
on service, and worked with the greatest enthu-
siasm. In Conductors Brown and Green, and
Staff-Sergeants Levings and Staton, I had four of
the best British subordinates any commanding
officer could desire.^ The adjutant, Ressaidar
^ The title " Conductor " is for official use only in the
S. & T. Corps. Warrant Officers of this rank are always
addressed as " Mr."
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8 ON TWO FRONTS '
Ghulam Mahomed — ^who had previously distin-
guished himself on a frontier expedition by tack-
ling, single-handed and unarmed, a couple of
Afridi ruffians who were attacking his "officer —
was also of the greatest assistance. He was of an
optimistic nature. The question arose as to
whether we should take our swords, and I de-
cided that we should not; whereupon the Ressaidar
inquired, "But, Sahib, if we leave our swords
behind, what shall we do when we march in pro-
cession through London to celebrate our victories
in the war? "
On the night of August 12 the 9th Mule Corps
left Amballa by three troop-trains, two for Bombay
and one for Karachi. Loading the mules worked
fairly smoothly, but getting the carts aboard was
most strenuous work. Fortunately we never had
to do this work again, for in France the carts were
placed on the trucks whole, and were therefore
ready for use as they came off. This means eight
to a truck instead of twenty-two, but saves a great
deal of time and wear and tear of carts.
All the time loading was going on. Conductor
Green, seated at a table on the platform, with
Mangat Rai by his side, was paying out the men,
giving them advances and arranging for family
allotments, there having .been no time to do this
before. It could not even be finished before the
trains left, and was continued during the journey.
Ml
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OFF TO THE WAR 9
Three days of travelling followed : it was hot,
but peaceful, and most of the time was spent iu
making up for lost sleep.
On arrival at Bombay, the orders were to camp
at Cotton Green, close to the Taj Mahal Hotel.
The management of this hotel had very sportingly
offered to put up officers proceeding on service
free of charge, so I gladly availed myself of this
privilege and spent a week in Bombay in great
comfort. Not so my poor men, who were washed
out of their tents the very first night by one of
the heaviest downpours of rain Bombay had seen
for years — ^four inches during the night of our
arrival reducing the camp to an absolute quagmire.
Thus early did the men come in contact with the
discomforts of active service : it was good training
for Flanders.
As each regiment arrived in Bombay, it went
straight on board its appointed troopship, accom-
panied by the transport allotted to it, so most of
our time was spent at the docks getting the mules
on board. If by any chance the first mule took
exception to the gangway, the probability was that
all the rest did the same. Sometimes we had
almost to carry them on board. With a rope under
the animal's tail, and escape barred by a crowd of
men, we used to haul and heave. There was one
animal which had evidently made up its mind that
it would not take a sea-voyage, but after kicking
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lo ON TWO FRONTS
half a dozen men and scattering the crowd it
yielded to the inevitable and stood upon the gang-
way. There was not then room enough to kick,
so some of the men hoisted the beast on^ their
shoulders and bore it triumphantly up the gangway
and into the hold : that mule literally smiled over
the trouble he was giving.
Embarkation ran smoothly on the whole. Major
Cummins, D.A.Q.M.G., was an ideal Staff Officer,
always knowing exactly what we wanted. He was
never flurried, always polite and ready to help, as
was also 'Major Preston, of the Supply and Trans-
port Corps, who gave us the greatest assistance in
completing our requirements. Captains Pemberton
and Hogg, of the Royal Engineers, were employed
with their company of Sappers in the heavy task of
fitting up various commandeered steamers as trans-
ports. It was galling for these officers to be work-
ing so hard to get other people away to the war
while they remained behind. But their turn came
later on. Pemberton won a Military Cross in
Mesopotamia, and I met Hogg in Egypt the
following year.
All my men thought Bombay wonderful, as
practically none of them had ever before seen any
building larger than an ordinary cantonment
bungalow. Some of them had heard of the
Towers of Silence, where the Parsees leave their
dead to be devoured by crows and vultures.
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- OFF TO THE WAR ii
and were anxious to see the gruesome spectacle;
they were, however, not allowed inside the
gates.
. There was naturally much speculation as to the
destination of the large fleet of transports lying in
the harbour. People talked of East Africa or
Egypt, and were ready to back their opinions.
France stood low in the betting, which reminds
me that a certain Colonel of Gurkhas still owes
me a sovereign : nothing, he said, would induce
him to believe that an Indian Division was going
to fight in France. We got very little news from
the front, and had no idea how serious matters
were : rather we wondered -whether the war would
not be over and our Expeditionary Force in Berlin
before the Lahore Division could take any part in
the fighting.
When transport had been allotted to each unit,
and all the ships loaded, I received orders to take
the unallotted balance on board the Anchor Line
steamer Castalia. The loading of the ship was
completed on August 21. A cheery dinner at the
Royal Yacht Club that evening included the
Austrian. Consul, a particularly pleasant man, who
was much upset at the idea of war between his
country and England. England, he said, had
always been the friend of Austria, and he had the
greatest regard for Englishmen.
On August 22 the Castalia^ bearing the Field
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12 ON TWO FRONTS
Engineers of the Lahore Division, the Head-
quarters 9th Mule Corps and details, set sail from
Bombay. A crowd, consisting of two tired-looking
dock-labourers and one fat boy, raised a faint
cheer as the ship steamed out of Alexandra
Docks.
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CHAPTER 11
A LONG TIME ON THE WAY
When the good ship Castalia sailed from
Bombay, her destination was unknown to the
officers and men on board. As she was more than
half empty, it was no great surprise to learn that
her first port of call was to be Karachi, where more
troops were to be picked up.
The voyage from Bombay to Karachi was far
from pleasant, the weather being very hot and the
sea fairly rough. The task of looking after the
animals presented considerable difficulty, because
most of the men were what they were pleased to
call " purra ". The nearest colloquial translation
to this would be " flattened out ". There were,
however, sufficient men remaining serviceable to
carry out the duties of feeding and watering, and
not much else was attempted those first few days.
The men were really bewildered, many of them
never having even heard of the sea, and, to those
who had, it did not seem to be at all what they
expected. After a time, they settled down to
voyage conditions and apparently quite enjoyed
themselves, though there were some — notably the
artificers who had practically no work to do — ^who
13
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14 ON TWO FRONTS
remained "purra'' until the end of the journey.
Fortunately, my two British sergeants were good
sailors. They, with the senior kot duffadar^
Bahawal Din, a very fine man who afterwards won
the Distinguished Service Medal in France, and a
few of the hardier of the rank and file, got through
the necessary duties until we reached Karachi.
As the Castalia steamed into Karachi harbour,
she met a fleet of transports sailing out, escorted
by H.M.S. Northbrook. In this fleet was the
ship which carried the G.O.C. and Staff of the
Lahore Division. General Watkis, the Divisional
Commander, was at home on leave when war broke
out, and the Division left India in charge of Major-
General Brunker, of the Amballa Brigade, his
brigade being handed over to Colonel W. G.
Walker, V.C., of the 4th Gurkhas.
We remained four days in Karachi. The O.C.
ship, Lieut.-Colonel Coffin, R.E., obtained per-
mission to put the animals ashore, and this enabled
us to have all the stables thoroughly cleaned out,
and allowed the mules to stretch their legs and get
some fresh air, which did them a lot of good.
I got into touch here with the balance of my
corps, which had gone direct by train to Karachi
from Amballa, under the two Warrant Officers,
Brown and Green. They had had none too easy
a time. An officious young veterinary officer had
inspected the animals and announced that there
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A LONG TIME ON THE WAY 15
were two mules suffering from mange. He re-
commended that the whole detachment should be
forbidden to embark. In vain did Mr. Brown
protest that at a veterinary inspection, held at
Amballa the day before departure, the Corps had
been declared free of any infectious disease, and
that the so-called " mange " was really a mild form
of harsati. Had it not been for the good offices
of Captain A, J. Rennison, Commandant of the
2nd Mule Corps, which was the other transport
unit detailed to accompany the Lahore Division,
the probability is that the detachment would have
been isolated and left behind. Captain Rennison
succeeded in getting leave for a second inspection
to be held by a more experienced veterinary officer,
with the result that all animals were passed fit, and
the embarkation was continued. This detachment
of the 9th Mule Corps was distributed to various
units and embarked on various ships, as had been
done with the Bombay detachment. There is
much to be said for this method, but I prefer the
system adopted when we went from France to
Gallipoli. Then the Mule Corps travelled as a
unit, and was distributed at the other end. It is
certainly easier and more economical to fit up, say,
two ships as mule-transports, than to provide a
small quantity of stabling in each of some thirty
ships. On the other hand, if one of the mule-
ships were torpedoed, or otherwise came to grief,
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1 6 ON TWO FRONTS
the catastrophe from a transport point of view
would be greater. On the whole, regiments
looked after their animals on board ship wonder-
fully well. Each regimental transport officer was
given a list of instructions, showing the routine
to be carried out on board, and most of them
adhered to it to the letter and landed their animals
at Marseilles in fine condition. Still, it would
naturally be more satisfactory to the O.C. of a
transport unit, who is held responsible, if all the
animals travelled under his immediate care or that
of subordinates selected by him.
The 32nd Divisional Signal Company and five
Field Ambulances embarked in the Castalia^ filling
up all available space to an uncomfortable degree,
and on August 29 she moved off from Karachi
and soon afterwards caught up some twelve more
transports, escorted by H.M.S. Chatham. From
now onwards the sea kept quiet calm, and the
invalids began to realise that the terrors of a voyage
were not as great as they had imagined. Every
one settled down to a regular routine of work and
play. Every day, at noon, Colonel Coffin — accom-
panied by the Adjutant (Lieutenant Walshe of the
Connaught Rangers), the Quartermaster (my
friend Jack Rendall, who had been appointed
Supply Officer, Sirhind Brigade), and one of the
ship's officers — made a complete tour of the ship.
In the afternoons we used to exercise the animals.
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A LONG TIME ON THE WAY 17
A little work by the Corps' carpenters made this
feasible : by the removal of a few posts, a course
was left clear, and, with matting laid down, it was
quite simple to walk all the animals round and
round their holds. This without doubt helped
greatly to keep them in good condition. The
mules gave far less trouble than the horses, some
of which were very obstreperous at first both at
exercise and in their stalls, for they used to get
frightened and start kicking. The mule is a
cleverer animal than the horse, and adapts himself
more readily to new conditions. ' Sergeant Levings
and Jemadar Wali Mahomed, the veterinary officer
of the 9th Mule Corps, put in some very useful
work in saving the lives of several horses.
Every day we had lectures on the upper deck
on every kind of technical subject. Colonel Coffin
started a French class, which was very popular.
We did not know yet that we were bound for
France, but nothing was left to chance, and by
now it was the general impression that Marseilles
was our destination. For recreation we had con-
certs, bridge and chess. Inoculations for cholera,
enteric and other diseases took place daily, and
would probably be included by the large number >
of medical officers on board under the head of
recreation, though some of us thought otherwi€C.
One of the most interesting personalities on
board was the ship's doctor — a very big Irishman
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1 8 ON TWO FRONTS
of most genial disposition. He had been an Inter-
national footballer, and must have been a most
objectionable person tx> bump up against in a
"scrum", for his weight could not have been
much less than twenty stone. He was a great
bridge player and was also very fond of a practical
joke. One day he and Lieutenant Walsh, I.M.S.
(who was unfortunately killed in France), were
playing against Kendall and myself, when the
doctor was called away to see a patient. He and
Walsh had been holding the most amazing cards,
so I took the opportunity of playing a practical
joke on the doctor. It was his deal, and, quickly
re-sorting the cards, I arranged the pack so that
he would deal himself ten diamonds to the ace and
the other three aces. Jack, on his left, was to get
all the hearts bar the ace. The distribution of the
rest of the cards was immaterial. The doctor was
only away about two minutes, and when he came
back we said, "Come along, doctor, deal away.
The cards are cut.'* When the doctor saw his
hand he gave a gasp, then burst into a series of
guffaws and smacked his knees with joy. Finally
he said, " PU go five no trumps.'' " Nonsense,"
we said, " this is bridge, not tomfoolery." " Five
no trumps," repeated the doctor emphatically.
" All right," said Kendall. " PU go six hearts."
"Not enough," screamed Walsh; "you've got to
go seven to beat five no trumps, and I'll double."
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A LONG TIME ON THE WAY 19
The doctor scratched his head, laughed some more,
and annoxinced that he would go seven no trumps.
Jack doubled; the doctor redoubled. He solemnly
played out every trick of the whole thirteen, and
it took the rest of the voyage to make him believe
that it was a leg-pull.
The Indian ranks of the Field Ambulance were
christened "The Lahore Militia". They looked
like anything on earth rather than soldiers. Not
even their own officers believed for a moment that
they would survive the rigours of a winter in
Europe, or that they would stand up to German
shell-fire; yet they did both right manfully. It
was hard to realise, when we saw them afterwards
in France, that these smart, well-set-up stretcher-
bearers were the same ill-conditioned scallywags
at whose antics (politely called " physical drill ")
we all used to laugh consumedly on board the
Castalia. More than one was decorated for valour,
and as a corps they behaved with exemplary discip-
line and courage, reflecting the greatest possible
credit on the medical officers who had taken so
much trouble to convert what appeared most
indifferent material into really useful soldiers.
When the Castalia reached Aden she anchored
well but in the harbour. A message, informing
us definitely that the Lahore Division was going
to Marseilles, was received with loud cheers. We
had only a few hours at Aden, but, as we were
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20 ON TWO FRONTS
anxious to get our Indian letters posted, the
•skipper lent us a boat to pull across to the P. & O.
liner which had just arrived en route for Bombay.
A volunteer crew of officers was called for. Of
course every one wanted to go; but there was
only room for eight, in addition to the second
officer, Mr. Kelly, who was in charge. I was
lucky enough to get one of the places; we were
lowered over the ship's side, and set off. It was
soon apparent that we should never reach the
liner, so we altered our course and made for
H.M.S. Chathanty which was lying much nearer
the Castalia.
The officers of the Chatham invited us on board
and into their wardroom, where the surgeon, Hugh
Norris,^ an old friend, gave me several pounds of
excellent tobacco which lasted until I could obtain
a regular supply from home. The wardroom of
the Chatham was, without exception, the hottest
place I have ever been in, but it made up in hos-
pitality and general cheeriness for what it lacked
in ventilation. We heard all about the escape of
the Goehen and BreslaUy both of which the junior
officers of the Chatham told us they could have
sunk " absolutely sitting '' had they been allowed
to open fire. We spent a very enjoyable couple
of hours on board, and, when we left, the only
1 Fleet-Surgeon Norris was unfortunately lost when the
Indefatigable went down in the Battle of Jutland.
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A LONG TIME ON THE WAY 21
man of our crew who cared two straws whether
it snowed ink was Mr. Kelly, who was responsible
to the skipper for the safe return of the boat. The
next time I saw the Chatham was in August 191 5,
when she took part in covering the landing of
troops at Suvla Bay, but on that occasion I was not
able to get aboard into the sanctuary of her ward-
room, though I would have given much to be able
to do so. The retsorn journey to the Castalia was
quite hilarious, but was safely accomplished.
Kelly's sigh of relief, as the boat was hoisted into
the davits, must have been heard at Bombay.
In the Red Sea tragedy overtook the Castalia:
the skipper. Captain Mitchell, who had been out
of sorts for two or three days, was found dead in
his bunk. He had served the Anchor Line loyally
for over forty years, and this was to have been his
last voyage. He was buried at sea next morning,
the whole fleet halting while the funeral took place,
conducted by the Chaplain, Captain Knott. I had
sat next Captain Mitchell at meals and had been
much struck by his courtesy and kindness. There
was no doubt that he felt the responsibility of com-
manding — ^for the first time in his long career —
a troopship, and his death was attributed to heart-
failure, brought on by anxiety.
We had been ordered to bok out for mines, and
the fleet had not pursued its usual course up the
Red Sea, but we arrived safely at Suez, where a
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22 ON TWO FRONTS
surprise awaited us in the shape of orders to dis-
embark the 32nd Signal Company, complete with
horses and transport, and with some details — all
to go to Cairo. The ship was then to proceed to
Alexandria, where the remainder of the troops were
to disembark and encamp. This was a great dis-
appointment, for of course our chief desire was to
get on as rapidly as possible to the front. We
heard that the Sirhind Brigade had already been
landed and that some of its regiments were posted
along the Canal — doubtless as a precaution against
war with Turkey and internal troubles in Egypt.
At Suez I was taken to the pretty little Anglo-
French club on the bank of the Canal, where the
latest English and French papers and Reuter's tele-
grams were available. Having only received a few
vague and unsatisfying wireless messages during
the voyage, one was glad to get into touch with
events again. After the gallant but disastrous retreat
of the French Army and the British Expeditionary
Force, a stand had been made upon the Marne,
and at the time of our arrival at Suez the Allies'
armies were advancing in pursuit of the Germans.
There were long casualty lists in the English
papers, telling the tale of the retreat from Mons.
The passage through the Suez Canal was very
interesting to the Indians, and Clerk Mangat Rai
was heard to remark that he wished it was all like
this. The "purra" ceased from being ^*purra'%
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A LONG TIME ON THE WAY 23
and were keenly interested in their surroundings.
There were even then trenches along the Canal
bank, and outposts of Gurkhas were to be seen
at intervals; but, apart from these, little sign of
life was evident, which moved my servant, Rahin
Baksh, to remark that he had been taught at school
that Egypt was an inhabited country and he would
be glad to know where the inhabitants were.
At Alexandria we learned that the ship would
be berthed next morning, and all animals landed
and camped at the docks. It was expected that
we should remain for about three weeks, until such
time as a Territorial Division, now on its way from
JEngland, should arrive in Egypt; and in the mean-
time the Lahore Division was to do garrison duty.
Only one gangway was procurable, so, in order
to expedite the landing of the animals, we decided
to use the slings for the mules and the gangway
for the horses. It is surprising how simple a
matter is the slinging of animals. At first we
slung them singly, but afterwards two together,
which really proved better, because the animal did
not seem to mind so much having the sling
adjusted if another victim was standing by his
side. The spectacle of two helpless mules dang-
ling side by side in mid-air, looking around them
in blank bewilderment, is quite amusing. As they
landed on the wharf, they were led straight to the
selected camp close by and picketed in lines. A
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24 ON TWO FRONTS
guard was posted to keep an eye on the camp, but
most of the men remained on board.
In order to give the men a sight of the town,
a route-march was arranged the day after our
arrival. Headed by Sergeant Levings, on his
spirited chestnut mare, the Headquarters of the
9th Mule Corps marched through the streets of
Alexandria as far as the parade and sea-wall. They
enjoyed the walk, and were much interested in the
shops and streets which are quite different from
those of India. The local people, for their part,
seemed interested in the Indians, and at times
cheered them and gave them presents of cigarettes.
The committee and members of the Union Club
had very kindly made honorary members of all
officers passing through Alexandria. Most of us
from the Castalia went there for dinner, and very
nice it was to sit on the roof of this most comfort-
able club and enjoy a really excellent meal again.
The food on the Castalia was never good, and
became daily worse till, at the end of the voyage,
even a change to army rations was welcome. At
the Union Club I met many old friends, mostly
on their way to France. The Club was, in fact,
absolutely swamped by the honorary members.
The permanent and residential members deserve
the sincerest thanks for their hospitality, for the
descent of an army upon them must have caused
great inconvenience.
We were not destined after all to remain long in
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A LONG TIME ON THE WAY 25
Egypt. About the third day after our arrival we
learned that the orders had been changed, that the
Signal Company was arriving immediately from
Cairo, and would re-embark, when the Castdiaj
with the rest of the fleet bearing the Lahore
Division, would set sail for France.
The Signal Company came aboard pretty well
dead beat. Their stay in Egypt had been a period
of perpetual mdtion. On arrival in Cairo, they
had marched in the middle of the night to a camp,
whence they had set forth the next morning to
take part in a ceremonial parade and march through
the city. When they got back to camp they found
orders to pack up and entrain for Alexandria that
night, so by the time we saw them again they had
had about enough. Their CO., Major Maxwell,
R.E., had been ill as a result of inoculation, and
was unable to accompany them, so the brunt of the
work fell upon Lieutenant Walshe, who was acting
for him. My senior kot duffadar^ Bahawal Din,
had accompanied the Signal Company in charge
of their transport. He tol4 me that Cairo was a
fine city, and that he and his men had enjoyed the
ceremonial parade.
Divisional Headquarters were on board a pas-
senger-ship which was berthed just opposite the
Castalia. The General and Staff and heads of
departments were there, including my own chief,
Lieitit.-Colonel Hennessy, Assistant Director of
Transport.
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26 ON TWO FRONTS
The fleet which left Alexandria, carrying the
whole of the Lahore Division (except the Sirhind
Brigade, which was left to safeguard the Suez
Canal), consisted of fifteen ships: as they passed
out oJF the harbour one by one, and formed up in
two parallel lines, they made a most impressive
spectacle. This time the escort consisted of
H.M.S. Weymouth and H.M.S. Indomitahle^
which sailed at the head of the fleet. Soon after-
wards seven transports, carrying the ist Indian
Cavalry Division, joined us, and the climax was
reached when, on a brilliandy sunny day, this won-
derful array of ships met the transports bearing the
Territorial Division bound for Egypt, with
H.M.S. Minerva as escort. A halt was called while
the captain of the Minerva boarded the Wey-
mouth. This spectacle of thirty-nine transports
drawn up in so small an area, protected by only
three men-o'-war, made one realise as nothing else
could have done how much Great Britain owes to
her navy, and how wonderful is her command of
the sea. The sun was setting as the boat bearing
the skipper of the Minerva was pulled back to his
ship. The scene as the two great fleets moved oiF
again — each to play the part assigned to it in the
Great War — ^is one which must have impressed
itself indelibly on the mind of every officer and
man who was privileged to see it.
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CHAPTER III
A GREAT RECEPTION XN FRANCE
On September 26 the ships carrying the first
of the Indian troops dropped anchor in Marseilles
harbour. A couple of days previously the escort-
ing man-o'-war had signalled that the convoy
formation might be broken up, and each ship was
to make her own way into port. Then ensued a
sort of general post, the faster vessels gradually
forcing their way to the front. The Castaliay
which had hitherto been compelled to travel well
within her powers, now showed what she could do
and eventually arrived among the first two or three
of the whole fleet. The Marseilles people had had
no time to become blase before the Indian ranks of
the 32nd Signal Company and the 9th Mule Corps
made their appearance. Some sort of a greeting
from our allies we had expected; but what actually
happened almost defies description.
The first inkling of what our reception was to
be came from the ships we passed en route to the
wharf. On every deck were gathered passengers
and crew, waving handkerchiefs and hats in greet-
ing. Then, as the transports passed alongside the
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28 ON TWO FRONTS
many wharves and quays, we could see large
crowds collected at every advantageous point to
cheer the Indian contingent and welcome it to
France. I could not help contrasting this recep-
tion with our send-ofF from Amballa and Bombay,
where nobody appeared to take the slightest interest
in our departure. But then the French nation is
full of sentiment, and the British just the reverse.
On arrival, officers commanding units were
directed to proceed to the steamer which was at
that time used as Headquarters Indian Base. I
had to report to the Base Transport Officer, in
whom I found an old friend, Major Lushington,
who was for several years captain of the Supply
and Transport Corps cricket team, and had in the
season of 1908-9 led it to victory in the Punjab
Cup competition. My orders were to disembark
as quickly as possible, collect my personnel, mules,
carts and material from the various ships, put the
carts together at the wharves, and transport every-
thing to the Lahore Division Camp at Pare Bor61i,
some four miles out of Marseilles. The scheme
of transport which had been drawn up in India had
been entirely altered, and a fresh distribution was
to be made.
Disembarkation continued all day and all night.
The mules were picketed at the wharves, by
running long ropes through rings fixed in the walls
of the goods-sheds and attaching the head-ropes
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A GREAT RECEPTION IN FRANCE 29
to these. As had been the case in India, the carts
gave the greatest trouble. The Corps black-
smiths were mostly elderly men, and had done
nothing for five weeks except eat and sleep, so they
found continuous work for hours on end rather
trying. The French dock-labourers who worked
the cranes went off for their evening meal some-
where about 6 p.m. : they were supposed to stay
away one hour, but never returned. Finally I had
to go to the Chamber of Commerce and rout out
a sleepy official who promised to send them back
at once, and by dawn next morning the Castalia
was cleared.
Leaving my two warrant officers to collect the
rest of the Corps, as the ships bearing the various
detachments came into port, I formed up an
advance party and marched off about 9 a.m. Even
at that early hour the streets were alive with people.
From docks to camp our little procession passed
through streets lined with the good folk of Mar-
seilles, who clapped their hands, cheering vocifer-
ously and shouting, " Vive PAngleterre'', " Vivent
les Hindous", and "Good-riighf . This last,
considering what o'clock it was, seemed odd; but
we found later that "good-night" is the one
English 'expression which every French man,
woman and child seems to know. This reminds
one of the British Tommy who wrote home that
the French seem to know scarcely any English.
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30 ON TWO FRONTS
" For the most part we *ave to talk to them in their
own lingo, but there is just one English word that
every bloomin' one of them does seem to know,
and that is souvenir. ^^
At some places we had almost to force our way
through the cheering crowds. Led by a couple
of French boy-scouts, full of the importance of the
occasion, the procession — ^with my Indian adjutant
and myself mounted at its head — passed along' for
all the world like royalty on its way to the Abbey,
or like the return of the C.I.V. The heart of
Ressaidar Ghulam Mahomed rejoiced exceedingly;
he is a fine-looking man, and acknowledged the
salutes with a solemnity worthy of a great occasion.
Truly the humble mule-driver entered into his
own that day. In India he is accustomed to being
rather looked down upon, but this was before the
war. His most gallant behaviour on all occasions,
under fire and hardship, ought to have changed
all that. Here in Marseilles he received a greeting
enthusiastic enough to have satisfied the House-
hold Cavalry or the Brigade of Guards. The
drivers fully appreciated it, and behaved admirably.
It seems as though the treatment the men received
at Marseilles influenced their conduct at the front
by giving them an unwonted, feeling of pride and
self-confidence. In their own country, despite
the hardships they endure and the risks they run,
they are classed as *^ followers". Here — however
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A GREAT RECEPTION IN FRANCE 31
they might be classed — they were treated as fight-
ing men. The resvdt could only tend to increased
zeal and efficiency.
The last part of our march lay through an avenue
of trees, beautiful in their autumn tints, leading
to the Pare Boreli and the race-course on which our
camp was to be pitched.
It was an ideal situation. The race-course lies
close to the sea, parallel with the famous Corniche
Road which runs along the coast from Marseilles.
to Monte Carlo. Between the race-course and the
road are high iron railings. All the time the
Division was in camp, crowds glued their noses to
those railings, watching the Indians cooking their
food and saying their prayers, for the Marseillais
seemed to find endless amusement in studying the
habits and customs of our njen, who, for their part,
were only too ready to meet them half-way. It
was wonderful how quickly the French and the
Indians learned to understand one another. Neither
knew a single word of the other's language, but
this seemed to make no difference, and in a very
short time they became bosom friends.
Divisional Headquarters were established in the
offices at the Grand Stand, and there General
Watkis, who had arrived in Marseilles from Eng-
land some time before, took over command of his
Division.
By the next day the various contingents of the
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32 ON TWO FRONTS
9th Mule Corps were in camp together. Sorting
them out from the different ships was a most
wearisome business. Captain Rennison had to
collect the 2nd Mule Corps and take them to
another camp, and it was not surprising that we got
a bit mixed, and that certain men, animals and
carts were temporarily unaccounted for. There
appeared to be about 100 men short. It turned
out that these had been left in Egypt with the
Sirhind Brigade. As soon as all transport had
found its way to camp, redistribution began on
the new scale.
Sixteen pack-mules and ten carts were allotted
to each battalion of infantry, and a slightly larger
allotment was made to each of the two Sapper
Companies and the Signal Company — all from the
9th Mule Corps. The 2nd Mule Corps was to
find all the transport of the ammunition columns
and of the Divisional Cavalry. The unallotted
balance of the two Mule Corps was to be amal-
gamated and called "Headquarters Mule Trans-
port", whose duties were to be the maintenance
up to strength and in good condition of the trans-
port issued to units; the replacement of all casual-
ties in men and animals; the care of gear and carts,
and the veterinary care of the animals; also, of
coxirse, the upkeep of the Corps records and
interior economy. Captain Rennison, who was
senior to me, became O.C. Headquarters Mule
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A GREAT RECEPTION IN FRANCE 33
Transport. It took us some little time to get the
hang of this novel procedure, and at first our
respective adjutants insisted on drawing a hard
and fast line between the two Corps, for amalgama-
tion was beyond them. As time went on, how-
ever, the arrangement was better understood, and
the 2nd and 9th Mule Corps pulled together as
comrades in arms.
Our stay in Marseilles was of short duration —
only five days in all — and men and animals were
daily being handed over to units and leaving the
camp for the Advance Base. The weather was
perfect, except for one day when we experienced
a Marseilles " mistral ". This is a cross between
a gale and a dust-storm, and is one of the most
unpleasant experiences imaginable. All the tents
were blown down; everything was covered in dust;
our eyes and ears and hair were filled with dust
and fine sand. Nothing we experienced in France
seemed more utterly uncomfortable than this
mistral; but fortunately it only lasted a day.
A ceremonial march through Marseilles by the
troops, British and Indian, of the Lahore Division,
took place as soon as the whole Division had dis-
embarked, which gave the townspeople a further
opportunity of expressing their feelings. They
took the fullest advantage of it, enormous crowds
cheering themselves hoarse.
We had a good deal of difficulty in getting about
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34 ON TWO FRONTS
in Marseilles, where the distances are considerable.
The trams were crowded, while cabs and cars were
very scarce, so that walking was frequently the
only means of reaching one's destination. Pave
streets are unsuitable for riding. My little New
Zealand horse ** Mahdi " had landed in excellent
condition, though somewhat on the fat side. I
bought him in Amballa a few days before leaving,
and he turned out a perfect treasure. He is a
small, compact animal with plenty of bone, and is
a wonderful doer, for all through that first winter
he covered his ten to twenty miles a day, and was
never sick nor sorry, thanks to the tender care
bestowed on him by his sais Ajaib Shah. Mahdi,
in fact, proved himself a perfect charger. Nothing
frightened him or in any way disturbed his equa-
nimity. I was riding down a lane one day at the
front when a battery of French 'yj's let off a salvo
just behind the hedge, within ten yards of us. J
nearly jumped out of the saddle with surprise,
but Mahdi went on as if nothing had happened.
He was just as calm when shells were bursting
near him. After leaving France, he survived
eight months of Gallipoli, and then — ^safely evacu-
ated — ^went off to Mesopotamia. I hope to
retrieve him at the end of the war, and to keep
him until he dies of old age.
On October 2, having completed the redistribu-
tion of transport, the undistributed balance left for
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A GREAT RECEPTION IN FRANCE 35
the Advance Base. Nothing could possibly have
been better than the French railway arrangements,
A time-table for the journey showed places and
times of halts, and where animals were to be
watered, and the exactitude with which this time-
table was observed was really miraculous. The
train left Marseilles to the very minute, and for
the whole three days of the journey the same punc-
tuality was maintained. We had sometimes to
water at most unsuitable hours, but that could
not be helped. The mule is proverbially an
obstinate beast, and he stolidly refused to drink
at midnight.
Orleans was our destination. On the first
evening of the journey we reached Cette, a place
on the coast west of Marseilles, and next morning
found us at Toulouse. All along the line were
cheering crowds. At every station where a halt
was made the platforms were thronged with people,
laden with presents of fruit, sweets, flowers and
cigarettes, and several times we were given a formal
reception by the mayor and other officials who
made pretty speeches and wished us luck in the
campaign. Rennison and I had been joined by
Captain Stevenson, A.V.C., who was to take
veterinary charge of our animals, and by two
French interpreters. Corporal Paul Singer and
Trooper Raymond Moillis, who played an import-
ant part with the Mule Corps on the Western
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36 ON TWO FRONTS
Front. Neither Rennison nor Stevenson could
be persuaded to utter a word in French, and it fell
to my lot to reply to' the speeches and to express
our thanks for the overwhelming attentions paid
to us. My French is very bad, and my accent so
horrible that it sets even my own teeth on edge.
But French people are so polite that one is en-
couraged to persevere. It is true that on one
or two occasions I made faux pas^ the enormity of
which was. subsequently pointed out by a horrified
interpreter, but on the whole I managed to make
myself understood, which, after all, is the main
thing.
Coming on top of what had occurred at Mar-
seilles, this railway journey bid fair to turn the
head of the Indian mule-driver. Beautiful ladies
insisted on shaking him by the hand, and pressed
upon him cigarettes and sweets, which he loves.
" If this is campaigning in Europe,' ' thought he,
"I can stand a good deal of it.'' Never had our
men had such a time; but it is only fair to say
that, when the real stern business of war began,
they took it in the finest spirit.
At Toulouse, where we halted for a few hours,
we saw a number of German prisoners at the
barracks doing the goose-step — a fine, stalwart lot
of men, who had been captured at the Marne; and
many German field and machine-guns were also
collected there, with other trophies of war. The
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A GREAT RECEPTION IN FRANCE 37
waiting-rooms at most of the stations had been
tiirned into Red Cross hospitals, where charming
French nurses tended the wounded, pending their
removal to more permanent hospitals. They
always had tea or coffee ready for us. At one
station a very excited English girl was amongst
the crowd awaiting the train. She had been born
in India, and was delighted at seeing Indian troops
again. We collected many souvenirs en route y
such as picture postcards, and some of the kind
people gave us their cards and invited us to visit
them after the war.
