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IN 


Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  London,  New  York,  Bombay,  Calcutta  &  Madras. 


Presented  to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 
LIBRARY 

by  the 

ONTARIO  LEGISLATIVE 
LIBRARY 

1980 


WITH  THE 

TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 
IN  GALLIPOLI 


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^WITH  THE   TWENTY- 
NINTH  DIVISION  l^ 
GALLIPOLI       I 

A   CHAPLAIN'S   EXPERIENCES 


BY   THE 

REV.  O.  GREIGHTON,  C.F. 

Church  of  England  Chaplain  to  the 
86th  Brigade 


WITH  TWENTY-SIX  ILLUSTRATIONS 
AND  TWO  MAPS 


LONGMANS,    GREEN   AND 

39    PATERNOSTER    ROW,   LONDON 

FOURTH  AVENUE   &  30™  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

BOMBAY,    CALCUTTA,    AND    MADRAS 

1916 


To  the  Memory 

of  many  new-found  Friends, 

whose  bodies  lie  on  the  Gallipoli  Peninsula, 

but  the  fruits  of  whose  devotion 

and  sacrifice  are  ours, 
and  in  honour  of  every  officer  and  man 
of  the  Twenty-ninth  Division, 
these  pages  are  offered 


FOREWORD 

AT  a  time  when  so  many  books  are  being  written 
on  the  war,  it  is  with  a  feeling  of  great  hesitation  that 
I  have  decided  to  add  to  their  number.  It  was  only 
on  returning  home  for  a  month's  sick  leave,  after  the 
evacuation  of  the  Gallipoli  Peninsula  had  been  com- 
pleted and  one  distinct  chapter  of  the  war  had  been 
finally  closed,  that,  in  the  press  of  all  that  is  and  will 
be  happening  elsewhere,  there  seemed  a  danger  of 
the  wonderful  exploits  of  the  Division  which  played 
so  leading  a  part  in  the  Eastern  Campaign  being 
forgotten.  We  had  had  to  abandon  the  Peninsula. 
But  this  does  not  mean  we  must  forget  those  who 
played  so  heroic  a  part  in  this  desperate  undertaking. 
Their  graves  lie  in  the  hands  of  our  enemies,  but  their 
memories  and  examples  are  ours. 

I  had  been  in  the  somewhat  exceptional  position 
of  being  able  to  keep  a  diary  throughout  the  six 
months  that  it  was  my  great  privilege  to  be  with  the 
2gth  Division,  and  to  see  different  aspects  of  its  life 
and  work  from  those  visible  to  the  ordinary  war 
correspondent  or  military  historian.  I  am  a  civilian, 
and  know  nothing  of  military  matters  beyond  what 
any  average  civilian  may  pick  up  in  a  campaign. 
Accordingly,  the  picture  I  give  is  almost  solely  a 
human  one.  Naturally,  being  in  the  position  of 
Church  of  England  Chaplain  to  the  86th  Brigade,  my 
diary  is  very  full  of  allusions,  often  of  a  personal 

vii 


viii  FOREWORD 

nature,  to  my  own  special  work.  And  while  the  diary 
is  published  as  a  memorial  to  the  2Qth  Division,  it 
would  be  very  difficult  to  avoid  all  mention  of  my 
work,  or  my  impressions  as  Chaplain,  without  destroy- 
ing the  symmetry  of  the  whole. 

In  war  time,  as  every  one  knows,  the  air  is  full  of 
rumours,  and  statements  made  with  the  most  positive 
certainty  are  full  of  inaccuracies.  Knowing  this,  in 
keeping  my  diary  I  took  pains  to  write  only  what  I 
got  at  first  hand  and  from  personal  observation  (unless 
otherwise  stated),  and  in  all  statements  of  numbers, 
etc.,  tried  to  be  as  accurate  as  possible.  Hence  the 
diary  is  very  incomplete.  It  is  no  history  of  the 
doings  of  the  2gth  Division.  The  regiments  I  saw 
most  of  naturally  figure  the  largest  for  this  reason 
only,  and  not  because  their  deeds  were  more  worthy 
of  mention  than  those  of  other  regiments.  I  simply 
give  my  diary  almost  in  full  as  it  was  written,  only 
omitting  what  would  not  be  of  general  interest,  or 
personal  comments  which  it  would  hardly  be  right  or 
wise  to  publish.  If  worth  printing  at  all,  the  diary 
must  stand  on  its  own  merits.  I  have  added  some 
notes  here  and  there,  amplifying  the  text  a  little,  from 
first-hand  information  I  have  since  gathered.  The 
photographs  have  been  lent  me  by  Lt.  Colonel  Newen- 
ham,  of  the  2nd  Battalion  of  the  Royal  Fusiliers,  with 
which  regiment,  together  with  the  ist  Battalion  of  the 
Lancashire  Fusiliers,  circumstances  brought  me  most 
in  contact.  I  wish  time  had  allowed  me  to  collect 
others  illustrating  other  regiments. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Lt.  Colonel  Newenham 
of  the  Royal  Fusiliers,  and  Major  Farmar,  formerly  of 
the  86th  Brigade  Staff,  for  the  valuable  accounts  of 


FOREWORD  ix 

the  landings  on  "X  "  and  "  Y  "  beaches,  and  the  sub- 
sequent operations,  they  have  sent  me. 

I  can  only  feel  how  inadequate  the  whole  account 
is.  So  much  more  might  be  said  which  time  and 
opportunity  make  it  impossible  to  say.  Some  may 
appear  to  have  been  signalled  out  for  special  mention, 
while  many  others,  whose  deeds  are  equally  worthy 
of  record,  are  passed  by  with  barely  recognition.  The 
limitations  under  which  a  diary  kept  in  the  midst  of 
such  rapidly  occurring  events  must  labour,  must  be 
the  excuse. 

I  can  only  hope  that  the  relations  and  friends  of 
those  who  took  part  in  the  campaign  and  who  fell 
on  the  Peninsula,  whether  recorded  or  not,  will  feel 
that  something,  however  little,  has  been  done  to  their 
memory. 

February  16,  igi6. 


CONTENTS 


PA< 


FOREWORD    .......       rii 

I    IN  ENGLAND          ......         i 

January  27~March  14. 

II    ON  BOARD  SHIP    ......       17 

March   15-27. 

III  IN  EGYPT 35 

March  28-April  8. 

IV  IN  MUDROS  HARBOUR     .....       34 

April  9-24. 

V    OFF  CAPE  HELLES          .....       46 

April  25-30. 

VI    ON  CAPE  HELLES  ......       64 

May  1-5. 

VII    A  THREE  DAYS'  BATTLE,  AND  AFTER       .         .       78 

May  6-14. 

VIII     QUIETER  DAYS 95 

May  is-31- 

IX    THE  BATTLE  OF  JUNE  4          .         .         .         .118 

June  1-9, 

m 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGK 

X    IN  ABERDEEN  GULLY     .  .  .130 

June   10-27. 

XI    THE  BATTLE  OF  JUNE  28,  AND  AFTER      .  146 

June  28-July  14. 

XII    MUDROS  AGAIN      .         .         .         .         .          .162 

July  15-August  9. 

POSTSCRIPT  ...  .  173 

ADDITIONAL  CHAPTER  BY  MAJOR  H.  M.  FARMAR, 

D.S.O .     175 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

H.M.S.  '  IMPLACABLE  '  FIRING,  WITH  2ND  ROYAL   FUSILIERS 

IN   BOATS Frontispiece   - 

PAGB 

THE    QUAY,  ALEXANDRIA,  WITH  H.M.T.  '  A —  .  .          I? 

THE    QUAY    AT    ALEXANDRIA,   WITH     KIT    BAGS    AND    AM- 
BULANCE .  .  .  .  .  .  .26 

2QTH   DIVISION   CAMP   AT   MEX,  NEAR   ALEXANDRIA  .          29 

2QTH  DIVISION  CAMP  AT  MEX  (another  view)         .          .       32 

PRACTISING    GETTING    INTO    BOATS    FROM    H.M.T.    '  \~ 

IN   MUDROS   HARBOUR  .....          37 

BOAT    PRACTICE    IN    MUDROS    HARBOUR  ...          41 

BOAT   PRACTICE,  MUDROS   HARBOUR,  WITH   TOW  OF   BOATS 

AS    AT    LANDING  ......          44 

"X"     BEACH,     WHERE     2ND     ROYAL     FUSILIERS     LANDED, 

EARLY    IN    MAY  ......          50 

THE   RUSSIAN    CRUISER,   THE    '  ASKOLD  '  .  .  .    \ 

GENERAL   VIEW  OF   PENINSULA  LOOKING  TOWARDS  MORTO  f       52 
BAY  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   ) 

CLIFFS    ABOVE    "  X  "    BEACH,  WITH    ROYAL    FUSILIERS,  ON 

APRIL    25,  SHORTLY    AFTER    THE    LANDING  .  .          55 

TOP    OF    "x"    BEACH,     SHOWING    ROYAL    FUSILIERS    SOON 

AFTER    LANDING    ON    APRIL    25          .  .  .  .58 


W       BEACH    SOME  DAYS  AFTER  LANDING   OF  LANCASHIRE 

FUSILIERS  6 1 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


HELLES   IN   MAY  ......         69 

OFFICERS  OF  ROYAL  FUSILIERS,  EARLY  IN  MAY,  IN  CENTRE 

OF   CAPE   HELLES  ......          72 

MACHINE-GUN  SECTION  OF  ROYAL    FUSILIERS   IN  A  TRENCH 

EARLY   IN   MAY  ......         85 

ROYAL    FUSILIERS    HEADQUARTERS'    MESS    ORDERLIES    IN 

CENTRE  OF  CAPE  HELLES  EARLY  IN  MAY   .    .   92 

HEADQUARTERS'  MESS,  ROYAL  FUSILIERS,  EARLY  IN  MAY, 

IN  CENTRE  OF  CAPE  HELLES   ....   94 

"Y"  GULLY  WITH  GURKHA  BLUFF  ON  THE  LEFT,  LEADING 

UP   THE   CLIFFS   FROM    "Y"    BEACH          ...          99 

CAPTAIN     J ,     ACTING    C.O.,    ROYAL     FUSILIERS,    WITH 

FIRE   TRENCHES   JUST   VISIBLE   BEHIND   .  .  .104 

MEN    OF   THE    I4TH    SIKHS   IN    BIG   GULLY        .  .  .       IIO 

2ND  LIEUT.  G AND  LIEUT.  MUNDY,  ACTING  ADJUTANT, 

KILLED  JUNE    6  .  .  ....       125 

LOOKING   UP   GULLY   RAVINE          .  .  .  .  .] 

GULLY   BEACH    AT   THE   MOUTH   OF   GULLY   RAVINE  ./ 

NULLAH  ON   SIDE  OF   BIG  GULLY,  WITH  ROYAL  FUSILIERS' 

RATION   DUMP    .  162 


WITH    THE    TWENTY-NINTH 
DIVISION    IN    GALLIPOLI 

CHAPTER    I 

IN   ENGLAND 

(January  27 — March  14) 

Leamington  Spa:  January  27,  1915. — I  reached 
Leamington,  the  headquarters  of  the  2Qth  Division, 
where  I  had  been  directed  by  the  War  Office  to  report 
myself  without  delay,  prepared  to  go  immediately  to 
the  front,  on  the  evening  of  January  27.  It  was  a 
great  wrench  tearing  myself  away  from  a  brigade  of 
the  New  Army,  to  which  I  had  been  attached  shortly 
after  my  return  from  four  years'  uninterrupted  work 
in  the  north-west  of  Canada.  I  had  dropped,  quite 
naturally,  into  my  place  in  the  New  Army.  Among 
the  officers  there  were  men  preparing  for  Ordination, 
men  I  had  been  at  school  and  college  with,  and  the 
military  life  was  no  stranger  for  me  than  for  them. 
I  had  formed  many  close  friends,  and  was  much 
interested  in  my  work. 