General Watkis' motor-car was on a truck on
our train and I travelled in it a good deal of the
way, thereby getting a better view of the scenery,
which^ especially in the valley of the Loire, was
gorgeously beautiful. European scenery is always
a joy after the hideous monotony of the plains of
India, and a better sample than the midlands of
France in early October it would be hard to find.
Altogether the journey from Marseilles to Orleans
was a delight.
Punctually to the scheduled time, o\ir train
reached the troop-siding at Orleans, and was met
by Lieutenant Nepean, A.S.C., and many stal-
wart orderlies of the London Scottish. This was
the first Territorial battalion to land in France,
and, as every one knows, it covered itself with
glory at Messines in November. No one who
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38 . ON TWO FRONTS
had seen the battalion could have been surprised,
for a finer-looking lot of men it would have been
impossible to find anywhere. They were chafing
at being employed at a base on camp and orderly
duties; but they had not long to wait for their
chance, and, when it came, they took it in a way
that won the admiration of all, and set a splendid
example to other Territorial battalions.
We had had so much practice in entraining and
detraining that it went like clockwork. In a very
short time our column was formed up and started
for Camp Circottes, where we arrived soon after
dark. The Assistant Camp Commandant, Captain
" Mango " Browne, of the 47th Sikhs, showed us
the ground on which we were to camp, and every-
thing was soon ready for the night. Captain
Browne took part with a wing of his regiment in
the attack on Neuve Chapelle at the end of
October, and was awarded one of the first Military
Crosses for gallant leading of his men. He was
killed the following March in the big battle of
Neuve Chapelle, to the great grief of his regiment
and of all who knew him.
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CHAPTER IV
HALF-WAY HOUSE
A FORTNIGHT was spctit at Camp Circottes,
Orleans, to complete the equipment of the troops
for the winter. Here the Indian soldier made the
acquaintance of garments hitherto unknown 4o
him : woollen vests and drawers of the pattern
usually worn by Englishmen were provided, and
the Indian gazed on them with surprise and
delight. The weather was fairly warm at that
time, and a costume of vest and drawers of a
delicate pink appeared to him most suitable as a
sort of fatigue uniform, though to the English eye
it seemed somewhat to lack finish. Cardigan
waistcoats and Balaclava caps were served out, and
other luxuries unfamiliar in the East. The men
were given khaki jackets and trousers of the same
pattern as those worn by the British Tommy; but
the sizes manufactured for Indians were far too
small and made them look ridiculous. Later on
we got the long Indian tunic made in khaki which
is worn outside the trousers, and in this the men
looked smart and well turned out.
The subject of great-coats caused much heart-
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40 ON TWO FRONTS
burning amongst the mule-drivers. According to
the Indian scale of winter equipment, a mule-
driver is entitled to what is termed a " coat, fol-
lower's" — a short, shapeless garment of dirty
yellow colour, lined with thin, worn-out blanket.
It is absolutely useless for any purpose, possessing
neither warmth nor waterproof qualities, and in
appearance can only be described as horrible. The
men called them mehtar ka brandiy or sweepers'
overcoats — the sweeper being the lowest type of
menial in the Indian domestic system. There
were not sufficient of these coats to go round, and
the supply was eked out with some second-hand
great-coats and "coats, British warm" (or "coat,
breeches warm ", as my servant called them). There
seems to be no reason why the mule-driver, who
endures probably more exposure than any other
rank of the Army, should be expected to be satisfied
with such an inferior overcoat. The Army Service
Corps driver gets extra pay and the same kit as a
cavalry trooper; but the poor Indian transport man
gets considerably less pay and as little kit as pos-
sible. It is to be hoped that after this war he will
receive better treatment.
Three mules of the 9th Mule Corps died in camp
of sand-colic, and we had lost two on the voyage,
so that we reached the front with only five casualties.
This speaks well for the hardiness of the mules,
and for the care taken of them by their drivers.
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HALF-WAY HOUSE 41
The 9th Mule Corps consists of six troops of
Punjabi Mahomedans and two troops of Dogras —
the htter a high caste of Hindu. Under their
contract with Government, sworn to on enlistment,
Indian soldiers must not allow caste prejudices to
interfere in any way with the performance of their
duties on active service; nevertheless it is very
necess^ to consider them and to deal with them
discreetly, though firmly. My Dogra kot duffa-
daty one Sunder Das, an elderly man, took a little
time to settle down to European ways, and at
first used to raise objections about trifles; but
by degrees he arid all the men came to realise
that nothing was further from the wish of their
sahibs than to order anything prejudicial to the
rules of caste. Once convinced of this, they'
became very reasonable, and made no bones
about small concessions when these were really
necessary.
In the next camp to us was the horse-transport.
This was a rapidly improvised affair, officered by
the Indian S. & T. Corps, and manned by newly
enlisted recruits of the A.S.C. Nearly all the
S. & T. Corps officers who were home on leave
when war broke out had been commandeered by
the War Office, and used to raise Divisional Trains
for service with the two Indian Divisions, there
being no such thing in the Indian system as a
Divisional Train,
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42 ON TWO FRONTS
These S. & T. Corps officers had had a very
uphill task. Some of them had been sent to
Aldershot, where they had been given a few
lectures on the organisation of Trains, after which
they had been sent off to various depots to raise
them; but they were much handicapped by the
lack of trained N.C.O.s. Untrained men and
horses were handed over to them, and they just
had to do the best they could, and a very good best
it was, though at first the men gave a lot of trouble,
while the horses developed " pink-eye ^\ This
disease was very prevalent. Dead horses were a
common sight, and the loss to Government must
have been a pretty considerable item.
The dovetailing into one another of the British
and Indian systems of Supply and Transport was
far from simple. The A.S.C. officers on the
Staff of the Lines of Communication and the
D.A.Q.M.G. of our Division did not understand
the Indian system, and we knew little of the
British. In India we had always been accxistomed
to look to the A.D.T. (Assistant Director of Trans-
port) for orders : now we found that there was to
be no such person. Colonel Hennessy, who left
India as A.D.T. Lahore Division, was in a very
ambiguous position, until ft was decided that he
should be O.C. Divisional Train. The Head-
quarters Mule Transport were then attached to the
Train, and we began to know where we were; for
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HALF-WAY HOUSE 43
at first we had been taking orders from three
different sources, and, as they were usually contra-
dictory, we lived in daily fear of being placed under
arrest.
Whilst the weather remained good it was very
pleasant at Circottes, though every one was
naturally eager to get to the front. The Battle
of the Aisne was then in full swing, and we all
wanted to be in time to have a hand in it. We
had no idea how critical the state of affairs really
was, for the tide of the German advance on Paris
had been stemmed, and the enemy had been thrown
back from the Marne to the Aisne and was being
firmly held there. The advance on Calais had not
then begun. We all quite expected to join the
British Expeditionary Force in time to march into
Belgium : even the most pessimistic expected to
be in Brussels by Christmas. But news of the fall
of Antwerp and the disaster to the Royal Naval
Division gave furiously to think. Orders came
for the Lahore Division to proceed at once to the
front, and troop-trains began to leave Orleans daily,
each regiment taking its transport with it. The
Headquarters Mule Transport remained almost
to the last.
We had established in a tent a little mess of our
own, consisting of Captains Rennison and Steven-
son, the two French interpreters and myself. There
we got to know our interpreters better, and to
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44 ON TWO FRONTS
appreciate them thoroughly. Singer (" pronounced
Frenchwise, and nothing to do with sewing-
machines ", as he told us) was a source of never-
ending amusement, and became a great character
in the Division. Seldom have I met a man of
merrier temperament. He is a Parisian — ^very
much of a " man about town " — and never stopped
talking from morning till night. His English was
really excellent, but when one says so much in a
foreign language some of it must be wrong; he
talked so fast that it was difficult to understand
him, and sometimes we used to beg him to talk
French, beckuse then we needn't try. In addition
to English, he could speak German fluently and
one or two other languages as well. Whilst at
Circottes we received a visit from Singer's father,
whom we entertained with great pleasure.
Moillis was a man of different type — much
quieter, and more what the French call serieux.
He came from Marseilles, but had been farming
in South America when the war broke out : like a
good Frenchman, he did not wait to be sent for,
but came home at once ta serve his country. He
too spoke fluent English, and was a painstaking,
eager instructor. Both Singer and Moillis re-
garded themselves in a measure as our hosts, and
no trouble was too great if they could help us in
any way. Singer was officially interpreter 2nd
Mule Corps and Moillis 9th Mule Corps, and very
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HALF-WAY HOUSE 45
lucky we were to have the services of two such
capital fellows.
Rahin Baksh, my bearer, made a most successful
cook, and we lived very well on the excellent army
rations, supplemented by occasional purchases in
the town. Sometimes we used to go into Orleans
to dinner, generally walking the four miles in, and
coming back by motor-lorry or any other con-
veyance in which a lift could be obtained. One
of the cafes in Orleans became a sort of club for
officers of the Indian Corps. Very many of those
good fellows gave their lives for their country
within the next few months, and few escaped un-
harmed. The chances of the British officer of
Indian infantry are not great: there are only
fourteen to each battalion, and they cannot help
being conspicuous, although their uniform is
exactly the same as that of the men.
The people of Orleans seemed to take things
very quietly. They were interested in the Indians,
but there were no demonstrations as there had
been in Marseilles and during the journey. As
one got nearer the front, the demeanour of the
people gradually changed, becoming quieter, more
serious and more determined. Orleans had been
the scene of fierce fighting in the war of 1870, and
there are still people living there who can remember
it: they do not want to see the Germans again,
and now, thank Heaven, they never will.
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46 ON TWO FRONTS
We had some distinguished visitors at Cir-
cottes, including Prince Arthur of Connaught.
One day a major and a subaltern strolled in to
our lines and asked if they might look round : the
major was Sir F. E. Smith, and the subaltern Neil
Primrose. Major Smith told us that he had been
appointed to the Staff of General Willcocks, our
Corps Commander, and he seemed much interested
in the Mule Corps. The articles which afterwards
appeared in the English papers by ^^ Eye- Witness
with the Indian Troops ^^ were, I believe, written
by him.
It was very amusing to read some of the articles
in the English papers which appeared during our
stay at the Advance Base. One described a gal-
lant charge by Bengal Lancers; another a night
raid by Gurkhas, who were said to have hurled
their kukris through the air with such accuracy as
to decapitate many Germans. A wonderful ima-
gination some of these journalists possess, and
wonderful, too, are the ways of the Censor, for
when these articles appeared there were no Indian
troops at the front at all, and it was some time
before there were any Gurkhas. There were only
two Gurkha battalions in the Lahore Division,
both of which had remained in Egypt with their
Brigade; and it was not until the Meerut Division
reached the front, early in November, that a single
Gurkha took part in the fighting. To the English
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HALF-WAY HOUSE 47
journalist every Indian soldier is apparently either
a Gurkha, or a Sikh. The first Indian regiments
to come into action were neither : that honour
belonged to the 57th Rifles and the 129th Baluchis,
both of which are regiments of mixed composition,
containing some Sikhs, but no Gurkhas.
Every day one of us would go to the Staff
Office to inquire whether there were any orders for
us to leave, as battalions were going daily, and the
camp was gradually emptying. When I went to
make the usual inquiry on October 18, I found
the Staff Office closed and the Staff gone! Our
poor little unit had apparently been overlooked
altogether. I telephoned to the Railway Trans-
port Officer to ask whether any train arrangements
had been made for us, and he replied that we were
booked to start at five a.m. next morning, and that
we should be at the station at one o'clock. It was
a pitch-dark night, and our march to the station,
about four miles away, was nearly a serious fiasco.
It was very difficult to find the way out of camp,
and the fact that the mules, not having carried a
pack since leaving India, had apparently decided
that their days of bondage were over, greatly
enhanced oiu- difficulties. If a mule means to get
rid of his pack, he usually succeeds. Loads fell
off, and, while they were being replaced, the
column got spread out and lost touch. One party
of some fifty mules missed a turning, and it was
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48 ON TWO FRONTS
only owing to the remarkable intelligence of the
naick in charge that they linked up later with the
rest of the column, and we reached the station
intact. I had many anxious moments, and the
prospect of arriving at the station minus about half
my command was not an engaging one. How-
ever, all's well that ends well. At i a.m. in the
station-yard Rennison received the report, **A11
present and correct ^\ and the train steamed out of
the station at the appointed hour. Rennison
received from the R.T.O. the schedule of timings,
with orders not to breathe a word to anyone till
the train had started. I saw his gape of astonish-
ment when he looked at the papers, but had to
possess my soul in patience for a couple of hours.
** Where on earth do you think we are going ? '*
he said as soon as we were off.
" Hang it all, you don't mean to say we're not
for the front.'* " was my reply.
He handed me the schedule, and, to my amaze-
ment, I saw that our destination was Calais!
What could this mean.'* Were we to leave the
Division, and work at a base, or was our front
falling back.'* There was nothing for it but to
follow the example of the Liberal Government,
and ** wait and see ".
This journey was very different from the one
to Orleans. There was much greater pressure of
traffic; there were no crowds, no cheering and no
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HALF-WAY HOUSE 49
presents. No ^^halts for watering had been
arranged; but progress was slow, and we watered
whenever we got a chance. We were timed to
reach Calais at eight next morning, but it was not
until after 5 p.m. that we arrived. The men had
been told that^ the coast of <^ VUayet'' (England)
could be seen from Calais, and they were greatly
excited about this. As a rule, only Rajahs and
distinguished Indian officers see the wonderful
country of the Sahibs, and the humble driver
intended to return to India and tell the people of
his village that he, too, had had that privilege, but
unfortunately it was raining hard; there was a
thick mist, and no white cliffs were visible. This
was a great disappointment, but was more than
atoned for by the receipt of orders to proceed at
once to Wizerne. Hurriedly we searched our
maps. Yes, Wizerne was close to what we knew
to be the front : we were not to be left behind
after all.
In high spirits the journey was continued, and
at about midnight on the 2oth-2ist October the
train arrived at its destination. It was pitch dark,
and there was no sign of life. I got out to ask
for orders, and found the R.T.O. He turned out
to be Major Turner, R.E., the eldest of the famous
cricketing family, of whom A. J. and W. M. are
so well known.
"Where the something something have you
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so ON TWO FRONTS
sprung from?" he said. "And who are you,
anyway ? '*
I explained.
"Well, I don't know anything about you.
Why didn't you say you were coming ? " (Nobody
likes being turned out at midnight.) ■
I explained again, and was told to "get a move
on and unload, and when you've got things going
come and have a drink." There were no lights at
the station, and no orders; so we hastily unloaded
and led the mules off the platform and into a
neighbouring field. A slight drizzle was falling.
It was not a nice night.
When all was finished, Rennison — conscientious
as always — put his valise in the field alongside the
men, and Singer lay down beside him. I returned
to my friend Turner and camped with him in the
waiting-room; but it was a short night. By six
next morning I was off, mounted on Mahdi, to
find Divisional Headquarters. I reported our
Arrival to Colonel Hennessy, who told me we
should not move that day. He was just starting
out in a car to visit some of the companies of the
Train, and invited me to go with him. The sky
seemed to be alive with aeroplanes, which were
a novelty to us from India, and we could hear the
guns -quite distinctly, though they were a consider-
able .distance away. After a most interesting
round, the Colonel dropped me at my camp, and
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HALE-WAY HOUSE 51
\ reported to Rennison that we should not move
that day. Hardly had I done so, when an orderly
appeared with a note, conveying an order to march
"at 2 p.m. in the direction of Ebblinghem"; so
at 2 p.m. in the direction of Ebblinghem we
marchedydovetailing into a procession of the whole
of the Lahore Division.
And so good-bye to journeys and bases and
advance bases. Here was the real thing at last.
Every step would take us nearer to the front and
to the enemy. We of Headquarters Mule Trans-
port recognised that our part was but a modest x)ne,
but we were prepared to play it to the full, and to
do all In our humble power to further the good
cause.
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CHAPTER V
IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY
On board ship, when studying "Field Service
Regulations, Part II.", we had read about billeting
and billeting parties. Our orders contained a note
to the effect that " billeting parties would be sent
to Ebblinghem ''. We were quite ready for this.
"Fall in, Stevie, Singer, and Sergeant Staton."
This was our billeting party previously detailed :
Singer to do the talking, Stevie by his rank and
presence to carry weight, and Staton to do the
work. Their orders were quite simple. " You will
proceed to Ebblinghem, report to the A.Q.M»G.,
and arrange billets for the Headquarters Mule
Transport." Off they rode, and that was the last
we saw of them for about three days.
We marched OjfF gaily at 2 p.m. There seemed
no reason why the march should not be entirely
uneventful. Ebblinghem was twelve miles away,
and we got there at 9.30 p.m. Breakdown after
breakdown occurred. Our place was behind the
Field Ambulances and in front of the Train : thank
the Lord it was in front of the Train, much of whic|i
did not get in that night. The Field Ambulances
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IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY 53
had wagon-transport in addition to mule-carts, and
their wagons were fearfully overloaded. Some-
where after dark there was a longer halt than usual,
and, going on to see what had happened, I found
one of the ambulance wagons broken down. The
wagon was being unloaded and all the load was
being piled up in the middle of the road. The
Transport Officer of the column, who had a truly
marvellous command of language, and the
D.A.Q.M.G. of the Division, who was nearly as
good, were engaged in haranguing the unfortunate
medical . officers who had lost their heads. That
breakdown delayed the whole Division at least two
hours. Everyone took the name of everyone
else; the medical Major was going to report
the Transport Officer for insolence, and the
D.A.Q.M.G. was going to report the medical
officers for negligence and incompetence; but of
course all was forgotten afterwards, and no reports
were made.
When the column reached Ebblinghem it was
pitch dark, and there was no sign of our billeting
party, so we did the best we could, which was
to bivouac in a field and wait till morning. The
15th Sikhs were close to us. Rennison and I,
with some of their officers, made our way to a
small estaminety where we managed to get some
coiFee and bread and butter before turning in for
the night. Having discovered that Divisional
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54 ON TWO FRONTS
Headquarters were at Lynde, some two miles
away, I turned out at break of day and rode there
to ask for further orders. Colonel Hennessy said
that we should have gone to Lynde, and that he
had diverted our billeting party, who had arranged
good billets for us there; but, as these orders had
never reached us, we obviously could not carry
them out. Our orders now were to get to Bailleul
as soon as possible. Colonel Hodson,^ A.Q.M.G.,
was just starting in a car for Bailleul to do the
billeting, and told me to send a billeting party to
report to him at the Mairie in that town. Trode
back to Ebblinghem and despatched Sergeant
Levings and Moillis. We moved off shortly
afterwards and marched all day.
It v^as a longish march, but there were no break-
downs this time. When about three miles from
Bailleul we were met at a corner by a military
policeman, who had been placed there to divert
certain troops to Meteren, and Mule Transport
Headquarters was on his list.
At about 6 p.m. we reached Meteren in heavy
rain after a march of sixteen miles, which rather
tried the feet of the aged artificers. Here Captain
Alexander, nth Lancers, Staff-Captain JuUundur
Brigade, had arranged billets for us. The whole
of that brigade was in Meteren, and we were to
^ Brigadier-General Hodson, C.B., D.S.O., died of wounds
received at Suvla Bay when commanding a brigade.
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IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY SS
be temporarily attached to them. Our area con-
sisted of three sides of a square, in the centre of
which stood the church; the muks were picketed
in a field close by. As we were now without an
interpreter, I had to arrange the billets. There
were women in all the houses, and in a few of
them old men, and I hardly liked putting our
mule-drivers in their clean, nicely-kept rooms.
There .were a couple of barns in which accommoda-
tion for sixty or seventy could be found, and some
remained with the mules in the field, bivouacking
under the carts; but the rest had to go into the
houses, and the French people welcomed them with
open arms. When it transpired that their last
visitors had been Germans — and that very recently
— this was not sxirprising. The doors of the
houses still bore the chalk billeting-marks of the
Germans — " 8 Offiziere '', " 20 Manner ", etc.
The enemy had occupied the village for a fortnight,
and had been driven out with the bayonet by
British troops only a few days before. I tried to
explain to the villagers that the men were well
behaved and would do them no harm, but this was
really unnecessary. The relief of entertaining
friendly troops banished any fears they might
otherwise have had of the unfamiliar Indian soldier.
• Our " superior establishment '' were very com-
fortably housed, the villagers being most anxious
to give them every attention. Ressaidar Amir
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S6 ON TWO FRONTS
Khan, the adjutant of the 2nd Mufe Corps, a
magnificent-looking veteran who had served for
many years in the 15th Lancers, with the Veterinary
Officer and the Quartermaster DufFadar, had a
nice little cottage owned by two old ladies. My
adjutant. Jemadar Wali Mahomed, and Clerk
Mangat Rai had another. The kitchens were
handed over to them in which to cook their food.
Beds were offered them, but they all preferred to
sleep on straw on the floor, for a four-poster bed
is strange to the Indian and he would feel uncom-
fortable sleeping in one. In their own country
they have charpoySy low string beds.
Rennison and I found quarters in an estaminet
at the corner of the square. Here, too, the land-
lady was eager to prepare her best rooms, but we
elected to sleep in an empty room overlooking the
street, so as to be ready to turn out at any moment.
Orders were to sleep in our clothes, and to leave
an orderly at Brigade He^idquarters to bring a
message if there was to be a move. After seeing
everybody comfortably settled, and posting sentries,
we returned to the estaminet^ where the landlady
had taken upon herself to prepare a most excellent
dinner" for us. Rahin Baksh reported that she
would not hear of his cooking oiu- rations, and had
insisted on providing the food and cooking it her-
self. During dinner, our hostess told stories of
the German occupation. It appeared that the
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IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY 57
German General and his Staff had cxcupied the
estaminety and had taken away with them all the
bed-clothes, the landlord's only horse, and the few
bottles of wine which they had not succeeded in
drinking during their stay. ** But," said the land-
lady, with a wink, " they did not find my private
store — only the public cellar." Thereupon she
produced some excellent vin rouge ^ and joined us
in drinking the health of the Allies and confusion
to all their enemies, especially that particular
German General and his Hunnish StaifF.
Madame was a good raconteuse. The tales she
told made one long to get at the Germans and
make them pay in full for their abominable cruelty
and cowardly behaviour. Their treatment of the
women of the village had been too horrible to
describe. No wonder they all looked cowed and
dejected: for they were living in terror of the
return of the Huns, who had apparently made a
clean sweep of all portable articles of any value
from every house, had eaten and drunk all they
could get, and had commandeered all the girls —
as Madame put it — "exactly as if they were
requisitioning hay." The only thing to be said
for them was that Meteren was not one of the vil-
lages where inoffensive non-combatants had been
shot. That much the inhabitants had to be thank-
ful for; but, in all conscience, it was bad enough
without. Our hostess informed us that when the
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58 ON TWO FRONTS
British soldiers entered the village and ousted the
enemy, the women fell on their necks and hugged
them. She herself — careless of the remonstrances
of monsieur, who was "oh, so jealous!" — ^had
embraced a burly Highlander for fully five
minutes.
During the evening Mollis turned up with
Sergeant Levings. After a long wait at Bailleul,
they had discovered, our whereabouts and ridden
back.
We turned in about eleven, and it had just
struck three when we were awakened by a stone
hitting our window. The orderly from Brigade
Headquarters stood at the door with orders for
us to be ready to march in two hours. Rennison
hastened to the mule-lines, and I to the billets to
turn out the men. In almost every house the
women, fully dressed, were sitting in the kitchen
drinking coffee, far too frightened of the return
of the Boches to go to bed. I tried to reassure
them by saying that Meteren would never see the
Germans again. Our men were loud in- their
praises of the kindness and hospitality of their
hostesses : many had been given cojfFee, which they
were learning to like.
By 5 a.m. we had fallen in, ready to join the
column. The destination of the brigade was
Estaires, some seven miles south of Meteren, and
our road lay through country which had been the
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IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY 59
scene of heavy fighting diiring the last few days.
Vieux Berquin and Neuf Berquin, through which
we passed, had sujfFered greatly from shell-fire,
both from enemy guns and our own: in both
villages the church was badly damaged. Thfs had
been the case at Meteren also, and was due to the
German trick of posting machine-gun sections in
all the church towers. There had been a direct hit
on the clock in the church tower at Vieux Berquin,
completely shattering its face. Hundreds of
refugees were hurrying away from the scenes of
slaughter, carrying such belongings as they could
manage, some in carts with old worn-out horses,
or with donkeys. All looked terribly sad and
dejected^ It was harrowing to see these long
processions of destitute people.
Early in the march our original billeting party
appeared. They had had no kit or rations, but
had not fared badly, thanks to Singer who was
unequalled as a forager : he could always produce
a plate of soup or roast chicken or some such
luxury apparently from nowhere, and did so on
this march. About midday we were sitting by
the roadside during a halt, contemplating a meal
of bully beef and biscuits, when Singer appeared
and announced, " Lunch is ready. 1 Will you have
it here, or in that cottage? " We voted for the
roadside, in case the column should move ojff.
Immediately four French maidens appeared, bear-
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6o ON TWO FRONTS
/ ing plates of steaming soup, followed by other
luxxiries. It was quite clear that in Singer we had
discovered a treasure. Whilst lunching, we had
our first sight of the enemy in the shape of a Taube
which flew over the column and hovered about for
some time.
Three battalions of the Ferozepore Brigade —
the Connaught Rangers, 57 th Rifles and i!2t9th
Baluchis — ^were sent in motor-buses to Kemmel, in
Belgium, to reinforce General Allenby's Division
which was hard pressed. These battalions went
straight into action somewhere near Messines. It
was some time before they rejoined the Division,
and, when they did, many a good man was left
behind, all three regiments having suflFered heavily.
Major Barwell, Captain Gordon and Lieutenant
Clarke of the 57 th were killed, and Captain
Vincent of the 129th; Captain Forbes of the 57£h
and Captain Maclean of the 129th were wounded.
The latter, unable to move, was left behind in a
village when our troops retired, and Major Attel,
I.M.S., the doctor of the regiment, stayed with
him; both were taken prisoners by the Germans,
but shortly afterwards our troops retook the vil-
lage, and they were released. Many stories were
told of the gallantry displayed by Captain Singh,
the Indian doctor of the 57th, who was given one
of the first Military Crosses but did not live to
wear it, being killed in action shortly afterwards.
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IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY 6i
Singh was educated in England, and was as white
a man as ever lived. The Brigade was thanked
in orders by General Allenby for its timely
assistance and gallant behaviour. Thus the first
Indian troops to fight in France set a splendid
example, which was followed by those who came
later.
Estaires was within a mile or two of the fighting-
line. The guns boomed loudly; machine-gun'and
rifle fire were plainly audible, and a heavy battery
was in action in the field next to our mule-lines.
As before, an orderly had been posted at head-
quarters to bring word if we were to move. In
the middle of the night the firing became very
intense, and the rumble of heavy traffic came from
the road outside our villa. Rennison woke up,
and wondered whether the Division was moving :
perhaps we had been forgotten again and should
find ourselves in the morning in the hands of the
Boche ! I went to . headquarters to make sure,
and found the Staff hard at work. The Jullundur
Brigade had taken up a position covering Estaires,
and oiu- batteries had gone into action. At ten
next morning Divisional Headquarters would
march to Locon.
On October 24 and 25 there was severe fighting.
Sir John French's despatch has disclosed the fact
that on those days he had grave cause for anxiety,
and that the arrival of the Lahore Division was
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62 ON TWO FRONTS
most opportune. On the way to Locon we passed
through Vieille Chapelle, where rifle and machine-
gun fire sounded as if it were within a few hundred
yards of us. General Watkis and his StajfF were
standing by the bridge over the canal, studying
maps and making dispositions, and General Watkis
beckoned me to him and asked whether I had seen
General Carnegy, commanding the JuUundur
Brigade. I said that I had not; whereupon I was
told to provide two mounted orderlies to go and
search for him. We were told to park in a field
hard by and he ready to move at a moment's
notice. " You can't go on yet," said the General,
"or you might get scuppered.'* There was a
feeling of suppressed excitement in the air. For
many of us it was the first experience of war, and
we were all on edge to do something. Spare men
and mules were told off ready to go up at once with
ammunition if required; but, to our disappoint-
ment, none was wanted. The great drawback
about that part of the country is that it is so abso-
lutely flat that one can see nothing. One might
be on the very fringe of a battle and yet be unable
to see what was happening.
We were ordered to march along the bank of
the Lys Canal to Mauprfes, near Locon. All the
time heavy firing continued : none came our way,
however, and we felt rather out of it. That feel-
ing is not a pleasant one, and I always had it in
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IN TOUCH WITH THE ENEMY 63
France. In trench-warfare this is inevitable for
a transport unit. In open fighting, ammunition
mules go into action with the troops, but when
attacks are made from trenches this is, of course,
impossible.
Our stay at Maupr^s was brief. The camp
allotted to us by the A.Q.M.G. was situated on
the east side of the canal, and our billets were in
some empty houses on the canal bank, the only
line of retreat being across a single drawbridge.
Colonel Cobbe, G.S.O. (now Lieut.-General),
visited us the next day, and told us to get across
to the west of the canal, and to take care to conceal
our carts with branches of trees, leaves, etc., as
aeroplane observers might mistake them for guns.
Several Taubes came over during our brief stay,
and we witnessed for the first time contests in the
air between our own and enemy machines. It is
a curious point that, although during my six
months on the Western Front I watched numbers
of air fights, I never saw one machine on either
side brought down. One Boche aeroplane de-
scended behind oiu* lines from engine-trouble, but
that was all.
Comic relief was provided at Maupres by
Sergeant Grainge, our Quarterinaster-Sergeant,
who walked out of his cottage after dinner one
night and , stepped straight into the canal, disap-
pearing from view. No harm was done beyond
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64 ON TWO FRONTS
the soaking of his uniform, but he had to put up
with a good deal of chafF from the members of his
mess.
On October 28 we marched back to Estaires
and reoccupied our old billets, and there we re-
mained for several weeks. That night, being
assured that there would be no move and that the
Jullundur Brigade entrenched in front of us 'had
the enemy well in hand, we took off our clothes
for the first time since leaving Orleans ten days
before, and turned into bed. Some of the infantry
did not take theirs off for nionths. In this war
there can be no comparison between the infantry
and any other arm of the service. I take off my
hat to every officer and man of them. .Theirs is
the greatest danger and the greatest discomfort;
the greatest responsibility and the greatest hardship
always. And never have they been found wanting.
More power to the infantry, whether English,
Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Colonial or Indian. It is
a pleasure to do anything at all to help them, and
a privilege to serve in the same force.
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CHAPTER VI .
THE INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY
From October 26 onwards, trench-warfare set
in for the Lahore Division. The Jullundur
Brigade held a position from Picantin to Fauquis-
sart, and on their right were the 34th Pioneers,
9th Bhopals and the two companies of Sappers.
For a week or two no supports or reserves were
available: these units had to hold the line un-
assisted. They had a very hard time, for fire was
incessant. The three batteries of the Lahore Divi-
sion were in action also, and* some French batteries
supported the line.
On the 28 th an attack was made by our troops
on the village of Neuve Chapelle. This involved
severe fighting, in which a wing of the 47th Sikhs,
the 9th Bhopals, and the 20th and 21st Companies
Sappers and Miners played a conspicuous part,
suffering heavy casualties. The village was taken,
but, in face of the murderous machine-gun fire
encountered in the streets, had to be evacuated.
In the Sapper Companies, every one of the eight
officers was a casualty, and nearly fifty per cent.
of the Indian rank and file; but they covered them-
P 65
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66 ON TWO FRONTS
selves with glory. An officer who was present
informed Colonel Coffin, the C.R.E., that
" nothing could Tiave exceeded the gallantry of the
R.E. officers.'' Captain Richardson, leading his
men, was killed, and Lieutenant Almond with him.
Captain Paris, at the head of the 2ist Company,
was hit and believed killed, but he was afterwards
found to have been taken prisoner. Lieutenants
Nosworthy and Rait Kerr, both severely wounded,
were carried back by their men. Both gained the
Military Cross. Nosworthy told me, when he
returned to the front some months later — minus
a thumb, but otherwise recovered from his many
wounds — that he had never enjoyed a day so much,
and that he »had run his sword clean through a fat
German officer ! The 47th lost a fine officer killed
in Captain McCleverty; and Major "Buster"
Browne, one of the most popular officers in the
Indian Army, was very severely wounded. It is
sad to think that so fine a sportsman is a permanent
invalid. The 9th Bhopals, too, had heavy losses.
These first few days were spent by us of the
Transport in trying to^ locate the various parties
of our Corps, which had been allotted to units.
Gradually we found out where they all were and
used to pay daily visits to them. For the most
part, units kept their first line transport a mile or
so behind their trenches — some in farms and some
in the open. They had to do a good deal of
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INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY 67
shell-dodging, for the Boches shelled all buildings
in the vicinity of the firing-line. At jiight the
rations were delivered by the Train to regimental
parties, who transferred them to the mule-carts or
pack-mules, which took them to the regimental
headquarters, if possible, or to the beginning of the
communication trenches. Every now and then
casualties to the drivers occurred, sometimes when
taking up the rations at night from stray rifle-
bullets, and sometimes from shell-fire during the
day. Units used their mule-transport to replenish
their ammunition and for carrying stores: this
relieved the men of considerable labour. In the
British Divisions, regimental parties, on taking
over from the Train, had to man-handle everything
to the trenches.