I  was  presiding  at  a  crowded  concert  when  the 
telegram  from  the  War  Office  was  suddenly  handed 
to  me.  I  had  been  looking  forward  much  to  going  to 
France  with  the  regiment.  Without  comment,  but  with 
inward  feelings  of  dismay,  I  handed  the  telegram  to 


2     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Captain ,  who  was  sitting  beside  me.     Many  nice 

things  were  said  at  the  conclusion,  which  made  it  all 
the  harder  for  me  to  leave.  What  was  this  29th 
Division  ?  Regulars  just  returned  from  India !  I 
knew  nothing  about  the  regular  army.  I  had  no 
soldier  friends.  What  would  they  be  like  ?  I  felt  I 
should  be  like  a  fish  out  of  water,  and  it  was  with 
fear  and  trepidation  that  I  presented  myself  at  the 
Divisional  Headquarters,  on  the  evening  of  the  27th, 

in  the  big  hotel  at  Leamington.     I  met  C ,  who 

was  to  be  one  of  my  fellow-chaplains,  and  who  hap- 
pened to  arrive  at  the  same  moment  at  the  hotel 
entrance.  We  were  received  by  Colonel  Percival,  who 
had  recently  returned  from  France  to  be  chief  of  the 
Divisional  Staff. 

[Commencement  of  diary,  which  in  this  chapter  has 
been  largely  abbreviated  as  not  of  general  interest.] 

The  War  Office  had  not  let  him  know  we  were 
coming.  However,  we  produced  our  papers,  and  he 
took  us  into  the  office  and  gave  us  our  railway 
vouchers.  (It  is  surprising  the  amount  of  attention 
to  petty  little  details  these  superior  officers  seem  to 
have  to  give.)  He  also  gave  us  lists  of  all  the  units 
composing  the  Division.  From  these  it  appeared  that 
one  Brigade  was  at  Rugby,  another  at  Nuneaton,  and 
the  third  had  not  been  formed  yet,  but  would  have  its 
headquarters  at  Stratford-on-Avon.  C—  had  an 
aunt  at  Rugby,  so  decided  to  go  there,  while  I  was  to 
go  to  Nuneaton,  leaving  the  unformed  brigade  to  the 
chaplain  who  had  not  yet  arrived.  We  went  to  the 
Regent  Hotel  for  the  night.  It  was  the  headquarters 
for  the  artillery,  and  swarmed  with  officers.  There 
were  eight  batteries  there.  The  whole  Division  is  from 
India,  the  last  regular  Division,  I  gather,  in  England. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  3 

I  understand  some  units — R.A.M.C.,  cavalry,  A.S.C., 
etc. — are  Territorial.  We  dined  at  the  hotel,  and 

C went  off  to  see  a  friend,  while  I  wrote  letters 

and  felt  a  little  bored. 

Thursday,  January  28. — After  breakfast  I  managed 
to  get  into  conversation  with  one  or  two  officers  and 
gather  a  little  information.  The  artillery  are  fully 
equipped,  but  waiting  for  ammunition.  They  seemed 
a  splendid  set  of  men.  ...  I  went  to  headquarters 
to  see  if  the  Communion  sets  sent  by  the  Chaplain- 
General  had  arrived,  and  found  them  there.  We  saw 
the  staff  officers,  who  filled  in  our  papers,  and  then  to 
lunch  at  a  restaurant,  as  the  hotel  was  so  expensive; 

then  to  the  train,  where  I  first  saw  C off  to  Rugby, 

going  to  Nuneaton  myself,  and  arriving  shortly  after 
4  p.m. 

Nuneaton. — I  found  my  way  with  some  difficulty 
to  the  Brigade  office,  which  is  some  way  from  the 
station,  in  a  large  country  house,  Caldwell  Hall,  on 
the  edge  of  the  town.  I  found  a  charming  Brigade- 
Major,  Frankland,  who  had  been  informed  of  my 
coming  from  Leamington,  had  most  kindly  telephoned 
to  the  vicar  to  ask  if  he  could  have  me  to  stay,  and 
seemed  prepared  to  do  anything,  but  very  busy.  I 
afterwards  discovered  he  had  been  in  France  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  but  had  been  recalled  to  help 
form  the  Division. 

The  people  here  have  been  most  active  about 
soldiers'  clubs.  They  had  called  in  the  ubiquitous 
Y.M.C.A.,  and  had  three  clubs  started.  The  main 
one  is  in  the  Conservative  Club,  St.  George's  Hall,  a 
magnificent  room  with  a  stage,  in  the  centre  of  the 
town,  with  a  typical  Y.M.C.A.  man  in  charge.  He 
took  me  round  to  see  two  other  clubs.  They  are  not 
very  much  used,  as  the  men  are  pretty  comfortably 


4     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

billeted,    and,    having  been   away  from    England   so 
long,  appreciate  a  little  home  life  very  much. 

Friday,  January  29. — I  went  and  saw  the  Brigade- 
Major,  who  had  very  kindly  telephoned  the  night 
before  to  the  vicar  to  ask  about  me,  and  learnt  more 
about  the  composition  of  the  86th  Brigade  and  my 
duties.  In  Nuneaton  there  are  three  battalions — the 
ist  Lancashire  Fusiliers,  the  ist  Royal  Dublin  Fusi- 
liers, and  the  2nd  Royal  Fusiliers — billeted  in  Stock- 
ingford,  a  mining  district  just  outside.  The  ist  Royal 
Munster  Fusiliers  are  at  Coventry.  The  Dublins  and 
Munsters  are  mainly  R.C.,  but  no  chaplain  seems  to 
have  been  appointed  yet.  The  L.F.'s  and  R.F.'s 
have  the  usual  large  majority  of  nominal  C.  of  E. 
I  am  supposed  to  be  attached  to  the  Sgth  Field  Am- 
bulance, but  as  it  is  mainly  composed  of  Scotch  Pres- 
byterians, I  asked  the  Brigade-Major  if  I  could  not  be 
attached  to  one  of  the  battalions,  and  I  hope  this  can 
be  managed.  Then  I  went  to  the  L.F.'s  orderly-room 
and  found  a  charming  adjutant,  who  seemed  prepared 
to  do  anything  for  me,  and  also  to  the  Dublins  (who 
have  about  120  C.  of  E.),  to  arrange  about  Church 
Parade.  .  .  .  Later,  I  went  to  a  concert  in  the  St. 
George's  Hall.  The  battalions  all  have  their  bands, 
but  unfortunately  the  instruments  are  going  away  next 
week,  as  they  do  not  have  bands  at  the  front.  The 
L.F.'s  band  was  playing  cheery  but  noisy  music. 
They  are  to  play  at  church  on  Sunday.  A  very  nice, 
rather  talkative  corporal  accosted  me  in  a  shop  after- 
wards, and  asked  if  I  was  to  be  their  chaplain.  He 
gave  me  a  lot  of  useful  information.  He  said  the  men 
were  not  at  all  religious,  and  I  would  have  a  lot  of 
disappointments,  but  would  always  find  them  very 
civil.  They  did  not  like  going  to  church.  They  had 
a  splendid  chaplain  in  India — a  soldiers'  chaplain, 


IN   GALLIPOLI  5 

quite  unlike  the  English  ones.  He  seemed  quite  pre- 
pared to  instruct  me,  and  very  pleased  that  I  was 
prepared  to  let  him. 

These  are  some  of  my  first  impressions.  Regulars 
are  very  different  from  Kitchener's  Army.  They  seem 
exceedingly  smart  and  seasoned  troops,  and  have 
an  air  that  there  is  nothing  they  don't  know  about 
soldiering.  Of  course  one  feels  that  they  have  in- 
herited an  ancient  army  tradition,  and  there  is  not  the 
feeling  of  new  ground  to  be  broken  there  was  with 
Kitchener's  Army.  It  makes  so  much  difference,  feel- 
ing they  are  so  absolutely  ready  for  the  front.  I  found 
people  friendly  before,  but  nothing  could  exceed  the 
friendliness  here.  There  seems  nothing  they  are  not 
prepared  to  do.  I  can  see  how  my  work  will  be  both 
easier  and  harder.  It  will  run  much  more  smoothly, 
but  there  will  be  a  great  barrier  of  tradition  and  forms 
to  surmount.  The  men  seem  to  be  very  well  behaved, 
but  of  course  in  a  town  of  this  size  there  must  be  much 
that  is  wrong.  I  can  only  say  how  thankful  I  am  that 
I  do  not  come  to  them  utterly  green.  I  do  know  a 
little  military  terminology  now,  and  understand  a  little 
my  way  about.  It  is  all  exceedingly  interesting.  I 
don't  think  I  shall  aim  at  much  during  our  weeks  here 
beyond  trying  to  make  friends  with  as  many  officers 
and  men  as  possible.  I  think  there  will  be  more 
chance  of  ancient  traditions  breaking  down  when  we 
go  out. 

Saturday,  January  30. — I  spent  the  morning  on  a 
route  march  with  the  L.F.'s.  I  went  to  the  parade 
ground,  when  the  Major  came  and  spoke  to  me;  and 
when  they  moved  off,  and  I  fell  to  the  rear,  he  sent  for 
me  to  come  and  march  beside  him  at  the  head  of  the 
battalion,  just  behind  the  band,  and  there  I  marched 
all  the  way.  We  had  a  little  guard  of  soldiers  round 


6     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

us  to  keep  the  crowd  off.  Different  companies  took 
it  in  turn  to  take  the  lead,  so  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
talking  to  different  officers.  They  were  all  most 
friendly  and  agreeable.  The  Major  was  especially 
nice.  He  told  me  that  the  ist  L.F.'s  have  not  seen 
service  since  the  Crimea,  and  are  all  very  keen  to  get 
out.  They  have  been  a  very  long  time  in  India. 
They  feel  the  cold  rather,  but  are  getting  acclimatized. 
A  huge  band  of  about  seventy  instruments  went  before 
us,  and  I  enjoyed  the  music  much  more  out  of  doors. 
It  certainly  makes  a  difference  to  marching.  I  tried 
my  new  patent  boots,  and  found  them  on  the  whole 
very  satisfactory.  The  officers  took  much  interest  in 
them.  I  talked  a  little  with  the  regimental  sergeant- 
major.  He  had  been  to  Aldershot  to  see  his  wife,  and 
had  seen  the  review  of  Kitchener's  Army  when  the 
French  Minister  was  there,  and  was  very  much  im- 
pressed by  the  men.  I  was  pleased  to  hear  this,  as 
I  could  not  help  contrasting  the  regulars  with  the 
Kitcheners,  unfavourably  to  the  latter.  These  are 
splendid  troops  here,  such  a  magnificent  physique. 
I  enjoyed  the  march  much,  and  hope  to  go  for  more. 
Sunday,  January  31. — After  breakfast  a  motor-car 
came  for  me  and  took  me  to  the  Stockingford  Church, 
where  the  R.F.'s  were  parading  at  ten  o'clock.  It 
was  my  first  military  parade  with  regulars.  The  band 
provided  the  music,  and  also  the  choir.  The  whole 
service  was  done  with  the  most  exact  precision.  A 
Major  read  the  lessons.  One  felt  they  had  been  doing 
it  for  years,  just  the  same.  The  vicar  took  the  service. 
I  asked  that  no  ladies  should  be  present.  However, 
I  saw  some  girls  in  the  gallery  with  the  soldiers. 
Fortunately,  they  were  ejected  before  the  sermon.  I 
only  preached  for  seven  minutes.  I  told  the  men  I 
knew  little  about  them  and  the  place,  and  had  only 


IN    GALLIPOLI  7 

heard  good.  But  I  said  that  the  women  'and  girls 
were  having  a  very  difficult  time  during  the  war. 
They  had  never  had  military  in  the  place  before,  and 
were  naturally  very  excited,  and  thought  a  lot  of  the 
soldiers  who  had  just  come  from  India  and  were  going 
so  soon  to  the  front.  I  asked  the  men  to  do  all  they 
could  to  help  the  girls,  SD  that  the  memory  they  left 
behind  them  should  always  be  of  the  good  they  had 
done  during  their  stay. 

But  I  am  afraid  the  men  do  not  like  Church  Parade. 
Very  few  go  to  Evensong,  and  I  have  not  heard  of  one 
going  to  a  Celebration.  Theirs  is  a  strange  religion. 
I  held  a  service  in  the  evening  in  the  St.  George's 
Hall.  There  were  very  few  men  there,  mostly  R.C., 
I  think,  and  they  did  not  sing  the  hymns,  and  seemed 
very  loath  to  stand,  and  I  had  to  realise  they  were 
very  different  from  Kitchener's  Army.  Individually, 
I  must  say  I  find  them  very  nice,  very  civil  and  easy  to 
talk  to.  But  I  feel  quite  at  sea  as  to  how  to  do  any 
direct  religious  work  with  them,  and  almost  inclined 
not  to  attempt  any,  but  just  to  try  and  get  to  know 
them. 

Monday,  February  i. — I  went  a  long  route  march 
with  the  Dublins  in  the  morning,  about  twelve  miles. 
The  Colonel  rode  part  of  the  way,  but  walked  a  good 
deal,  and  was  very  pleasant,  and  talked  away  quite  a 
lot.  Many  of  the  officers  are  very  pleasant,  but  I  don't 
feel  they  very  much  care  whether  one  exists  or  not. 
After  all,  why  should  they  ?  Again  I  marched  just 
behind  the  band,  and  enjoyed  the  music.  It  is  very 
amusing  watching  whole  villages  turn  out  to  see  us 
and  the  general  excitement  we  arouse. 

Tuesday,  February  2. — Mrs.  told  me  she  had 

heard  stories  of  soldiers  leaving  their  billets  at  late 
hours  to  meet  girls  in  back  streets,  so  I  decided  to 


8     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

investigate  a  little  on  my  own.  ...  At  10.30  p.m.  I 
went  for  an  hour's  walk  along  a  path  by  the  canal. 
It  was  a  lovely  moonlight  night,  but  I  saw  no  one 
there,  and  found  a  few  soldiers  behaving  quite  orderly 
in  the  streets,  in  one  or  two  cases  with  girls,  but  quite 
openly.  I  find  they  are  allowed  out  till  midnight. 
One  of  the  other  vicars  has  since  told  me  that  he  has 
been  out  three  nights,  but  saw  nothing.  I  am  very 
glad,  as  now  I  feel  able  to  contradict  a  lot  of  the 
reports  going  about.  The  men  seem  to  be  behaving 
very  well. 

Thursday,  February  4. —  .  .  .  After  lunch  I  bicycled 
to  Stockingford  and  saw  the  Adjutant  of  the  R.F.'s, 
and  went  round  with  him  a  little,  and  then  bicycled 
on  to  Arbury  Park,  a  large  place,  where  one  of  the 
companies  was  trench-digging.  The  R.F.'s  are  all 
Cockneys,  mostly  from  the  East  End  of  London — 
such  a  contrast  to  the  L.F.'s.  They  are  smaller  men, 
but  seem  very  tough.  They  never  stop  talking  and 
joking.  It  might  pall  in  peace-time,  but  I  think  would 
be  very  suitable  to  the  trenches.  They  were  digging 
in  awful  mud,  and  bailing  the  water  out  of  the  trenches 
with  pails.  They  all  seem  very  comfortable  in  their 
billets,  and  the  soldiers'  club  is  being  closed  up  there, 
as  it  is  not  used.  This  billeting  makes  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  see  the  men  or  do  anything  with  them. 

Friday,  February  5. — Went  to  Coventry.  One  of 
my  battalions,  the  Munsters,  is  there.  I  went  to  the 
orderly-room  and  found  they  had  over  200  Anglicans, 
but  had  not  yet  been  to  Church  Parade,  and  the 
Adjutant  asked  me  to  arrange  one.  .  .  .  The  South 
Wales  Borderers  are  also  there,  and,  though  not  in  my 
brigade,  I  went  to  arrange  a  parade  for  them.  They 
are  back  from  Tsing-Tau,  where  they  were  for  eleven 
days  in  terribly  muddy  trenches,  but  only  lost  fourteen 


IN   GALLIPOLI  9 

men,  and  have  brought  back  practically  all  their 
wounded,  who  have  recovered.  .  .  . 

Saturday,  February  6. — I  went  to  the  Sgth  Field 
Ambulance  headquarters  and  found  a  very  nice 
Colonel,  and  arranged  about  my  being  attached  to 
them.  They  are  all  Presbyterian.  I  gathered  a  R.C. 
padre  had  been  appointed. 

Sunday,  February  7. —  ...  I  had  supper  with 

Dr. .  He  told  me  there  had  been  thirty  soldiers 

married  at  the  registrar's  office.  However,  when  we 
inquired  we  found  there  had  only  been  nine  licences 
issued;  most  of  the  men  being  married  at  the  R.C. 
Church.  Things  do  get  so  exaggerated. 

Monday,  February  8. —  ...  I  went  to  the  club  and 

talked  to  the  men.  They  are  so  nice  to  talk  to.  C 

finds  just  as  I  do,  that  practically  none  go  to  Com- 
munion. I  am  trying  to  discover  if  there  are  any 
C.E.M.S.  men,  or  men  belonging  to  any  religious 
society,  but  hitherto  have  been  unsuccessful.  They  all 
seem  to  have  had  any  individuality  crushed  out  of 
them  by  army  discipline.  They  confess  this,  and  say 
themselves  that  it  is  useless  ever  calling  for  volunteers 
to  do  anything.  They  must  always  be  detailed.  I 
am  trying  to  get  up  a  concert,  and  the  men  have  to 
be  detailed  in  regimental  orders  in  order  to  come  to 
rehearsals.  They  don't  mind  being  detailed,  but 
won't  come  unless  they  are.1  But  they  are  charming 
men,  so  civil  and  clean  and  orderly.  I  don't  think 
I  have  heard  an  oath  yet,  and  others  say  the  same.  I 
hear  nothing  definite  about  our  departure  yet,  and  they 
seem  quite  leisurely  about  completing  equipment. 

Thursday,  February  11. — A  dull  day.  The  main 
excitement  was  that  I  heard  over  the  telephone  from 

1  These  remarks  express  a   somewhat   crude    first   impression, 
largely  modified  by  subsequent  experience. 


10     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

the  R.A.M.C.  sergeant-major  that  my  batman  had 
arrived.  I  had  to  explain  that,  as  I  was  from 
Kitchener's  army,  I  did  not  know  what  a  batman  was. 
Perhaps  he  could  send  it  over  by  an  orderly.  It  turned 
out  it  was  my  servant,  sent  specially  from  the  A.S.C., 
from  the  other  end  of  England  somewhere,  to  look 
after  me.  I  am  glad  the  Government  takes  such  care 
of  the  chaplains. 

Friday,  February  12. — This  morning  I  went  on  a 
great  brigade  route  march.  The  whole  brigade  turned 
out,  with  all  their  transport.  It  was  a  lovely  day,  and 
a  fine  sight.  We  went  fourteen  miles,  and  did  not  get 
back  till  three  o'clock.  The  Munsters  joined  us  from 
Coventry  for  part  of  the  way.  I  timed  the  whole 
column  as  it  passed  a  certain  point,  and  it  took  twenty- 
five  minutes.  I  talked  to  different  officers  on  the  way, 
and  found  them  all  very  pleasant. 

Tuesday,  February  16. — I  went  to  a  dinner  party 

given  to  the  senior  Dublin  officers  by  Mr.  T ,  a 

wealthy  mill-owner  on  whom  the  Colonel  is  billeted. 
The  General  and  Brigade-Major  and  about  sixteen 
Dublin  officers  were  there.  The  General  was  pre- 
viously in  command  of  a  territorial  brigade,  but  is  very 
pleased  to  be  here,  and  enthusiastic  about  the  men. 
We  had  much  to  eat  and  drink,  and  toasts  at  the  end. 
I  was  made  to  sit  in  the  place  of  honour  at  the  head 
of  the  table.  They  were  all  very  charming  to  me. 
Certainly  the  regular  officer  is  very  easy  to  get  on 
with.  They  started  a  great  discussion  at  my  end  of 
the  table  about  compulsory  Church  Parade.  I  was 
very  glad  to  find  the  majority  strongly  in  favour  of  its 
being  voluntary,  and  firmly  convinced  that  if  only  the 
men  liked  the  padre  they  would  come.  The  Colonel 
made  me  play  auction  bridge  afterwards,  and  they 
were  very  nice  when  I  rather  demurred  about  playing: 


IN   GALLIPOLI  11 

for  money,  and  let  me  off.  It  was  a  very  pleasant 
evening,  and  a  good  way  to  get  to  know  the  officers. 

Wednesday,  February  17. —  .  .  .  Father  Finn,  the 
R.C.  chaplain,  came  to  see  me  and  seemed  very 
pleasant. 

I  went  to  a  room  where  the  L.F.'s  have  lectures  for 
the  men.  The  officer  who  was  to  lecture  had  so  bad 
a  cold  that  he  said  he  could  not.  So  I  offered  to  tell 
them  about  the  Canadian  contingent,  and  he  jumped 
at  it.  The  Lancashire  men  are  very  quiet,  and  sat 
perfectly  stolid  while  I  tried  to  tell  them  why  it  was  so 
difficult  to  get  the  kind  of  discipline  among  Canadians 
the  English  regulars  are  used  to.  We  know  nothing 
of  our  movements  yet. 

Thursday,  February  25. — The  Divisional  General 
suddenly  decided  to  have  an  inspection.  The  orders 
had  to  be  given  out  as  late  as  i  a.m.  that  morning,  and 
the  bugle  roused  the  majority  (but  not  me)  at  5  a.m. 
I  rode  out  after  them,  and  got  to  the  saluting-base  as 
our  brigade  passed.  The  8yth  Brigade  from  Rugby 
was  out  too,  but  I  did  not  see  them.  So  was  the  Field 
Ambulance,  for  the  first  time,  and  I  took  my  right 
place  on  the  column  with  the  Colonel.  The  Divisional 
General  is  Major-General  Shaw.1  He  was  a  Brigadier 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  but  he  was  wounded,  and 
has  been  laid  up  some  weeks  since  Christmas.  The 
Brigadier  is  General  Hare.  His  staff  say  it  is  a 
privilege  to  work  with  him,  and  the  Colonels  speak 
highly  of  him.  So  we  are  very  fortunate.  In  the 
evening  I  went  to  rather  a  poor  concert  in  the  hall. 
I  had  secured  the  R.F.'s  band  for  the  next  evening, 
but  had  no  singers.  So  I  went  off  to  a  local  music-hall 
whose  manager  had  promised  to  help  me  if  I  wished, 

1  On  the  day  of  the  royal  inspection  Major-General  Shaw  handed 
over  the  Division  to  Major- General  Hunter- Weston. 


12     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

and  he  took  me  round  behind  the  scenes,  where  I  inter- 
viewed a  coy  and  buxom  woman  who  sang  patriotic 
songs,  in  her  dressing-room,  and  a  blind  man  who 
played  the  concertina,  and  they  both  promised  to  come 
round  and  help  between  their  turns. 

Friday,  February  26. — I  went  to  a  piece  of  ground 
where  the  L.F.'s  were  digging  trenches,  and  the 
Colonel  carried  me  off  while  he  distributed  sixty-four 
beautiful  wrist-watches  to  the  men  who  had  made  the 
best  scores  shooting,  and  then  to  inspect  the  transport 
and  horses  and  the  wonderful  travelling  kitchens  which 
cook  meals  on  the  march,  and  the  water-carts  which 
have  a  filtering  arrangement  attached  which  makes  it 
possible  to  use  any  water.  In  the  evening  came  my 
concert.  The  R.F.'s  band  played  beautifully,  and 
the  lady  from  the  music-hall  made  a  tremendous  hit 
with  patriotic  songs.  She  had  no  voice,  but  boundless 
cheek,  and  made  the  men  sing  choruses,  and  finally 
made  a  touching  little  speech  wishing  them  the  best 
of  luck.  The  blind  man  also  had  a  great  reception, 
and  played  the  concertina  beautifully,  and  it  was  quite 
one  of  our  most  successful  concerts. 