Naick Akbar Khan, in charge of the transport
with the 47th Sikhs, was the first N.C.O. of the 9th
Mule Corps to be hit. He stopped three shrappel
bullets with his thigh and was removed to
Brighton, whence he wrote in a lordly tone,
describing the extreme luxury with which he was
surrounded and conveying his approval of " Vila-
yet " as a country. He made no mention of his
wounds, though they were severe. In his place
Lance-Naick Mangoo was promoted to be tem-
porary Naick — a happy selection, for he proved
himself courageous and efficient, and did excellent
work both in France and Gallipoli.
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68 ON TWO FRONTS
Only a few days after Mangoo took over his
new command, shells began to fall thick and fast
close to the shed in which his mules were picketed.
Hastily he summoned his men, and, mindful of
Standing Orders, unshackled the mules and led
them to a flank. Scarcely were they out of the
shed when a " Black Maria '' hurtled through the
roof and exploded exactly where the mules had
been. Not a man or mule was touched. Mangoo
was warmly commended for his prbmpt action and
presence of mind.
There were certain places behind the firing-lifie
which tlie enemy seemed to regard as particularly
attractive targets. One of these was Laventie
Church; in fact, the whole of the village was an
unhealthy spot. For a radius of one hundred yards
round the church there was scarcely a house which
had not been practically levelled to the ground;
the main street was pitted with " crump " holes,
and the church itself was a ruin. We used ib
watch the Boche gunners endeavouring to score
a bull's eye on its spire, in which they eventually
succeeded. I remember one day, when the bom-
bardment was particularly heavy. Padre Knott
rode up on his fat pony, wearing a worried look.
"What am I to do?" he said. "General
Carnegy has ordered me to bury an ofliicer in
Laventie churchyard at three o'clock, and it's just
three now."
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INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY 69
I expressed the opinion that this was an occasion
when an officer might disobey an order on his own
responsibility, and defer the allotted task to a more
favourable season. The padre, new to military
discipline, thought that orders must be carried out
at all costs. He was unaware of a certain para-
graph in F. S. Regulations, of a "heads I win,
tails you lose '* nature, which states roughly that,
if you carry out an order which circumstances have
rendered foolish, you do so at your peril, but that
if you don't carry it out, you are liable to be shot
at dawn. In this case, knowing the General, there
was no cause for alarm.
It was in Laventie that one of our field batteries,
coming into action for the first time, was picked
up at once by^ German battery and severely dealt
with. Before proper cover could be provided, two
of the guns had been hit, and several of the per-
sonnel killed and wounded. But that Artillery
Brigade was fairly fortunate afterwards, at any rate
during the winter. So well did they conceal their
guns, that the enemy seldom found their positions,
and they were to be seen day after day in the same
place.
Some inhabitants continued to live in the vil-
lages close behind the firing-line, in spite of the fact
that they were shelled every day. Picantin was
having its morning "strafe" when I passed
through on my way back from my rounds one day.
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70 ON TWO FRONTS
Two aged dames, emerging from a cottage, asked
whether it was safe for them to remain in the
village : they, were reluctant to leave, for it was
their home and held all their belongings. I recom-
mended a speedy retreat, at any rate to Estaires.
On account of the prevalence ^of spying, and the
casualties caused by snipers in these villages behind
the line, it was afterwards decided to clear out all
the inhabitants — undoubtedly a wise move — for
there was nothing to prevent the Huns from
obtaining information in this way. Spies were
occasionally caught and brought into Estaires;
then, after an interview with Captain Dyce, the
A.P.M., they would disappear. Rumour had it
that our French neighbours carried out the
executions.
On the return of the Ferozepore Brigade, we
learnt something of the fighting round Messines :
it had evidently been touch and go. The men
brought back many trophies in the shape of
helmets, great-coats, rifles, etc., and enjoyed re-
counting how they had secured them. One story
told by a havildar serves to prove that such a thing
as a decent German does exist. The havildar
and a few of his men lost touch with their com-
pany, and were taken prisoners. A German
officer who had served in China in the Boxer
rising of 1900, and had there learned to admire
Indian troops, spoke to them in Hindustani. He
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INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY 71
told these men that the Kaiser had directed that
any Indians taken prisoner A^ere to have their
throats cut, but that he did not intend to carry out
this inhuman order. He gave them food, and,
when night fell, having relieved them of their rifles
and bayonets, told them how to rejoin their unit.
Two men of the 2nd Mule Corps came back full
of a thrilling experience they had had, which was
corroborated by the Transport Officer of the regi-
ment to which they were attached. Their mules,
carrying ammunition, were tethered behind a hay-
stack, and were left behind in the withdrawal of
a portion of our line ; the drivers were seized and
taken into a Hun trench. After a time, their
captors being fully occupied with their own affairs,
the two Indians managed to slip away. They did
not make straight for our lines. Not a bit of it.
They sought and found the haystack, recovered
their mules, reloaded them with the ammunition-
boxes, and strolled in.
The 2nd and 9th Mule Corps were now all
together again (excepting those left in Egypt).
To ensure proper control. Sergeant Levings was
posted to the JuUundur Brigade, Sergeant Staton
to the Ferozepore Brigade, and Conductor Green
to the Divisional troops. Each was given a pro-
portion of men and animals, artificers and repairing
material : this simplified matters considerably, and
the two Brigades became self-contained.
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72 ON TWO FRONTS
I continued my usual rounds, seeing some
portion each day, while Rennison was responsible
at headquarters and visited the ammunition
columns. The adjutants looked after the lines
and billets, and accompanied us on our rounds.
Very often these were entirely uneventful, but
every now and then we would turn up somewhere
in time for a shell-storm. One such case occurred
when I was visiting the JuUundur Brigade with
Sergeant Levings. We had seen all the mules,
and were turning back, when we met Lieutenant
Betham, of the 15th Sikhs, labouring under a
heavy burden of rifles which he was taking up to
his quarterguard. This not being " a one-man
job ^\ as G. V. Huntley is fond of saying, we lent
a hand. On arrival at the quarterguard which
was close'behind the trenches at Fauquissart, Lieu-
tenant Brunskill, of the 47th Sikhs, asked me to
lunch; and, whilst partaking of an excellent stew
cooked by him, a shell-storm began. The cottage
next to that in which Ralston the adjutant,
Brunskill and I were having our meal, received
a shell through the roof. There was a good deal
of noise, but neither Ralston nor Brunskill took,
the slightest notice. When I rejoined Sergeant
Levings after lunch, he pointed out about a dozen
shell-holes along the hundred yards of road be-
tween the quarterguard and the cottage, which had
not been there when we passed along. To me this
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INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY 73
was a bit of an adventure; but to the infantry
officers it was apparently an every-day occurrence
unworthy of attention.
Brunskill made a reconnaissance one night,
penetrating with one man into the enemy trenches,
and obtaining information of much value to his
Brigadier : for this he received the Military Cross.
Shortly afterwards he was badly wounded, and
lost his left eye; but he was soon back at the front,
only to receive another severe wound in the leg.
Last time I met him, in London, he was fuming
because the Medical Board would not pass him fit
to go out again.
It was arranged that the chargers of all officers
who became casualties should be taken over by
Headquarters Transport, and kept until required
for re-issue to reinforcement officers. This plan
gave us a lot of spare horses, and provided employ-
ment for our spare men who had previously had
little to do.
A French interpreter arrived in camp one morn-
ing riding a little bay horse, the property of one
of the Sapper officers. He had orders to change
it, as it was not up to its owner's weight. X^^^^
were a good many animals in the lines, and Renni-
son told him to take his choice. Now, this inter-
preter had a very good opinion of himself, and
especially did he fancy himself as a judge of horse-
flesh. He said he would like to see the animals
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74 ON TWO FRONTS
put through their paces. This was done, and he
picked out three or four, and, mounting, tried
them himself; but he was not satisfied with any
of them. He said, "I don't think there is any-
thing here at present which will suit the Major. I
will come in again in a few days' time, and see if
you've got some more." At his next visit a
similar performance was gone through. All the
animals came in for criticism. One had "very
little bone ", another " not much of a shoulder ",
and so on. Presently his eye fell on a little horse
at the end of the line. "Ah," he said, "that
looks more like what Pm looking for." Renni-
son, with a twinkle in his eye, ordered the sais to
put on the saddle; and our friend trotted com-
placently away on the self-same animal that he had
himself brought in to change. We never heard
what the Major said. The interpreter did not
seem inclined to tell us when we inquired. .
It was during the early days of November that
the first Battle of Ypres took place. The Kaiser
is said to have decreed the capture of the town on
the I St. Ypres is some fourteen miles north of
the position then held by the Lahore Division, and
the thunder of' the guns day and night was clear
evidence of the violence of the fighting. The
Germans constantly attacked in our sector at this
time, but the Division held its ground tenaciously,
though the daily toll of casualties was mounting up.
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INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY 75
Large reinforcements passed through Estaires
en route to Ypres, where the 7th Division — or
what was left of it — ^was bearing the brunt of the
attack. The whole of the ist French Cavalry
Division passed our villa one morning, moving
north, and a brave show they made in their hand-
some uniforms — Chasseurs, Dragoons, Hussars —
fine men, and mounted on fine horses. At that
time the French were still fighting in their peace
uniforms, and very conspicuous they were, espe-
cially the red pantaloons of the infantry. We
dressed up Singer in English khaki, but he retained
his French cap. MoiUis adopted the loongiy or
Indian , headdress, in which he rather fancied
himself. ' i^^
The story of the Battle of Ypres and the failure
of the great dash for Calais can be read in oflficial
despatches. The Lahore Divison, though not
actually in the battle, played an important role, for
they held a vital part of the line through which
the enemy might otherwise have broken.
It was just at this time that the Meerut Division
reached the front, to be greeted by terrific shelling
and fierce infantry attacks. The 2nd and 8th
Gurkhas, in particular, caught it hot and strong
the moment they arrived; the ist Seaforths, too,
and many other units. Here fell one of my oldest
and best friends, Captain Beauchamp DufF, of the
1st Gurkhas, who was attached to the 2nd. He
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76 ^ ON TWO FRONTS
was killed within an hour of reaching the trenches,
when taking a company of Gxirkhas to reinforce
the Seaforths. We had been contemporaries at
Clifton and Sandhurst. Captain Wicks, of the
Seaforths, another old Cliftonian, who was with
him when he died, testified to the gallantry with
which he handled his men. DufF had seen a lot
of active service, and was a coming man.
On November 15 occurred a memorable event.
Field-Marshal Lord Roberts arrived at the front
to pay a visit to the Indian troops. A parade was
held in the Grande Place of Estaires, at which one
officer and three men of every unit in the Division
were present. In addition, every man who was
able to get there fought for a place in the hope
of catching a glimpse of the great soldier, and
helping to cheer him. He arrived in a motor-car
with his daughter, one Staff Officer, and our Corps
Commander, General Willcocks, and was received
by General Watkis and the StafF of the Division.
It was a cold day, and, seeing that the troops were
parading without great-coats. Lord Roberts re-
moved his own despite the protests of those with
him. ^He walked round the lines and spoke to
many of the men, amongst them my old kot
duffadar J Sunder Das, who was filled with pride
at receiving a word from his former Commander-
in-Chief. As every one knows, the name of
"Bobs Bahadur" is a household word in India.
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INDIAN CORPS MAKES HISTORY 77
Every recruit has heard of his fame. He asked
Sunder Das his age, and' seemed pleased with the
reply, " Fifty-^hree, but as hale and hearty as many
a boy of twenty." Lord Roberts spoke Hindu-
stani with the utmost fluency, though it must have
been nearly twenty years since he left India. After
the men had been inspected, all the oflicers were
introduced, and for each the Field-Marshal had a
word. He asked me to what unit I belonged,
and on my replying, " The 9th Mule Corps ", he
said there had been no such Corps in his day, and
asked General Watkis several questions as to our
work. The General was good enough to say that
the Corps was daily performing valuable services.
Lord Roberts, with a word of commendation,
passed along the line. As he stepped into the car.
Sir James Wilcocks called. for "Three cheers for
Field-Marshal Lord Roberts." I feel sure that
the volume and enthusiasm of those cheers must
have given him real pleasure; for every man
cheered as if he meant it, and — ^what is more —
every man did mean it. Lord Roberts stood at
the salute till the cheers died away; then stepped
into his car and drove off^.
The next day he died of pneumonia at General
Headquarters. One could scarcely believe it : he
had looked so fit and well, and walked and spoken
almost like a young man. The keenest sorrow
was felt by all ranks. It was almost a personal
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78
ON TWO FRONTS
bereavement; But constantly one heard the remark,
"What a splendid death! it was just what he
would have wished." From my earliest boyhood
Lord Roberts has been my chief hero. It is to me
a matter of the greatest pride that, at that last
parade, I should have had the honour of being
presented ^nd-of shaking his hand.
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CHAPTER VII
ATTACHED TO THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS
For the greater part of the month of November
I was attached to Company No. 3 of the
Divisional Train, which served the JuUundur
Brigade, and performed the duties of Transport
Officer of the Company in addition to my own.
The strength of the Company was 88 men and
62 horses. It already had four officers, whereas
my own command, in which I was unassisted by
any British officer, contained 500 men and 768
mules : this shows the extraordinary difference
between the organisation of the Army Service
Corps and the Indian Supply and Transport Corps.
Orders were that the Train must be kept up to
full strength; so when one officer became a casualty
I was sent to replace him, pending the arrival of
Someone from home.
A few words describing the working arrange-
ments of the A.SX. at the front may help to make
this chapter clearer,
' From the base, supplies are sent to railhead,
which is established at the most suitable railway-
station near to the front. Thence they are taken
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8o ON TWO FRONTS
by the Supply Column — consisting of motor-
lorries escorted by motor-bicycles — to the refilling
point. The refilling point is changed from time
to time according to the position of the troops.
It is usually out of shell range, clear of any main
road, and may be anything from two to five miles
behind the firing-line. At the refilling point,
which is for the whole Division, the Supply Officer
of each Brigade and of Divisional Troops takes up
his position; and supplies of all sorts — ^rations,
ordnance, engineering stores and presents — are
dumped there by the Supply Column. The lorries
then move away and horse-transport takes their
place. Each unit has its allotment of supply
wagons, which are kept in the A.S.C. Company
lines, and are taken by the A.S.C. Transport
Officer to the refilling point. There they are
loaded by fatigue parties under the orders of the
Supply Officer. Then, if the road is considered
safe, the wagons move ofF in convoys to the regi-
mental dumping-ground. -When the reghnents
are in the trenches, these are well behind the line;
when in billets, the wagons go to regimental head-
quarters. If the roads to the front can be seen-
by the enemy — as is often the case — the wagons
return to their lines and are taken up after dark.
The selection of a good refilling point is one of
the most important duties of the O.C. Train. It
is not easy to avoid interfering with traffic, and the
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ATTACHED TO THE A.S.C. 8i
side roads in France are narrow and very bad.
Taubes are rather fond of paying unwelcome
attentions; but ia the Lahore Division we were
fortunate in that respect; though many refilling
points were " strafed " from the air, ours escaped
during my sojourn with the A.S.C.
It is a mistake to suppose- — as so many people
do — that the lot of the A.S.C. at the front is always
safe and comfortable. It is neither, though of
course infinitely more so than that of dwellers in
trenches. There is always a tendency to imagine
that the life of those whose work lies further
behind than one's own is a bed of roses. But
every job has its unpleasant side.
The change to the A.S.C. did not, after all, make
a great deal of difference to me because Captain
Bond who commanded the Company^ and whom
I had known for years, was most reasonable and
allowed me, as far as possible, to continue my own
work. It did, however, involve my leaving our
little mess and going to live with the Company,
which was billeted at Les Manoirs, some little
distance from Estaires. The change of billets was
distinctly for the worse. The villa had been so
very comfortable, and Madame was an excellent
cook. At Les Manofrs I found the four officers
of the Company and the interpreter all sleeping
on the floor in one room, in which they also had
their meals. The householders were unfriendly
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82 ON TWO FRONTS
and had refused to put themselves out, and Bond,
always kind-hearted, had not insisted on better
quarters. The first night I occupied the space
under the table; but the next day I found an empty
room in a neighbouring cottage, where a blind old
man made me welcome. Even the floor of a
room shared with five other people is a great im-
provement on a wet and muddy trench; but^here
is nothing to be gained by being more uncomfort-
able than one need be : one never knows when it
may be necessary to sleep in a ditch.
My duties with the Company consisted in taking
the supply wagons to the refilling point in the
morning, and up to the point behind the trenches
where supplies were transferred to mule-carts at
night. These duties were taken turn and turn
about by Bond, Woodhouse (the other /Transport
Oflicer) and myself. The other oflicers of the
Company were Captain Langrishe, Requisitioning
OflScer, and Lieutenant Carrigan, Supply Oflicer.
The latter had the hardest and most responsible job.
The heavy draught horses were much less at-
tractive than my own little mules, and gave far
more trouble. True, they did not kick, but they
jibbed as no mule ever jibbed, and some could
neither be persuaded nor compelled to work. I
used sometimes to wish for a few of the spiked
iron rods which the mahout in India digs into his
elephant's head to urge it to greater efforts !
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ATTACHED TO THE A.S.C. 83
Some of the men of the Company were queer
specimens. Murphy, the Sergeant-Major, had
risen to his exalted position because it was found
that he was able to handle the men. In old days
I doubt whether he would ever have reached cor-
poral's rank; but he did very well. Then there
was a sergeant who must be nameless because he
has committed a military crime! An old regular
gunner, he had been invalided out of the service
as permanently unfit. On the outbreak of war he
tried to join, but was rejected by Board after
Board after learning his medical history, so he
changed his name and tried the A.S.C., omitting
to mention that he had served before. This time
he sailed through the Board with ease, and, after
all, as he confided to me, ^* I may have done wrong,
sir, in a manner of speaking, but no one's a penny
the worse off; and as you can see for yourself, sir,
Pm as fit as any man in the Company.'' And he
was, too, and a rattling good N.C.O. into the
bargain.
Another character was "Kitch", otherwise
Private Jennings. He owed his nickname to a
distinct resemblance to the famous Field-Marshal,
and on this account he seemed to receive deference
from the Company. Jennings was a fine chap, big
and handsome. He had been a carter in peace-
time, and was very fond of his horses. When a
wagon got stuck in the mud, it was always
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84 ON TWO FRONTS
" Kitch " who was summoned to bring his pair
and pull it out.
Then there was Coombs, Woodhouse's servant
— z, " nut," who was always turned out to perfec-
tion, with his hair brushed as if for his wedding.
He was always happy and smiling, and thought
a soldier's life (when you happen to have the
good fortune to be an officer's servant) a most
enviable one. I think he had been connected with
a racing-stable in civil life: he well might have
been, for he was a nice weight for a jockey.
Coombs had a tip for every race that was coming
on: Bond and Woodhouse lost quite a lot of
money following them. He also took the keenest
interest in League football and used to discuss it
at length with his great pal. Bond's servant. The
two of them had a passion for " Woodbines " :
the market rate of exchange in the Company was
five " AbduUas " for one " Woodbine.". There's
no accounting for tastes.
During November the weather was very bad,
and night work distinctly unpleasant. It usually
poured with rain, and it was always very dark, no
lights being allowed because the enemy were quite
fond enough of shelling the roads without being
given a light to aim at. The first time I went, a
Black Maria pitched in front of the convoy as it
reached its destination. The sudden terrific explo-
sion in the inky darkness was somewhat alarming;
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ATTACHED TO THE A.S.C. 85
but no one was hurt. Woodhouse always seemed
to get the worst of the luck. Whenever it was
his turn to go, it poured, and the convoy usually
came under fire. My convoys very seldom did so.
The refilling point was rather amusing, for there
one met one's friends and exchanged lies. There
was always the excitement, too, of seeing what had
turned up from home in the shape of presents:
the number and variety of these were quite extra-
ordinary. Every day large bundles of all sorts
of comforts were distributed. If a man had a
fancy for wearing four Balaclava helmets, a dozen
scarves, and two or three cardigan waistcoats, and
for smoking cigarettes at the rate of a hundred a
day, he could do so. Parcels from quantities of
different funds reached us, in addition to our own
private parcels.
A letter of thanks to be sent to the donors of
presents to the men of the Mule Corps, composed
by Ressaidar Ghulam Mahofned and translated by
Mangat Rai, is worthy of reproduction —
"We have great pleasure in expressing our
gratitude tp the gentry at home who have been
taking much interest in sending presents with kind
heartiness for the brave veterans at the front who
are sacrificing their lives for their benevolent
Emperor or are ready to do so. We accept all such
presents very gladly, which we will not forget
during the rest of oxir life. We pray that God
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86 ON TWO FRONTS :
bless and reward those gentlemen who have been
showing such favour to us. With our solemn
prayer that God may always keep Emperor safe
from all harms and bestow him a victory over his
^ enemies.'^
Some of the gifts puzzled the Indians, notably
the body-belts which were sent in large numbers.
They were far too big to fit the slim and graceful
waist of the native of India. The drivers eyed
them curiously, wondering what they were for.
Some wrapped them round their heads, converting
them into a sort of puggaree; others, despairing
of discovering their proper use, hung them round
the necks of their mules.
People at home were far too good to us. We
missed these delicate attentions when we got to
Gallipoli : there the difficulties of transport resulted
in but few comforts reaching the troops.
A box of Testaments arrived from a lady in
England for distribution to British Tommies, and
one of them wrote in reply —
" I have read St. John xiv., and in the 14th
verse it says, * If ye shall ask anything in my name,
I will do it.' If you would send me a pipe, I
should be pleased."
Another letter of thanks which created some
amusement at home contained the following
rem^k —
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ATTACHED TO THE A.S.C 87
" Truly I may say that in the day of battle He
covered my head as with a shield. I was. hit in
the neck.''
At the refilling point there was issued a "ration"
of newspapers. One read in the Times or Daily
Mail what had been done the day before. "A
quiet day", or "There is nothing to report",
figured in the news on occasions when, in smaller
wars, large headlines would have chronicled the
doings of the Army.
Soon after I joined the Train, the Brigade
moved into a different set of trenches, and head-
quarters were transferred to Lacouture, east of the
Lys Canal. Our Company, on an- abominable day
of sleet, rain and wind, marched to the same vil-
lage. It was here that the G.O.C. of the Third
Division, General Hubert Hamilton, was killed
early in the war : his grave is in the churchyard.
We were only a couple of days in Lacouture, as
Colonel Cobbe considered the village unsafe for
transport; so off we went to Vieille Chapelle, a
little further back, where we had good accom-
modation in a brewery for officers and men, and
adequate stabling for the horses. A hard frost set
in, which added much to the difficulties under
which the horse-transport laboured, for no frost-
shoes could be obtained and the great clumsy
horses slithered about, fell down, and stayed there.
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88 ON TWO FRONTS
The joxirney from the refilling point took hours,
so the refilling point was transferred to Vieille
Chapelle itself..
A night or two after settling down in the
brewery, when I was comfortably asleep, Carrigan
walked into my room and woke me up, saying,
" You'd better get up; they are shelling the bally
house." I went to Bond's room. A council of
war was assembled, discussing whether we should
move or sit tight and chance it. The shells were
coming over about every two minutes and burst-
ing fairly close. It was bitterly cold, and the
roads were in such a slippery state that we could
never have got the horses along. Bond decided
the matter by saying, " Well, the rest of you can
do what you like. Pm going back to bed." A
few of the shells found the brewery garden, but
none hit the house.
At Vieille Chapelle we were well in advance of
the positions of many of our field-guns : some of
the "heavies" were a mile or more behind. It
seemed very strange at first to be living in a house,
and sleeping in a bed in pyjamas, in what would
formerly have been considered the middle of a
battle. So great a sense of security is given by
the trench-system, held by troops in whom one has
absolute confidence, that ordinary everyday life
continues only a mile or two behind the line.
In the town of B6thune, which was often shelled,
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ATTACHED TO THE A.S.C. 89
all the shops were open and the inhabitants went
ab6ut their business as though nothing exceptional
was happening. . There was a patisserie^ much
frequented by French and British officers, where
tea, cofFee, chocolate and delicious cakes were sold.
There were three pretty-waitresses, who were full
of fun and very popular. Singer was a particular
favourite of theirs. One day the back part of the
shop was hit by a shell, but trade continued as
usual. The proprietress must have done good
business, which she certainly deserved, for the
place was a haven to men from the trenches. Good
luck to the p&tisserie in B^thune! Two barbers'
shops, too, did a roaring trade. You could get
your hair cut and a shampoo as well as anywhere
in London. Bethune was a typical French pro-
vincial town, and had the good fortune to be just
the right side of the trenches.
Our next billet after Vieille Chapelle was a
horribly dirty farm at Paradis. All farms in
Northern France are built round a courtyard : in
the middle is a refuse-heap on to which is thrown
all the garbage and filth. It seems an unhealthy
practice, and the odours which pervaded most of
the farms were abominable.
From Paradis, the Jullundur Brigade A.S.C.
Company moved to Vendin, and established head-
quarters in a farm owhed by an old man who told
interesting stories of the Franco-Prussian War, in
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90 ON TWO FRONTS
which he had fought. His only son was a prisoner
in Germany, taken in the great retreat. Vendin
is close to Bethune, within easy walking distance,
so this was a popular billet.
One morning, on arriving at the refilling point
with my convoy, I was met by Colonel Thomason,
who was then commanding the Train, with orders
" to run away and lose myself." Further explana-
tion revealed the fact that the King was arriving
shortly, and would motor down the road on which
our wagons were collected. The men were much
excited and anxious to see His Majesty. Un-
luckily that was impossible, for "losing our-
selves" involved going too far away, — ^and,
besides, the men could not leave their horses, so
we had to be content with reading accoxuits in the
home papers of the King^s visit, and hearing of it
from others more fortunate than ourselves. We
often used to see the Prince of Wales driving his
own car.
Moillis, nick-named " the lion-tamer " because
of his saucy boots, got ten days' leave and went
ofF in the highest spirits to Paris. He wore his
loongiy and on his return asked us to believe that
he had been mistaken for an Indian, and had fre-
quently been asked whether he was a Gurkha or
a Sikh. He insisted that he had kept up the illu-
sion by pretending that he could not speak French.
The humour of this will scarcely appeal to any one
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ATTACHED TO THE A.S.C. 91
who has not seen Moillis : a more typical French-
man never breathed. He brought back with him
many luxuries, of which a case of whisky and a
few copies of La Vie Parisienne were the most
popular.
The Lahore Division was now taking turn and
turn about in the trenches with the Meerut
Division, and had moved to what was known as
the Festubert line. These trenches were much dis-
liked, as they were the worst in that part.
On the night of November 24 there was severe
fighting again, in which both Divisions took part.
The 34th Pioneers had a very bad time. Major
Kelly, commanding, a keen and able soldier, was
killed; also Captain Mackain and Captain Masters,
the adjutant. The latter was found with his
sword in one hand and revolver in the other, and
a dead German stretched across his feet : so he
died fighting, like the fine fellow we knew him to
be. Captain Wilson was missing: survivors said
he was killed, but a letter was received from him
two months later saying that he had been severely
wounded in the arm and taken prisoner. Only a
few days before I had been drinking coffee with
him just behind his trench, and he had showed me
one bullet-hole through his ammunition-pouch and
another through his puttee. The 34th had now
only Lieutenants Paterson and Hickman left of
their original complement of officers, and 216 men.
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92 ON TWO FRONTS
Many other regiments were in much the same
state, but it was not for another month that the
Division got a real rest behind the line. Whilst
in billets, they were always liable to be called up
to reinforce the Meerut Division, and vice versd.
Leave opened at the beginning of December —
a pleasing surprise, for, somehow, the idea of leave
while on active service had never occurred to one.
Rennison got away for ten days, and I was allowed
to return to Mule Transport Headquarters, to take
over command in his absence. I was sorry to
leave Bond and Woodhouse and their cheery mess
— sorry, too, to leave the British Tommy. It had
been like old times commanding Tommies again.
But I was glad to get back to my legitimate work
and to rejoin my own men.
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CHAPTER VIII
THE SIRHJND BRIGADE REJOINS THE DIVISION
I REJOINED Headquarters Mule Transport at an
abominable farm at La Tombe Willot, and at once
began to search for better quarters. I found a
nice, clean farmhouse near the mule-lines, and was
just settling down when in walked a very young
officer in Indian uniform, who introduced himself
as Lieutenant Minchin of the 125th (Napier's)
Rifles, saying that he had been sent on ahead to
arrange billets for his regiment. So here was the
Sirhind Brigade at last. It will be remembered
that it had remained in Egypt to gu^d the Canal.
It comprised the ist Battalion Highland Light
Infantry, the ist and 4th Gurkha Rifles and the
125th (Napier's) Rifles.
Minchin showed me his orders, which allotted
to the Brigade an area including the billets which
"Headquarters Transport now. occupied, as well as
the farm I had just found, so we packed up and
moved to Long Cornet, leaving the coast clear for
the Sirhind Brigade.
Long Cornet is a tiny village, so -small that it
had apparently been overlooked as a billeting area;
93
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94 ON TWO FRONTS
but there was just room for us. At the house
which Moillis had selected for headquarters was
a very truculent lady, ^ On being asked for a room
for two officers, she announced that her house was
scarcely big enough for her own family, and that
she was not going to find accommodation for any-
one. I insisted on inspecting the house, and,
having done so, chalked upon the door of the
selected room the mystic words " 20 Indians.^'
This had the desired effect. Madame had for-
gotten that she had such a room; of course it was
exactly the thing for the two officers, and she placed
it gladly at our disposal. '
The arrival of the Sirhind Brigade was very
welcome. I looked forward to seeing the balance
of the 9th Mule Corps, and having the unit com-
plete once more. It was a grievous disappoint-
ment to find that men and mules had been taken
away from the Brigade at Marseilles, and replaced
by men and animals belonging to two other Corps.
The regimental Transport Officers had protested
vigorously, but to no purpose. Instead of finding
my own men, I found a lot of drivers who, away
from their own N.C.O.s, were like lost sheep.
The mules were unshod; the draught mules clipped
and in poor condition. Conductor Nagle was
placed in charge of the transport of this Brigade,
with orders to set about licking it into shape as
quickly as possible.
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SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS 95
The 100 men of the 9th Mule Corps, withdrawn
from the Sirhind Brigade, remained at Marseilles
until April, although every time reinforcements
were wanted to replace casualties I begged and
prayed for my own men to be sent. Men of any
other Corps were despatched in preference. Con-
sequently, what had started as the 9th Mule
Corps, with a few of the 38 th attached, was
a composite unit made up of men belonging to
twenty-three different mule corps when we left
the front.
I took the first opportunity of looking up the
1st Gurkhas. Dharmsala, 6000 feet up in the
Outer Himalayas, is their station in peace-time,
and there I had spent two very happy years, largely
owing to the invariable kindness and hospitality
of the regiment. Almost every officer was a per-
sonal friend, and I knew many of the men. They
were all heartily glad to have reached the front
after a dull time in Egypt. Captain Money and
Lieutenant Rundall took me to their billet to lunch,
where we were waited on ty Rifleman Churru-
moni who had been my orderly in Dharmsala.
Henry Money, delighted at having been appointed
bombing officer, recounted how he and his men
had been receiving instruction in the "tiovel art.
Rundall, who was Transport Officer of the bat-
talion, was lavish in his praise of the 9th Mule
Corps men who had been with them in Egypt,
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96 ON TWO FRONTS
and spoke feelingly of his annoyance at their
withdrawal.
Churrumoni, the orderly, was a typical Gurkha
— all smiles and sporting insfinct- Once when on
tour in the Kangra district in Dharmsala days, I
came upon a couple of pea-fowl in a field. Churru-
moni was behind with my gun, so I got off my
horse and waited for him. I waited and waited
until it was nearly dark, but he never came, so
eventually I had to go on. Very shortly after my
arrival at camp, in stalked Churrumoni with the
gun and — two pea-fowl, one over each shoulder.
He must have watched me while I waited, pre-
ferring to have the shots himself.
On another occasion Churrumoni said he wanted
to shoot doves for his dinner, and asked me for
some cartridges. Being rather short of them, I
gave him only two. He was away for ages, but^
returned at last with six doves. He had enfiladed
them three at a time! Churrumoni was the only
person I have ever seen who continued to smile
when suffering from jaundice. Gurkhas are great
little men, and he was one of the best of them.
Whilst the Division was in the Festubert-
Givenchy trenches, the mule-drivers came in for
their share of bad times, and a good many casual-
ties occurred. There was a lot of shelling behind
the lines, and the roads along which the transport
took up rations at night were swept by stray
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SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS 97
bullets. The drivers with units had in many cases
to camp in the open, and do the best they could
with tarpaulins and straw to make some sort of
a living-place under their carts : this entailed great
suffering in wet and frosty weather. But always
I received enthusiastic reports of their behaviour
and of their absolute contempt of fire. Kot Duffa-
dar Fatteh Khan and six drivers were reconunended
for special reward. On one occasion, when their
mules carrying ammunition should have been met
by a regimental party at a point behind the
trenches, the party did not put in an appearance.
Fatteh Khan and his men without a moment's
hesitation unloaded the mules and took up the
boxes themselves across the open under heavy fire.
The position of the Division, which was now on
the extreme right of the British line, separated
from the French only by the La Bass6e Canal,
necessitated the use of the road along the canal-
bank for transport work. It was very narrow and
riddled with shell-holes, and several accidents
occurred. The bursting of a shell would some-
times frighten the mules and cause them to bolt.
In this way, at various times, three carts over-
txirned into the canal : in each case the driver was
rescued, but the mules and carts went to the
bottom.^ A month or so later a barge stranded
^ The picture on the cover, drawn by Mr. Lionel Edwardes,
illustrates one of these iitcidents.
H
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98 ON TWO FRONTS
in the canal: there being no obvious reason for
this, the French authorities dragged the canal and
brought forth three A.T. carts and six mules, which
had — ^according to the official report- — been dead
some considerable time, " judging by their appear-
ance and scent." The French requested an in-
quiry, pointing out that their Government had had
to pay some thousands of frands in compensation
to the barge-owner; but the* matter blew over, and
the amount was fortunately not deducted from
our pay I
Being now in immediate contact with the
French, we had the opportunity of seeing some-
thing of our Allies' work. Though both the
Tommy and the poilu are fine soldiers, there is a
great contrast between them. The Frenchman has
none of the smartness of the English soldier — ^at
least, the French infantryman has not — but
slouches along, under the heavy burden of his kit,
looking almost slovenly; but when it comes to
fighting he is all there. French infantry has
always been famous for its dash and elan in the
attack : it has now shown the world that it is not
lacking in dogged tenacity in the defence as well.
• French cavalry are very smart and well turned out.
So far they have had but little chance of showing
their value, but when their opportunity comes
they will not be found wanting. Their artillery —
especially the famous '75 batteries — is second to
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SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS 99
none in the world. More than once I had the
opportunity of seeing the •75's in action, and of
talking to their officers. Very businesslike and
smart is the work of the gunners. One feels that
they know their job, and the pride they take in
their beloved guns is very obvious. My admira-
tion for the *75 was enhanced in Gallipoli, when
I saw, as it were, the other side of the shield. For
at Anzac the Turks had two against us, captured
in Serbia. Those guns were among the most
destructive that we had to face, and were the most
hated because one got no notice of the coming of
the shell. The report of the firing and the crash
of the bursting shell were almost simultaneous.
There was never time to dive for cover.
The main road from Bethune to La Bass6e had
been churned up by big shells, and looked as
though it had been fiercely fought over. The
undulating nature of the country here enabled a
general idea of the situation to be obtained from
certain points of vantage. The ridge of Givenchy
and the high ground facing Vermelles — the former
occupied by us and the latter by the French — ^were
important tactical positions.
It was in the battle for the Givenchy ridge that
the Indian Corps came in for some of the heaviest
fighting from the i8th to the 22nd December.
Backwards and forwards swung the pendulum;
ground was lost, regained and lost again. The
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loo ON TWO FRONTS
59th Rifles, in a desperate and'successful charge,
lost four of their best officers. Many battalions
distinguished themselves, the Manchesters and
Highland Light Infantry particularly. On the
20th reinforcements poured into Bethune, . and
were pushed up rapidly into the firing-line. Bat-
talions of the Camerons, Black Watch and South
Wales Borderers arrived by motor-bus; a Guards
Brigade marched in. The arrival of an Indian
Cavalry Brigade, which included one British regi-
ment, the 17th Lancers, caused a stir in the town.
They left their horses and hurried to the trenches.
Guns thundered all alon^ the line. For a time the
position was critical, but the reinforcements turned
the scale, and on the 23rd if was found possible to
relieve the Lahore Division. It was time. Long
weeks in the trenches in appalling weather, followed
by this ferocious fighting, had played the deuce
with them. Hardly a battalion had half its
numbers left, and the officer casualties were heavier
still. A long rest to recoup was essential, and
now that more troops were arriving from England
the Division could be spared.
The newly-arrived Sirhind Brigade had suffered
most. The H.L.I, and both Gurkha battalions
were in the thick of the fighting. The ist Gurkhas
lost four British officers killed and a number of
men — amongst them both my hosts of the
luncheon-party, and Churrumoni too. Henry
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SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS roi
Money had been killed whilst defending his trench
with bombs against an overwhelming attack, shot
through the head by a bullet fired at close quarters,
The others said he was the life and soul of the
regiment in the trenches, and was enjoying himself
like a child. Rundall, following his Company
Commander in an attack on the enemy trenches,
had been shot and killed outright. Not only a
gallant soldier, he was a man of exceptional talents
— ^an accomplished musician, a clever artist, and
a writer of the greatest promise. A book from his
pen, illustrated by himself, was published after his
death and met with instant success. His only
brother, in the 4th Gurkhas, fell in the same battle.
Only a fortnight since the luncheon-party! It
was hard to realise that those three strong, healthy
men were dead. Well, it is a glorious death, and
such is war.
The 125th Rifles got off more lightly, but my
young friend Minchin, with his platoon, was
missing. I fear that he was killed. It was a
sadly depleted Brigade which marched back to
billets some ten or fifteen miles in rear, where
they were to take a spell of ease.
It seemed like the irony of fate that, during
those momentous days. Headquarters Transport
should have been located in the best and most
comfortable billets that we had during our whole
stay in France. These were in B6thune, The
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102 ON TWO FRONTS
men occupied a large disused brewery. All the
Britishers had comfortable quarters in the town,
and the officers were in the house of Major Boni-
face of the French Army, in the Rue d'Aire. The
servants had been given instrucj:ions that, should
any British officers apply to be billeted there, they
were to be treated as the housekeeper, who had
been with the family for years, would wish Major
Boniface to be treated. She carried out her orders
to the letter, and we returned at night from the
sordidness of the battle-field to comfort undreamed
of on active service. One felt ashamed to be in
such a house when there was so much suffering
close by. Each of us had a separate bedroom,
with a beautiful bed, clean sheets and "pillows.
Everything: was just as though we had been at
home. Nothing that the housekeeper and the two
maids could do for us was too much trouble. It
was the only house I struck in France which owned
the luxury of a bath-room.
The day we marched with the Division to the
rear it was snowing bard, and it was a somewhat
bedraggled column that wended its way to the west.
Divisional Headquarters were now established
at Lozinghem, in a splendid chateau : the grounds
must have been delightful in summer-time. The
three Brigades and Divisional Troops were in
villages within a four-mile radius. It was a
coal-mining district, and huge slag-heaps formed
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SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS 103
the chief feature of the landscape. The village
in which our billets lay was called Burbure,- and
here we spent Christmas Day which was fine and
frosty — one of the nicest days we had had for
some time.
In the morning Rennison and I paid a visit to
the refilling point to exchange the season's greet-
ings with our friends. There was a larger crop
of presents than ever. Sergeant Grainge, the
quartermaster, required extra carts to carry them
away. Every man had a Christmas card from the
King and Queen, with photographs of their
Majesties. Princess Mary'-s present of an artistic
box, containing a pipe, tobacco and a packet of
cigarettes, was distributed to all ranks. From
Queen Mary also each man received a pair of socks.
All these were highly appreciated, and many
announced that of course they would not wear the
socks : they would be treasured for all time. After
the distribution on parade of the royal presents,
Ressaidar Amir Khan called for three cheers for
the King and Queen, and three more for the Bad-
shahzadi (the Princess). These were given with
great enthusiasm.
The Lahore Division, being out of the trenches,
saw nothing of the extraordinary cessation of hos-
tilities and exchange of compliments and presents
with the enemy which distinguished the first
Christmas of the war.
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I04 ON TWO FRONTS
A turkey purchased in B6thune, and a plum-
pudding from England made our Christmas dinner
reminiscent of home. In the afternoon I rode over
to Auchel, where the remnants- of the Sirhind
Brigade were billeted, and had tea in the mess of
the 1st Gurkhas, from whom I heard many details
of the fight. One could not but be struck by the
wonderful cheerfulness of those who remained.
The regiment had already lost six officers killed,
but the survivors, nothing daunted, showed no
signs of depression. Captain Kennedy, the adju-
tant, had killed two Germans with his revolver
and was justly proud of the feat. All were unani-
mous in praise of Henry Money's conduct, and in
regret at the loss the regiment had sustained by his
death.
Rennison had returned from leave just when
we moved to Bethune. It was. now my turn. I
had been granted leave and had it cancelled two or
three times over; but on December 29 leave
opened again. Returning one evening from a
long round of visits to the men, I found that mine ^
had been sanctioned.
Bond was good enough to lend me a car as far
as Hazebrouck. A regular gale was blowing, and
a few miles from Hazebrouck a tree had fallen
right across the road. Already two or three cars
were held up; but somebody had produced a
couple of axes, and we all took turns to hack at the
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SIRHIND BRIGADE REJOINS 105
tree. It was over an hour before the road was
clear. Then it was a race to catch the train, but
we just succeeded in doing so. At Calais the wind
was so strong that one could hardly keep one's
feet; but the Channel steamer did not leave till
next morning, by which time the force of the gale
had somewhat decreased.
I had six clear days in England, and they simply
flew. A splendid idea, this short leave. The
prospect of it buoys men up through bad times,
and helps those at home to live through the strain
and anxiety which is their lot.
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CHAPTER IX
"nothing to report on the western front'*
During the wl>ole of January there was prac-
tically nothing doing so far as the Lahore Division
was concerned. Two Brigades went into the
trenches for four days each, but that was all. The
weather was too desperately bad for fighting, and
both sides were glad of a rest. All this time we
remained at Burbure, merely carrying on with
ordinary routine work. For recreation we had
bridge — exchanging visits for the purpose with the
officers of the Divisional Ammunition Column,
who lived close by — bathing at Auchel, and an
occasional ride to B6thune, ten miles off. Auchel
boasted some ^first-rate baths, run in connection
with the coal-mines, and heated by steam : Singer
and I used to ride over there in the afternoon.
Changes had taken place in the Division, and
General Keary was in command. Colonel Strick-
land, of the Manchesters, now commanded the
JuUundur Brigade; and Colonel Walker, of the
4th Gurkhas, had the Sirhind Brigade. Colonel
Hodson had gone home sick, and Major Lukin
combined the duties of A.Q.M.G. with those of
D.A.A.G.
io6
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/NOTHING TO REPORT' 107
There was some reorganisation of Brigades also.
In place of the Ferozepore Brigade, a Reserve
Brigade was formed of the battalions which had
suffered most heavy casualties. The Connaught
Rangers, having amalgamated with their own 2nd
battalion, joined the Sirhind Brigade, and the 57th
Rifles were transferred to the Jullundur Brigade.
The only casualty which occurred in the Mule
Corps during this period was one of the mules
attached to the Connaught Rangers, which lost its
life in a most unexpected manner. One dark night,
slipping its shackle, it wandered from the lines. A
sentry challenged, "Halt! Who goes there .^''
Receiving no reply, he repeated the challenge, with
the same inevitable result. Mindful of his orders,
he raised his rifle and fired at the noise. The
sounds ceased. When day broke, the sentry saw
before him the dead body of the mule. When
arraigned at Orderly Room next morning for
"making away with Government property", or
some such technical charge, his explanation was
that he had mistaken the mule for a squadron of
German cavalry. This occurred quite fifteen miles
behind the trenches, but an Irish soldier is equal to
any emergency.
On January 27 heavy firing heralded the Kaiser's
birthday. Orders were issued for " constant readi-
ness ^\ but it was not till February i that a move
was made. On the Givenchy front the Kaiser's
birthday present took the form of about four
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io8 ON TWO FRONTS
hundred dead Germans — the result of five futile
attacks on our line.
I have a vivid recollection of another celebration
of the Kaiser's birthday a year or two before the
war, at Engelberg in Switzerland. The visitors at
the hotel were about half British and half German.
On January 27 the management provided a special
dinner, and the German contingent made merry in
honour of the occasion. The health of the Kaiser
was proposed in a brilliant and eulogistic speech by
a distinguished Englishman, and was drunk by all
Britishers present with three " hochs." A German
made a suitable reply, and all was bonhomie and
good comradeship.
After our long stay at Burbure, we parted with
reluctance from our kind hostess, whose small boy
Emile had become a great favourite in the mess.
It was while we were at Burbure that Rennison's
own son and heir was born, and Singer created
much amusement by suggesting that the infant
should be christened " JofFre Burbure''.
It was very noticeable how well the Indians got
on with the French children. Half a dozen drivers
squatting round, talking and playing with the vil-
lage children, was quite a common sight. By this
time a good many of them could speak some
French. Rahin Baksh, my servant, had a great
knack of picking up words and expressions, and his
accent was perfect. I sent him back to India soon
afterwards, having really no need for him, and
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^NOTHING TO REPORT' 109
Ajaib Shah, the driver who had looked after Mahdi,
became my orderly, while one Diwan Ali took his
place as sais.
Our next move was to a place called Robecq.
On the way to look for billets there Mahdi made
his first and only mistake. Cantering down the
road alongside the Aire Canal, he put his foot in a
shell-hole entirely concealed by slimy mud, and
turned a complete somersault. But neither of us
was damaged.
Robecq was very full. The only billet we could
get was a portion of a cottage, in which I slept on
the floor in the kitchen. Rennison had a tiny
room, through which the entire family had to pass
on their way to bed. The landlady was kind,
though dirty, and we were kept quite busy throw-
ing the soup out of the window when she was not
lookrng.
Our greatest trouble was to find lines for the
animals, for the whole country was under water.
In the field which we eventually took, faute de
mieuxy the mules were up to their hocks in mud.
It was in this billet that I received a thoroughly
well-merited snub from orje of that hard-worked
body of men, the motor-cyclist orderlies. I was
awakened about 2 a.m. and handed an official
envelope. It contained the routine orders for the
day. I was somewhat annoyed at being so un-
necessarily aroused.
" Well, sir," said the cyclist, " I can assure you
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no ON TWO FRONTS
It's ncx pleasure to me to bring it to you. Pre-
sumably some of my letters are important, and
I have to deliver them all whenever I get the
chance.''
As usual, it was a soaking night. I tried -to
atone for my lack of intelligence by giving the
cyclist — who had been an Oxford undergraduate
when war broke out — a good tot of rum. An
appalling time these men must have had during
that winter of incessant rain and snow. The state
of the roads was indescribable, and the orderlies
were liable to be sent out at any hour of the day or
night. There had been a contingent of them on
board the Castalia — mostly business men of good
birth and education from Bombay. Many of them *•
obtained commissions later on.
During the month of February the Lahore
Division held the Rue du Bois sector of trench'line
oh the left of the Givenchy sector. DivisionaJ
Headquarters were at Locon. The three villages
in which most of the ist line transport was quartered
were Lacouture, Le Touret and Richebourg St.
Vaast. All xhric came in for a good deal of atten-
tion from enemy artillery — particularly the last.
Instead of it being unusual to encounter a shell-
storm on one^ rounds, it now became the exception
Aot to do so. But on the whole the transport was
very lucky. Sergeant Levings, who had taken up
his quarters in Richebourg, had a shell through the
roof of his kitchen. He was in the direct line of
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^NOTHING TO REPORT' in
f
the enemy's favourite zone of fire — namely, in a
prolongation of the line from the Boche guns to the
church — so I ordered him to move. A tombstone'
had been blown by a shell on to the church roof,
where it remained embedded in a former shell-hole.
So regular were the German gunners in their
hours for shelling that — acting on the advice of
officers quartered in Richebourg — I issued orders
for all transport to leave the village at 1 1.45 daily,
and to return at 2.15. In this way they usually
escaped the daily " strafe ^\
The Signal Company selected for their mule-
lines the drawing-room of one of the best houses
in Richebourg. In the corner stood a grand piano.
But there was not much left of the walls, and half
the floor of the room above the drawing-room was
gone. In this half room was a chest of drawers
and a bed. It was not used as a billet, because it
had no roof. The whole village had been very
badly knocked about. A point which always struck
me as peculiar was that, whenever the enemy artil-
lery began to shell, people who knew the district
could always tell, exactly where it was safe and where
unsafe to stand. There were two particularly bad
corners between Richebourg and the trenches,
known as Windy Corner and Chocolat Menier
Corner, which must have been visible from some
Hun observation post, for directly any traffic
passed them they were invariably shelled.
The transport of the Sirhind Brigade gave a lot
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112 ON TWO FRONTS
of trouble, simply because the men had no N.C.O.
whom they knew, and their bhaibandSy or relations
and friends, were not with them. The Indian
driver not only hates being separated from his
bhaibands; ht hates being parted from his mules
just as much. And frequently the mules showed
their dislike of being parted from the men they
knew.
There was one mule which a Transport Officer
asked us to replace because nobody could do any-
thing with it. It was a regular budmashy '3.nd
refused either to carry a pack or work in a cart.
When it returned to headquarters, all our best men
tried to break it to better ways. Amir Khan, a
past master in horse and mule-breaking, tried all his
tricks. But in vain. Captain Jelbart, A.V.C.,
attempted further experiments. . The mule kicked
and bit and reared : nothing could be done with
him. Jelbart's last experiment was lashing the
animal's head to. a tree, and he said that if that failed
he would recommend its destructipn. On being
released from the tree, the mule was worse than
ever, and Jelbart said, "Well, he's hopeless.
You'd better shoot him." Some reinforcements
happened to arrive in camp just as we were going
to do so, and one of the drivers, seeing the mule,
called out that it was his own and must not be shot.
The man had not seen the mule since leaving
Amballa some six months previously. He took
it over, and that very evening, harnessed into a cart
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^NOTHING TO REPORT' 113
with another mule, it went quietly on duty. It
never gave any trouble again.
On February 21 the 2nd Division made an
attack from the Givenchy trenches. Guns of all
calibres, both French and English, were engaged,
including a newly-arrived 9*2^ which was known
as " Mother ". This was the heaviest bombard-
ment we had seen up to that time, though it was
nothing to what now takes place, thanks to the
increase in our guns and munitions. Some enemy
trenches were much damaged and evacuated by the
Huns, but our men found them full of water and
could not occupy them.
Four days later, relieved by the Meerut Division,
the Lahore Division went back to billets. We
marched in a snowstorm again to Busnes, where we
established ourselves near Divisional Headquarters.
It was a long ride round the Brigades from there.
I used to break my journey in Calonne, where Bond
and Woodhouse, with No. 3 Company, were in
clover.
From Busnes I rode one day to St. Venant to
visit an Indian clearing hospital. Some of our
wounded drivers were there. They were splendidly
looked after, and the hospital was run on model
lines. Another day, Ressaidar Ghulam Mahomed
accompanied me to Mametz, where some of our
men were attached to the Indian Cavalry. We
found there three kot duffadars and two naicks of
the 9th Mule Corps, all from the contingent which
I
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114 ON TWO FRONTS
had been left in Egypt. It was a pleasure to
witness their joy at seeing their own CO. and
adjutant. They told us that they had despaired
of ever seeing the Corps again or any one belong-
ing to it. I tried hard to get them sent back to
their own men in Marseilles, but failed.
The cavalry had been having a very dull time.
An occasional trip to the front in motor-buses, for
the purpose of digging reserve trenches, was the
only relief they had from ordinary peace training.
Here I found Captain Kendall, who was now
Supply Officer of the Cavalry Divisional Train, an4
Captain Foster, of the loth Lancers, who had been
in the Somersets with me. We had an excellent
lunch together in the Staff mess.
After a few more quiet days at Busnes, there
began to be signs of increased activity, and a
" push " was talked of. But we heard nothing
definite until about March 7, when the Division
began to return to the trenches, and we marched
to Calonne— another night march in pouring rain.
Here we established ourselves in a large farm of
the sealed pattern description, though a little
cleaner than usual. The only objection to this
billet was that it was too far from the firing-line.
It meant a ride of some ten miles each way before
our work began. Divisional Headquarters moved
to Lacouture, and remained there during the Battle
of Neuve Chapelle.
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CHAPTER X
THE BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE
Many graphic descriptions of the battle have
been published, none more so than Lord French's
official despatch; and no attempt will be made in
this chapter to rival them. As a matter of fact, the
nature of my duties and the flatness of the country
combined to render impossible any comprehensive
view of the fighting.
Terrific firing by the Allied artillery on the loth
heralded the commencement of the battle. Every
gun for miles around seemed to be in action, hurl-
ing shells of all sorts and sizes on to the enemy
trenches at Neuve Chapelle. The first day the
Huns' r^ply was feeble, but on the nth and follow-
ing days his artillery supported the counter-attacks
of the infantry with heavy fire, and directed a
furious bombardment on the roads and villages
behind our lines, rendering the bringing up of
supports very difficult.
The troops engaged were the Indian Corps on
the right and the 4th Corps on the left, the objective
of the former being the village of Neuve Chapelle
and the Bois de Biez beyond, and that of the latter
the village of Aubers and the Aubers ridge. The
first assault, delivered by the Meerut Division, met
"5
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ii6 ON TWO FRONTS
with complete success; fighting their way through
the village, they dashed on into the wood, but the
barbed wire in front of a Brigade of the 4th Corps
had not been sufficiently demolished, and the
Brigade was held up, a battalion of Cameronians
losing most of its officers and a large proportion of
its men.
The Lahore Division was called up to reinforce
their Meerut comrades, and suffered heavily from
the " barrage '' fire. The ferocity of the counter-
attacks necessitated retirement from the wood, for
the left of the Indian Corps was " in the air '', and
a turning movement by the enemy had to be pre-
vented. Many German prisoners were taken :
their faces were yellow from lyddite, and they
looked terribly scared. About 300 of them
marched back escorted by only two men of the
Black Watch.
The Mule Transport fbund its way to some nasty
places swept by" shell-fire, and bore its share in the
resulting casualties. Sergeants Levings and Staton
were well to the fore accompanying any convoys
detailed for specially unpleasant jobs, and the
former distinguished himself by extricating the
drivers and pack-mules of the 59th Rifles and 47th
Sikhs from a place where he found them under a
scathing fire, but standing loaded up with ammuni-
tion, waiting for further orders to advance. Naick
Mahomed Khan, who was in charge, had been
posted there before the shelling began, with
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BATTLE OF NEUVE CHAPELLE 117
orders to remain there till he was told to move;
and remain he did in spite of everything. The
roads leading to the trenches presented a horrible
sight, strewn with dead and dying British and
Indian soldiers, amongst whom the medical officers
and stretcher-bearers were all the time at work.
The billet of Headquarters Transport being so
far behind the line, small advance depots had to be
established from which to issue men and animals
to replace casualties, which were, however, remark-
ably slight considering the violence of the shelling.
The 9th Mule Corps lost only fourteen men and
sixty-three mules killed and wounded. One driver
with the Signal Company had his head blown clean
off whilst driving his cart.
The maintenance of signalling communications
during the battle was a matter of extreme difficulty,
the signallers working under most trying con-
ditions. Lieutenant Drayson, commanding the
Headquarter section of the Lahore Divisional
Signal Company, had his headquarters in a cellar
in the village of Neuve Chapelle, which had liter-
ally been razed to the ground. There seemed to
be no house with a roof or outside wall intact; the
tombstones in the churchyard had been uprooted
from the ground and blown yards away, and corpses
were everywhere..
It had been hoped to use the cavalry, and the
sight of our Divisional Regiment, the 15th Lancers,
trotting forward to be ready to break through, was
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ii8 ON TWO FRONTS
a cheering one; for since the arrival of the Lahore
Division at the front it had never been possible for
cavalry to perform its legitimate work. But dis-
appointment was in store. The difficulties proved
greater than had been foreseen, and consolidation
of the positions gained had to be taken in hand and
trench-warfare resumed. The losses of the Indian
Corps were heavy, especially those of the Garhwal
Brigade which distinguished itself conspicuously,
the 39 th Garhwals in particular receiving high com-
mendation. But the German losses were estimated
to be far larger than ours, and the advance had
the effect, at all events, of strengthening the morale
of our troops. The wounded all came back proud
and happy from the fight. Men of the 47th Sikhs
in a motor-ambulance talked lovingly of the splen-
did gallantry of their British officers, and told how
they went on regardless of the murderous fire.
One sepoy told how he had seen poor Mango
Browne charging at the head of his men with his
broken arm dangling in its sleeve. When a
comrade told him that this officer had afterwards
been killed, the sepoy burst into tears.
It was not till later that we knew how great a dis-
appointment the results of the battle had really
been; but, notwithstanding this, it was in some
measure a success, for it showed that long lines of
trenches could be taken, and it proved conclusively
for all time the splendid fighting qualities of Indian
troops.
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CHAPTER XI
THE SCENE CHANGES
Only a few days after the Battle of Neuve
Chapelle orders arrived for me "to proceed forth-
with to Marseilles in connection with the concentra-
tion there of A.T. carts." This was rather a shock,
^nd there was much speculation as to what it meant.
There were rumours of an exJ)edition to the Dar-
danelles, so it seemed possible that that was to be
our destination.
I was not anxious to leave France. After, years
abroad, the prospect of a summer in the west was
attractive, and, moreover, the Western Front
always seemed to me to be much the most important
sphere of operations. The Dardanelles would be
a side-show. It was with some reluctance, there-
fore, that I made my preparations to depart.
Before leaving I made an expedition to the new
trenches opposite the Bois de Biez. Lieutenant
Betham, of the 15th Sikhs, allowed me to accom-
pany him on his usual evening journey. After
passing the barricade outside the cottage formerly
occupied by Jullundu^ Brigade Headquarters, a
mile or so from Richebourg St. Vaast, the ground
119
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I20 ON TWO FRONTS
was new to me. Along a track marked by whitened
bricks, we passed over an open plain, pitted with
shell-holes like the face of a person with small-pox.
As we moved forward, heavy artillery fire was being
directed by the enemy on the ruins of Richebourg
PAvou6; but all was quiet when we arrived, and
the communication trenches, which, according to
Betham, " frequently got it in the neck ", were as
safe as possible that evening.
We reached what had been the German third line,
converted to face the other way: behind were
enemy barbed wire entanglements torn up by our
shell-fire, and in front was the wire recently put up
by our men. There were many well-constructed
dug-outs, in one of which I found the mess of the
15th Sikhs. Major Garden and Lieutenant Smyth
were, I think, the only two oflficers there who had
come over with the regiment from India. Major
Garden died of wounds at Boulogne a few months
later, having been through everything from the
beginning with his regiment. Smyth's name is
well known. He gained the V.G. at the second
Battle of Ypres for one of the most magnificent acts
of heroism in the whole war. Starting with half
a dozen men, he brought up bombs across an open
space swept by a withering fire. Only Smyth and
one man reached the regiment with the urgently
needed box of bombs. I remember him as. I saw
him that evening, in a Tommy's long great-coat,
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THE SCENE CHANGES 121
With his head in a Balaclava helmet, looking very
youthful, his face wreathed in smiles as usual.
Smyth was the only officer of the Lahore Division
to win the V.C. in France : there could not have
been a more popular award.
Passing along the trenches, we reached the ist
Gurkha position. Here, too, were very few of the
original officers. Major Hepenstal kindly showed
me round and explained the situation. There had
been heavy shelling during that afternoon, and he
had seen two Sikhs blown clean out of their trench,
but neither' had been hurt. We passed some
Gurkhas putting the finishing touches to a rough
wooden cross on which was inscribed "To the
memory of Captain G. S. Kennedy.'^ Captain
Kennedy, the adjutant, had been killed a day or
two before : he was a splendid officer, beloved by
the men, and a grievous loss to the regiment.
•The Roll of Honour of the ist Gurkhas has been
a very long one. Few battalions can have lost a
larger proportion of officers killed. Of those who
arrived at the front only four survive, two of whom
have been wounded. A proud record indeed.
We came to a notice-board marked " Danger."
It seemed odd in such surroundings, but I noticed
that the ground at that point was stained with
blood. There were frequent cries of " Khubrdar,
sahib! *' (Be careful, sir!), and we would stoop as
we passed a bit of trench commanded by enemy
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122 ON TWO FRONTS
snipers. The parapet was too high for Gurkhas :
they had to stand on biscuit-boxes when on sentry
duty, for periscopes were not at that time in general
use.
It was getting dark by the time I got back to
Lacouture, where I stopped to see the Signal Com-
pany and bid their officers good-bye. With Major
Maxwell I found an old cricketing friend. Captain
Townend, R.E., of the Meerut Divisional Signal
Company. To him it was a last farewell. A very
fine fellow was Townend : the way he died was an
example of superlative bravery. Whilst super-
intending a working^party, a high-explosive shell
burst in their midst. Men hurried to the rescue,
but Townend waved them aside, telling them to
attend to the others first. When they picked him
up it was found that both his legs had been blown
off below the knee, and he remarked that it looked
as though his footballing days were over. He died
that night — a gallant sportsman if ever there was
one.
It was with real regret that I said good-bye to
the Corps. Rennison, the two adjutants and the
two interpreters came to see me off. It was not
long before we met again, but that was the end of
our service together, and it had been very friendly.
A man who could not get on with Rennison would
indeed be hard to please, for nothing ever put him
out. His evenness of temper under all conditions
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THE SCENE CHANGES 123
was astounding, and the men of the 2nd Mule
Corps think there is no one like their sahib,
I took with me my orderly, Ajaib Shah, and a
friend of his, Karim Baksh. We reached Paris the
following evening, having gone round by Bou-
logne. After seeing the Indians settled down in
the Red Cross rooms at the station, I accepted a
lift in a motor-car from a kind Red Cross lady, and
at the A.P.M.'s office I received the pleasing infor-
mation that the Ritz Hotel provided free accom-
modation for British officers from the front. This
seemed just about good enough, ^o to the Ritz
Hotel I went, and was there given a magnificent
suite of apartments, the extreme luxury of which
seenied greater by contrast with the farms of
Flanders.
That night the first Zeppelin raid on Paris took
place. The hall-porter told me that all the visitors
in night-attire had thronged the hall: the bolder
spirits going out to see the Zeppelins, the more
timid asking their way to the cellars. I never woke
at all, but slept through the raid, as might be ex-
pected of a man who finds himself in a luxurious
bed for the first time for months.
In the morning — tl beautiful spring morning —
I took a taxi and drove to the station, where I found
my orderlies very full of the wonderful kindness
they had received. They had been given every-
thing they could desire to eat and drink : comfort-
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124 ON TWO FRONTS
able beds had been provided; and, after breakfast,
a lady of surpassing beauty had talked to them and
shaken hands with them. They did not understand
what she said, but that did not matter. The lady
was the Hon. Mrs. Maurice Brett, wife of the
A.P.M. and a Red Cross worker, better known as
Miss Zena Dare.
I took the two men for a drive round Paris —
past the shops, through the Place de la Cbncorde,
up the Champs Elys6es and into the Bois. To
Ajaib Shah and Karim Baksh it was like a trip to
fairyland, and their joy was infectious. Returning
to the Ritz, I took them to my rooms that they
might see what a first-class European hotel is like.
They were especially impressed with the glass
revolving doors and the lift, never having seen such
- things before, and Ajaib Sha|i asked timidly if I
would mind waiting while they went up and down
the lift again. It was just like showing a couple
of children round.
My orders were to proceed " forthwith " to
Marseilles. Colonel Hennessy had agreed to my
stopping twenty-four hours in Paris, but even that
short delay nearly had disastrous results. One
never knows. Once before I had received orders
to proceed " forthwith '' to take over a Staff billet
in India. I went by the first possible train, only
to be asked on arrival why on earth I hadn't taken
ten days' leave, as the job wouldn't be vacant
sooner.
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THE SCENE CHANGES 125
From Paris to Marseilles I travelled with a cheery
party of officers invalided from the front, on their
way to spend a few weeks at Nice. One was a boy
named Thackeray, whose personality attracted me
greatly : he was so bubbling over with joie de vivre.
He had been through the retreat from Mons, and
afterwards at Ypres, but he had never been touched.
He thought he bore a charmed life. But his luck
faikd him, for I saw his name in a casualty-list not
long after, and read how he had fallen in an attack
at the head of his platoon.
At Marseilles I reported myself to the R.T.O.,
who turned out to be Colonel Pope, late General
Manager of the Oudh & Rohilkand Railway, whom
I had known at Lucknow, where he commanded
the Railway Volunteers. Colonel Pope passed me
on to Colonel Marriot, of my own Corps, whom I
found in the new mule-lines near the docks.
After being sworn to secrecy, I was told that our
guess was correct : the Dardanelles was to be our
destination. It had been decided to raise four
Mule Cart Corps under an entirely new organisa-
tion — each Corps to have ten troops, each troop
consisting of 108 mules and 50 carts, with 60
drivers. With artificers, etc., this brought the
command to 1080 mules and some 650 men. The
" superior establishment " was to be on the old
scale, so the disproportion of officers to men was
greater than ever. Pack-mules were to remain in
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126 ON TWO FRONTS
France. I was to command No. i Corps, which,
together with a portion of No. 2, had akeady been
raised from the transport that had been working at
Marseilles througho^it the winter. This had been
most efficiently done by Captain PuUeyn, S. & T.
Corps, and, thanks to him, I found my new Corps
ready, fully equipped and with every detail com-
plete. It contained three troops of the ist Mule
Corps, two of the 9th, four of the 15th, and one
of a miscellaneous collection. The i st, whose CO.,
Captain Hall, had been sent to the Cavalry Divi-
sion, is one of the best Mule Corps in the Indian
Army, and I was lucky to get them. Their
adjutant, ResBaidar Hashmet Ali, had been
appointed adjutant of No. i Cart Corps — another
stroke of luck, for he was a very good officer
indeed. . ,
The "superior establishment " consisted of Con-
ductor Brown, 9th Mule Corps, who had been
doing depot work all the winter; Conductor
Appleby, transferred from the Supply Branch; and
Sergeants Clarke (ist Mule Corps) and Smith
(15th Mule Corps). Sergeant Clarke was to be
Quartermaster-Sergeant, a position he had filled in
the 1st Mule Corps. He had been at Marseilles
some time, and had all his stores in tip-top order.
I arranged that Jemadar Wali Mahomed and Clerk
Mangat Rai should join the Corps on arrival from
the front, replacing another veterinary officer and
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THE SCENE CHANGES 127
clerk already appointed. I am lost without Mangat
Rai, and he and Wali Mahomed are bosom friends.