Monday,  March  i. — In  the  afternoon  I  rode  off 
to  join  the  R.F.'s,  who  were  going  out  for  the  night. 
When  I  joined  them  the  Colonel  told  me  they  were 
going  to  billet  in  a  neighbouring  village,  and  said  I 
could  come,  and  the  Adjutant  said  he  had  a  billet  for 
me.  So  I  tore  back  for  some  kit,  and  soon  rejoined 
them.  We  went  to  Wolvey,  a  little  village  of  600 
people,  five  miles  out.  We  were  greeted  on  arrival 
by  the  church  bells  pealing.  I  was  billeted  with  two 
other  officers  in  the  vicarage,  and  slept  on  a  sofa.  I 
attended  a  conference  of  officers  in  the  evening,  which 
was  very  interesting.  The  General  came  out  to  see 
the  billeting,  and  I  had  a  nice  talk  with  him.  The 


IN    GALLIPOLI  13 

men  were  put  in  schools  and  barns  and  empty  houses, 
650  in  all.  I  looked  into  the  schools  after  they  had 
gone  to  bed,  and  could  not  see  the  floor  for  men.  The 
windows  were  all  shut,  and  they  were  mostly  smoking, 
so  you  may  imagine  the  state  of  the  atmosphere. 
However,  they  were  very  happy.  Next  morning,  at 
8.15,  as  many  as  possible  packed  into  the  church, 
and  we  had  a  delightful  little  service  taken  by  the 
vicar.  Then  we  went  off  on  outpost  duty,  and  while 
I  was  waiting  about  the  Colonel  sent  for  me,  and  we 
had  a  lovely  ride  all  round  the  country  inspecting  the 
outposts.  I  walked  most  of  the  way  back,  and  this 
time  made  friends  with  a  number  of  the  men.  They 
are  very  easy  to  get  on  with,  and  are  always  cheery 
and  laughing.  If  they  pass  me  on  the  march  now  they 
usually  call  out  good-morning  or  good-afternoon,  and 
this  afternoon  I  heard  one  say,  "Now  then  all 
together,"  followed  by  a  chorus  of  "Good  day,  sir." 

We  are  now  fully  equipped  and  ready  to  start,  and 
may  be  called  up  any  moment.  However,  nothing  is 
known . 

Coventry:  Saturday,  March  6. — After  many  orders 
and  counter-orders  we  were  told  the  brigade  was  to 
move  to  Coventry.  I  rode  off  with  pack  and  haver- 
sack, saddle-bags  and  pouches,  in  full  marching  order. 
I  joined  the  headquarters  transport,  and  rode  with  a 
staff-officer  and  the  veterinary  surgeon  all  along  the 
tram-lines.  The  transport  horses  were  very  lively. 
I  was  again  billeted  on  the  vicar,  where  I  was  exceed- 
ingly comfortable.  Captain  and  Mrs.  F are  here. 

He  is  staff-captain. 

Sunday,  March  7. — My  servant  at  last  turned  up. 
He  had  been  thoroughly  incompetent,  and  had  lost  my 
luggage  in  the  transport,  and  seemed  quite  incapable 
of  tackling  a  new  situation.  I  took  a  delightful  parade 


14     WITH  THE  TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

service  in  the  magnificent  St.  Michael's  Church, 
nearly  all  the  R.F.'s  and  their  officers  being  present, 
and  also  some  of  the  Munsters.  Afterwards  I  went 

to  the  brigade  office  and  saw  F ,  who  told  me  orders 

had  arrived  practically  pointing  to  our  going  to  the 
Dardanelles.  Everyone  is  to  be  measured  for  helmets, 
and  heavy  draught  horses  are  to  be  handed  in. 

Monday,  March  8. — I  went  up  to  London  to  see  the 
Chaplain-General  and  get  books  for  the  Dardanelles. 
I  also  ordered  Gospels  from  the  Scripture  Gift  Office. 
I  stopped  off  at  Rugby  on  the  way  back  and  saw 

C ,  and  discussed  the  new  move.  I  do  hope  it  is 

the  Dardanelles.  It  is  about  time  we  went  somewhere. 

Thursday,  March  11. — We  had  a  big  sham  battle. 
Our  brigade,  with  some  artillery,  went  out  to  attack 
a  skeleton  army  of  cyclists  holding  a  line  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Avon.  I  rode  out  with  the  R.F.'s.  There 
was  the  usual  waiting  about.  At  last  I  got  away  and 
rode  ahead,  crossing  the  Avon  and  finding  myself 
among  the  enemy.  However,  operations  ended  much 
sooner  than  was  expected,  and  we  got  home  about 
3  p.m.  I  heard  we  were  to  have  an  early  parade  at 
7.30  for  the  whole  Division,  but  purpose  and  destina- 
tion were  kept  entirely  secret.  However,  we  all 
guessed  it  must  mean  a  Royal  Inspection. 

Friday,  March  12. — I  rode  off  with  Captain  F at 

7.30.  We  joined  the  R.F.'s,  who  had  started  early, 
after  a  bit,  and  I  stayed  with  them  most  of  the  rest 
of  the  day.  We  went  seven  or  eight  miles,  and  got 
on  to  a  fine  road  with  a  wide  grass  border  on  either 
side,  in  which  grew  a  magnificent  avenue  of  elms  and 
oaks.  Every  side  road  was  blocked  by  a  policeman, 
but  the  whole  thing  had  been  kept  so  secret  there  was 
practically  no  one  about.  At  last  the  order  came  to 
halt,  and  we  all  drew  up  in  a  long  line,  four  deep,  on 


IN   GALLIPOLI  15 

one  side  of  the  road  under  the  trees.  The  whole  line 
must  have  stretched  three  or  four  miles.  After  a 
longish  wait  the  men  were  called  to  attention,  and  a 
little  cavalcade  of  staff-officers  came  riding  down  the 
road  through  the  trees,  with  the  King  at  their  head. 
I  sat  on  my  horse  just  between  the  R.F.'s  and  the 
Munsters.  The  Colonel  of  the  R.F.'s  was  beside  me, 
and,  as  did  all  the  Colonels,  walked  down  the  line 
of  his  regiment  with  the  King.  The  King  seemed 
very  much  interested.  No  one  had  been  told  officially 
he  was  coming.  Then,  after  another  long  wait,  the 
march  past  started.  Our  brigade  simply  marched  past 
in  fours.  I  rode  with  the  leading  regiment  of  the 
leading  brigade.  The  King  and  his  staff  were  at  a 
cross  road,  some  way  down.  After  we  had  passed  I 
broke  off  and  got  among  the  little  crowd  that  had 
collected.  It  was  wonderful  seeing  the  long  line  of 
silver  bayonets  winding  through  the  trees  like  a  stream. 
It  seemed  quite  endless  watching  12,000  infantry  pass. 
Unfortunately,  I  missed  the  artillery  and  other  divi- 
sional troops,  as  they  had  passed  ahead  of  us.  There 
must  have  been  18,000  men  altogether.  It  seemed 
vast,  and  the  men  were  magnificent.  The  King  has 
sent  us  a  very  nice  little  message. 

Saturday,  March  13. — My  servant  appeared  with  a 
telegram  saying  his  wife  was  very  ill,  which  had  been 
accepted  by  the  Colonel  of  the  Field  Ambulance  as  a 
reason  for  his  going  home  for  the  night.  So  I  could 
say  nothing,  though  I  felt  certain  it  was  a  lie,  and 
hardly  expected  to  see  him  next  day.  Meanwhile, 
orders  had  gone  out  that  we  were  to  leave  next  day. 
I  received  official  instructions,  marked  secret,  about 
all  I  was  to  do.  I  was  fortunate  in  being  billeted  with 
the  Staff-Captain,  who  had  all  arrangements  in  hand, 
as  he  made  every  provision  for  my  comfort.  So  I 


16     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

bicycled  down  to  the  R.F.'s,  to  whom  I  was  to  be 
attached  for  the  journey.  I  had  hoped  to  have  Church 
Parade  next  morning,  but  the  Colonel  and  Adjutant, 
though  they  would  have  liked  it,  asked  me  not  to,  as 
so  many  of  the  men  would  be  bicycling  back  to  Nun- 
eaton  to  see  their  friends  and  sweethearts,  that  they 
would  be  left  with  a  tremendous  list  of  absentees  to 
punish  on  the  voyage.  I  went  and  bought  a  box  of 
a  hundred  books  for  the  journey,  for  the  men,  which 
the  Adjutant  asked  me  to  get. 

Sunday,  March  14. — I  was  called  with  the  news  that 
our  departure  had  been  postponed  for  twenty-four 
hours. 


CHAPTER    II 

ON   BOARD   SHIP 

(March  15 — 27) 

March  15. — Exactly  a  month  after  the  day  we  were 
to  be  ready  to  leave,  I  made  some  final  purchases  in 
the  town,  got  packed,  and  visited  orderly  rooms  in  the 
morning.  I  decided  to  go  down  early  to  escape  a 
crush,  and  travelled  with  the  Brigade  Headquarters 
Staff  and  the  A.S.C.,  leaving  at  2.40.  Many  farewells, 
though  our  departure  at  the  station  was  very  quiet,  as 
the  men  had  not  had  time  to  make  friends  at  Coventry. 
What  a  mercy  it  is  to  be  a  bachelor  on  these  occasions  ! 
We  had  a  very  uneventful  journey  down,  reaching 
Avonmouth  at  6.40.  The  rest  were  going  on  different 

boats,    so    I    made    my    own    way    to    the    A , 

which  was  to  take  my  own  two  special  regiments, 
the  R.F.'s  and  the  L.F.'s.  I  was  the  first  to  arrive, 
and  dined  with  two  embarkation  Majors.  They 
said  they  had  already  embarked  the  Naval  Division, 
who  are  presumably  now  at  the  Dardanelles.  They 
had  also  disembarked  recently  3500  Canadians  and 
some  Australians,  all  of  whom,  they  said,  had  been 
some  of  the  finest  men  they  had  ever  handled,  and  so 
well  disciplined.  This  boat  had  had  its  last  trip  from 
New  York.  I  got  to  my  cabin,  very  large  and  com- 
fortable, and  waited  for  the  first  train,  which  arrived 
about  12.30  a.m.,  and  watched  them  go  on  board. 
I  eventually  turned  in  about  2.30,  and  slept  undis- 
c  17 


18     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

turbed,  though  they  kept  arriving  all  night.  I  am  the 
only  chaplain  on  board,  with  two  whole  battalions  and 
a  company  of  the  Munsters.  She  is  a  second-class 
boat,  but  very  spacious  and  comfortable,  and  we  have 
plenty  of  room. 

Tuesday,  March  16. — Well,  they  continued  to  ar- 
rive all  the  morning,  and  I  decided  to  slip  away  and 
go  to  Bristol  to  buy  a  few  more  things.  It  is  terrible 
how  one  goes  on  buying  and  thinking  of  more  things. 
I  found  the  Colonel  of  the  Dublins  buying  things. 
He  said  his  servant  had  left  all  his  kit  behind  on  the 
platform,  and  he  had  to  get  an  entirely  new  outfit. 
I  found  every  one  had  arrived  on  my  return,  and  they 
were  wearing  life-belts  and  being  shown  where  to  stand 
in  case  of  being  torpedoed.  After  lunch  I  wandered 
off  to  the  ship  on  which  the  rest  of  the  Brigade  and  the 
General  and  Staff  were  travelling.  It  is  a  very  small, 
uncomfortable  boat,  and  they  were  very  crowded,  four 
officers  in  a  tiny  cabin  and  a  miserable  little  dining- 
room.  I  asked  the  General  why  he  did  not  come  with 
the  Staff  to  our  boat,  and  he  said  he  did  not  like  to 
change  now  they  were  actually  starting  on  active  ser- 
vice. It  would  hardly  look  well. 