The command of No. 2 Cart Corps was given to
Captain Porch, No. 3 to Captain Rennison, and
No. 4 to Captain Aylmer. Captain Bird, O.C.
nth Mule Corps, who had been recalled from the
Meerut Division, was spare officer. He had been
in Marseilles two days when I arrived. Colonel
Marriot told me that if I had come one day later
he had made up his mind to give No. i Corps to
Bird; so my stay in Paris nearly cost me the com-
mand. The balance of No. 2 and the whole of
Nos. 3 and 4 Corps were to be formed from trans-
port then at the front, which was to be replaced
by additional horse-transport. A few days later it
began to arrive in Marseilles.
I took up my quarters at the Hotel Regina,
where Captains Porch and Bird were already stay-
ing, and we managed to put in a very enjoyable
time in Marseilles. The mornings were spent in
holding inspections of my new Corps. So well had
PuUeyn done his work, that practically nothing was
deficient or incorrect. It was a great score to get
command of the ist Corps, because we got the pick
of everything: by the time No. 4 was being
equipped, there was a shortage of clothing and
ordnance gear.
The four Cart Corps were styled " The Indian
Mule Cart Train, Mediterranean Expeditionary
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128 ON TWO FKONTS
Force.'' Colonel C. H. BevIUe, S, & T. Corps,
was appointed to command the Train, with Captain
PuUeyn as his adjutant. The Headquarters also
included Captain Bird, Conductor Galway, Kot
DufFadar Jiwan and two or three orderlies. No. i
Corps was to sail as soon as ships could be made
ready, and on March 27 s.s. Ramazan and another
steamer arrived in the -docks, and work was im-
niediately put in hand to fit up these ships for
carrying mules. I spent a good deal of time advis-
ing on the arrangements, and planning the disposal
of my command on board. It was decided that the
whole of No. I Corps and one troop of No. 2 should
sail in these two ships. PuUeyn, Conductor Gal-
way and Kot DufFadar Jiwan were to accompany
us : 577 mules were allotted to the Ramazan^ and
620 to the other vessel.
Rennison arrived in Marseilles accompanied by
Singer, who had managed to persuade the authori-
ties that his services were indispensable till the
2nd Mule Corps actually left France. At Mar-
seilles he made strong representations with a view
to accompanying the Mule Train to Gallipoli.
" How could the Train," he argued, " find its way
through Turkey without a French interpreter; and
Yfho more suitable than he, for had he not once
spent a night in Constantinople? Moreover, there
were to be French troops alongside the British and
Indians. His knowledge of Hindustani would be
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THE SCENE CHANGES 129
invaluable." (With his great facility for languages,
Singer had picked up quite a lot of Hindustani.)
But the authorities were adamant, and Singer had
to return to the Western Front. He had a good
time in Marseilles, though! Moillis received a
commission, and wrote that he had been posted
as interpreter to the headquarters of an English
Brigade.
Rennison had been ordered to leave four British
Warrant and N.C.O.s and one Indian adjutant
behind with the pack-mules. He had selected
Mr. Nagle, Mr. Green, Sergeants Jennings and
Staton to remain, and Ressaidar Ghulam Mahomed.
He brought Ressaidar Amir Khan, Sergeants
Levings and Grainge with him. I was anxious to
get Sergeant Levings posted to No. i Corps, but
failed. It was disappointing, too, to leave my
adjutant and Green and Staton behind : all had
performed valuable services, and I should miss
them greatly.
Whilst at Marseilles I received a letter from
Colonel Hennessy asking for names of any men
whose good work at the front I desired to -see re-
warded. As a result Sergeant Levings was men-
tioned in despatches a second time : Kot DufFadars
Bahawal Din and Fatteh Khan, Naicks Khan Ghul
and Mahomed Khan, and Driver Ruph Singh,
27th Mule Corps (attached), received the Indian
Distinguished Service Medal. I had letters from
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I30 ON TWO FRONTS
the C.O.s of several battalions expressing their
regret at losing their mule-transport and their
appreciation of what the men had done, and Renni-
son showed me a letter he had had from the C.R.A.
Lahore Division, referring to the invaluable
services of the men of the 2nd Mule Corps with
the Ammunition Columns.
Our two transports were ready on April 3, and
loading began. It took a long time to take to
pieces and load 550 carts. We were booked to
sail on the 5th. That morning, at 6 a.m., we
started embarking the mules, and the whole 11 97
were safely aboard by 11.30. All the animals
were slung on board in pairs, and the rapidity with
which it was accomplished was very satisfactory.
At the last moment it was decided to send Captain
Baddeley, of the 15 th Lancers, in command of
troops in one ship. He had commanded at the
front a contingent of mule-transport from the army
of the Native State of Indore, and his men and
animals were being embodied in No. 4 Corps,
whose arrival he was to await at the base. Con-
ductors Appleby and Galway and Sergeant Smith
travelled with him; Captain Pulleyn, Conductor
Brown and Sergeant Clarke with me in the
Ramazan
After an inspection of the two ships by the Base
Commandant, we started that afternoon on our
journey. The weather was perfect; the prospect
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' THE SCENE CHANGES 131
. ■
of a few days' soothing voyage, with unknown i
adventures to follow, was an attractive one. ■
Regret at leaving France was tempered by a
pleasant feeling of anticipation.
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CHAPTER XII
EASTWARD BOUND
The voyage to Alexandria, to which port the
skipper's sealed orders directed him to proceed, was
a thoroughly enjoyable rest for everybody. The
weather was ideal, and the ship most comfortable,
there being ample and well-arranged accommoda-
tion for men and animals. The skipper. Captain
Leggat, a particularly nice fellow, wished to make
over his cabin to me and to sleep in the chart-
room; but, naturally,' I could not accept this sacri-
fice. I shared with PuUeyn a large two-berth
cabin — better than many one sees on large liners,
though the Ramazan was quite a small tramp
steamer with a speed of eight knots. Captain
Leggat, who had commanded her ever since she
was launched, took a great pride in her.
Every morning we had C.O.'s inspection.
Otherwise, apart from stable routine, no work was
done. The other transport sailed just after us,
but next morning she had dropped astern and was
out of sight, which greatly pleased Captain Leggat,
for the Ramazan was supposed to be a slower ship
than the other, which reached Alexandria only an
hour behind us on April ii.
13a
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EASTWARD BOUND 133
The harbour was full of shipping of every de-
scription, including at least a dozen captured
German liners which were being used for trans-
ports. We went ashore to report ourselves, and
now learned something of the plan of campaign.
A force composed of an Army Corps of Australians
and New Zealanders, the 29th British Division,
the Royal Naval Division, and about 30,000
French troops, was to effect a landing in Gallipoli,
with the capture of Constantinople as its ultimate
objective. The base was to be Alexandria, and the
advance base the island of Lemnos. The force
had been fitted out with transport on the British
scale.
Colonel Koe (now Major-General Koe, C.B.,
C.M.G.), on being appointed Director of Supply
and Transport, had asked for some Indian Mule
Transport as a sort of " emergency ration " in case
British Transport should prove unsuitable. He
had seen Indian Mule Transport in China, and had
been struck by its adaptability to rough conditions.
At present no role had been assigned to the Mule
Corps : it was to be used " as required ^\ One
hundred and thirty-eight carts were to be handed
over to an Indian Infantry Brigade, expected
shortly in Alexandria from the Canal bank; the
remainder of the Corps was to disembark and
camp at Mex Camp, while one Captain, two Sub-
alterns and several N.C.O.s were to be detailed
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134 ON TWO FRONTS
to accompany the 138 carts. I explained to Colonel
Koe that I myself was the only officer with 500
carts, and that Baddeley had received orders to
remain at the base. The next morning the Rama^.
zan was berthed alongside a wharf, and disembarka-
tion began. We had been at it about two hours,
when orders arrived to increase the number of
carts for the Indian Brigade to 184. These were
to be disembarked and sent to Camp Mex, and the
rest of the Corps was to go straight to the advance
base.
This was capital news. The prospect of sitting
in camp at Alexandria was not an alluring one:
having come so far, we wished to see the show.
I asked Colonel Koe to be allowed to send four
complete troops to the Indian Brigade, i. e. 200
carts instead of 184, so as not to upset the organisa-
tion, and received permission to do so. I then ob-
served that it was a pity the Ramazan had been
berthed and not the other ship, because I should
have liked to detail the four troops of the 15 th
Mule Corps from the latter; these were all men
of the same caste, and it would be a good plan
to keep them together. To my surprise. Colonel
Koe at once agreed and arranged for the Ramazan
to be taken out into the stream and the other
vessel brought alongside. It meant a certain
amount of extra trouble, as the stuff already un-
loaded from the Ramazan had first to be reloaded;
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.EASTWARD BOUND 135
but It was well worth it, though few officers unac-
customed to the idiosyncrasies of Indian troops
would have recognised the fact.
The disembarkation of the four troops was a
slow business, for the crew were both unruly and
careless. The men at the crane made two or three
mistakes, resulting in some cart-bodies being
dropped into the harbour. Their recovery by a
diver was regarded by the Indians as a miracle.
Wheri: the man, clad in his weird uniform, dis-
appeared from view, they gaped with astonishment.
The reappearance of the lost articles was greeted'
with loud cheers, and when the diver himself
returned to the surface their amazement know no
bounds. They had seen a lot of stfapge happen-
ings during their sojourn in the West, but the
performance of the diver was one which impressed
them most. The celebrated mango trick was a
fool compared to this. ^ If they had dared, I
believe they would have dropped a mule over-
board, just to see the show again, and expected, it
to come up alive.
The four troops left for Lemnos on April 17.
Transports were leaving Alexandria daily with
units of the Australians and of the 29th Division.
Probably^ no finer Division than this ever took the
field in any campaign, for it was composed of bat-
talions which had been on foreign service when
war broke out. Officers and men were hardened.
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136 ON TWO FRONTS
trained and desciplined veterans, whose appear-
ance justified the feeling that if there were a
tough job to be done, these were the men to do it.
The K.O.S.B.s embarked at the wharf opposite
to that at which we had been berthed. Their
discipline could be gauged from the way they
formed up and went aboard : it was proved by their
behaviour at Krithia a fortnight later, when they
added fresh lustre to the records of a famous
regiment.
The Ramazan was about to leave Alexandria,
when an order was received to '" stop all ships sail-
ing." Again it looked as if we were to be left
behind. It transpired that the troopship Manitou
had been attacked by a Turkish torpedo-boat some-
where oS Smyrna, and two others were said to be
about. Three torpedoes had been fired, all of
which missed, though some lives were lost through
the capsizing of a boat. H.M.S. Minerva had
sunk the torpedo-boat.
On April 19 the Ramazan got away. She
joined a fleet consisting of six French transports,
the hospital ship Gascon and a British supply ship,
escorted by the French cruiser Jeanne d^Arc. Late
in the evening the cruiser signalled to us to go
on alone and make for Mudros harbour, Lemnos.
It was odd that in the Ramazan there was
nobody excepting myself who could read the Morse
code. It was fortunate that I could do so, for we
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EASTWARD BOUND 137
needed it quite a lot. Having been regimental
Signalling Officer in the Somersets for three years,
I had not quite forgotten the art. Conductor Gal-
way had to read the signals in our other transport,
there being no ship's officer qualified to do so.
Late in the night, after leaving Alexandria, the
skipper sent down to my cabin to ask me to come
up on the bridge and read some lamp-signals. A
ship was signalling quite close to us, and the skipper
could not make her out at aU. She was a man-o'-
war, but she flew no flag and was certainly not
British, and he thought she might be an enemy.
First she sent " What's your name ? "; then " Your
number.?" To this we replied with an electric
torch — there being no signalling equipment on
board — that we had no number. Most of the
transports had been allotted numbers, which were
painted on their sides, but for some reason or other
we had not been given one. The strange vessel
signalled, "State your number at once.'' We
replied as before. Then, " Your destination ? "
By this time I was in two minds whether to sound
the alarm and turn out the men ready to take to
the boats. However, her next signal was, " Pro-
ceed with your voyage. Good-night." I replied
*^ Good-night," and returned to bed.
The Ramazan arrived safely at Mudros on April
22, having seen no sign of the enemy torpedo-
boats. During the summer she made several more '
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138 ON TWO FRONTS
successful trips between Alexandria and the Pen-
insula, but she did the dangerous journey once
too often/ After being badly holed by a shell at
Suvla Bay, she fell a victini to a submarine, and
wae torpedoed and sunk in September.
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CHAPTER. XIII
MUDROS BAY
The scene at Mudros Bay was interesting in
the extreme. Probably nothing to compare with
it has ever been seen or will be seen again.
Mudros is a fine natural harbour of picturesque
shape, with numerous small bays; and the island
of Lemnos, rather bare of trees but green after the
recent rain, made an effective background to a
wonderful picture, for in the harbour lay every
conceivable kind of vessel that sails the seas.
Battleships of the latest class, Dreadnoughts,
cruisers, destroyers, torpedo-boats, submarines,
mine-sweepers, sea-plane ship, transports of every
size and kind, hospital-ships, trawlers, paddle-
boats, picket-boats, steam and electric launches,
cutters and dinghies were there, British and French.
There was one Russian cruiser as well, the Askold^
a strange-looking vessel with five funAels. The
^ueen Elizabeth^ Triumph and Majestic were
close to our allotted berth. Sea-planes were in the
air carrying out preliminary reconnaissances.
Many of the transports had lighters in tow to
be used for landing guns, animals and stores.
139
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I40 ON TWO FRONTS
The troops were to land from rowing-boats towed
by picket-boats, or from ships* cutters pulled by
crews of bluejackets. Practice landings were
going on. We saw men lined up on the decks of
cruisers and destroyers. On the word of com-
mand they leapt into the cutters lying alongside
and were pulled ashore, where, led by an officer in
the bow, they would spring on to the beach and,
taking extended order, advance at the double.
The coast of Lemnos was most suitable for this
exercise.
There were already several camps on the island,
and huts were beginning to spring up in addition
to tents, for some of the troops had been at Lemnos
for nearly two months. The French had a large
camp at the further end of the harbour. On these
April days it looked a pleasant enough place to
live in; it was very different in September, all
parched and burnt up, with not a blade of green
grass to rest the eye.
Soon after our arrival, the A.D.T., M.E.F.,
Major Striedinger, came aboard, bringing the
thrilling news that the landing was to begin on the
25th, and that our Corps was to take part in it.
The A.D.T. saw no prospect of landing the carts
at first, and expected that the mules would have to
swim ashore. In the event of it not being feasible
to land carts, it had been decided to use our mules
for carrying packs. ^ The saddle is convertible.
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MUDROS BAY 141
It is primarily a pack-saddle; but, with the addition
of a pin to secure the curricle-bar, a different pat-
tern of breast-piece and a pair of traces and swingle-
trees, it can be adapted for draught work : all these
extras a^e carried by the driver in his bundle of ,
gear. There are several Mule Corps which are not
equipped with the combined pack and draught
saddle, and it seemed rather a stroke of luck for the
Dardanelles expedition that ours did not happen
to be one of them!
Being a cart corps, we had no receptacles for
carrying water as a pack load. I had tried to get
some canvas bags or tanks during our brief stay
in Alexandria, but without success : this was a
great misfortune and was a serious handicap
throughout our stay in Gallipoli. It was not until
August that we were provided with a sufficient
number of really satisfactory water-carrying
receptacles.
The Ramazan anchored about two ships' lengths
from our other transport, just inside the boom
which had been laid right across the entrance to
the harbour to protect the shipping from submarine
attack. We paid her a visit, and learned from
Baddeley that they had been there for two days
without receiving any orders.
There was great di$culty in getting about the
harbour: the only means of doing so was by
manning a ship's boat. This was no joke if one
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142 ON TWO FRONTS
had far to go, for it was very heavy pulling. How-
ever, it was absolutely essential that I should see
Colonel Koe before leaving Mudros, so Captain
Leggat provided a boat and crew, and we rowed
abouj a mile to the Royal Mail Yacht Arcadian.
On board were Sir Ian Hamilton and the Staff of
the M.E.F. Here I received orders to detail 150
carts, with 324 mules and establishment, for service
with the 25th Division which was to land at the
point of the Peninsula. The rest of the Corps
was to go with the Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps to Gaba Tepe, about ten miles up
the coast.
The plan of campaign was for the 29th Division
to attack from the toe of the Peninsula, and push
back the Turkish Army, which was known to be
entrenched there, into the arms of the Australasians.
The Asiatic shore was to be heavily bombarded
by the ships, to give the idea that this was the main
attack, and a French force was to be landed there,
while other feints of landing were to be made by
the Royal Naval Division further up the coast.
I asked whether the two detachments of my Corps
were likely to link up again, and was told that if
they did not do so in three days the campaign
would have failed. It was eight months before the
failure was admitted to be irrevocable: all that
time the British and French forces did their level
best to txu-n it into a success.
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MUDROS BAY 143
We were to land, carrying three days' rations
for men and animals. Seven days' rations were to
be laid out on board, ready to be landed at the first
opportunity. No kit whatever was to be taken
ashore except what we stood up in: the ships
would remain standing off the coast, and we should
be able to get what we wanted from them after-
wards. I was advised to take ashore the minimum
number of men required, and to leave all unneces-
sary people behind . for the present, as there was
sure to be difficulty about water. The services of
Captains Baddeley and PuUeyn and of Conductor
Galway were placed at my disposal. Colonel Koe
said that, even with them, we had not nearly
enough officers, and that the other Mule Corps
from France could spare them better than we could.
Baddeley was senior to me, but fortunately we were
the best of friends, and he was so keen to accom-
pany the first landing force that the question of
seniority did not bother him at all. The Ramazan
was detailed for Cape Helles, and the other trans-
port for the Gaba Tepe fleet.
I quickly made up my mind that Baddeley should
take command of the three troops with the 29th
Division, whilst I would accompany the remainder
(four troops) with the Australians. The next thing
to do was to report myself at Headquarters of the
Australian Army Corp. Another bout of rowing,
and we drew alongside the Headquarters ship, and
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144 ON TWO FRONTS
found on board Colond LessHe and Major Wag-
stafF, both of the R.E., who were on General Bird-
wood's Staff. They introduced me to Brigadier-
General Carruthers, the D.A. & Q.M.G. of the
Army Corps, and Colonel Knox, the A.Q.M.G.
Both these officers seemed much pleased to hear
that they were to have some Indian mules, as the
question of ammunition and water-supply was
rather troubling them, though Colonel Knox was
disappointed that we . had no water-receptacles.
He took me to General Birdwood's cabin to report
myself. I had met the General two or three times
at Old Cliftonian dinners in India. He is one of
the most loyal of Old Clif tonians, and always turns
up if he possibly can. After lunching with Major
WagstafF, I repaired back to the Ramazan to write
my orders, armed with a copy of "Operation
Orders No. i '' for the landing at Gaba Tepe.
Later on I sent this historic document home by
post, but to my intense disgust it never arrived.
That evening I issued my orders as follows :
Three troops of the ist Mule Corps on board the
Ramazan to land atCapeHelles; Captain Baddeley
to command, assisted by Sergeant Clarke (who
belonged to the ist Mule Corps and knew the
men). The remaining two troops in the Ramazan
(belonging to the 9th Mule Corps) to join the
Australasian Army Corps at Gaba Tepe, after dis-
embarking Captain Baddeley's party; Captain
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MUDROS BAY 145
iPulleyn to command. The two troops in the
other transport were to go direct to Gaba Tepe
under my own command, with Conductor Brown.
I should have liked to transfer two troops from the
Ramazan then and there, but this was impossible,
as there were no lighters available. These orders
involved my moving across to the other transport,
and Conductor Brown also. Captain Baddeley
and Conductor Galway had to come over to the
Ramazan.
On the evening of the 24th the ships began to
pass out through the boom, all the troops in the
finest spirits, full of enthusiasm after the long
delay. The Australians and New Zealanders espe-
cially were longing for a fight, anxious to prove
what Colonial troops could do. , Most of them had
spent the winter in Egypt, and had been disap-
pointed at not being sent to France; but now they
were to have their innings, and they meant to make
the best of it. With bands playing, and men
cheering wildly, the transports steamed up the
harbour. The greetings between the French and
British as they passed one another were particularly
cordial: it was to be a joint enterprise, in which
the Allies learned to recognise each other's worth.
Amongst the transports was a singular vessel.
In her port side was a gaping hole, and as she
passed us, crowded to her fullest capacity with
British soldiers, I noticed that the bridge was sand-
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146 ON TWO FRONTS
bagged like a trench, and I read on her port bow
the words. "River Cly*\ This was the now'
famous River Clyde : the last two letters had been
cut off, for that was where the hole began. She
was to be run aground, and put her troops ashore
through the hole in her side, the hull of the vessel
acting as some protection from fire. Machine-guns
were mounted on the bridge to cover the landing.
Our skipper presently received orders to take
his ship into the inner harbour, to embark a portion
of the Zion Mule Corps. The transport in which
half the Zion Mule Corps had come from the base
had gone aground, and our ship, being half empty,
was to take them aboard. This meant that, instead
of making direct for Gaba Tepe, we should have to
go first with the Cape Helles fleet, for this portion
of the Zionists was detailed for the 29th Division.
It looked as though we were to be done out of
taking part in the first landing; and in a sense we
were, for, although we did land, we only did so to
assist the Zionists instead of in our own right.
Considering that a month previously this Zion
Mule Corps had not even begun to exist, it was
distinctly tantalising to be set aside in their favour.
However, it was the fortune of war. Besides,
they had water-receptacles, and we had not.
Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson, D.S.O., who com-
manded them, came aboard to arrange for the
accommodation of men and animals. A few
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MUDROS BAY 147
words about the Zion Mule Corps are perhaps
required in explanation. The Corps had been
raised by Colonel Patterson, on the invitation of
General Maxwell, Commanding the Troops in
Egypt, expressly for service with the Dardanelles
Expedition. The men were all Jew refugees from
Syria, and were a motley crowd, speaking many
different languages. There were six British
officers; all the rest were foreigners, and there was
one man to each mule. The mules were a fine
stamp of animal — much bigger than ours, and the
equipment was different. They had wooden crates
for carrying kerosene oil tins filled with water, two
four-gallon tins on each side, so each mule carried
sixteen gallons. Colonel Patterson told me he had
not had time to get his tins painted : as it was,
they could be seen for miles, glistening in the sun.
The raising of this Corps was a remarkable feat :
three weeks after the first man had signed on, the
Corps had left the base, and inside a month they
were under fire. It was the first complete Jew
unit to take the field for something like two
thousand years.
The whole of the night of the 24th was occupied
in transferring the Zionists. It was to our own
interest, as well as to the interest of the expedition,
to render every assistance in our power, and all the
work in the ship was done by the Indians, who
were kept hard at it the whole night. The ship was
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148 ON TWO FRONTS
timed to sail at 6 a.m., and the skipper announced
his intention of leaving at that hour whether the
Zionists were on board or not. This necessitated
Colonel Patterson making a trip to Headquarters
to get the orders changed, and he returned shortly
before we were about to weigh anchor with
authority to delay the start until his unit was on
board. It was nine o'clock before we eventually
got away. As we passed our former anchorage,
I was surprised to see the Ramazan still lying at
anchor. She signalled that she had had no orders
to move : owing to an oversight, her orders to sail
with the Cape Helles fleet at daybreak had not
been delivered. It was too late then to do any-
thing, and, signalling to her "Good luck", we
passed out through the boom.
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CHAPTER XIV
THE FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI
It was a glorious morning. A more auspicious
day for the great landing could not have been
chosen: not a cloud in the sky nor a breath of
wind; the air cool and crisp, and the sun shining
brilliantly. Soon the sound of guns became
audible. The coast of Imbros was passed on the
port side, and Tenedos, where the aeroplane base
was established, on the starboard. As the outline
of the coast of Gallipoli came in sight, all the
officers gathered on the bridge, glasses in hand.
Colonel Patterson had with him Lieutenants Gye
and Rolo : they spoke Arabic and French, which
served with some of the Zionists, though many
spoke only Russian, and some, strange to say,
nothing but German.
The skipper had been given a chart with his
orders, showing where to take up his station. It
was just like a plan of the stalls of artheatre. ^ There
were six rows of berths for transports, and our place
was second from the right in the second row — B 2
it wouH have been in a box-office plan. As we
stood on the bridge surveying the wonderful
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ISO ON TWO FRONTS
panorama, the thought crossed my mind that
an American millionaire would have given any
money to have changed places with one of us that
day.
We were almost opposite the nfuouth of the Dar-
danelles, standing off wjiat was afterwards known
as " V Beach ^\ about a mile and a half out. Hjpre
the River Clyde could be seen aground near the
shore; but the plan had not worked out quite as
intended, for she grounded a little too far from the
coast, and a pier had to be constructed of lighters
to enable the troops to land. It was for their
splendid courage in fixing this pier that Captain
Unwin, R.N., and two midshipmen received the /
Victoria Cross. In the Clyde were Munster and
Dublin Fusiliers, and some of the Hampshire
Regiment.
Between the " stalls *' and the coast were numer-
ous battleships and cruisers firing broadsides.
EuryaluSy flagship of the Helles fleet, away on our
port bow, carried the Admiral and General Hunter-
Weston, Commanding the 29th Division: other
ships supporting the landing were the London^
Lord NelsoHj Agamemnon and Cornwallis. One
or two were beyond the mouth of the Straits. The
Russian cruiser Askold — conspicuous for her five
funnels — ^and several French ships were firing on
the Asiatic side. With the naked eye we could dis-
tinctly see the bursting of the shells, and with our
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FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI 151
glasses could sometimes follow their effect. Kura
Kale, on the Asiatic side, a village of mud build-
ings, was undergoing a furious bombardment.
Shell after shell of large calibre burst over it, and
houses and huts were literally blown into mid-air.
The hill of Achi Baba, too, was receiving a great
deal of attention. Terrific clouds of smoke and
dust heralded the arrival on its peak of the twelve-
inch contributions of the Cormvallis and other
ships. '
N But at V Beach the landing on that Sunday
morning had failed. The village of Sedd-el-Bahr
was found to contain machine-guns and snipers
galore, and it was necessary to defer the landing
until the village had been cleared. The men in
the Clydey as they emerged from the ship, had
almost all been shot down: the men in the tows
fared no better. Only a very few got ashore.
Late in the afternoon, the ships' guns opened on
Sedd-el-Bahr; and, with the assistance of a Brigade,
which, headed by the Lancashire Fusiliers, had
fought their way up the cliffs at W Beach a few
hundred yards to the left, the village was cleared
of the enemy. A successful landing at V was
effected that night, and in the early hours of
Monday morning. The Dublins and Munsters
lost between them over 800 men — many of them
killed before they ever set foot ashore. A com-
posite battalion was afterwards formed from the
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152 ON TWO FRONTS
remnants of the two battalions, and called the
" Dubsters ".
On the Monday the shelling on the Eiiropean
side was less, and the landing was continued suc-
cessfully. Some of the batteries were put ashore,
and we could see the guns being dragged up the
rough cliff road and coming into action on the
crest. On the Asiatic side there was heavy artil-
lery fire all day, and it seemed as if the French
must be meeting with strong opposition. At inter-
vals, transports would arrive from Mudros and
drop anchor at their allotted berths. The " stalls "
were filling up and we watched anxiously for the
Ramazarij but she did not appear. Occasionally a
picket-boat would come out and a naval officer
would shout orders through a megaphone to the
skipper of a transport. Than the ship would move
out of the line and go closer in to discharge her
cargo. We waited eagerly for our turn: surely
the mules must be wanted to carry ammunition
to the men as they advanced further from the
beaches. Colonel Patterson took a ship's boat
and pulled over to the Euryalus where he reported
himself to General Hunter- Weston. On his
return we heard that things were going satisfac-
torily now, but the landing of the covering parties
had been effected at a terrible cost, and progress
was very slow. Both the hospital-ships had
steamed away on the Sunday morning full of
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FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI 153
wounded. Now the wounded had to be taken to
the empty transports, for no more hospital-ships
were available.
At last the picket-boat was seen heading in our
direction. Through the megaphone came the
question, " Is the Zion Mule Corps on board? "
" Yes,^^ we shouted back.
"Well, you are to go in alongside the Corn-
wallisj and land at once."
The Cornwallis was opposite V Beach, a mile or
so closer in. She was in action all the time, and
when we drew alongside the concussion caused by
her big guns shook our ship.
A party of bluejackets, under Lieutenant
Bowden-Smith, R.N., of the Euryalusy came
aboard to assist the landing of the Zionists. .The
mules were slung from the holds into lighters,
which were made fast to the ship. Colonel Pat-
terson had asked for eight Indians to go ashore
with each lighter to help his men, and all my
drivers wanted to be the first to land. The selec-
tion fell on a Dogra, Naick Narain Singh, and men
of his troop. When the lighters were ready a
picket-boat took them in tow and made for the
River Clyde. On nearing the pier, she cast off
the lighters, and the men had to jump into the
water with the mules. Led by Driver Bir Singh,
a splendid little Dogra, with four mules, they leapt
into the sea which was about up to their necks.
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154 ON TWO FRONTS
4s they stepped ashore, a shell from behind
whistled over their heads and plunged into the
sand just in front of them. The men knew they
would land under fire : they would have been dis-
appointed if there had been none; but this was
entirely unexpected. My first thought was that
it was a shell with a defective fvise from one of our
ships, which had. burst short. But one after
another they came, and soon we realised that they
were being fired from Asia, across the mouth of
the Straits. The beach was only a narrow strip
of sand, with a low bank under which the first
parties from the Clyde had taken shelter, but which
provided no shelter at all from these "whizz-
bangs". They were only small shells, however,
and did very little damage. I saw two men sitting
under the bank boiling a kettle: a shell burst
between the two, hurting neither, but I don*t think
they got their tea.
It was a busy scene on this strip of beach and
on the grassy slopes above. Under the walls of
the village of Sedd-el-Bahr, which afforded some
protection from the Asiatic shells, was a big camp
of French troops; they had piled their arms and
were sitting about, smoking cigarettes. The
Anson Battalion of the Royal Naval Division was
acting as " beach party ", pulling guns ashore and
dealing with all sorts of stores : they paid no atten-
tion to the fire. By now all the machine-guns and
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FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI 155
snipers commanding the beach had been disposed
of, and the infantry had advanced far enough to
put the beach out of rifle range. As the mules
came ashore, they were rushed up to an empty
space near the French camp and picketed there. A
lighter containing water-tins had arrived at the
pier, and Colonel Patterson was organising a chain
of his- men to pass them along from hand to hand.
These Zionists were taking their baptism of fire
well : they had their fill of it the next few days, for
water and ammunition were required at once, and
the men had to go straight into action.
Several of the naval oflicers superintending the
landing had had no sleep since leaving Mudros
and were pretty well played out, but they carried
on regardless of themselves. A lighter containing
guns drew in, and men were wanted to drag them
ashore and up the slope. Everybody lent a hand.
A naval officer fixed a long rope to the gun, and
a mixed team of sailors, soldiers. Marines and
mule-drivers hauled it up the hill. Everybody
seemed to be in a good temper and anxious to help
everybody else.
Above the beach a burial party was hard at work
digging a huge grave: close by were laid the
corpses of the gallant men who had fallen in the
last two days. There were quite 300 laid out in
rows. A padre and a couple of doctors walked
down the lines, collecting identification discs and
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156 ON TWO FRONTS
making lists. It was a grim sight, but death seems
different in war.
" Poor fellows,'* some one said. " How young
they look.''
But sxirely it is not the men themselves that we
should pity. For them to die thus is a glorious
thing. It is to those who love them and are left
behind that one's sympathy goes out. Many
bodies lay under the water, close to the beach:
weighed down by their heavy kit, men had fallen
and been unable to rise. Others had been shot
in the boats before they reached the shore. A
bluejacket told me that in his boat seventeen
soldiers out of twenty had been hit.
A distinguished-looking French General, with
an English Staff Officer, was strolling up and down.
He hailed Colonel Patterson as an old friend, and
the Colonel introduced me to General d'Amade,
the Commander of the French force.
Headquarters of the 29 th Division were at W
Beach. I was anxious to let them know that
Baddeley, with 300 mxiles, was in the Ramazafiy
only waiting for orders to land. Colonel Patter-
son came with me along the cliff to W Beach,
afterwards known as Lancashire Landing, to com-
memorate the heroic deeds of the Lancashire
Fusiliers. On the way we passed the fort of Sedd-
el-Bahr, where on two of the huge but antiquated
guns direct hits had been made. This fort had
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FIRST' LANDING IN GALLIPOLI 157
been put out of action during the naval bombard-
ment in March : it was in a very exposed position,
in full view from the sea, and the gun-emplace-
ments were anything but up to date. We came
upon a party of Engineers pumping water into a
canvas tank. They had found a splendid spring
in the clifF, and were getting a plentiful supply of
water.
The A.Q.M.G. of the 29th Division promised
to wire for the Ramazan to start from Mudros at
once. He wanted pack-mules badly, for it was
quite obvious that wheeled transport could not be
used \intil better roads had been made.
It was getting dark when we found a picket-
boat to take us back to our ship. The Asiatic
battery was at it again, and shells hit the beach,
the water and the Clyde. Orders came to dis-
continue landing during the night, for the tide
made it difficult.
On our retiirn. Colonel Patterson sent Rolo
ashore to look after the men already landed, and
ordered Gye to remain until the ship was cleared.
It had been a very exciting day. There was no
feeling of being " out of it *^ now : one was in it
with a vengeance.
The landing of the Zionists was completed next
day. During the morning some more French
troops landed near Cape Greco, and we watched
them climb the clifF and advance to the attack.
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158 ON TWO FRONTS
The Turks opened artillery fire at them from front
and rear, but their shooting was very bad indeed,
^nd the French went on calmly in extended order.
The Asiatic batteries were pitching their shells
short, most of them falling into the sea, and such
casualties as did occur were from shrapnel fire in
front. Some excitement was caused by a Taube
visiting the shipping: it dropped six bombs, the
nearest of which fell a ship^s length from our bows
into the sea, making a terrific splash which dis-
persed the men on the forecastle.
As soon as the Zionists were off, we made for
Gaba Tepe. As we steamed up the coast we were
overtaken by two famous ships, the ^ueen Eliza-
bethy going dead slow beside us all the way, and
the Amethyst. The renowned " Lizzie " is mag-
nificent, with her 1 5-inch guns fore and aft. The
cruiser Amethyst had the distinction of having
gpne fxirther up the Dardanelles than any other
ship. OfF Gaba Tepe we dropped anchor a mile
out, between the balloon-ship and H.M.S. Ark
Royaly which carried the sea-planes.
The transports of the Australasian Army Corps,
with their covering ships and the great sausage-
balloon hovering over them, had been visible from
Cape Helles. The landing here had been efi^ected
with success; but the impetuous Colonials who
formed the covering-party had gone too far with-
out supports, and, running short of ammunition,
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FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI 159
had had to retire to their first position. They were
evidently firmly established now, for the landing
was in full swing. It was not long before a tug
and lighters canie out to us, and the disembarkation
of the mules began.
The first impression given hy the now famous
Anzac position was one of amazement that it could
ever have been taken at all. The beach is very
narrow, and the difFs rise almost sheer from the
sea. Gaba Tepe Point lies a mile to the south, and
it was there that it had been intended to land, but
in the grey light of dawn the ships had overshot
the mark, and it was well that they did so, for the
landing at " Anzac ** took the enemy by surprise.
They had made none of the elaborate prepara-
tions for defence which characterised Cape Helles,
and Gaba Tepe, too, as we afterwards discovered.
There was no barbed wire, and the Turks had to
bring guns up and train them on the beach after
the landing had actually begun. But the storming
of the heights was a glorious feat of arms of which
the Colonial troops and their countrymen are
entitled to be proud. Walker^s Ridge on the left
looks a well-nigh impregnable position, towering
above the sea to a height of perhaps 400 feet. The
only easy gradient was through the. valley after-
wards known as Shrapnel Valley and Monash
Gully; but this was a perfect death-trap, for snipers
and machine-guns lay concealed in the thick under-
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growth of the hills on either side. From the sea,
shrapnel could be seen bursting on top of the clifFs,
over the beaches and on the water, for the position
was in full view of the Turkish gunners at Gaba
Tepe. Every boat that went ashore was shelled,
but luckily the shooting was none too good.
As our first two lighters laden with mules ap-
proached the land, one of them began to sink.
Hurriedly letting down the end of the lighter, the
mules were pushed into the water and made their
own way ashore, while the men jumped into the
other lighter. All the mules were saddled up, so
no equipment was lost — only a few bags of grain
and bales of hay. I found Colonel Knox on the
beach with his head bound up, having been hit by
a splinter of shell the first day. He told me that
for the present my detachment would be attached
to the Australian Division, and that I was to report
to Colonel Marsh, of the A.S.C.
The congestion on the narrow beach was appal-
ling : there was scarcely room to move. The por-
tion now known as Anzac Cove was the chief centre
of activity. Here a couple of rough piers had been
built by the Engineers, and all day and night
picket-boats and lighters were drawing alongside
with loads of men, guns, animals, ammunition and
stores. Supply and Ordnance depots were estab-
lished on the beach, where there were already a lot
of battery horses and gun-limbers and two sets of
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FIRST LANDING IN ^GALLIPOLI i6i
mule-lines. A portion of the 33rd Mule Corps
had landed with two Indian Mountain Batteries,
and the other half of the Zion Corps was already
ashore and attached to the New Zealand Division.
It took three days to clear our ship. The ninety
carts had to be put together in the hold and then
slung complete into lighters. The hold of a ship,
crammed with component parts of carts, is not
exactly the place one would choose to work in,
and we were terriWy short-handed. No naval
working party was provided here : the drivers had
to do all the work, find parties to escort every
lighter-load of mules, and work the mules ashpre.
But the men worked hard, with little rest, until
the job was finished. One nasty accident occurred.
A ladder leading from the 'tween-decks to the hold
gave way, and a driver fell headlong some thirty
feet into the midst of the carts. He was very
badly hurt, fractxiring a thigh and sustaining other
injuries. A signal was made to the hospital-ship
Devanhay which, with great promptitude, sent a
boat for the unfortunate man.
With only one Britisher besides myself, the
control of the landing was difficult. It was essen-
tial for one of us to remain ashore to run the trans-
port, and I sent Mr. Brown to do this, myself
making the journey backwards and forwards, at-
tending to the landings and seeing the ship cleared.
Most fortunately. Colonel Marsh could speak
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1 62 ON TWO FRONTS
Hindustani, having served for seyeral years in the
9th Bengal Lancers; and he found another man,
one Driver CuUen of the A.S.C., who also knew
the language and rendered valuable aid. The
mules were picketed on the open beach at the south
end of the position, called Brighton Beach, and
the men scraped out holes in the sandy cliff for
themselves.
No sooner was our ship done with than the
Ramazan arrived and had to be unloaded. She
had disembarked Baddeley and his party at Cape
Helles on the night of the 29th under heavy shell-
fire which had beqi directed on the transports as
well as on the beaches, and the Ramazan had to
weigh anchor and move out of the way. It was
several . days, owing to the scarcity of lighters,
before the ship was emptied and the whole of my
command ashore. One more lighter was sunk
coming in, but fortunately it contained only forage.
It was arranged that the Ramazan should remain
as our depot-ship; so all our reserve gear and
material was left on board, there being no room for
it on the beach.
Before the landing was completed some of the
enemy big guns succeeded in hitting the trans-
ports : at once there was a general scurry, and all
the shipping seemed to be on the move. The
smaller ^ craft hastened to the assistance of the
damaged ships. The transports weighed anchor
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FIRST LANDING IN GALLIPOLI 163
and steamed further out, where they fornled up
again out of range, while the men-o'-war changed
their positions. H.M.S. ^ueen was the flagship
during the Anzac landing, and in addition there
were Triumphy Bacchante^ Prince 0/ Wales and
Ark Royd. The ^ueen Elizabeth only remained
a day or two before going south again. Until the
submarines appeared these ships must have had
rather an enjoyable time : they had plenty of pretty
shooting, and although the enemy tried to retaliate
by sending over some big shells from the forts of
Kilid Bahr and Chanak, which raised great columns
of water where they pitched, no serious damage
was done to a single one of our men-o'-war. The
lot of the trawlers and picket-boats was a much
less enviable one : they had' to run the gauntlet of
shrapnel fire every journey, and were constantly
hit. The cool courage and resource of the mid-
shipmen who commanded the picket-boats was
most praiseworthy, as was their efficiency in hand-
ling their boats. The skippers and crews of the
trawlers were all of the hardy fisherman type, who
spend their lives in peace-time braving the rigours
of the North Sea. To them difficulties and dangers
were a matter of course.
The Turks made furious and frequent attacks,
firing incessantly, so that little sleep was possible;
but the Australians and New Zealanders had gained
their footing and did not mean to lose it. They
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1 64 ON TWO FRONTS
were absolutely confident of their ability to hold
on against all attempts to drive them out. -An
advance was out of the question until the Cape
Helles troops were able to join up. In the mean-
time the position at Anzac threatened the Turkish
line of retreat, and necessitated the retention of a
large force to prevent their communications being
cut.
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CHAPTER XV
EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC
The position at Anzac is best described as a bite
out of a biscuit. It was a rough semi-circle, the
seashore forming the diameter and the trenches
the circumference, while no part of the firing-line
was much more than a mile from the beach, and on
the right and left the flank trenches reached right
down to the sea. The whole area was something
under 700 acres.
On the right, the trenches ran from low ground
by the beach, gradually ascending till at Quinn's
Post and Pope's Hill they must have been 300 feet
above the sea. Working round to the left, the
ground was higher still, culminating in Walker's
Ridge — the most commanding feature of the
position, whence a magnificent view could be
obtained.
Looking to the north, across the low scrub-
covered hills, the village of Anafarta could be seen,
its tall white mosque standing out conspicuously :
beyond were the " W " hills and Suvla Ridge.
Near the sea, the country was flatter and more
open, and only a few hundred yards outside our
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1 66 ON TWO FRONTS
lines were fields of poppies, whose brilliant scarlet
added a pleasing splash of colour to the landscape.
To the west, across the sea, lay the islands of
Imbros and Samothrace. The sun used to set
behind Samothrace with all the glory for which
sunsets in the ^gean Sea are famous. The view
from Walker's Ridge at sundown on a fine day
was hard to beat : its peaceful beauty ought never
to have been disturbed by the din of battle. Anzac
would have been a splendid holiday resort in hap«
pier times, with its grand climate in the early
summer months : fine golf links could be hid out
along the stretch between the old position and
Suvla Bay; there is good sea-fishing, too; and
those rugged hills must surely contain some kinds
of game, while the sea-bathing is of the very best —
the water clear and warm, and deep within a few
yards of the shore.
Almost everywhere the Turkish trenches were
on higher ground than ours. Between the hills
were numerous gullies, used as rest-camps for
troops out of the trenches, for Headquarters of the
Army Corps and Divisions, and for mule-lines:
the most capacious of these was the one lying
behind Walker's Ridge, which later on became the
Headquarters of the Indian Mule Corps, and was
christened " Mule Gully ^\ Next to it was " Re-
serve Gully '% beloved by r2-pounder " Anafarta ''
and one of the *75's. There were three gullies
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC 167
giving on to the main beach at Anzac Cove, known
as New Zealand Gully, Army Corps Gully and
Anzac Gully. On the right. Shrapnel Valley was
a prominent feature : it led to Quinn's Post and
Pope's Hill, two posts where some of the heaviest
fighting took place. The upper part of this valley
was called Monash Gully, after General Monash,
of the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade. Above it,
on the right, was Shell Green — a large open tract
of grass.
From Brighton Beach,' on the right of the posi-
tion, one passed round a point known as Hell Spit
to Anzac Cove, whence by way of Ari Burnu
Point the North Beach was reached. The reverse
slopes of all the gullies and the banks of the cliffs
overhanging the benches soon became a perfect
rabbit-warren of holes, forming the homes of those
members of the force whose work lay behind the
trenches. Every one who would have lived in a
billet in France now had a dug-out for his abode.
In the early days these dug-outs were rough and
ready — no more than a hole scraped in the earth;
but as time went on, and it became evident that
Anzac was to be a standing camp, great ingenuity
(assisted by skilful larceny!) was shown in the con-
struction and improvement of dug-outs. Some
became almost palatial, with roofs, doers, and even
floors and windows.
The first camp of the Mule Corps on Brighton
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Beach was obviously only temporary: it was
merely a question of time before we w6re shelled
out of it. However we had to make the best of
it, so we did our utmost to provide cover for men
and animals by throwing up earthworks and
digging deep into the clifFs, while barricades of
bales of hay, bags of grain and biscuit-boxes were
formed on the exposed flank. We were mainly
dependent on our own efforts, but Colonel Marsh
was very good in providing fatigue parties of the
Australian A.S.C. whenever possible. The drivers
were too busy to spare much time for digging, for
they were constantly going backwards and forwards
to the trenches on the right, carrying supplies and
ammunition. As had been anticipated, the ques-
tion of watering the animals jwas a critical one at
first. Mr. Brown, remembering that he had read
in Robinson Crusoe something about scraping
holes in the sand, adopted this expedient with
instant success, and for the first few days, till it
became brackish, the mules had nothing but water
obtained in this way. When these water-holes
failed, the mules had to go to a well south of
Brighton Beach, which could not be approached
by daylight; and there was not much time to spare
for watering during the hours of darkness, as it
was then that most of the work was done.
On May 4 a demolition party of about 150
men attempted to land at Gaba Tepe Point. Very
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC .169
early in the morning destroyers conveying the
party drew in close to the shore, but the enemy
were not to be caught napping : they were ready
entrenched above the beach, along which lines of
barbed wire were stretched. The Triumph and
the destroyers opened fire to cover the landing, but
the resistance was too great, and the little expedi-
tion had to be taken o£F without accomplishing its
object. Some of the men who had succeeded in
landing made their way along the beach, pursued
by rifle-fire from the Turks: and half a dozen,
very excited, reached our camp safely, but some
had been hit and had to be left behind. This little
affair could be clearly followed with glasses from
Brighton Beach. The destroyers had been very
pluckily handled^for they had gone in within a few
yards of the shore to cover the withdrawal of the
soldiers. The good feeling between soldiers and
sailors was shown by each giving three cheers for
the others as the party disembarked at Brighton
pier.
A day or two later, before our rough entrench-
ments could be completed, the expected shelling
of Brighton Beach began. A man was seen riding
along the sands from Gaba Tepe waving a white
handkerchief. It seemed odd that he should be
doing so in full view of the Turks, if his surrender
was in good faith : it looked rather as though he
were making signals to the enemy, and some of us
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were inclined to finish him off. However, some
Australians on the beach, anxious to secure a
prisoner, rushed out to meet him, rendering it
impossible to shoot without the risk of hitting
them. The man was seized, blindfolded, and
taken to headquarters. Whether there was any
connection between the two incidents I cannot say,
but the fact remains that directly that man was out
of the way the Turks opened with shrapnel, fired
in salvoes of four guns, right into the middle of
the mule camp. Everybody went to ground as
far as possible, but cover was inadequate, and men
and animafe began to fall. As soon as there was
a lull — but not before a good many mules had
been knocked over — an attempt was made to shift
the camp, and the mules were rushed round Hell
Spit Corner, where — out of the enemy's sight —
they were picketed again. All was quiet for two
or three hours, and the men were sent back to
Brighton Beach to fetch the saddlery and gear.
There was only a guard of one N.C.O. and twelve
men present, when Colonel Lesslie, the Military
Landing Officer, came along with the message from
headquarters that all animals were to be moved
off the beach and kept in gullies leading into the
hills. Colonel Lesslie had scarcely given the order,
when "Beachy BilP', as this gun was afterwards
called, opened fire again. sThe guard turned out
at once, and — assisted by Australians and New
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC 171
.Zealanders who were standing about and at once
volunteered for the work — hurriedly unshackled
the mules and led them away. They were fol-
lowed all along the beach by the persistent and
obnoxious attentions of Beachy Bill, whose fire was
more like a violent hail-storm than anything else.
The men who had gone to fetch the gear came
rushing up, headed by Ressaidar Hashmet AH, and
joined in the rescue. Although the site of our
new camp could not be seen hy the enemy, they
must have known where it was, for the fire was
deadly accurate, and before safety could be reached
eighty-nine mules and two horses had been hit; the
N.C.O. of the guard was wounded. Driver Bir
Singh hit in the head, and other Indians and
several Australians were casualties. Many mules
were killed outright, and many others lay where
they had fallen, unable to rise: those had to be
shot, and that evening the beach was strewn with
dead animals — a pitiful sight.
The next thing to be done was to collect the
scattered men and animals and find a new camp.
A visit to the 26th Mountain Battery, encamped
on the slopes above the North Beach, was not
exactly encouraging, for Major Bruce, the O.C.,
said there wasn't a safe square inch anywhere. We
had just started to lay out lines in what seemed a
fairly secluded spot when we were told that to
settle there was to ask for trouble, so we had to
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172 ON TWO FRONTS
tiy elsewhere. Finally Mule Gully was selected,
and here we pitched our camp. But now the
question of water arose again, and animals were
urgently needed for duties on the right flank.
After consultation with Colonel Marsh, it was
decided to leave a troop at Brighton Beach and
to dig them thoroughly into the clifF, whilst the
water question was solved for the time being by
scraping more holes in the sand. Mule Gully was
only about 1 50 yards from the outside trenches on
the left, but the cliffs were steep, and it afterwards
proved to be about the safest place in the whole
position.
On going round the new lines I noticed a big
black mare which had certainly not been there
before. This was the horse which our Turkish
friend had brought in. Nobody seemed to have
a better right to her than our Corps, so I took her
over as a second charger. As things turned out
I never got upon her back, for there was no possi-
bility of riding at Anzac before the Suvla landing
in August, and for those operations I lent the mare
to General Godley, and she was killed.
To take charge of the detached troop the services
of another Hindustani-speaking Britisher were
essential to interpret orders to the men. Mr. Gal-
way had been left in charge on the Ramazan^ and
a signal was made for him to come ashore. He
joined Mr. Brown and myself in our new dug-out
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC 173
one evening, delighted to see something at last,
for in France he had been all the time at a base.
All night long bullets were whistling overhead,
and he told us at breakfast they had kept him
awake, for it was his first experience of fire. We
walked over to Brighton Beach together, and it
was arranged that he should share a dug-out with
the Sergeant-Major of the A.S.C., so I left him
comfortably established there, promising to visit
the detachment every day. That very afternoon
Beachy Bill got on to the detachment with disas-
trous effects : Mr. Galway was killed, two drivers
were wounded, and again we lost a number of.
mules. Galway^s death was a great blow : he was
a splendid-looking man of considerable ability,
with a fine record in the Corps. We buried him
that night, not twenty-four hours after he had left
the ship, the padre reading the service.
A supply-depot was established at the foot of
Mule Gully, in charge of Lieutenants Eliot and
Higginson of the New Zealand A.S.C. These
two officers joined Brown and me in our mess, and
this arrangement lasted for three months. The
mess dug-out, in which I also slept, was made very
comfortable and quite proof against splinters and
bullet^. Brown was both architect and builder,
and showed considerable aptitude for the work.
The earth was dug to a depth of about three feet : •
walls were made of grain-bags filled with sand, a
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174 ON TWO FROKTS
large biscuit-box, with top and bottom knocked
o£F, forming a good window on the west side. A
roof was put on, strips of wood collected from the
wreckage of a boat being used as rafters, with a
cart tarpaulin stretched over them, and two inches
of earth on top. The whole of the south side
above the ground line was left open to give a
splendid view across the position to Ari Burnu
Point, and Imbros Island behind. The furniture
consisted of shelves and cupboards of biscuit-boxes,
a tarpaulin on the floor, a large-size bully-beef box
as a table, a most luxurious camp-chair contributed
by Hashmet Ali, and two stools cleverly made by
the Corps carpenter from odds and ends. My
valise on a layer of hay was the bed, and when
rolled up was used as a fourth chair. The open
side was fitted with curtains made of ration-bags,
which could be let down to keep out the afternoon
sun. It was a perfectly comfortable habitation,
though a little cramped at times. The dimensions
were not more than seven feet long and five feet
wide, and about five feet deep, so that ^hen a
court-martial was in progress, involving the pre-
sence of ten people, or we gave an extra large tea-
party, it was apt to be overcrowded. Brown had
an orderly, Kangan by name, whose fame as a cook
soon spread. It was really wonderful what appetis-
ing dishes he succeeded in serving up with only
ordinary army rations to work upon. It was a
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC 175
long time before any bread or fresh meat rations
were issued, but plain bully beef or Maconochie
rations were good enough for Kangan: he used
some of the spices issued amongst the Indian
rations, and produced stews and curries of quite
extraordinary excellence.
A good road was soon made by the Engineers
from Mule Gully to Walker's Ridge. All the
traffic on this road passed the dug-out, so we had
many callers who would drop in to tea after coming
down for a bathe. All ranks from general officers
to private soldiers came to call, and sometimes a
General would be sitting in one corner of the dug-
out and a private in the other. As likely as not,
officer and man would be brothers, or the former
an old employ^ of the latter. Lieutenant Eliot
met a Major who used to work for him in New
Zealand as a labourer. The discipline was not
quite what the regular army has been brought
up to expect, but it served' the purpose and im-
proved as time went on. I remember one private
soldier calling at the dug-out on some business
matter: he came in, sat down, removed his hat
and mopped his brow, remarking, " Lord lumme,
it's'ot! '»
Stories of the Anzac men are legion : the follow-
ing is typical. A Colonel returning one night to
his trenches stumbled over a recumbent figure at
the bottom of the trench.
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176 ON TWO FRONTS
« Hullo ! '' he said. " Who arc you ? '»
A voice replied, " Pm the sentry."
*'Oh, are you.?" said the Colonel "Pm the
CO."
" Well, 'ang on 'alf a mo', and PU give you a
salute."
But, despite some idiosyncrasies which seemed
strange to us, the Anzacs were magnificent soldiers.
Much has been written of their martial deeds : the
praise that has been lavished upon them is fully
deserved. The standard of education and intelli-
gence in the ranks is so high that almost any man
is fit to command a platoon, and their physique is
wonderful: to watch them bathing was a treat,
for the build and muscle of almost every one of
them would have done credit to a professional
strong man. They are delightful fellows to work
with : in my job I came in contact with almost
every regiment and every department^ both officers
and men. To serve with the Anzac Corps was a
pleasure and an honour.
The Anzacs called every Indian " Johnny " and
treated him like a brother, with the consequence
that the Indians liked them even more than they
had liked the French. I often saw parties of
Australians and New Zealanders sitting in the
lines, eating chupatties and talking to the men;
and Hashmet Ali used to tell me how good they
were to the Indians, and how much the men appr:e-
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC 177
dated it. Many complimentary remarks were
made by the Anzacs about our mules, too. They
were not accustomed to these little, hardy, sure-
footed beasts, which seemed to impress^ them
favourably, for they used to talk of breeding them
for work on their stations after the war.
For the first three weeks nothing but pack-work
could be done. Every night long strings of pack-
mules would wend their way up the hill-tracks to
the trenches, making the short journey four or five
times over and returning to the lines not much
before daybreak. The main beach at night was a
scene of great activity — always thronged with
traffic — the beach officers busy every night landing
the many requirements of the Army. The A.S.C.
and Ordnance had to do most of their loading and
taking over fresh stores d\iring the hours of dark-
ness, for the attentions of "Beachy Bill" and
others of his ilk were so persistent in the daytime
that work was constantly interrupted.
Those of us whose duties took us to the beach
established what was called " The Supper Club ",
with headquarters in the office (made of ration-
boxes and bags) of Major Worsley, O.jC. New
Zealand Divisional Train. Here, about midnight,
cheese and biscuits and rum were forthcoming to
those who were honorary members of the club.
Colonel Lesslie and his two assistants, the two
Naval Landing Officers, Commanders Dix and
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178 ON TWO FRONTS
Cater, Major Worsley and some of his oflScers were
usually there, and very cheery were the gatherings,
which helped us greatly to get through the night's
work. An opposition show was the dug-out of the
officers of the Intelligence Branch, to which we
were sometimes invited. They usually managed
to produce a bottle of whisky, and their dug70ut
was the best in the whole position. A story is told
of how one morning, when the red-tabbed intelli-
gence officers, together with others of the General
Staff, were poring over a map in this palace, an
^Australian private, wearing the recognised Anzac
costume of shorts and boots only, put his head
through the door and called out angrily —
" So you're the who sneaked our kettle! '*
Fortunately, all the Staff possessed a sense of
humour.
About the middle of May it was decided to make
an effort to use the A.T. carts on the right flank.
Hard work by the Engineers had resulted in a
rough road being completed through Shrapnel
Valley as far as the bottom of the hill on which
stood Courtney's Post, where Major Wbrsley had
formed an advance supply and ordnance depot. If
carts could be used, the stocking of this depot
would be greatly facilitated, and after a careful
survey of the road by day it was arranged to send
three convoys of twenty carts each. I accompanied
the first, and an adventurous time we had. It was
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC 179
very dark; rifle-fire, always heavy at night, seemed
worse than ever; carts kept tipping off the road,
and every time there was a halt the bullets seemed
to come closer and to be hitting the groiind all
round us. The road was commanded by enemy
snipers, and it seemed as though they could hear
the carts, and opened fire whenever the noise
ceased. When we reached the depot there was not
room to turn: every cart had to be backed out.
On the way back there was further trouble when
passing No. 2 convoy, of which Mr. Brown was
in charge. No. 3 did not complete the journey till
after daybreak, and was shelled by Beachy Bill as
it marched back along the beach. However, that
night's experience enabled us to arrange with the
Engineers for the digging out of a yard at the
depot where the carts could turn, and for the con-
struction of suitable passing-places along the road,
and carts were used thenceforward on that flank.
The trenches on the left flank were held for the
first few weeks by a Brigade of the Royal Naval
Division, which was afterwards transferred to Cape
Helles : many of them had been at Antwerp. The
CO. of one sector was very jumpy, and three
nights running there were messages from him,
saying that a strdng enemy attack was expected
and that we must be prepared to move at a
moment's notice. As there was nowhere to move
to ^except the sea, this did not involve any par-
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i8o ON TWO FRONTS
ticular preparations. If t|ie Turks had succeeded
in making a successful attack and breaking our
front lines, we should simply have been driven
into the sea, for we had no second line of defence
and no supports. However, so long as the Ven-
geance on the left flank and the Triumph on the
right were there with their guns and searchlights,
we felt a strong sense of security.
On May 14 General Birdwood was hit, and had
a very narrow escape, the bullet parting his hair;
and the following day General Bridges, command-
ing the 1st Australian Division, was mortally
wounded in Shrapnel Valley — a. serious loss for
the Australians. He was succeeded by Brigadier-
General Walker, late of the Border Regiment.
We received a visit from Colonel Beville, who
was arranging for the establishment of headquarters
of the Mule Train at Cape Helles, where Rennison
with No. 3 Corps was now disembarking. Four
troops of No. 3, under Conductor Jones, were
detailed to land at Anzac, including two troops of
the 9th Mule Corps, commanded by Kot Duffadar
Bahawal Din and Kot DufFadar Ghulam' Rasiil,
and consisting entirely of men who had been in
France with the Lahore Division. They were
allotted to the New Zealand Division and located
in Anzac, New Zealand and Reserve Gullies. The
number of mules to be kept at Anzac for transport
work was now fixed at 600 : more could not con-
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EARLY DAYS AT ANZAC i8i
veniently be watered, though a good well had been
sunk just above the North Beach for the animals.
All troops available for reinforcements were sent
to Cape Helles. With the arrival there of the
43rd and 52nd Divisions and General Cox's Indian
Brigade, attacks were made on Achi Baba, the shells
from the big guns bursting on the hill being plainly
visible from Anzac; but none of these attacks met
with any appreciable success. The enemy's de-
fences, helped by the configuration of the ground,
were too strong, and the show was hanging fire.
Our prospects did not look too bright, for all
natural advantages lay with the Turks; and all we
could do was to sit tight, strengthening our posi-
tions and waiting till strong reinforcements could
be sentirom home.
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CHAPTER XVI
AN ATTACK, AN ARMISTICE AND SUBMARINES
About the middle of May the Turks apparently
made up their minds that they would get a move
on by flinging our force at Anzac into the sea^
then, their communications being safe, they would
proceed to drive ofF the force at Helles. The best
plans, however, are apt to miscarry, and in this
case they had reckoned without the Australians
and New Zealanders, who rejoiced exceedingly
when they heard the attack was coming, and still
more when it actually came.
The attack began with a preliminary bombard-
ment on the evening of the 1 8 th. For some reason
known only to themselves, the enemy opened a
cross-fire with guns from three different directions
on Ari Burnu Point, at the same time sending
over from the Straits — ^report said from the Goeben
— some huge shells, all of which pitched well in
the sea beyond the North Beach. The whole bom-
bardment — at any rate at our end of the position —
did but little damage, and was pretty to watch, the
only disturbing element about it being the reap-
pearance of our old German bete noire "Black
Z82
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AN ATTACK 183
Maria ". The first of these landed just over the
26th Mountain Battery Camp, some fifty yards
from Mule Gully.
The infantry attack began that evening, was
renewed at midnight, and continued, with occa-
sional lulls, until eleven next morning. Every-
where it was repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy.
On the left, some of them succeeded in getting in
between an outpost, which had been recently occu-
pied by us, and the main position; but one of the
destroyers got on to them in the open, and they
could be seen running about like frightened rabbits,
not knowing which way to bolt. I took up some
ammunition during the morning, and had a look
round from the observation-post on Walker's
Ridge : nowhere had our line fallen back, and the
pileB of dead Turks testified to the success of the
defence. The men in the trenches were in high
spirits, for they had thought it a bit monotonous
before the attack began, and Cape Helles was
getting all the fighting. But this was even better
than a recruit's musketry course; although it
is difficult there to miss th^ bull's-eye, here it
simply couldn't be missed. The Turks came on
in masses with supreme courage, but never had a
chance. One of the Australians, when asked by
the General whether the men in his trench had
given the enemy a rough time, replied tersely,
" We gave 'em 'ell.'
j>
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1 84 ON TWO FRONTS
The infantry were enthusiastic in their praise of
the gunners, especially of the Indian Mountain
Batteries, of which there were two at Anzac. Their
officers are British, and the men Indians — mostly
Sikhs. The guns are carried on mules, and are
wonderfully mobile — ^just the thing for Anzac,
where they proved as invaluable, as in Indian
frontier warfare. Sometimes they were taken right
into the front trenches, and frequently succeeded
in knocking out enemy machine-guns with their
eight-pound shells. The Anzacs on the left flank
had special confidence in Captain Whitting of the
26th Mountain Battery, who finished off numerous
troublesome machine-guns.
The enemy casualties during this attack were
estimated at 7000, whereas our killed and wounded
only amounted to 450 — mostly due to the men
climbing right out of their trenches so as to
get a better field of fire. Enver Pasha was said
to be present, and to have issued orders that
our force was to be thrown into the sea at all
costs. The result must have been a painful
disappointment.
The sequel to this attack was rather a humiliating
one for the Turks, for they sent in a General Officer
with a white flag to ask for an armistice to burj^
their dead, and, afiter he had paid two visits,
arrangements were concluded. The armistice was
fixed for May 24 : hostilities were to cease from
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AN ATTACK 185
seven in the morning till four In the afternoon, and
burying-parties were to be allowed to work in No
Man's Land between the trenches, but neither side
was to go more* than half-way across.
The silence that morning seemed uncanny after
the incessant din to which we had grown accus-
tomed. The armistice was, of course, a Heaven-
sent opportunity to review the whole position, and
everybodj^ took advantage of it, feeling it to be
unnatural to walk about in broad daylight without
ever having to run or dodge. Somehow one did
not feel quite happy, though one might have
known that the Turk is too much of a sports-
man to break an armistice. Had there been
Germans against us, it would have been a different
matter. ^
I made a bee-line by the clifF for the famous
Quinn's Post, which was then held by Tasmanians
— a most important point, for it lay on the crest of
the hill; had the enemy occupied it, the whole of
Shrapnel Valley and the gullies leading out of it.
would have been at their mercy. Quinn's was not
more than fifteen yards from the Turkish trenches
opposite, and the continuous fighting which took
place there was chiefly with bombs and mines. It
was a wonderfully constructed post, with its
tunnels and saps, and more than once the enemy
set foot in it, but he neyer stayed there long, always
being driven out by counter attacjcs. Major
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1 86 ON TWO FRONTS
Quinn himself, who never left the Post, was killed
there at last, having made a great reputation for
himself as a fighting soldier.
Between Quinn^s and the trenches opposite,
burying-parties were at work, order being kept
by a huge Turkish gendarme in a long blue coat
with a white crescent on his arm, and an R.A.M.C.
man wearing the Red Cross. They stood side by
side half-way across, responsible for the keeping
of the compact. The Turkish trenches were lined
with men almost shoulder to shoulder, some un-
mistakable Germans amongst them — probably
Staff Officers trying to gain a little information
during the armistice. In front of Courtney's the'
dead were lying thick, and over to the right on
an open space, where the guns had caught them,
were hundreds of bodies, and the stench was ter-
rible, many of the dead having lain there for days.
Those in the trenches say they get used to this
appalling smell, but any one unaccustomed to it
experiences a feeling of nausea.
One could not see into the enemy's country
beyond the trenches, for these lay on higher ground
than ours, while they could see down ovir valleys;
but this did not matter much, as they knew the
ground before. I must admit that when I looked
at those rows of scowling faces manning the
trenches — every man with his rifle in his hand —
and thought how much the enemy had to gain by
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AN ATTACK 187
breaking the armistice; I did not feel too comfort-
able. Had they done sd, it seemed as though
Enver^s object would have been attained; for,
though our men had been ordered to stand to arms
during the armistice, many a front-line trench had
scarcely a man to guard it; and the communication
trenches were too narrow for two men to pass, so
there would have been inevitable congestion in
getting up reinforcements. But " Johnny Turk '*
behaved like the gentleman he always showed him-
self to be in Gallipoli; so much so that the Anzacs
. rather liked him. How absurd it sounds 1 and
what a ridiculously unreal atmosphere this war has
created ! After regarding Russia for years as our
most dangerous enemy, she becomes our bosom
friend, while Austrians and Turks, with whom
we have formerly been friendly, we now spend our
time in trying to kill. Bulgaria, wavering as to
which side it will pay her best to join, makes her
decision, and a "wise and far-seeing monarch''
becomes "Foxy Ferdie''. Truly the world is
• upside down, and the Devil must be laughing in
his sleeve. If only the Prussian vermin could
have been exterminated without disturbing the.
rest of the world, what a blessing it would have
been.