When  I  got  back  I  found  the  Depot  chaplain  waiting 
for  me.  The  Chaplain-General  had  telegraphed  to 
him  to  see  the  Division  off,  and  see  if  we  were  properly 
supplied  with  books,  etc.  We  had  tea  with  the  General 
and  Brigade-Major,  who  had  come  over  to  visit  us. 
I  then  rushed  off  with  the  chaplain  to  see  the  boat 
which  was  taking  all  the  transport  and  various  odd- 
ments, and  another  taking  the  artillery.  I  found  such 
a  nice  C.O.,  who  said  he  was  so  sorry  there  was  no 
chaplain  on  board,  but  would  be  glad  of  books  and 
would  take  services  himself. 

Then  I  rushed  back  to  my  boat,  which  was  hooting 


IN    GALLIPOLI  19 

preparatory  to  departure.  Four  tugs  came  and  towed 
us  out  of  the  harbour  through  the  lock,  and  we  could 
see  an  escort  of  three  destroyers  steaming  up  and 
signalling.  The  Colonel  ordered  another  life-belt 
parade,  and  we  were  slowly  towed  through  the  lock 
wearing  these  ridiculous-looking  things.  It  had  been 
a  lovely  afternoon,  perfectly  calm.  Everything  was 
quite  quiet  as  we  went  out.  In  the  lock  the  chaplain 
threw  a  lot  of  little  pamphlets  from  the  Chaplain- 
General  on  board  for  the  men.  Then  we  all  went  down 
to  supper,  where  I  sat  at  a  table  with  the  L.F.'s 
officers.  Nearly  every  one  went  to  bed  pretty  early 
as  they  had  all  been  up  the  night  before. 

We  were  all  expecting  to  anchor  outside  and  wait 
for  the  other  boats  to  load  up,  but  to  our  surprise  we 
did  not  stop.  We  were  on  the  first  boat  of  the  whole 
Division  to  leave.  Very  strict  orders  were  given.  No 
lights  were  allowed.  We  had  to  sleep  in  our  clothes 
with  life-belts  at  hand.  At  10.30  I  went  on  deck.  It 
was  very  dark.  The  boat  was  steaming  ahead  in  per- 
fect darkness  and  silence.  I  could  just  dimly  make 
out  the  form  of  a  destroyer  accompanying  us  with  no 
lights.  It  was  very  mysterious.  It  was  very  uncom- 
fortable sleeping  in  my  clothes.  The  officer  sharing 
my  cabin  had  to  go  on  guard  at  midnight.  We  heard 
afterwards  that  a  submarine  had  been  sighted  by  one 
of  the  destroyers.  And  still  no  transport  has  been 
sunk  as  yet,  and  the  Navy  carries  on  the  constant  trans- 
port of  men  and  munitions  through  all  the  submarines. 
The  absolute  secrecy  and  stealthiness  of  it  all  is 
wonderful. 

Wednesday,  March  17. — We  woke  to  an  absolutely 
calm  morning  and  no  destroyers.  Our  only  protec- 
tion now  lies  in  the  machine-guns  which  have  been 
mounted  at  different  points.  Time  passes  quickly. 


20     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

We  all  have  drill  with  life-belts.  This  afternoon  I 
was  vaccinated,  talked  to  the  men,  saw  about  distribut- 
ing books,  and  arranged  about  holding  voluntary 
meetings  for  the  two  regiments  during  the  evenings. 
This  will  be  quite  an  experiment. 

Thursday  to  Monday,  March  18  to  22 — Nothing 
much  is  gained  by  keeping  a  chronological  record  of 
a  voyage,  as  each  day  is  much  the  same.  The  weather 
has  been  perfect,  absolutely  calm,  warm  but  fresh. 
The  boat  is  exceedingly  comfortable  without  being 
luxurious  (it  is  a  second-class  boat).  The  food  is  quite 
good  and  plentiful.  There  is  plenty  of  room  in  cabins, 
saloons  and  on  the  decks.  Life  on  a  troopship  is 
wonderfully  orderly  and  smooth.  Everything  follows 
a  carefully  arranged  programme.  I  usually  am  up 
by  7-  15,  when  the  officers  of  one  regiment  do  physical 
drill  and  I  join  them.  It  made  me  most  frightfully 
stiff  for  a  while,  but  I  am  getting  over  it  now.  Then 
there  are  rounds  at  10.30,  when  the  Colonels  inspect 
their  battalions  and  the  Captain  goes  round  his  ship, 
followed  by  drill  and  probably  a  lecture  for  the  officers, 
which  I  sometimes  attend.  In  the  afternoon,  boat 
drill  and  all  kinds  of  inspection  of  kit  and  issuing 
various  things,  and  occasionally  examinations  for  the 
officers.  In  fact  the  day  goes  very  quickly.  Supper 
at  7  p.m.,  and  then  I  begin,  first  going  to  one  regiment 
at  7.30  and  then  another  at  8.15  to  9.  I  was  quite 
amazed  at  the  way  the  men  responded  and  the  crowds 
that  came.  They  love  singing  hymns,  and  I  discourse 
to  them  about  all  kinds  of  things,  telling  them  a  little 
Turkish  history  sometimes.  I  am  practically  always 

followed  by  X ,  a  very  genuine  man  and  simply 

overflowing  with  zeal.  He  does  not  mind  what  he 
says  or  who  he  says  it  to.  He  told  his  Colonel  that 
if  any  ticklish  job  had  to  be  done  he  had  better  choose 


IN   GALLIPOLI  21 

him,  as  he  was  perfectly  ready  and  none  of  the  others 
were. 

The  Colonel  is  an  exceedingly  strict  and  devout  R.  C. 
He  is  a  most  charming  and  interesting  man,  and  his 
whole  regiment  thinks  very  highly  of  him.  He  is 
well  read  and  extremely  unassuming,  and  delightful 
to  talk  to.  Very  strict  on  parade.  Frightfully  keen 
on  his  work,  especially  the  managing  of  men.  Fore- 
most among  the  admirers  is  X ,  despite  the  fact 

that  the  Colonel  is  an  R.C.  But  X discovered  that 

he  sent  a  subscription  to  the  Salvation  Army  on  leaving 
India,  and  this  impressed  him  tremendously.  I  don't 
think  he  cares  much  for  the  Church.  One  of  the 
regimental  doctors  is  much  perturbed  about  the  Church, 
finds  it  perfectly  dead  and  dogmatic  and  disunited. 
So  there  is  much  talk.  I  cannot  say  that  the  Church 
seems  to  raise  much  enthusiasm  among  the  officers. 

The  men  are  really  just  like  so  many  children.  They 
have  been  writing  reams  of  mawkish  sentimental  letters 
to  the  Nuneaton  girls,  which  the  officers  have  had  to 
censor.  I  don't  know  of  a  single  man  who  thought 
of  buying  a  book  or  magazine  for  the  journey.  And 
now  they  hang  round  when  not  drilling,  longing  for 
something  to  read.  Fortunately,  I  bought  some  books 
before  leaving,  but  they  have  not  gone  round  far. 
They  behave  extremely  well,  give  no  trouble,  and  are 
perfectly  docile.  You  very  rarely  hear  them  slanged 
by  either  officers  or  N.C.O.'s.  They  take  everything 
for  granted  as  it  comes  along,  grumbling  a  little  and 
longing  to  be  back  with  Susy  or  May  in  Nuneaton. 
They  are  always  very  friendly  and  responsive. 

The  tone  among  the  officers  seems  very  high,  and 
they  strike  me  as  a  nice,  clean-living,  straightforward, 
moderate  lot  of  men.  One  or  two  are  quite  intelligent 
and  have  interests  outside  the  army,  but  the  younger 


22     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

ones  are  mostly  interested  in  sport,  etc.  None  of  them 
put  the  least  bit  of  side  on,  and  they  all  work  hard  at 
their  jobs  and  have  a  strong  sense  of  responsibility. 

On  Sunday  I  "had  a  Celebration,  four  parade  ser- 
vices, and  a  voluntary  evening  service.  Every  week- 
day I  have  two  voluntary  services  for  the  men  and  one 
for  the  officers.  I  also  visit  the  men  in  hospital. 

Tuesday,  March  23. — At  noon  we  arrived  at  Malta 
after  a  very  quick  voyage  of  six  and  a  half  days.  A 
French  destroyer  was  protecting  the  entrance  to  the 
harbour,  and  an  examination  boat  came  to  ask  us  who 
we  were  and  whither  bound.  After  a  good  deal  of 
signalling  to  the  shore  and  waiting  we  were  allowed 
to  go  into  the  harbour  and  moor.  Valetta  is  a  wonder- 
fully picturesque  place,  and  the  harbour  is  very  inter- 
esting, landlocked  on  all  sides,  with  houses  clustering 
on  hills  and  rocks  all  round.  Valetta  has  all  been  built 
of  stone  quarried  from  the  rock  on  which  it  stands, 
and  is  capped  with  massive  fortifications  of  the  old 
Knights  of  Malta.  There  are  many  huge  buildings 
and  everything  is  solid.  It  suggested  many  sketches. 
Crowds  of  boats  put  out  from  shore  and  sold  things 
to  the  soldiers.  I  was  the  first  to  go  ashore,  thinking 
our  stay  would  be  short.  I  went  to  three  Soldiers' 
Homes  and  collected  bundles  of  literature  for  the  men, 
and  then  to  the  Junior  A.  and  N.  Stores  to  buy  one 
or  two  things.  The  town  is  most  interesting.  The 
flocks  of  goats  are  very  quaint.  The  streets  are  ex- 
tremely narrow.  The  women  wear  a  quaint  head-dress 
rather  like  a  large  black  nun's  veil  caught  up  on  one 
side.  I  believe  it  was  ordered  by  the  Pope  as  a  penance 
for  their  conduct  with  the  French  soldiers  when  Napo- 
leon took  Malta.1  The  whole  place  is  dominated  by 

1  Subsequent  inquiry  makes  it  probable  that  this  is  not  the 
correct  explanation. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  23 

the  Church,  which  is  very  powerful.  I  went  over  the 
Cathedral,  which  is  supposed  to  be  very  fine,  but  too 
gaudy  for  me.  Some  of  the  courtyards  with  trees 
growing  up  from  the  paved  courts  are  very  pictur- 
esque. I  had  tea  in  a  shop  and  then  returned  to  the 
boat  for  dinner,  to  find  we  were  going  to  spend  the 
night  there.  So  practically  all  the  officers  went  to  the 
opera.  It  was  a  special  performance  of  Faust.  I  went 
with  six  others  in  a  large  central  box  just  under  the 
box  of  the  Governor,  Lord  Methuen,  who  was  there. 
Faust  and  Mephistopheles  were  very  good,  and  so  was 
the  orchestra,  but  chorus  bad.  However,  I  enjoyed  it. 
Afterwards  we  went  to  the  Club,  a  mighty  palace  of 
the  Knights,  had  supper  and  got  back  at  1.30. 

Wednesday,  March  24. — Our  departure  was  again 
postponed.  Several  other  transports  arrived.  I  spent 
most  of  the  day  with  one  of  the  doctors  exploring  the 
town,  and  we  poked  about  and  saw  many  interesting 
things.  The  guard-room  opposite  the  governor's 
palace  is  all  covered  with  pictures  painted  on  the  walls 
by  different  officers  who  have  been  on  guard  throughout 
the  English  occupation,  and  is  rather  amusing.  We 
went  over  fortifications,  into  various  churches,  one  of 
which  is  all  decorated  with  bones  and  skulls,  saw  the 
old  hospital  with  a  huge  ward  five  hundred  feet  long, 
which  is  being  got  ready,  and  various  other  places. 
We  lunched  at  the  club  and  had  tea  in  a  shop,  and 
got  back  to  the  boat  for  dinner. 

I  have  not  written  my  diary  for  ages.  However, 
I  must  try  and  make  up  now. 

Thursday,  March  25. — We  left  Malta  early,  about 
7  a.m.,  and  were  out  of  sight  of  land  all  day. 