The next excitement after the armistice was the
appearance in the iEgean Sea of German sub-
, marines, which heralded their arrival by sinking
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1 88 ON TWO FRONTS
H.M.S. Goliath. This was the signal for all
transports to be withdrawn, only the Triumph
and Vengeance^ who put out their torpedo-nets,
remaining with some destroyers to guard our
flanks. One morning a submarine was reported
off Anzac, and at once several destroyers began
searching for her, steaming up and down and
circling round and round at tremendous speed; but
she managed to discharge a torpedo at the Triumph^
which was standing about a mile out from shore
opposite Gaba Tepe. In spite of her nets, the
Triumph heeled over and turned turtle in twelve
minutes, and in twenty minutes she had disap-
peared- All the destroyers and picket-boats went
to the rescue, and most of the officers and crew
were saved, but about loo lives were lost. The
Triumph herself was a serious loss, for she had
inspired us all with great confidence and had done
fine service- with her guns. After this disaster
the Vengeance^ too, had to leave, and our flanks
were protected by the destroyers Chelmer^ Rattle-
snake and Pincher, The next day the. submarine
claimed another victim, the Majestic^ sunk ofF
Cape Helles within a few hundred yards of shore,
where the water was so shallow that her ram
remained visible for months.
The extreme seriousness of this submarine
activity will be understood if it is remembered that
every single thing required by the forces in Galli-
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AN ATTACK 189
poll had to be brought by sea. Anzac at any
rate was already in a state of semi-siege, for the
enemy were on three sides of us, and, if the line
of communication by sea were cut, the force would
starve, and the Cape Helles force would fare no
better. The prospect made one think a bit; but
confidence in the Navy — the natural inheritance of
every Britisher, which had been enhanced by a
month's campaigning in close touch with its officers
and men — never wavered. Every one knows how
that confidence was justified. Supply and ammuni-
tion ships and transports bearing reinforcements
arrived with. unfailing regularity; we might never
have known that submarines were about, had it
not been for the. removal of the supporting ships.
Whether the particular submarine which did the
damage was sunk by the destroyers we never
knew. One could not help a sneaking feeling
of regard for her crew, for to travel those
thousands of miles from home, with the certain
prospect of having to cope with the British Medi-
terranean Squadron at the end, required no smalj
amount of courage. It was a puzzle where the
fuel came from; but we heard of at least one
innocent-looking sailing-ship, posing as a Greek,
which was waylaid and found to contain large
quantities of oil.
An incident — very amusing as rented by Com-
mander Dix — occurred in connection with the
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190 ON TWO FRONTS
sinking of the Triumph^ though it might well have
proved a tragedy. When she was hit, a picket-
boat happened to be towing two lighters containing
A.T. carts away from Anzac. The picket-boat
went to the rescue, casting the lighters adrift, and
they went ashore close to Gaba Tepe about a mile
from our lines. Dix volunteered to try and get
them back, and set out one night in a picket-boat.
He drew in alongside the first lighter, stepped
aboard her to make fast a rope, and gave the order
to steam ahead. The rope broke. Dix, somewhat
surprised, fixed it again, with the same result. He
examined the rope, to find that it had been cut
clean through: evidently some sporting Turk,
seeing the picket-boat coming, had got into the
lighter, and, while another had presumably gone
off to warn their friends, had cut the rope to give
the others time to come up. Dix was not goin^
to wait to meet them : he got back into the picket-
boat and made off full steam ahead. Had he
waited, the probability was that picket-boat and
crew would have been scuppered. The Turks
unloaded the lighters the next night, and, no doubt,
made use of the A.T. carts.
Dix used to amuse the Supper Club greatly with
his yarns, especially when he got on to the subject
of military tactics. It took three pretty severe
wounds to make him relinquish his job as Naval
Landing Officer, and the D.S.O, to which he was
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AN ATTACK 191
gazetted was a particularly well-earned reward, for
he did great work on the beach.
The Turks, having failed to get rid of the
Anzacs by force of arms, now tried what honeyed
words would do. They sent over by aeroplane
some leaflets, the text of which ran as follows —
** Proclamation to the Anglo-French
Expeditionary Forces
" Protected by a heavy fire of a powerful fleet,
you had been able to land on the Gallipoli Penin-
sula on and since April 25. Backed up by these
same men-of-war^ you could establish yovirself at
two points of the Peninsula,
" All yovir endeavours to advance into the inner
parts of the Peninsula have come to failure under
your heavy losses, although your ships have done
their utmost to assist you by a tremendous cannon-
ade implying enormous waste of ammunition.
"Your forces have to rely on sea-transport for
reinforcements and supply of food, water and
every kind of war materials. Already the sub-
marines did sink several steamers carrying supplies
for your destination.
" Soon all supplies will be entirely cut ofF from
your landed forces.
" You are exposed to certain perdition by starva-
tion and thirst. You could only escape useless
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192 ON TWO FRONTS
sacrifice of life by surrendering. We are assured
yon have not taken up arms against us by hatred.
Greedy England has made you fight under a
contract.
" You may confide in us for excellent treatment.
Our country disposes of ample provisions; there
are enough for you to feed you well and make you
feel quite at your comfort. Don't further hesitate.
Come and surrender.
" On all other fronts of this war your own people
and your Allies' situation is as hopeless as on this
Peninsula.
"All news spread amongst you concerning the
German and Austrian armies are mere lies.
" There stands neither one Englishman, nor one
Frenchman, nor one Russian on German soil. On
the contrary, the German troops are keeping a
strong hold on the whole of Belgium and on
conspicuous parts of France since many a month.
" A considerable part of Russian Poland is also
in the hands of the German, who advance there
every day.
"Early in May strong German and Austrian
forces have broken through the Russian centre in
Galicia. Pryzemysl has fallen back into their
hands lately. •
" They are not in the least handicapped by Italy's
joining yoiu* coalition, but are successfully engaged
in driving the Russians out of Galicia.
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AN ATTACK 193
" Those Russian troops whose co-operation one
moment you look forward to are suiTjendering by
hundreds and thousands.
" Do as they do ! Your honour is safe ! Further
fighting is mere stupid bloodshed."
The aeroplane attempting to drop the leaflets
made a bad shot and dropped them in the Turkish
trenches, and the Turks seem to have thought that
we had shot them over, for they flung them into
our trenches, tied to bombs, with scurrilous remarks
scribbled on ^e back of the leaflets.
As may be imagined, they met with about as
much success as Enver Pasha's great attack.
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- CHAPTER XVll
"the daily round, the common task"
The title of this chapter will convey a false
impression if it be taken to imply that the
period to be described was dull. Life at Anzac
was never dull, and **the daily round, the
common task " furnished at all times a great deal
more than the most exacting would have dreamt
of asking. Amongst the things we could hjave
done without were flies, sniping and shells.
Flies in an Indian bazaar, or in Egypt, are sup-
posed to be plentiful ; but there seemed to be
more flies to the square inch at Anzac than are
found to the square mile anywhere else, and in
Mule Gully — owing to the mule-lines and the
supply-depot — they were as bad as in the trenches.
All one's food was black with them : it was
practically impossible to avoid eating them. We
tried mosquito-netting to keep them out of the
dug-outs, and fly-papers and fly-flaps to slay
them when they came in, but to no purpose.
They were a veritable plague which rendered any
attempt to sleep in the daytime quite futile : .
194
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*THE DAILY ROUND > 195
this was particularly trying because there was of
necessity so much night work.
The sniping in June was pretty bad. " Snipers*
Nest", commanding the North Beach and the
ground above it, was a hotbed of them, and many
of our men were hit between Ari Burnu Point
and Mule Gully, even in the communication
trench connecting them. The North Beach had
to be placed out of bounds by day. Then there
was a hill on which had been an outpost — known
as No. 3 Post — that was unfortunately lost, and,
in spite of many gallant attempts, not retaken
until the Suvla landing, and from this post the
Turks did a lot of sniping. The destroyers used
to comb out " Old No. 3 " and '' Snipers' Nest "
from time to time, and this would mean a day
or two of respite, but never for long. On the
right flank an elaborate system of communication
trenches and traverses had made Shrapnel Valley
much safer than before ; but Brighton Beach was
a bad place, and a point just south of it had the
ominous name of "Casualty Corner".
It was particularly annoying to be sniped while
bathing : one felt so utterly helpless without any
clothes on. One's instinct is at any rate to turn
up one's collar. The safest place to bathe on the
left was just by the flank trench, where a couple
of barges had run aground, and one could go
through the trench to the beach and undress
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196 ON TWO FRONTS
under a bank in safety. Often there would be
nothing doing, but sometimes it was advisable
to crawl behind the barges and lie down in the
water. One day three men were having a swim
when a sniper opened on them. They swam as
hard as they could for the barge and reached its
cover safely, but the sniper had not done with
them, and fired a. few shots at the barges just to
show the bathers he was still there. At last the
boldest of the three made a run for it, but as
he came round the end of the barge the sniper
fired, and again as he darted across the beach. This
was discouraging for the others, but at last No. 2
decided to have a try. His reception was the
same as No. I's, and No. 3, thinking that the
better part of valour was discretion, waited shiver-
ing till dark. Another day four men passed my
dug-out carrying towels. I called out to them
that they had better not bathe as the sniping was
bad. But they went on : three were killed and
the fourth wounded.
The 9th Mule Corps dhobi — one Lachman —
acted as a sniping barometer. He washed clothes
for all our men and for half the Anzacs as well,
and at the water's edge beat them to rags on
sharp stones after the manner of his kind. All
day long he did this, singing as he worked. He
took not the slightest notice of snipers, though
he was wounded twice — ^fortunately not severely —
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^THE DAILY ROUND' 197
and it was useless to forbid him to do his dhoby-
ing, for he paid no heed. Whenever I went
down to bathe, Lachman would give me his
permission or withhold it according to the state
of the sniping, and 1 found it wise to follow his
advice. He was a plucky little fellow and a great
favourite in the Corps.
My orderly, Ajaib Shah, was disturbed during
his bathe one day by several shots, and returned
saying that Anzac was a very difficult place to
remain alive in. Chaffingly, 1 suggested that
cases had been known of men dying of fright,
to which he replied—
" Sahib, if a man could die of fright,. I should
have been dead long ago."
Poor Ajaib Shah was one of the many bathers
whom the snipers eventually claimed as a victim,
for he was hit through the right elbow whilst in
the water. He wept bitterly at having to go away.
Just before he left he called me in as arbiter to settle
a dispute between himself and his friend Karim
Baksh. A lot of money was at stake, for an
Indian is always ready to back his opinion to the
extent of a month's pay. Was the French for
" milk " " lait " or " du kit " ? My decision that
both were right, and ail bets were therefore ofF,
satisfied neither.
Bathing was also permitted at the main beach,
where a dive into deep water could be had from
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198 ON TWO FRONTS
the end of the pier ; but the water there was not
so clean as at our end, and, although there was
no sniping, there was always the possibility of a
few rounds of shrapnel from Beachy Bill. In
the hot weather evenings the water was alive with
men, and it was quite tunny to watch the scurry
for safety when Beachy Bill began.
Bathing at Anzac was a cosmopolitan affair :
talking to a man in the water one never knew
whether he was an officer of high rank or a
private soldier.^ This gave rise to some comic
situations. A colonel, portly but dignified, was
drying himself on the pier when an Australian
private, similarly engaged, looked him up and
down critically, remarking —
"Say, mate, yer look just about ready for the
knife. What *ave yer been doin', gettin' into
the biscuit-boxes — eh ? '*
With all its drawbacks, the sea-bathing was
a perfect godsend : without it life would have
been intolerable, for there was never enough
fresh water to wash either oneself or one's
clothes.
Shelling at Anzac was nearly as common as
rain in Ireland, happening almost every day —
sometimes more, sometimes less. Occasionally
the Turks would open a new box of "assorted
shells ", and every gun would have a turn.
Beachy Bill and Anafarta, or " Annie " for short.
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* THE DAILY ROUND > 199
did the most damage until the "ys's appeared.
" Christians, awake " was an early bird which
occasionally caught a worm or two. " Lazy Bob "
was large but tired, and usually " too proud to
fight." There was not a great deal of heavy stufF,
though three 8-inch shells of a very antiquated
pattern fell in Mule Gully one afternoon. Lancc-
Naick Mehdi Khan staggered up to my dug-out,
carrying one of them in his arms, observing, " Kaisa
bara goli, sahib ! " (What a big shell, sir !) He
did not realise that the thing was alive and might
blow him to pieces any moment I
Every now and then, of course, there would
be extensive damage, but on the whole it was
remarkable how few casualties the shells caused,
considering that the Turks knew every inch of
our position and had all the ranges accurately
tabulated. Although work was done as far as
possible by .night on the beaches, a certain
amount had to be got through by day, and the
Landing StafF, A.S.C. and Ordnance Corps all
suffered heavily. Traverses of ration-boxes were
put up at intervals of twenty or thirty paces all
along the beach, and, directly shelling began, every
man was supposed to take shelter behind a tra-
verse. Colonel Lesslie and Commander Cater
used to stand on the pier and wait till every one
was under cover, and then stroll back to shelter
themselves, unless a boat happened to be coming
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200 ON TWO' FRONTS
in. Then they would remain out in the open
whatever happened.
The dug-outs above the beach were often hit,
and many a valuable life was lost in that way.
Lieutenant Onslow, General Birdwood's A.D.C.,
a most promising officer and a charming fellow,
was killed whilst asleep by one of the few shells
which the Turks sent over at night. It was for-
tunate they did not send more, for at night the
beach was always crammed, and we could never
understand why they did not turn on Beachy
Bill since they must have known what was
going on.
The British StafF of the Mule Corps had now
been greatly increased. Second-Lieutcnant CuUen
of the loth Australian Infantry came as second in
command, and several N.C.O.s were attached as
interpreters. It was remarkable how many among
the Anzacs knew a little Hindustani : some had
been in India, and others had worked with Indians
in the Fiji Islands. These interpreter billets were
rather sought after, because they meant getting
out of the trenches and living in greater comfort ;
moreover, interpreters had the rank and pay of
corporals. Many candidates appeared for a pre-
liminary interview who could scarcely speak a
word of the language, and seemed quite hurt
when they were rejected. Most of the men who-
were taken on were first-rate fellows, but they
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^THE DAILY ROUND' 201
were an ill-fated lot, for one was killed the day
he joined ; four or five were wounded, and most
of the remainder were invalided. There was one,
Corporal Kirwan, who seemed to be a magnet for
shells, and the superstitious drivers preferred to
keep out of his way.
Cullen knew no Hindustani at all and had
little natural aptitude for languages, but he was
tremendously painstaking and got on very well
with the men ; and it was useful having another
officer, though he was a novice at transport work.
He was shy when he first joined the mess, being
many years younger than the rest of us, but he
soon found his feet and became very popular.
The loss of both Indian officers was a severe
blow to the Mule Corps. Ressaidar Hashmet
Ali contracted pneumonia and had to go to a
hospital-ship. He was very reluctant to give in
and begged the doctors to let him remain, but he
was sent to Malta, whence he wrote that he was
getting on well. Jemadar Wali Mahomed was
wounded by a stray bullet while working in the
sick-lines : he was back again in a month, very
much pleased to have been hit, for it was his
fourth campaign and he had not previously had
the distinction of being wounded.
When the weather got hot in June, we levelled
a bit of ground outside the dug-out and spread a
tarpaulin awning over it : here we used to have
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202 ON TWO FRONTS
our meals, and a very pkasant place it was, for
the flies were less numerous than in the dug-out,
and we had more air and a lovely view. Eliot
and Higginson had crowds of friends among the
New Zealanders, who used to look us up whenever
they came our way. General Russell, with his
StafF Ofliicers, Major Levin (who was killed on
the last day of the evacuation of Anzac) and
Captain King, were constant visitors : their head-
quarters w:as just above us, on Walker's Ridge.
Captain Hore of the 8th Australian Light Horse
and his brother-in-law Trooper Lacy, whom I had
known in Hobart, spent some of their spare time-
with us. Hore was a clever artist, and used to
produce admirable sketches drawn in the trenches.
Captain Acland, who had lost an arm tiger-
shootfng in India, but insisted on coming with
the first contingent, was another of our friends,
and Majors Worsley and Gibbs of the A.S.C.
The two latter lived together in a dug-out on the
main beach and often gave me lunch, for my work
took me that way every morning. They ran a
splendid mess with Captain Anderson, adjutant
of the New Zealand Train, and Lieutenant Rogers,
who won the V.C. in South Africa. We were
sitting in their dug-out one day when Sir Ian
Hamilton and his StaflF came ashore. Beachy Bill
was active at the time and one shell landed plumb
on the pier just before their boat arrived. A
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•THE DAILY ROUND > 203
StafF Officer who met the party was evidently
urging them to hurry ; but as they stepped on to
the beach a shell pitched right in ^ the middle of
them. We held our breath. But the C.-in-C.
and all his party emerged unhurt from the cloud
of sand caused by the explosion and walked calmly
on — truly a marvellous escape.
I paid two week-end visits to Cape Helles to
inspect the detachment of No. i Corps, and to
confer with Colonel Beville. The four troops
which had been left at Alexandria for the Indian
Brigade had joined up, so that the major portion
of No. I Corps was there. A regular service of
trawlers worked between Imbros (the camp of
General Headquarters), An2:ac and Cape Helles.
The first visit was uneventful. Baddeley had
been hit in the nose when taking up ammunition
the night before, and PuUeyn was now command-
ing the detachment. Rcnnison was there and
Sergeant Levings and Ressaidar Amir Khan, and
it was a great pleasure to see them all again.
Sergeant Levings told me very seriously that he
wished to make a suggestion — that *^ as the troops
seemed unable to take Achi Baba, and the Mule
Corps had 300 carts lying idle, these should be
sent out and the bally hill brought in." I found
Colonel Patterson, Gyt and Rolo in a delightful
camp about a mile inland, where they had a
sumptuous dug-out and lived in comparative
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204 ON TWO FRONTS
comfort. The Colonel thought badly of the state
of affairs, and predicted that Achi Baba would
be impregnable. His Zionists had suffered many-
casualties, and every one spoke well of their
work.
A wonderful change had taken place since the
first few days after the landing, the .country now
looking almost like Salisbury Plain, with thousands
of tents and horse and mule-lines. Splendid roads
had been made, along which motor transport and
ambulances were in use, and there was plenty of
room to ride and walk about. There was a large
aerodrome between W and V Beaches. The
latter had been made over to the French^ who
now had two Divisions ashore and were holding
the right of the line. The Indian Brigade was
on the left, and the British Divisions in the
centre. Colonel Beville, PuUeyn and Rennison
were living in tents, having a large " funk-hole **
to which to retire when shelling became too
heavy. At Cape Helles they had no sniping or
rifle-fire and little shrapnel in the camps behind
the trenches, but they made up for this by a
liberal allowance of high-explosive shells — most
upsetting to the nerves. A good many mules
had been killed and wounded, but the casualties
in men were proportionately much less than ours
at Anzac. Baddeley had just been taken to the
hospital-ship when I arrived, but I managed to
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*THE DAILY ROUND' 205
see him later on when the ship called at Anzac
before leaving for England ; he was then making
a splendid recovery from what had been a very-
nasty wound, for his nose had been transplanted
to, a position somewhere under his ear. But it
was back in its right place when I saw him, and,
apart from a pronounced nasal twang and the
loss of his sense of smell, he was little the
worse.
My second visit to Helles, a month later, was
rich in interest. Sniped on my walk to Anzac
Cove, shelled on the pier whilst waiting for a
boat, shelled in the picket-boat when going ashore
at W Beach, and all the way from the Beach to
the camp, I arrived just in time for lunch.
Scarcely had we sat down when we were told
that a ship was sinking. It was a large French
ammunition-ship, which, luckily having dis-
charged her cargo, lay not far from the shore.
A submarine had fired two torpedoes ; one
missed a French battleship, but the other hit
the store-ship. As the battleship made ofF, our
old friend the Asiatic whizz-bang peppered her
stern with shrapnel. In exactly four minutes
the ammunition-ship had disappeared. Her bow
rose from the water till she was perpendicular ;
then she settled down by the stern. The few
men who were on board were picked up by small
boats, and only six lives were lost.
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2o6 ON TWO FRONTS
Colonel Beville took me to an observation-
post and explained the position. With glasses
it was very clear, and one could see the lines
of trenches distinctly : those held by the Naval
Division were being strafed at the time, and the
French •75's on the righf of the Allies' line were
making a vigorous reply. A general attack by
the enemy began at dawn next morning, and
during the whole day the beach camps were
subjected to fierce bombardment from front and
rear, ** Asiatic Annie " hurling, huge shells across
the Straits, which churned up the ground and
raised great clouds of dust. ' W Beach was get-
ting the worst of it, particularly the ammunition
dumps and ordnance stores. A party of our
drivers had been sent on fatigue duty under an
Indian N.C.O. to work on W JBeach, and
Colonel Beville — seeing how heavy was the fire
— told the Sergeant-Major to send a British
N.C.O. to take charge. But there was no need :
as usual Sergeant Levings had dashed off directly
the " strafe " began, and was in the thick of it,
looking after the men. Taubes flew over and
dropped bombs upon the camps. One could
hear the bombs coming with a sort of swishing
sound, and it always seemed as though they were
falling straight on to one's head. Even Colonel
Beville went to ground when he heard that
ominous " swish ", although as a fule he scorned
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*THE DAILY ROUND' 207
to take any cover whatever. The Peninsular
Press — the Daily Mail of -the M.E.F. — an-
nounced that some 1500 shells, had been fired
on the beaches that ^day — ^the heaviest bombard-
ment since the original landing. But the casu-
alties were astonishingly few.
That evening a squadron of eleven aeroplanes
set out from Tenedos to raid Chanak. They
made a striking picture as they disappeared in the
sky, coloured mauve and red by the setting sun.
We counted them as they returned : all got safely
back, having successfully accomplished their mis-
sion. As the trawler was starting on her journey
to Anzac, W Beach was catching it again. Two
or three shells hit the ammunition stacks with
terrific explosions, the bursts of flame being hastily
extinguished by the workers on the beach. The
Greek working-parties seemed to take no part in
this : they made themselves scarce directly the
first shell appeared, and remained in seclusion in
the safest spots they could find.
That week-end was the most eventful one I
have ever spent.
The hospital-ships, painted white with a big
red cross, and with lines of little green lamps at
night, always looked very attractive as seen from
Anzac. One morning Eliot and I obtained
permission to go on board the Sidlia^ and the visit
was a pleasant break in the life we led ashore. It
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2o8 ON TWO FRONTS
happened that a heavy swell got up while we were
on board, becoming later a regular squall, and it
was impossible for any boat to come ashore, so we
were constrained to stay the night. The medical
officers on board were more than kind, and we
had the great pleasure of dining in the saloon with
Colonel Gimlette, the P.M.O., and some nurses.
It was a treat to talk to a lady again, and to dine
at a comfortable table amidst civilised surround-
ings. Champagne seemed very good by contrast
with rum and indifferent water.
Some of my wounded drivers were in the ship,
amongst them a Sikh, Chanda Singh, who had met
with a terrible accident while acting as orderly to
the Hindu doctor of the corps. A friend who
shared his dug-out had entrusted to his care what
they both thought was a small lamp. Chanda
Singh put a match to it, with the result that his
left hand was blown completely ofF and part of
his jaw was blown away. The friend, when taking
bombs up to the trenches, must have stolen one
under the impression that it was a lamp. Chanda
Singh was conscious when I saw him in the ship,
and talked quite intelligently. It was pathetic to
hear him murmur that he would die happy no_w
that his sahib had come to- him. It is not sur-
prising that one grows attached to the Indian
soldier, for his faithfulness to his own sahib is
a thing to wonder at. The doctors gave no hope
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<THE DAILY ROUND' 209
of saving him, but I heard that Chanda Singh
arrived safely in Alexandria, though I have never
been able to ascertain whether he ultimately
recovered.
The storm had played havoc with the piers at
Anzac, and the tide had risen much higher than
ever before and had invaded some of the offices
on the beach. If one brief squall could do so
much damage, the ^outlook, when really rough
weather should set in, was a poor one. It was not
all " beer and skittles " at Anzac in June and July,
and yet — though there was much to put up with
— there was much to enjoy ; looking back upon it
all, the recollection of good times predominates
over that of the bad.
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CHAPTER XVIII
I
PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE
The Dardanelles Expedition seemed to have
come to a standstill, but the higher commands
knew — what the men did not — that large re-
inforcements were coming out, and that in due
course the attempt to penetrate inland would be
renewed. All the energies of the StafF were
directed to preparations for the coming advance.
One matter of vital importance was the water-
supply. The watering of the troops and animals
already ashore caused considerable anxiety, and to
cater for thousands of reinforcements as well was
a problem requiring much forethought. The
water for the men was brought ashore in specially
constructed lighters filled from a water-ship. The
Turks knew these water-lighters well by sight,
and made a dead set at them : several were sunk
during the journey from the ship to the shore,
and others when lying alongside the pier while
the water was being pumped into tanks on the
beach. More than once the supply ran short, and
the daily water-ration had to be reduced to half a
gallon a man — quite insufficient, considering the
2IO
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 211
heat and hard work. A scheme was drawn up
for a pipe system to distribute water all over the
position, and an engine was erected under the cliff
at Anzac Cove to pump it into a huge reservoir,
whence pipes were laid to the various gullies.
The enemy could see all this being done and did
their best to interfere. They hit the engine and
the reservoir, and frequently pierced the piping
with shrapnel, so the date by which the scheme
was to begin working had to be* postponed over
and over again. Pending its completion ©very
drop of water had to be carried from the beach to
the trenches by mule transport. On the right
flank carts were employed ; on the left flank
pack-mules, using the receptacles brought by the
Zionists who had been sent away from Anzac
some time before. As the weather became hotter
some of thb wells ran dry, thus increasing our
difiiculties, for we were dependent on these wells
for the animals. The drivers and mules were
working at very high pressure, the shortage of
water making it impossible to have more mules
ashore, and there was delay in replacing the heavy
casualties amongst the drivers.
Another serious problem was to find accommo-.
dation for the reinforcements ; the area of the
Anzac position was limited, and few places were
even comparatively safe. Terraces were carved
out from the banks of the various gullies to form
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212 ON TWO FRONlTS
camping-grounds for the new troops, and fatigue
work became so heavy that the men really pre-
ferred being in the front trenches. By now the
health of the troops was falling ofF, something
like 1 50 men a day being evacuated sick, in addi-
tion to the normal wastage of killed and wounded.
The restricted space, the flies, and the necessarily
insanitary conditions of life had brought dysentery
and jaundice in their train.
Towards the end of July, conferences were held
to discuss plans for the advance, and the pro-
gramme of work which lay before the mule trans-
port — in addition to its ordinary duties — was given
to me. It consisted of the transportation of twenty
million rounds of small-arm ammunition and
thousands of shells and bombs to various ad-
vanced points where dumps were to be formed.
Three thousand sealed tins containing water had
.to be taken out for the use of the troops during
the advance. Innumerable sand-bags had to be
carted to the trenches, and substantial advance
. dumps of rations were required. The time limit
was August 3, by which date all this had to be
done. No more mules were to arrive until just
before the advance began.
Colonel Striedinger, A.D.T., came ashore from
G.H.Q. one day, and I was detailed to show him
round the position, so that he could form an idea
of the transport arrangements which would be
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 213
required. We started on the right and worked
our way round the front trenches, visiting several
observation-posts on the way, till we got down to
the supply-depot in Monash Gully, where we
called on Captain Acland and discussed supply
arrangements.
In one of the saps, only a few yards from
the enemy's trenches on Walker's Ridge, was
an exceedingly dirty-looking soldier — a bomb-
thrower, whose orders were to throw back two
for every Turkish bomb that came over. I asked
him whether he ever got the chance of going
down to the beach for a batjie. His reply was
distinctly comic, considering his position and the
nature^ of his duties.
" No fear ; we reckon it too
dangerous."
From the observation-post on Walker's Ridge,
we could see the whole of the country across
which it was intended to advance. Colonel
Striedinger's comment, when we got back, was
that it had been the most interesting walk he
had ever taken in his life.
\ What was known as No. 2 Outpost, which had
been a quiet and popular part of the position, was
now becoming an important centre. It lay about
a mile north of Mule Gully and was reached by
a communication trench, from which an oflfehoot
led to No. I Outpost, held by the Maori con-
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214 ON TWO FRONTS
tingent. At No. 2 were the Otago Mounted
Rifles, whose Colonel, Bauchop,^ was a friend of
Eliot's. We used to walk out there and have
tea with Colonel Bauchop in a sort of summer-
house he had had fixed up. It was quite a change
from the main position ; the flies were fewer,
and the atmosphere more peaceful. This outpost
boasted the best well at Anzac, with a capacity of
about 6000 gallons, and cool and delicious water.
When first discovered it was something of a
death-trap, many being shot on the way there
and back ; but a trench was dug and covep put
up, rendering the well and its vicinity quite safe.
Large supplies of ammunition and rations had to
be taken to this outpost, which was to be the
headquarters of the StaflT of the force detailed to
advance ; but conveying these supplies by pack-
mules would have taken so long that we deter-
mined to try the carts. Starting from Anzac
Cove, there was first nearly a mile of sandy beach
for them to traverse, and then a mile of open
country. We consolidated the beach to some
extent by watering it, and the sappers at night
began to build a sunken road, for the whole of
the mile of open space was in full view of Snipers*
Nest and Old No. 3. However, long before this
road was finished, the carts were worked by night,
^ Colonel Bauchop, C.M.G., was killed on the 7th Augutt
at the head of his regiment.
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 215
and gradually the traffic itself formed a track
good enough to serve the purpose. The short-
ness of the hours of darkness, especially when
there was a moon, was a great trial. There were
strict orders that on no account were the convoys
to be seen going out to No. 2, as the Staff did
not wish the enemy to realise that it was from
the left flank that we intended to advance. But
one night one of the destroyers inadvertently
gave the show away. A convoy was well on its
way when the destroyer turned her searchlight
right on to it for several minutes, with the result
that machine-gun fire opened on the convoy and
caused severe casualties. Once before, in the
earlier days, the same thing happened when we
went outside the line to fetch some shingle. A
message had been sent to warn the destroyer that
convoys would be out, but there had been some
mistake about its delivery. A man who was killed
that night was Bajinder Singh^a Sikh who had
replaced Chanda Singh as orderly* to the Hindu
doctor. We were so short of men that all
orderlies had to go on duty with the mules also.
It was rather odd that these two — the only Sikhs
in the corps, and both acting in a peaceful capacity
— should have come to grief. There was some
difficulty in getting another man to be doctor's
orderly ; the men regarded it as an ill-fated
billet.
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2i6 ON TWO FRONTS
The evening after the machine-gun had been
turned on to the convoy — while we were sitting
at dinner on the terrace — z Turkish gun fired
three rounds of shrapnel. The first burst on the
beach, beyond the track made by the mule-carts
on their way to No. 2 Post ; the second pitched
a little short of the track, and the third right on
it This seemed distinctly ominous. Brother
Turk seemed to be. " bracketing " on the track
with a view to strafing it later in the evening. It
was with some trepidation that the first convoy set
out that night ; but nothing happened at all.
The unloading of the convoys and stacking of
the stores required fatigue parties, and it was
very noticeable how worn-out the men were ;
almost everybody was the worse for wear, and
many had dysentery. One could only get the
work done by pointing out that the nature of it
showed clearly that there was to be a move for-
ward : this would cheer .the men up, and they
would make an effort. When it became known
for certain that reinforcements were coming and
a move was to be made, the number of evacua-
tions went down at once. No matter how worn-
out a man was, he did not mean to miss the
advance. They were a stout-hearted lot, those
Anzacs.
The best fatigue parties of all were the Maoris,
perhaps because they had not been quite so long
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 217
ashore ; but, whatever the cause, the way they
worked was an eye-opener. One job they were
put on to was the widening of the trench to the
outpost, which meant pretty stiiF digging, but
they had it done in a few days. They were
very popular — most of them speaking excellent
English — and they have pleasant manners, with
none of the servility of the Indian about them.
The native of New Zealand treats the colonist
as an equal. The doctor and the padre used to
come and dine with us sometimes. They were
highly educated and polished gentlemen.
The shelling about this time was worse than
ever — especially on the main beach. Worsley and
Gibbs' dug-out, just above the new engine, kept
on being hit. Gibbs, returning from a bathe one
evening, encountered Beachy Bill and was hit in
the foot pretty badly. The same shell got his
servant. Private Revel, through the chest, and
made a hole through the sailor's hat which
Worsley *s servant was wearing. That was a bad
day for the New Zealand A.S.C., for only a few
minutes later their adjutant, Captain Anderson,
was hit in the head and died in the hospital-ship
the same evening. That line of dug-outs was
then evacuated. A day or two later, the N-ew
Zealand A.S.C lost two more officers — Lieutenant
Sherring killed in his office on the beach, and
Lieutenant Rogers, the V.C., wounded in the
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21 8 ON TWO FRONTS
head and shoulder by shrapnel. These two were
Australians, and belonged to the 4th Australian
Brigade, which was part of the^ New Zealand
Division.
During the preparations for the advance, there
was never a day when the Mule Corps escaped
casualties. We lost some of our best men, in-
cluding a splendid hot duffadar of the 2nd Mule
Corps, who was hit in the calf and had to have
his leg amputated. Owing to the late arrival
of the sealed water-tins, some had to be carried
up by daylight, and Mr. Brown who was in
charge had one disastrous day, losing seventeen
of the fatigue party and several drivers ; but he
carried on bravely and got the job done. Some
accidents occurred with bombs, too, resulting in
severe casualties. As may be imagined, bombs
are not a suitable load for a pack-mule ; if he is
in the least troublesome when being loaded, they
are apt to fall off and explode. One night two
drivers were killed and an interpreter and five
men wounded in this way.