Friday,  March  26. — In  the  afternoon  sighted  south 
of  Greece,  and  had  an  exciting  time  at  sunset  as  we 
rounded  the  southern  cape,  Malea,  going  between  it 


24     WITH  THE  TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

and  the  little  island  of  Cerigo.  Just  as  it  was  getting 
dusk  we  suddenly  sighted  the  French  navy  right  be- 
hind a  little  island.  Two  destroyers  came  out  to  have 
a  look  at  us  and  cheered  very  heartily.  Our  men  are 
very  slow  to  answer  cheers  and  usually  look  on  gaping. 
Then  we  all  went  down  to  supper,  and  of  course  every 
one  was  asking  how  it  was  the  French  navy  was  al- 
lowed to  shelter  in  a  Greek  bay.  We  were  going  very 
slowly  and  would  be  passing  through  islands  all  night. 
It  was  a  lovely  night.  Of  course  we  were  all  very 
much  wondering  where  we  were  going  and  what  was 
going  to  happen.  The  ship  was  to  be  guarded  the 
whole  night  by  men  all  round  the  decks,  who  were 
to  be  on  the  look-out,  as  far  as  we  could  understand, 
for  friendly  French  submarines.  There  was  to  be 
absolute  silence.  At  ten  o'clock  I  went  out  on  deck, 
to  be  met  by  an  officer  who  said  :  "  Do  you  know  we 
have  just  turned  right  round  and  are  going  back  the 
way  we  came  ?  "  The  ship  was  also  going  very  much 
faster.  Then  a  wireless  message  arrived  for  the 
Colonel,  and  of  course  we  were  all  guessing  and 
wondering  what  it  all  meant  when  we  heard  we  were 
to  go  to  Alexandria  at  once.  More  guessing.  I  felt 
sure  there  must  be  trouble  in  Egypt.  There  was  every 
possible  suggestion  made. 

We  coasted  along  the  northern  shore  of  Crete, 
always  lovely  weather. 

Saturday,  March  27. — Made  across  open  sea  to 
Alexandria. 


CHAPTER    III 

IN   EGYPT 

(March  28— April  8) 

Sunday,  March  28  (Palm  Sunday).— Reached  Alex- 
andria about  10  a.m.  I  had  a  Celebration  at  7  a.m. 
and  parade  services  in  morning  and  afternoon  as 
before,  four  altogether,  and  a  voluntary  service  at 
night.  It  appeared  that  Lemnos  was  an  impossible 
base,  no  proper  harbour,  no  water,  and  that  things 
were  not  ready  for  a  landing.  We  were  to  concentrate 
at  Alexandria.  I  rushed  down  town  with  an  officer 
in  the  late  afternoon.  Alexandria  is  a  huge  place,  with 
a  mighty  harbour  simply  full  of  shipping.  There 
were  a  number  of  German  prize  boats  and  an  Ameri- 
can battleship ;  also  many  French  transports  with 
Zouaves,  etc.,  on  board.  The  town  swarmed  with 
soldiers  of  every  possible  kind.  It  was  some  way  to 
the  centre  of  the  town,  but  we  got  on  a  tram  and  went 
to  a  mighty  square,  with  fine  buildings  all  round.  I 
was  especially  taken  with  St.  Mark's  Church,  built  in 
a  very  effective  Moorish  style  and  very  cool  inside. 

I  leave  this  as  I  wrote  it.  Subsequently  we  found 
what  a  magnificent  harbour  Mudros  (Lemnos  island) 
offered.  I  believe  that  there  had  recently  been  a 
violent  gale,  and  that  some  of  the  ships  had  dragged 
their  anchors,  which  may  account  for  the  reports  we 
heard.  Considering  the  difficulty  of  operations  it  was 
an  exceedingly  suitable  place  for  an  intermediate  base, 

25 


26     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

as  it  subsequently  became.  Alexandria,  of  course,  was 
the  base.  The  water  difficulty  was  got  over  by  the 
ships  bringing  water,  and  later  by  the  erection  of  a 
plant  for  distilling  water  from  the  sea. 

Monday,  March  29. — We  had  one  of  those  tedious 
days  of  waiting,1  which  seem  so  common  in  the  Army. 
The  men  all  got  off  the  ship  and  sat  on  the  quay  till 
about  four  o'clock,  doing  absolutely  nothing.  There 
seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal  of  muddle  about  our 
coming.  However,  we  eventually  all  started  off  to  the 
camp,  about  five  miles  out  of  town,  on  a  strip  of  desert 
between  a  salt  lake  and  the  sea,  with  salt  piles  and 
stone  quarries  around,  at  a  place  called  Mex.  The 
camp  was  about  one  and  a  half  miles  beyond  the  tram 
terminus.  We  found  our  tents,  which  we  had  brought 
with  us,  already  pitched.  I  was  given  one  to  myself, 
and  so  was  very  comfortable.  I  messed  with  the  Head- 
quarters mess  of  the  R.F.'s,  i.e.  the  Colonel,  the 
Major,  the  Adjutant,  the  machine  gun,  signalling,  and 
medical  officers.  We  managed  to  feed  very  well.  I 
slept  in  my  valise  on  the  ground,  and  got  quite  used 
to  it  after  a  time. 

Tuesday,  March  30. — I  went  in  to  town  in  the  morn- 
ing with  the  doctor  and  called  on  the  Archdeacon.  I 
discovered  the  Bishop  was  about,  and  wanted  to  find 
out  if  he  would  come  and  hold  a  Confirmation,  also 
about  getting  reading  matter,  etc.,  for  the  men.  He 
took  me  round  to  the  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Institute, 

kept  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D .  It  was  a  fine  big  place, 

crowded  with  soldiers  of  all  kinds,  who  were  being 
sent  there  for  their  meals.  They  gave  me  lunch,  and 

1  I  remember  a  Major  saying  to  me  at  the  time :  "  I  have  been 
twenty-five  years  in  the  Army,  and  reckon  that  ten  of  them  have 
been  spent  in  waiting." 


IN    GALLIPOLI  27 

in  the  afternoon  Mr.  D came  out  to  Mex  with  me 

to  see  what  we  could  do.  Eventually  I  decided  to 
try  and  get  a  tent  up.  Where  was  the  money  to  come 
from  ?  I  interviewed  the  Brigade-Major  and  he  said 
it  would  be  quite  all  right.  Well,  it  all  involved  a 
good  deal  of  running  round  for  the  next  few  days 
which  is  of  no  particular  interest.  By  Wednesday 
night  I  had  a  huge  native  tent  up,  about  looft.  by  36ft., 
made  of  a  kind  of  thick  canvas,  all  beautifully  decor- 
ated inside  with  coloured  applique  work  and  lit  with  a 
large  arc  lamp.  I  borrowed  tables  and  benches  from 
a  building  close  by.  I  interviewed  all  the  Colonels, 
and  got  them  each  day  to  let  me  have  a  transport 
wagon  in  turn,  and  two  men  told  off  from  each  regi- 
ment to  run  it.  For  the  first  two  or  three  days  I  had 
to  go  in  pretty  well  all  day  with  the  sergeant  in  charge, 
and  buy  stuff,  pastries  by  the  hundred  dozen,  oranges 
and  cigarettes  by  the  thousand.  Buying  is  not  easy 
in  a  strange  town  and  unknown  language;  but  we 
managed  pretty  well.  Only  they  were  very  slow. 
However  much  we  bought  it  was  impossible  to  keep 
pace  with  the  demand.  We  could  not  open  the  can- 
teen till  6  p.m.,  but  everything  was  gone  long  before 
nine.  The  men  had  to  be  formed  up  in  a  long  queue 
and  file  in  one  behind  the  other,  while  I  had  six  or 
seven  men  serving  as  hard  as  they  could  go.  I  fear 
we  lost  money  the  first  day,  as  there  were  one  or  two 
men  helping  I  did  not  know  about,  but  we  got  a  much 
better  system  working  later.  I  got  a  large  supply  of 
magazines  and  games,  writing-paper,  etc.  The  place 
was  a  seething  mass  in  the  evenings.  There  were 
8000  men  encamped  out  there,  and  not  allowed  out 
of  camp.  The  contractors'  canteens  were  small  and 
badly  managed  by  Greeks,  and  there  was  a  lot  of 
confusion.  I  had  a  very  good  staff  to  work  it.  It  kept 


28     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

me  extremely  busy.  Besides  all  this  it  was  Holy 
Week.  On  Good  Friday  I  managed  to  go  to  a  nice 
quiet  little  two-hours'  service  taken  by  the  Bishop  in 
St.  Mark's,  and  saw  him  after  it,  and  he  promised  to 
come  out  one  day.  We  imagined  we  were  probably 
going  to  have  a  prolonged  stay.  I  had  a  delightful 
service  on  Good  Friday  evening,  when  the  tent  was 
simply  packed  with  a  parade  of  the  R.F.'s,  die  L.F.'s 
coming  voluntarily.  They  had  had  a  long  tiring  day 

practising    landing   from   boats.     C and    D 

(chaplains)  had  also  arrived  and  I  saw  something  of 
them.  They  stick  with  the  Field  Ambulance.  I  have 
got  attached  to  the  regiment  temporarily. 

I  would  like  to  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing 
my  unbounded  admiration  for  the  work  done  in  Alex- 
andria by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  D .  I  saw  a  good  deal 

of  them,  not  only  on  this  occasion,  but  subsequently, 
when  I  also  stayed  at  the  Institute.  Men  will  be  found 
in  every  single  regiment  of  the  M.E.F.  who  will  bear 

out  this  testimony.     Mrs.   D seemed  to  me  to 

exercise  exactly  that  unconscious  and  motherly  in- 
fluence over  our  soldiers,  British,  Australian,  and  New 
Zealand  alike,  which  means  so  much  to  the  men  when 
away  from  their  homes.  And  it  was  all  done  in  such 
a  quiet  and  unobtrusive  way.  Mr.  D was  inde- 
fatigable in  extending  their  work  to  outlying  camps 
surrounding  Alexandria.  They  were  both  of  the 
greatest  help  to  me. 

Easter  Day,  April  4. — I  had  Celebrations  at  6.30  and 
1 1  (only  about  forty  communicants  altogether)  in  the 
tent  which  I  shared  with  the  R.C.,  and  parade  service 
in  the  open,  when  I  preached  from  a  wagon.  I  had  a 
delightful  voluntary  service  in  the  evening  in  the  tent, 
which  was  crammed,  officers  also  coming,  and  after  it, 
took  the  names  of  those  who  wished  to  be  confirmed, 
forty-six  in  all.  from  the  different  regiments  and  more 


IN   GALLIPOLI  29 

later.  The  majority  were  from  the  L.F.'s.  I  was 
most  surprised  to  find  a  large  number  in  proportion 
from  each  of  the  Irish  regiments,  where  there  are  only 
a  few  Anglicans,  and  very  few  from  the  R.F.'s,  which 
is,  practically,  entirely  C.  of  E.  There  were  three  ser- 
geants among  them. 

Well,  the  difficulty  always  is  classes.  You  cannot 
arrange  a  time  without  half  the  men  being  employed. 
However,  I  settled  I  would  have  two  classes  every  day, 
at  5.30  and  6.30,  and  that  men  must  come  to  at  least 
four  during  the  week,  and  that  the  Bishop  would  come 
the  following  Sunday.  I  held  classes  on  Monday  and 
Tuesday  and  they  were  splendidly  attended,  and  prac- 
tically the  whole  of  Tuesday  I  sat  in  my  tent  and  saw 
the  men  singly,  and  found  them  very  anxious  to  change 
their  lives.  Sometimes  it  was  a  girl  they  had  taken 
up  with  in  England  that  had  changed  them,  sometimes 
our  gatherings  on  board  ship,  sometimes  they  had  for 
long  been  anxious  to  be  confirmed.  I  found  a  number 
had  started  to  say  their  prayers  in  the  tents.  In  fact 
it  was  a  wonderful  experience,  and  the  men  were  all 

very  delightful.     C had  some  candidates  as  well. 

However,  it  seemed  so  likely  that  we  would  be  off 
soon  that  I  decided  to  try  and  get  the  Bishop  (who 
was  at  Cairo)  earlier.  So  I  telephoned  to  the  Arch- 
deacon to  Tuesday,  and  it  was  settled  he  should  be 
there  on  Thursday  at  6.30.  And  then  on  Wednes- 
day we  awoke  to  find  we  were  all  off.  Most  of  the 
regiments  left  that  day.  We  did  not  go  till  Thursday, 
but  it  made  the  Confirmation  impossible.  However, 
I  was  very  glad  to  have  made  the  start  and  have  all 
the  men's  names  down. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  my  work  as  chaplain, 
our  stay  at  Mex  was  quite  one  of  my  most  wonderful 


30     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

experiences.  The  whole  brigade  was  in  camp  close 
together.  I  had  a  huge  tent  to  meet  the  men  in,  besides 
the  continual  opportunity  of  going  round  the  tents  of 
officers  and  men  alike.  It  was  perfect  weather,  and  the 
men  did  not  have  much  to  do  and  were  not  allowed 
out  of  camp.  I  got  to  know  so  many  of  the  men  so 
well  individually,  and  they  came  to  me  quite  freely. 
And  the  officers  simply  made  me  feel  I  was  one  of 
them.  I  shall  never  forget  the  Confirmation  Classes. 
We  sat  in  a  circle  on  the  sand  just  outside  the  big 
tent.  The  only  light  was  the  new  moon  and  an  electric 
torch  I  had  to  help  me  write  the  men's  names  down. 
I  was  greatly  surprised  at  the  regularity  with  which 
they  came  and  the  quietness  with  which  they  listened. 
It  was  a  great  disappointment  to  them  that  the  Confir- 
mation could  not  be  held.  But,  of  course,  I  told  them 
that  the  blessing  was  theirs  just  the  same,  as  they  had 
shown  such  sincerity,  and  so  true  a  change  in  their 
outlook  on  life.  I  keep  meeting  the  men  who  came 
to  the  classes  on  the  peninsula,  and  afterwards  in 
hospitals,  etc. 

I  could  not  have  wished  for  better  men  than  the 
little  staff  I  collected  from  the  whole  brigade  to  work 
the  canteen,  in  the  big  tent,  and  it  meant  real  hard 
work.  But  they  entered  into  it  with  zest,  and  we  often 
spoke  of  it  afterwards.  It  is  on  these  occasions  that 
one  forms  very  real  and  lasting  friendships,  and  barriers 
are  broken  down. 

And  quite  as  delightful  was  the  intercourse  with  the 
officers  of  the  R.F.'s  and  L.F.'s,  of  whom  I  saw  most. 
They  all  seemed  old  friends,  and  treated  me,  though  a 
stranger  and  a  padre,  as  one  of  themselves.  It  was 
an  exceedingly  happy  time  and  a  delightful  memory. 

And  lastly  I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  help 
I  had  from  the  brigade  staff,  and  the  colonels,  ad- 
jutants, and  especially  transport  officers,  in  the  difficult 
work  of  running  the  big  tent.  I  had  only  to  ask  for 
men,  fatigue  parties,  transport,  etc.,  and  they  were  at 
once  granted.  I  mention  this  as  showing  the  real  in- 
terest the  authorities  showed  in  their  men's  comfort. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  31 

I  find  I  made  no  mention  in  my  diary  of  the  in- 
spection held  by  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  two 
brigades  camped  at  Mex.  It  was  a  wonderful  sight, 
seeing  them  all  massed  together  with  plenty  of  room 
to  manoeuvre  on  the  stretches  of  smooth  sand.  I  rode 
to  a  little  hill  at  a  distance  and  dismounted  as  I  watched 
them.  My  groom  had  not  tightened  my  saddle-girths, 
and  when  I  tried  to  mount  again  the  saddle  slipped 
round  and  I  rolled  off.  The  regiments  at  the  moment 
were  marching  off  in  column.  Imagine  my  dismay  as 
I  saw  my  horse  take  fright  and  tear  off  right  past  the 
Commander-in-Chief  and  his  staff,  and  then  all  among 
the  men,  nearly  upsetting  the  column.  It  was  some 
little  time  before  he  was  recaptured. 

April  7. — Wednesday  I  had  to  spend  rushing  round 
the  town  finishing  things  up.  We  made  so  much 
money  at  the  tent  that  from  six  days'  takings  we  were 
able  to  pay  all  expenses,  which  were  over  £20,  and 
have  a  balance  of  £10  left. 

Thursday,  April  8. — We  returned  to  the  A , 

by  this  time  the  South  Wales  Borderers  had  taken  the 
place  of  the  L.F.'s,  for  which  I  was  rather  sorry, 
though  they  seem  a  very  nice  lot.  The  General  and 

his  staff  are  also  on  board,  and  among  them  F , 

which  is  nice.  My  greatest  tragedy  hitherto  is  that 
I  have  lost  my  box  of  parade  books  and  Testaments, 
etc.  They  put  it  into  a  wrong  truck  on  the  train,  and 
it  was  taken  off  with  a  lot  of  tents  to  the  ordnance 
stores.  I  rushed  round  the  town  after  it,  but  it  was 
not  to  be  found.  Perhaps  it  may  follow  me.  I  saw 

H ,  the  senior  chaplain  of  the  Division,  just  before 

we  left.  A  kind  of  chaplain-general  to  the  whole 
Mediterranean  forces  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Chap- 
lain-General, Hordern  by  name,  an  Anglican,  whom  I 
met  in  Alexandria  and  who  seemed  very  nice.  If  I 


32     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

want  anything  I  am  to  tell  H ,  and  H will  write 

to  him.  His  orders  are  that  the  chaplains  are  in  no 
case  to  go  in  front  of  the  advance  dressing-station.  He 
says  they  are  always  anxious  to  get  up  to  the  front, 
where  they  can  only  be  of  use  at  one  point  in  the  line, 
and  meanwhile  men  are  being  brought  in  to  the  re- 
ceiving-station from  all  along  the  line.  Of  course  this 
means  that  I  shall  presumable  be  pretty  safe.  But  I 
am  very  much  wondering  whether  I  shall  be  able  to 
watch  the  others  go  off  and  stay  behind. 

I  think  there  must  have  been  a  misunderstanding  on 
this  point.  At  the  time  there  was  only  one  C.  of  E. 
chaplain  to  each  brigade,  in  fact  we  had  only  three 
to  the  whole  Division.  The  question  was  how  we 
could  be  of  greatest  use  to  the  greatest  number  of  men. 
And  it  followed  that  if  three  regiments  in  a  brigade 
were  in  an  attack,  being  with  any  one  of  the  three 
would  make  it  impossible  to  do  anything  in  the  other 
two.  The  converging  point  for  the  wounded  would 
be  the  advance  dressing-station  of  the  Field  Ambu- 
lance to  which  we  were  attached.  But  operations  on 
the  peninsula  did  not  at  all  follow  the  book,  and  later 
on  the  principal  chaplain  laid  it  down  quite  clearly 
that,  while  under  normal  circumstances  the  above  rule 
is  the  best  to  follow,  each  chaplain  must  use  his  own 
discretion  and  be  where  he  feels  he  can  be  of  greatest 
use.  Since  then  the  number  of  chaplains  has  been 
increased,  which  makes  this  easier.  But  there  can  be 
no  ideal  arrangement  until  each  battalion  has  its  own 
chaplain  of  the  denomination  of  the  majority,  whose 
post  shall  be  at  the  regimental  dressing-station  and 
who  will  share  the  life  of  the  regiment  as  a  non-com- 
batant on  the  same  standing  as  the  medical  officer  and 
quartermaster. 

The  chaplain  is  a  non-combatant,  and  surely  it  must 
be  wrong  for  him  to  go  out  in  the  attack,  much  though 
fie  may  hate  not  to  share  the  danger  of  his  men  to  the 


IN   GALLIPOLI 


33 


full.  His  work  comes  after  the  attack,  and  perhaps 
most  of  all  when  the  men  come  away  tired  and  worn 
out  for  a  little  rest,  or  when  they  are  spending  those 
continuous  days  of  wearisome  strain  in  the  trenches. 
And  not  least  of  all  is  the  fact  that  he  is  the  best 
channel  of  communication  between  the  men  and  those 
at  home.  Very  often  one  is  asked  to  promise  to  write 
if  anything  happens,  and  the  little  personal  letters 
the  chaplain  can  write  to  those  at  home  are  most  wel- 
come, and  the  knowledge  that  all  that  can  be  done  by 
decent  burial  has  been  done.  These  are  only  a  few 
considerations  brought  out  by  after  events. 


CHAPTER    IV 

IN   MUDROS    HARBOUR 

(April  9—24) 

Friday,  April  9. — We  left  Alexandria  in  the  morn- 
ing and  went  straight  off  without  waiting  as  we  had 
expected.  I  held  my  two  services  as  usual  in  the 
evening.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  South  Wales  Bor- 
derers, and  when  I  got  into  their  dining-room  had 
some  difficulty  in  collecting  enough  to  sing  a  hymn, 
but  afterwards  they  gathered  round  in  good  numbers. 
Next  day  there  was  a  large  crowd.  I  have  been  seeing 
some  of  the  men  in  my  cabin.  Some  are  very  penitent. 
We  had  lovely  weather  as  usual.  I  have  many  argu- 
ments with  the  officers,  which  are  rather  amusing. 
Some  of  them  spend  most  of  the  day  mildly  gambling 
at  poker.  They  argue  that  it  is  their  form  of  recreation 
of  which  they  are  passionately  fond,  and  as  their  total 
gains  or  losses  are  inappreciable  it  can  do  no  harm. 
However,  I  tell  them  quite  plainly  I  think  it  would  be 
a  good  deal  better  if  they  neither  gambled  nor  drank 
even  moderately,  and  they  none  of  them  agree,  though 
they  acknowledge  I  am  entitled  to  my  opinion  if  asked 
for  it.  They  think  me  very  broad-minded  in  my 
teaching.  They  are  such  good,  nice  fellows,  and  so 
easy  to  get  on  with.  It  is  a  great  experience  in  learn- 
ing how  to  deal  with  men.  It  seems  so  important  to 
know  where  to  be  broad-minded  and  where  narrow. 

34 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION     35 

Saturday,  April  10. — We  passed  Rhodes  and  other 
islands. 

Sunday,  April  n. — I  had  a  Celebration  and  three 
parades  in  the  morning,  and  a  voluntary  service  at 
night.  I  am  getting  to  think  more  of  parades.  Men 
do  listen,  and,  I  think,  pray.  We  arrived  at  Lemnos 
at  midday.  It  is  not  nearly  so  hilly  and  barren  as 
most  of  the  islands.  The  slopes  round  the  sea  are 
beautifully  green  with  growing  crops.  No  trees 
though.  There  is  a  most  wonderful,  large,  almost 
absolutely  landlocked  harbour.  It  was  an  extraordi- 
nary sight  coming  into  it.  A  lovely  fresh  spring  day, 
the  great  natural  harbour  with  its  fresh  green  shores, 
and  the  water  simply  covered  with  a  mass  of  every 
kind  of  shipping.  There  was  the  Queen  Elizabeth, 
looking  quite  new  and  untouched,  a  five-funnelled 
Russian  battleship,1  a  large  hospital  ship  (white,  with 
red  crosses),  a  number  of  strangely-shaped  French 
men-of-war,  and  various  other  British  ones,  torpedo 
boats,  submarines,  water-plane  boats,  and  a  whole  lot 
of  transports  of  every  conceivable  kind,  colliers,  tugs, 
trawlers,  lighters — in  fact,  every  form  of  shipping. 
Eventually  we  took  up  our  berth  immediately  along- 
side a  transport.  I  went  over  it  in  the  afternoon  to  see 
if  I  could  hold  a  service.  But  there  was  no  place.  It 
was  simply  crammed,  350  horses  and  600  men,  and  no 
quarters  for  them.  They  had  to  sleep  on  the  decks, 
and  the  smell  was  not  at  all  savoury.  It  was  quite 
exciting  watching  a  hydroplane  circling  round.  In 
fact,  something  was  going  on  all  the  time.  We  could 
see  the  shore  dotted  with  funny  little  windmills  used 
for  crushing  grain,  and  tents  of  Australian  and  French 
troops,  and  one  or  two  villages. 