To add to the excitement, we read almost every
evening in the " Information " which was published
with Army Corps Orders that the Turks were
concentrating a large army — said to be 200,000
men — to drive us out, and that an attack with
gas and liquid fire might be expected any day.
Twice " Information " told us that the attack
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 219
would probably occur "to-night". Gas-helmets
and respirators were served out, and had to be
carried day and night, and lectures given on
their use ; but it was so hot that one would
almost rather have been gassed than wear them.
Had a gas attack taken place, the poisonous
fumes would have floated down and settled in
the gullies ; so paths had to be cut from the
lines of every troop by which the mules could be
taken on to higher ground, where they would,
of course, have been shot. Very few animals
would probably have been saved if the rumoured
attack had come oflF, but fortunately it never
did.
The first of the new troops to arrive was an
Artillery Brigade of 5-inch howitzers, and very
welcome they were. One of the batteries took
up its quarters in Mule Gully, and came into
action close by. Major Higgon, the CO., who
had been through all the earlier fighting in France
and had won the Legion of Honour, joined our
mess for a few days, and surprised us. by saying,
after he had studied the Anzac position care-
fully—
" From an artilleryman's point of view, this is
an absolutely ideal position ; there is only one
little thing I would like changed."
We thought he was easily pleased. Then he
added —
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220 ON TWO FRONTS
" If only we could just change over with the
Turks, one could wish nothing better,"
Higgon was killed in September and was a
great loss to the force, for he was a fine, gunner
and the best of good fellows.
As the date of the big attack drew near, there
was renewed life in the men of Anzac. It had
been rather disheartening to remain so long on
the defensive, and the chance of hitting back was
eagerly awaited. Fresh regiments of Australian
Light Horse, acting as infantry, and the whole
of the 13th Division and 29th Brigade of the
loth Division arrived, and Cox's Indian Brigade
which had already played a conspicuous part in
all the fighting at Cape Helles.
The scheme of attack was issued confidentially
to me to enable me to make the transport arrange-
ments. Act I. was an attack on the trenches at
Lone Pine on the right, to prevent the enemy send-
ing troops to resist the main attack on the left.
Act II. consisted of an attack from the Walker's
Ridge trenches on a hill called "Baby 700" —
one of the lower slopes of Chunak Bair — and other
local attacks. Act III. was a night-march of a
movable column consisting of the New Zealand
Division, the 13th Division and the Indian Brigade
— nioving out past No. 2 and wheeling to the
right to attack the Sari Bair range of hills — co-
operating with a force of four divisions which was
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 221
to land at Suvla Bay. An attack from No. 2
Outpost by the New Zealand Mounted Rifles
would assist the movable column by coming up
on their right after retaking Old No. 3.
The Indian Brigade — consisting of the 5th, 6th
and loth Gurkhas and the 14th Sikhs — landed at
night and camped in Reserve Gully, their Supply
Officer, Captain Rebsch, establishing his depot in
Mule Gully. He joined our mess, which now
underwent some changes : Eliot and Higginson
moved out, as their duties took them elsewhere ;
Brown joined other Warrant and N.C.O.s ; and
our party now consisted of Cullen, Rebsch, Bird,
who had just arrived, and myself.
My or3ers were to allot a certain number of
pack-mules to the New Zealand Division, the 13 th
Division and the Indian Brigade — the balance
to' remain as Base Transport. The Australian
Division on the right flank, who were not to
move, were to have all their transport withdrawn
and to carry on as best they could until more
mules came ashore. Colonel Marsh managed to
get fifty donkeys from Imbros to tide over this
period. Conductor Jones, who had been with the
N.Z. Division all the time and had done the work
of half a dozen men for nearly three months, re-
mained in charge of their new allotment, with
Kot DuflFadar Bahawal Din as acting adjutant
Second-Lieutenant Cullen was placed in charge of
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222 ON TWO FRONTS
the mules with the 13th Division, and Captain
Rebsch looked after those with the Indian Brigade,
in addition to his supply duties. Bird was O.C.
Base Transport, and had to supervise the landing
of the additional mules.
I sent Cullen out to reconnoitre for new lines
somewhere near No. 2 Outpost. He was success-
ful in finding a suitable spot in a gully between
Nos. I and 2, and we set about making a cutting
from the communication trench to the new lines,
enabling the mules to get in and out unobserved.
To save waste of time in drawing rations, a supply
of hay for several days was laid in and stacked
in each of the gullies containing mules. Every
animal was provided with a small bag tied to its
saddle containing three days' grain. Each man
was served out with three days' emergency rations.
By the appointed date everything as far as
possible was ready, the only serious hitch being
the non-arrival of the full number of sealed water-
tins. The drivers were done to a turn. How
they managed to carry on as they did without
more of them breaking down was nothing short
of wonderful : for the fortnight preceding the
landing they got practically no rest. General
Birdwood made a minute inspection of all the
transport, and greatly cheered and encouraged the
men by saying that he did not know what he
would have done without them. The feeling wc
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PREPARATIONS FOR AN ADVANCE 223
all had after his inspection was that mule-transport
was the most important thing in the whole of
Anzac ! Probably every branch of the Service'
received the same impression, and therein — if one
may be allowed to say so — lies the secret of
General Birdwood's enormous popularity and
success.
One morning, early in August, Ressaidar Hash-
met Ali walked into my dug-out. I was never
more pleased to see any one. At Malta he had
been offered the choice of a trip to England or a
return to India ; but he had insisted that his
sahib had need of him at Anzac, and begged to
be allowed to return. They sent him back to
Egypt, where he was again recommended for
invaliding to India, but fortunately at Ismailia
Captain Mayo, a former commandant of the ist
Mule Corps, managed to arrange that Hashmet Ali
should come back to Anzac. He came just when
he was most wanted, when heavy casualties and
overwork were beginning to tell on the men's
spirits, and by his tact and encouragement he did
much to revive them. It was gratifying that only
a few days after Hashmet Ali's return news was
received that he, Lance-Naick Bahadur Shah and
Driver Bir Singh had been awarded the Indian
Order of Merit, and a hospital assistant named
Ganpat Rao the Indian Distinguished Conduct
Medal — all for their conduct on May 6. This
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224 ON TWO FRONTS
was a great day for the Mule Corps. The
Order of Merit is a very high honour indeed, and
one that is rarely bestowed on a mule-driver.
Colonel Beville sent a congratulatory wire from
headquarters and there was great rejoicing.
On the very day before the great attack began,
Anzac suffered another severe loss. Commander
Cater, who had become senior Naval Landing
Officer after the departure of Dix, was killed at
the post of duty at the end of his pier. Every
day and every night since April 25, Cater had
risked his life with the utmost unconcern, and
it was hard indeed that, just when it seemed that
the greatest danger was over, he should have been
killed. A picket-boat was in difficulties, and in
spite of the fact that heavy shelling was going on
Cater rushed to the pier to shout orders through
his megaphone. There were many gallant men in
Anzac, but probably no-one more so than Cater
— no-one who had more whole-heartedly devoted
himself to his duties. He was one of the best-
known figures on the beach, and was mourned by
every man who had come in contact with him.
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CHAPTER XIX
THE SUVLA LANDING
Ther^ was intermittent shelling by our guns
throughout the three days prior to the attack, and
the enemy replied by directing heavy artillery fire
on the gullies in which the fresh troops lay con-
cealed. Thus the 13th Division and 29th Brigade
experienced the unpleasant sensation of sitting still
and being shelled almost directly they came ashore.
On the afternoon of the 6th the first of the
local attacks was launched, the ist Australian
Brigade capturing the Lone Pine Trenches by
one of the most magnificent assaults that has ever
taken place. No less magnificent was the de-
fence of this position against determined counter-
attacks, which were made by the Turks daily and
nightly for at least a week. The other local
attacks, though equally boldly delivered, met
with less success, and the charge of the 3rd Light
Horse Brigade from Russell's Top was doomed
before it began. At 4 a.m. the bombardment by
our guns began, and when it ceased at 4.25
the Turks opened machine-gun and rifle-fire so
vigorously that it was clear that their trenches
Q ^ . 225
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226 ON TWO FRONTS
were intact and they were ready. Into a hail of
lead the 8th Light Horse rushed out, charging
in four waves, followed by the loth. Only
two officers were untouched and very few of
the rank and file, but each line dashed over the
parapet undismayed, though the men could see
those in front of them swept relentlessly down.
Russell's Top is just above Mule Gully, and
this charge took place not more than 600 yards
from our mess dug-out, near which was a hospital.
Soon the tents were full, and hundreds of men,
many with ghastly wounds, were laid on the
ground outside, where they had to remain in the
broiling sun until a passage to hospital-ships could
be arranged. Lieutenant Robinson of the 8 th,
with three fingers broken, called at the dug-out,
and anxiously we asked for news of Hore, to learn
that he was wounded. I sent Brown up the hill
with a stretcher to bring him to the dug-out, and
by eight o'clock we had him on the valise, hit in the
shoulder and foot. Hore had got almost across
to the enemy trenches before he was knocked over ;
finding that practically no one else had got so
far, there was nothing for it but to crawl back,
which he had^ventually succeeded in doing. He
lay in the dug-out all day and got to a hospital-
ship that night.
We watched the landing at Suvla of the lOth
and nth Divisions, and saw troops being rapidly
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THE SUVLA LANDING 227
put ashore, supported by the fire of men-o'-war
lying in Suvla Bay; there did not appear to 'be
much opposition at first, though shrapnel was
bursting on the beaches. It was later in the day
that the Turkish artillery, having taken up fresh
positions and found the range, began to make
things unpleasant for these troops.
During the night the New Zealand Mounted
Rifles had carried out their task of taking Table
Top and Old No. 3, with a dash and brilliancy
which has won them undying fame. And these
were the very men who had worked for me as a
fatigue party a night or two before and had been
almost too tired to keep awake. It was a triumph
of the spirit over the flesh. Men so weak and
played out that they could scarcely stand, fought,
when the time came, like troops in perfect physical
condition. The deeds of the men of Anzac during
the battle of Suvla Bay would have been a glory
to any troops. No words can ever do justice to
what they accomplished in the condition to which
four months of semi-siege had reduced them.
The movable column under General Godley
had fought its way up the Sazli Beit Dere and the
Chailak Dere on to the slopes of Chunak Bair, in
spite of strong opposition, and some of the Indian
Infantry Brigade and part of a battalion of South
Lancashires had actually stood upon the crest and
looked down upon the Dardanelles. But the ships
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228 ON TWO FRONTS
had taken them for Turks and hurled shells upon
them — ^a heartbreaking mistake which gave the
enemy time to organise and launch a counter-
attack and drive the Indians back.
Then things began to go amiss. The expected
support from the Suvla troops was not forthcoming,
and a brigade of the 13th Division, which, kept in
reserve the first day, had been ordered to advance,
missed its way in the difficult country and was cut
up, losing its Brigadier and all his Staff. The
supply of water to the troops, as had been fore-
seen, proved a task of extreme difficulty ; but,
thanks to the careful preparation and arrangements
made beforehand, the men of the movable column
were watered, though they got much less than they
really required. The losses in drivers and pack-
mules were extremely heavy. They went out in
small parties, so as to be the better able to make
use of any cover, but it was a difficult and danger-
ous job to take animals up these Deres while the
battle raged.
Many prisoners were captured, who stated that
the Turks had never had any intention of using gas
or liquid fire. I saw one German officer amongst
them. The emplacements of one of the 'y§'s with a
lot of ammunition fell into our hands, but the gun
had been removed. It was particularly appropriate
that Captain Cleeve of the Australian A.S.C. should
establish himself in the gunpit and pitch his
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THE SUVLA LANDING 229
supply-depot close by, for his depot in Reserve
Gully had been the favourite target of this gun.
In the dug-outs of the gunners were all their pos-
sessions, and in one, presumed to belong to the
officer in charge, women's clothing was found.
The removal of the gun had evidently been
conducted in a hurry, for two Turkish officers
were captured clad in pyjamas. •
All this time fresh men and mules were ar-
riving at Anzac. At any odd hour a motor-launch
(always known as a " beetle ") might arrive and
have to be unloaded. Convoys, provided with
a guide who knew the ground, would go straight
into action from the beach, and men were some-
times hit and evacuated before they had ever
been to headquarters at all. Often the " beetles "
arrived at night, each carrying fifty mules and
towing lighters containing more mules.
One night a lighter, drifted right away, and a
party had to swim out to recover it and push it
ashore. Almost every "beetle" which arrived
by day was shelled, and Bird had a nasty time
superintending the landings. The arrival of
Captain Aylmer, Conductor Bruce and Sergeant
Dudding brought welcome help.
On the evening of the 7th, CuUen came into
Mule Gully to report that work with the 13th
Division was proceeding satisfactorily, and as it
happened to be his 21st birthday we made him
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230 ON TWO FRONTS
stay to dinner, and drank his health. The very
next day ' he received a mortal wound in the
stomach from a snipers bullet. He lay under
cover of a little bank, to which stretcher-bearers
had carried him till it was possible to move
him, for during daylight to show one's head was
to bring down a shower of bullets. Corporal
Wilson, one of the interpreters, volunteered to
fetch a doctor, and, running the gauntlet of the
fire, returned with an officer of the R.A.M.C.,
who administered morphia. Cullen was heroic
in his unselfishness and thought of himself not
at all, his concern being entirely for others.
At dusk he was carried to the pier at No. 2
Outpost, where the wounded lay in hundreds
waiting to be removed to the hospital-ships, and
devoted medical officers and orderlies laboured
day and night ; but, despite everything they could
do, the wounded suflFered terribly from exposure
and neglect, for the casualties were so terrific that
the medical services could not hope to cope with
them. The wounded were not even safe where
they lay ; quite a number were hit by stray rifle
bullets : there was no cover to be had, and the
Turkish " overs " just reached the beach. Wilson
stayed with poor Cullen till they got him oflF at
midnight to the Dbngohy where he died the next
afternoon.
Two Territorial Divisions, the 53rd and 54th,
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THE SUVLA LANDING 231
had landed at Suvla to support the 9th Corps,
but by now the troops which had fought the
battle of the 6th to 9th of. August were too
worn-out to attack again without a rest. It
became necessary to consolidate and hold fast
what had been gained. ^
Fresh transport arrangements had to be thought
out. The scheme had been elastic so as to
fit in with whatever' circumstances might arise,
and now it was resolved to divide the transport
into four groups. " A " was to consist of first-line
pack-mules, to remain at No. 2 Outpost and the
Sazli Beit Dere under Captain Ayhner. "B " was
Base Transport, with headquarters at Mule Gully,
which now held 500 animals, under Captain Bird.
" C " was Beach Transport at Anzac Cove, uader
Lieutenant Haddick, a new arrival ; and " D " was
a detachment handed over to Colonel Marsh for
the use of the Australian Division on the right.
We had now close on 2000 mules ashore.. "A"
Transport was shelled in its camps, and performed
perilous journeys every day. It was the lot of
K.D.s Bahawal Din and Ghulam Rasul to have
their troops always as far forward as transport
could go. Owing to the failure to take Baby
700, the road from Mule Gully to No. 2 Post
was still under fire, and the exigencies of the
situation demanded that convoys should work
between these two points regardless of losses. It
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232 ON TWO FRONTS
was here that many casualties occurred to groups
** B " and ** C ", for every convoy that passed along
was fired on by machine-guns. One night when
there was a full moon this journey. was particu--
larly bad, but the behaviour of the drivers was
such as to command universal respect. They
treated it as a joke. The carts were sent off one
at a time, the driver, protected on the exposed
side by the boxes and bags which formed his
load, being ordered to cross the open space at>
fuU gallop. Usually they are forbidden to go
out of a walk, and they quite enjoyed this un-
accustomed license. But the return journey,
when there were no boxes to protect the men,
was a hazardous one. The drivers would arrive
breathless at the foot of Mule Gully shouting,
*^ Bachgia, sahib ! " (I've escaped, sir !), with a broad
grin on their faces, except those (and they were
many) who had not escaped. These moonlight
marches must have been great fun for the Turks,
for sniping is a good game for the sniper,«though
indifferent sport for the snipe.
During the recent fighting the mule-transport
at Anzac had lost 63 men and 296 mules killed
and wounded, making the total casualties from
April 2510 the middle of August— Killed : Second-
Lieutenant CuUen, Conductor Galway, i British
interpreter, and 20 drivers. Wounded : 3 British
interpreters, i Indian officer, and 154 drivers.
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THE SUVLA LANDING 233
Animals killed : 259 mules and 2 horses.
Wounded : 599 mules and 4 horses. Slightly-
wounded cases remaining at duty are not included.
On August 21, the 29th Division having been
transferred from Helles to Suvla, and a Yeomanry
Division brought from Egypt, a further attempt
was made to advance from the Suvla position, the
whole force being under the command of General
de Lisle. Anzac co-operated by artillery support
and local attacks.
In spite of the wonderful gallantry displayed by
the Yeomanry, who could be plainly seen from
Anzac advancing across the Salt Lake (now dry),
and of the 29th Division, whose, never-failing
heroism was a byword on the Peninsula, this
attack, too, was unsuccessful. The. task attempted
proved more than human beings could perform.
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CHAPTER XX
A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK
The failure to achieve the hoped-for results of
the attack on August 21 put the final seal on
the disaster of Suvla Bay. The whole essence
of the plan had been surprise, and, once the
Turks had time to prepare their defences^ the
natural advantages of their positions rendered
further advance hopeless. The net result of the
battle was an increase in the area of territory held,
by our forces. The Anzac position remained the
same, except that the advance on the left had
rendered the North Beach and the ground above
it immune from sniping, and the position held
by the movable column and the troops who had
landed at Suvla was now in direct touch with
that at Anzac.
The chance of being pushed into the sea was
certainly less, but a return to the former con-
ditions of life seemed inevitable. Speculation
was rife as to what would now be the plans of
G.H.Q. There were many who thought that
evacuation was the only course open to us, on
the principle of cutting our losses ; for the daily
«34
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A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK 235
wastage continued and was bound to increase as
bad weather set in, while the only compensating
advantage was the retention of a Turkish Army
on the Peninsula. On the other hand, many held
the opinion that evacuation — ^or, in other words,
an admission of the failure of the expedition —
would have such disastrous effects politically as
to be out of the question. It looked as though
the latter theory obtained at G.H.Q., for signs
of preparations to remain for the winter were in
evidence. Hospitals were established in tents to
hold large numbers of sick, in view of the proba-
bility of bad weather making it impossible to
evacuate them for days together. Material arrived
for improving dug-outs and roofing them in, and
large reserves of rations and ammunition were
brought ashore.
"The daily round, the common task" was
resumed, to the old accompaniment of occasional
shelling. Two piers were erected at the North
Beach, and the open ground above it became a
huge supply-depot. One very welcome change
was that bathing from the North Beach could
now be indulged in in perfect safety, and was
greatly improved by having the piers to dive
from. The early autumn weather was delightful,
and the longer nights facilitated the transport
work. Although there was naturally great dis-
appointment at the result of the Suvla landing,
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236 ON TWO FRONTS
one saw no signs of despondency or depression.
The men remained alert and full of fight.
I paid a short visit to Suvla Bay, where Colonel
Beville had now established his headquarters, and
where he and his officers lived in tents close to
the sea. Allotments of transport to Divisions
had been made, with one S. & T. Corps officer in
charge of each, while Base Transport, which did
the beach work, was under Major Van der Gucht.^
There was a detachment at Lala Baba, three
miles south of Suvla Bay, where Major Watson
and Captain Porch lived in tents right on the
beach, the mules being picketed on the clifF
above. One day an 8-inch shrapnel shell. burst
in the middle of these lines with the most appal-
ling effect. Sixty mules were killed, or had to
be shot) and fifty-five more received wounds. It
seemed almost inconceivable that one shell could
do so much damage. Luckily the men were
not in the lines at the time, and their dug-outs
escaped untouched.
Several 9th Mule Corps men whom I had
not seen since leaving France were at Suvla —
amongst them Naick Khan Ghul, D.S.M. — now
a kot duffadar. Our old quartermaster, Sergeant
Grainge, was also there, employed in the same
capacity. Conditions of life at Suvla were much
^ Major Vsin der Gucht died in Mesopotamia^ where he was
commanding the Indian Mule Train.
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A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK ^37
the same as at Hellcs — plenty of room to ride
about, and the country flat and open by contrast
with Anzac. The beach camps were shelled as
they had been at Helles. The Bay itself, across
which a boom had been placed, was an admirable
little harbour, where one or two cruisers were
lying. Sometimes they had to move to avoid
shells, but the boom rendered them safe from
submarine attack.
There was a large tent hospital on the -beach
between Suvla Bay and Lala Baba, and occasion-
ally some .shrapnel used to reach it. On one
such occasion the Turks sent a letter of apology,
but added that, if we would put a hospital directly
behind a battery of guns, it could not be helped
if it was occasionally hit by mistake. They
certainly never shelled a hospital or hospital-ship
intentionally. Another example of the Turks'
decent behaviour is contained in a story told by
a Major of a regiment which took part in one of
the August attacks. The Colonel was missing,
and the Major sent out parties to search for him
without success. Then he sent a note under
a white flag to the Turkish trenches, giving a
description of tJie Colonel and saying that he
would be very grateful for any information re-
garding him. A day or two later a reply was
received, stating that the body of the Colonel had
been identified and respectfully buried, and all
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238 ON TWO FRONTS
the contents of his pockets and^ his ring were
returned by the Turks.
About the middle of September I received
orders to proceed to Alexandria to carry out
certain duties with regard to the provision of
winter clothing for our men. Bird was to take
charge in my absence.
Major Worsley was returning to Egypt to
resume his former appointment in the Egyptian
Army, so we went ofF together to the fleet-
sweeper which plied nightly between Mudros
and the Peninsula. Some of the 2nd Australian
Infantry Brigade were on board, bound for
Lemnos, where they were to have a spell of rest.
One of them received a stray bullet through his
knee-cap whilst lying on deck, although the ship
was quite a mile from the shore. The sweeper
had brought over the 4th Gurkhas, who had come
from France to join Cox's Indian Brigade. I
found Captain L. P. Collins, D.S.O., and Lieu-
tenant Hartwell — the ' only two remaining who
had gone with the regiment to France — in the
best cabin on the ship, and promptly took it over
from them.
Mudros was still full of shipping including
several men-o'-war. The Cunard liner Aquitania^
now a hospital-ship, dwarfed everything in the
Bay ; another hospital-ship lying alongside her
looked like a small tug. The AquUania had
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A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK 239
come out as a troopship bearing troops to Suvla
Bay.
We reported ourselves on board the Head-
quarters ship, a fine vessel of the Royal Mail Line,
where General Koe and Colonel Striedinger very
kindly gave us a sumptuous lunch which was a
great treat. Luckily a ship was to leave for
Alexandria that day, and passages in her were
given to us. It was always a toss-up whether
one might jxot have to wait days at Mudros, and
just a matter of luck what sort of ship would be
going. It might be a liner or it might be a
tramp. Our luck was dead in, for the vessel
due to depart that day was a new British India
steamer, without exception the most comfort-
able ship I have ever travelled in. My cabin
companion was Lieutenant Carruthers, M.C.,
of the Dublin Fusiliers, bound on the same
mission as myself. At the landing from the
Clyde he had been wounded, but had soon re-
turned and was, when he left, the only one of
the original officers with the battalion.
Worsley and I were joined at a table in a sort
of bow-window — more like what one would ex-
pect to find in a seaside hotel than in a ship — by
another Worsley, a Captain of the K.O.S.B., and
by an officer in the Naval Division. The latter
introduced himself by remarking, "Good-morning.
I'm a war bride, I am." He was a most enter-
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240 ON TWO FRONTS
taining person, and the four of us thoroughly
enjoyed the short trip to Alexandria,
Major-General Wallace was commanding the
troops in Alexandria. I had served on his Staff
in India some years before, and he was good
enough to invite me to accompany him, in place
of his A.D.C, who was ill, to a French review at
which he had to put in an appearance. Motoring
out into the desert, we found the French troops
drawn up on the tawny sand, making a most
attractive picture in the brilliant sunlight, with
undulating sand-hills and occasional clumps of
palm-trees behind them> First there was a pre-
sentation of medals won for gallantry in the war.
The names, and the nature of the deeds for which
the decorations had been awarded, were read out
by a Staff Officer, and each soldier marched up to
the flag-staff, where stood the French General
who pinned on the medal and kissed the recipient
on both cheeks. Then came a march-past, after
which the cavalry trotted away behind the hill, to
return at the charge at full gal|op with swords
drawn. When within only a few paces of the
flag-staff, they drew rein, halted, and gave a
general salute — an impressive and picturesque
scene.
In Cairo we stayed three days at Shepheard's
Hotel, and spent the time seeing the sights. The
many gardens full of beautiful flowers and shrubs
were particularly attractive after the burnt-up.
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A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK 241
treeless surroundings of Anzac. Major Gibbs —
minus a big toe, but otherwise fit and flourishing
— took us in a car to the Barrage Park at one of
the dams across the Nile, which was then in flood.
The park looked as fresh and green as any to
be seen at home.
There was a big prisoners* camp to which
we paid a visit. All the prisoners seemed
thoroughly happy and contented, and they cer-
tainly ought to have been for their treatment was
remarkably good. Arriving at sunset, we found
evening prayer in progress, and were reminded of
the Jamma Masjid at Delhi. Hundreds of Turks
were kneeling on their mats, with their heads
bowed towards the sacred city of Mecca.
The Pyramids and the Sphinx — especially the
latter — impressed me so much that I made the
journey to them three' times, once at sunset and
twice by moonlight. The Sphinx has a wonderful
fascination. It seems to make a special appeal to
one's feelings in these days of the world war.
Looking at its inscrutable countenance, one ima-
gines it is real and not the work of man at all.
It seemed to be thinking, "What atoms you
human beings are, and how absurdly taken up
with your own infinitesimally small affairs ! You
think they are important, but what are they —
even the biggest of them — to me who have
been here longer than any man cah tell ? Even
this war, which seems so momentous to you, is
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242 ON TWO FRONTS ^
nothing. . A thousand years hence all will be the
same and I shall still be here."
It is a pity that civilisation has drawn so near
to the Sphinx. It ought to lie away in the desert,
far from the haunts of man. To find a hotel
and tram-lines within a few hundred yards is
incongruous. ,
From Cairo I went to Ismailia to transact my
business with Colonel Shairp, Director of Supply
and Transport in Egypt, and spent a couple of.
pleasant days with him and other old friends of
my Corps. Rejoining the two Worsleys and
Jones- Vaughan of the Rifle Brigade at Port Said,
we indulged in surf-bathing and thoroughly en-
joyed ourselves.
At Alexandria I had to wait two or three days for
a transport, and visited the Indian Hospital where
I found many of my wounded men. Poor fellows,
it was pitiful to see them — some of them disabled
for life. Ajaib Shah was there, looking terribly
thin and pale : two or three operations had been
performed, but his elbow was shattered and he
will never use his arm again. They were all going
back to India, and were glad to go.
The MartitoUy in which 1 eventually got a pas-
sage, had been attacked by a Turkish gunboat in
April ; she had also been hit two or three times
at Suvla Bay — one shell going clean through the
purser's cabin. Owing to terrible overcrowding,
the journey back was not nearly so enjoyable as
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A TRIP TO EGYPT AND BACK 243
the passage down had been. Brigadier-General
Russell was on board, and Colonel Pope — after
whom Pope's Hill was called. Submarines were
known to be about, the Ramazan having just
been sunk, and parades at boat-stations took'
place three times a day. Life-belts had to be
carried wherever one went. Travelling round by
the coast of Greece, the Manitou took two extra
days to reach Mudros. As all the trawlers and
lighters that were in the harbour of Lemnos
were requisitioned for important transport service
at this particular moment, it was some time before
we could get away from the Manitou and on to
a fleet-sweeper to take us back to Anzac. The
ship in which the contingent eventually got away
fell a victim to a submarine shortly afterwards.
She anchored ofF Anzac at midnight. Things
were just the same. The crack of rifle-bullets
reached us from the shore, and the ping as they
hit the water was an old familiar sound.
At Mule Gully, I found my dug-out trans-
formed into a house consisting of two rooms
with doors and windows — almost unrecognisable.
Bird had been invalided home, and Brown too,
and PuUeyn was in command. Things had been
fairly quiet, but the health was still bad, jaundice
in particular being very prevalent, while a good
many drivers had been sent away with scurvy.
A regular row of houses was being built for
Army Corps Headquarters, and there were many
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244 ON TWO .FRONTS
more tents than formerly. A light railway was in
course of construction, the trucks to be pulled by
mules. The working of this railway was handed
over to me, as being a branch of the Transport,
and it was very interesting working out schemes
and time-tables. Eliot had been wounded in the
foot, and Higginson had succumbed to dysentery.
Few of those who had landed at the beginning
remained. Colonel Lesslie, now C.R.E. Army
Corps and temporary Brigadier-General, was still
going strong ; but all the Landing StafF had
changed. Little fighting was going on, each side
being content to await the onslaught of the other.
One day three gas-shells came over the top of
Walker's Ridge like rodcets at a firework display.
The explosive was contained in a cylinder, attached
to which was a long stick, and when the cylinder
burst a cloud of yellow smoke escaped. But the
shells must have been badly made, for beyond
making a horrible smell they were perfectly
harmless.
One felt much safer walking about, though
even now there was always a risk. A lance-naick,
brought into oflfice one morning to be given pro-
motion, saluted and turned about. As he4)assed
out of the dug-out a stray bullet hit him in the
chest, inflicting a fatal wound.
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CHAPTER XXI
CONCLUSION
About three weeks after my return, I fell a
victim to jaundice and had to leave. I left all my
kit behind, expecting to be back in a fortnight.
With about 1 50 other sick and wounded men,
I boarded a "beetle" to go to the hospital-ship.
The weather being rough and the " beetle's" engine
not very powerful, she could make no headway,
so a picket-boat took her in tow. In this way the
hospital-ship was reached, but the " beetle "could
not be made fast alongside. At last the attempt had
to be abandoned and she drifted away, helpless
in the heavy sea. Three times the picket-boat
managed to throw a line and take her in tow, but
each time the line snapped. Nearly every one
was sea-sick, and some of the wounded were in
a critical condition. It was five hours before we
succeeded in making the shore after a narrow
escape of collision with another vessel. Whilst
at sea, a violent bombardment of our trenches on
the right took place, so fierce that it might have
been preliminary to an infantry attack. But after
half an -hour the shelling ceased, and we heard on
reaching shore that little harm had been done.
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246 ON TWO FRONTS
It was three days later before another attempt
could be made, but this time it was successful
and the hospital-ship left for Malta that night.
I little thought that I had seen the last of Anzac,
but only six weeks later it was evacuated, as all
the world knows.
At Malta, after a short stay in the Convent of
the Blue Sister$, now a big hospital, I was
ordered home and a long perioS of sick leave
followed, as it was found, on arrival in England,
that my eyes had been seriously damaged.
When the final list of honours for the Darda-
nelles appeared, it was a great pleasure to see that
Rennison had been awarded a brevet-majority.
Sergeant Levings a D.C.M., and that others of
the Mule Train had been recognised.
Some of the Mule Corps- men were on the
Peninsula from the first day to the last, including
Mangat Rai, whose achievement for a Babu was
truly remarkable. The only words of complaint
he has uttered since the war began were Written
from Mesopotamia. He described that country as
" not very comfortable ".
In conclusion, a few words may not be out of
place regarding the status of the Indian mule-
driver as it is, and as those of us who have his best
interests at heart would wish to see it.
In India — ^the most consultative country in the
world — ^tradition dies hard, and it has unfortun-
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CONCLUSION 247
ately become almost a tradition in the army of
India to look down upon the drabi and to regard
him as an inferior being for whom anything is
good enough. With regard to the treatment of
the driver whilst actually- at the front during this
war I have no complaint to make. Officers and
men, of both the Indiaa and the Anzac Corps,
were very generous towards my men, and the
mutual relations between the driver and the fight-
ing man were cordial in the extreme. It is of
the status of the drivers in India after the war
that I am thinking.
The slightly contemptuous attitude that has
hitherto prevailed is unreasonable, for, be it in
peace or in war, the driver is deserving of more
consideration. In peace, from the day he joins
his unit he is the hardest worked man in the
army, and there is but little time to teach him his
drill or to instruct him in his duties. Whatever
the weather conditions, his work on the road goes
on; when he returns to the lines his mules must
be groomed and his saddlery cleaned. There is
no welcome "no parade'* bugle for him.- On
manoeuvres he is the first man up in the morning
and the last to reach camp at night, and he is the
last to be considered where comfort is concerned.
In war he shares to the full the hardships of
the fighting troops and, as the casualties prove,
the dangers too.
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248 ON TWO FRONTS
It should be remembered that the drabi is
recruited from exactly the same classes as the
sepoy, the only difference being that men of
slightly inferior physique are accepted. They do
not look as smart and well turned out as sepoys,
but this is due to an inadequate clothing allowance,
and to lack of spare time for drill . given the
same opportunities, a Mule Corps would turn out
as smartly as any regiment.
Let the mule-driver's reward for his behaviour
during the Great European War be a fuller
recognition and more sympathetic treatment in
the army. Let Government take the lead by
abolishing once and for all that degrading word
" follower *', and by giving the transport-driver
the same standing as the sepoy.
The men of the Army Service Corps hold up
their heads with the best; let the Indian transport
man be allowed to do the same. It is his right;
for a more hardworking, uncomplaining, gallant
lot of soldiers than the mule-drivers whom I had
the honour to command in France and Gallipoli
are not to be found in the armies of the British
Empire.
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