1  The  Askold,  soon  christened  by  the  men   "The   Packet  ot 
Woodbines."  from  her  five  long  thin  funnels. 


36     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Monday,  April  12. — The  General  and  Staff  and 
Colonel  went  off  on  the  Queen  Elizabeth  this  morning 
to  view  the  situation  at  the  Gallipoli  peninsula,  and  the 
men  have  been  practising  going  down  rope-ladders  into 
boats  and  rowing,  at  which  they  were  pretty  bad.  I 
determined  to  go  ashore,  and  went  off  with  two  officers 
in  a  little  native  boat.  We  walked  round  the  bay 
for  two  or  three  miles  and  got  to  Mudros,  one  of  the 
chief  villages.  There  was  quite  a  decent  road,  with 
telephone  wires,  and  many  flocks  of  sheep  and  growing- 
crops,  and  the  place  looked  quite  rich,  but  one  missed 
trees.  I  wonder  if  we  shall  establish  ourselves  here. 
The  trouble  seems  to  be  the  anchorage,  which  is  bad, 
as  the  soil  is  loose,  and  if  there  is  a  strong  wind  the 
ships  drag  their  anchors.  The  village  was  a  funny 
little  place,  with  fairly  solid  stone  houses  and  a  really 
fine,  large,  imposing,  new  church.  The  natives  had 
erected  a  number  of  little  stands  where  they  sold 
oranges,  Turkish  delight,  figs  and  dates.  We  seem 
to  have  taken  over  the  island,  and  natives  have  to  get 
passports  to  enable  them  to  go  from  one  place  to 
another.  However,  they  must  be  making  lots  of 
money.  Many  can  speak  English,  either  having  been 
on  English  merchant  boats  or  to  America.  The  two 
officers  I  was  with  were  rather  stupid,  and  discussed 
hunting,  etc.,  most  of  the  way,  and  seemed  to  take  no 
interest  in  poking  about.  We  had  some  difficulty  in 
getting  a  boat  to  take  us  back,  as  they  all  wanted  so 
much  money.  Eventually  an  English  officer  appeared 
and  made  a  row  and  took  their  names  down,  and  we 
sailed  off  in  a  fairly  choppy  sea,  dropping  a  man  at 
the  Russian  boat  on  the  way. 

Tuesday,  April  13. — I  went  on  shore  again  in  the 
afternoon.  It  was  very  windy  off  shore,  and  the  boat 
had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  rowing  the  little  way  to 


fc* 


PRACTISING   GETTING    INTO   BOATS    FROM    H.M.T.    'A '    IX 

MUDROS   HARBOUR 


IN    GALLIPOLI  37 

land.  The  General  and  Staff  were  in  the  boat,  and  it 
was  very  funny  seeing  them  carried  ashore  on  the 
backs  of  some  of  the  Naval  Division.  It  had  been 
raining  all  the  morning,  and  the  road,  which  had  been 
perfectly  dry  the  day  before,  was  a  mass  of  slimy 
mud,  which  made  walking  very  difficult.  I  saw  the 
Commander-in-Chief  tearing  along  through  the  village. 
They  say  he  always  walks  very  fast,  and  is  of  a  quick, 
nervous  disposition.  We  sailed  back  to  the  A — 
in  time  for  tea.  I  was  pretty  well  occupied  every 
evening  for  the  rest  of  the  week.  At  5.30,  some  four 
or  five  men  who  had  given  me  their  names  for  Con- 
firmation came  in  for  a  class;  at  6.15  I  went  down  to 
hold  a  service  for  the  Naval  Division  and  Engineers. 
Most  of  the  former  are  pit-boys  from  Durham,  nice 
boys,  and  I  enjoyed  my  meetings  with  them  very 
much.  Two  of  the  engineers  came  one  evening  and 
asked  to  be  baptized,  so  I  had  further  to  arrange 
Baptism  Classes.  Then  at  7,  or  as  soon  after  as  pos- 
sible, I  snatched  some  supper,  and  at  7.30  went  to  the 
Royal  Fusiliers,  and  at  8.15  to  the  South  Wales 
Borderers,  and  always  had  good  gatherings.  I  went 
very  hot  at  them  one  evening  on  the  moral  question, 
and  told  them  quite  plainly  that  victory  in  the  war 
would  be  of  no  use  unless  we  learnt  to  change  public 
opinion  with  regard  to  it.  In  fact,  I  have  been  waging 
incessant  war  against  the  whole  thing,  among  the 
officers  just  as  much  as  amongst  the  men.  They  are 
all  very  candid  with  me  about  it.  However,  it  would 
take  too  long  to  go  into  a  discussion  of  the  whole 
question  here. 

Wednesday,  April  14. — I  did  not  go  ashore  any 
more,  as  I  was  kept  pretty  busy  on  board  one  way  and 
another.  I  visited  the  Implacable  (a  battleship),  how- 
ever, going  on  board  with  a  party  of  officers.  I  was 


38     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

taken  all  over  by  the  chaplain.  He  gave  me  some 
Prayer  Books,  for  which  I  was  glad.  By  the  way,  we 
moved  our  position  on  Tuesday,  I  think,  and  came 

alongside  the  B- ,  sister-ship  to  the  A ,  with 

two  regiments,  the  Divisional  Staff  and  Major-General 
Hunter- Weston,  and  no  chaplain  of  any  kind,  so  I 
was  the  only  one  among  some  5000  men. 

Thursday,  April  15. — I  kept  quiet  all  day,  and  did 
not  go  off  the  boat.  But  somehow  there  always  seemed 
a  lot  to  do,  with  the  various  classes  and  services  and 
endless  people  to  talk  to.  We  got  two  mails  during 
the  week,  and  it  was  very  nice  getting  some  news. 
Two  books  on  Turkey  and  a  sketching-case  also 
arrived.  I  wonder  if  I  shall  get  any  opportunity  of 
using  it. 

Friday,  April  16. — I  rowed  over  to  the  C , 

which  was  tied  up  with  the  D ,  and  had  the 

L.F.'s,  Dublins,  and  Munsters  on  board  between 
them  ;  and  arranged  to  come  over  on  Sunday  afternoon 
and  hold  parades.  I  also  saw  the  two  R.C.  chaplains, 
and  discovered  a  C.  of  E.  one,  belonging  to  the  Naval 
Division,  who  arranged  to  take  the  Celebrations.  But 
I  said  I  would  like  to  see  the  L.F.'s  again  in  the  after- 
noon. I  had  got  to  know  them  so  well.  By  now  the 
harbour  has  become  a  perfect  mass  of  shipping.  There 
must  be  well  over  100  transports,  supply  ships,  hospital 
ships,  some  20  men-of-war,  besides  colliers,  mine- 
sweepers, water-boats,  and  tugs  of  all  descriptions,  and 
it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  find  any  boat  one  wants. 
All  kinds  of  boat-drill  has  been  going  on.  The  men 
are  not  much  good  at  rowing,  and  the  boats  are  very 
heavy  and  cumbersome.  But  they  are  as  a  rule  towed 
in  strings  of  five  or  six  .by  a  steam  pinnace. 

It  was,  I  think,  this  day  that  the  first  mishap 
occurred.  I  have  only  gathered  the  details  in  scraps 


IN   GALLIPOLI  39 

(yesterday  from  a  survivor)  since.  Transports  had 
been  arriving  every  day  from  Alexandria,  unescorted. 

Among  them  was  the  M ,  with  artillery  and  the 

South  Wales  Borderers'  transport  on  board.  At 
10  a.m.  the  men  were  all  on  deck  with  lifebelts  on, 
doing  boat-drill.  The  officers  were  mostly  below, 
looking  at  maps.  A  torpedo-boat  appeared  on  the 
horizon  flying  the  halt  signal  (but  flying  no  flag,  a 
fact  which  must  have  been  overlooked,  as  the  ship 
obeyed  the  signal).  The  men  looked  on  with  interest 
till  she  came  about  150  yards  off  and  hoisted  the 
Turkish  flag.  The  Captain  called  out  that  he  gave 
them  ten  minutes  to  take  to  their  boats.  She  fired 
three  torpedoes,  all  of  which  missed  !  The  crew  and 
men  began  to  lower  the  boats,  one  of  which  fell  from 
the  dayits  and  caused  many  casualties.  Presently 
several  of  our  torpedo-boats  came  up,  and  the  Turk 
absconded.  She  ran  ashore  on  Chios  and  was  blown 

up  there.     The  M picked  up  her  boats  and  went 

on  her  way — short  in  her  complement  of  the  poor 
fellows  drowned.  It  appears  the  torpedo-boat  slipped 
out  of  Smyrna  harbour  one  night  when  it  was  being 
guarded  by  some  of  our  boats.  Another  is  said  to 
have  got  out  as  well.1 

Saturday,  April  17. — I  spent  the  morning  arranging 
Sunday  services.  I  discovered  H had  been  sig- 
nalling over  to  the  B about  taking  services 

there,  so  decided  I  must  see  him.  I  had  sent  him  a 
letter  some  days  before,  and  he  had  signalled  an  answer 
back  which  I  never  got.  So  I  rowed  over  to  the 

E ,  where  he  was,  and  had  a  little  confab  with 

him  and  a  Methodist  chaplain,  L .     I  found  H 

had  been  over  to  see  me,  and  we  crossed,  but  I  waited 

1  I  leave  this  account  for  what  it  is  worth,  though  it  is  only 
second-hand  and  may  be  inaccurate  in  detail. 


40     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

for   him.      He    is   senior   chaplain   to   the   Division. 

C had  not  yet  arrived,  so  we  had  to  arrange  for 

his  brigade,  which  were  mostly  on  my  two  boats.  In 
the  evening  I  had  a  little  discussion  with  the  men, 
who  were  exceedingly  responsive,  but  said  it  was  quite 
impossible  for  a  soldier  to  say  his  prayers  or  give  up 
swearing,  both  of  which  they  would  do  if  they  returned 
to  civilian  life.  I  think  this  exaggerated  the  real  state 
of  affairs. 

Sunday,  April  18. — A  very  busy  and  fairly  tiring 
day.  Celebrations  for  two  ships  at  seven  and  eight 
o'clock  (about  sixty  altogether),  two  morning  parades 

on  A ,  two  afternoon  parades  on   C (L.F.'s 

and   Munsters),    two  voluntary  evening  services  on 

A and    B .     At    the    latter    two    men    were 

baptized.     There  must  have  been  300  present. 

Monday,  April  19. — Celebration  at  6. 30  (six  present). 
I  could  not  understand  why  the  senior  officers  of  the 
L.F.'s  were  over  both  Sunday  evening  and  Monday 
morning.  I  discovered  later  their  Colonel,  who  com- 
manded the  A coming  out,  is  to  go  home  owing 

to  valvular  disease  of  the  heart.  Poor  man,  he  is 
absolutely  broken.  I  saw  him  since,  and  he  looked 
dreadful.  He  has  always  been  very  good  to  me, 

and   has    been   an    indefatigable   worker.      B ,    a 

very  good  fellow,  ably  seconded  by  P ,  is  now  in 

command.  I  slept  part  of  the  afternoon.  After  tea 
we  had  a  concert  on  deck,  given  by  the  men  of  the 
Implacable,  who  got  themselves  up  very  elaborately 
and  were  quite  good,  though  fairly  lewd.  Most 
of  their  officers  were  entertained  to  dinner  by  the 
R.F.'s.  It  was  a  little  sad  to  see  the  middies,  some 
only  sixteen,  drinking  a  good  deal  of  whisky  and 
smoking  many  cigarettes  during  the  evening.  I 
had  a  good  deal  of  talk  with  the  captain.  They 


• 


IN   GALLIPOLI  41 

gave  the  men  a  concert  in  the  evening,  and  I  had  no 
services. 

Tuesday,  April  20. — I  got  everything  packed  up, 

as  I  was  under  orders  to  go  to  the  M and  join 

my  Field  Ambulance.  I  quite  forgot  that  on  Monday 
morning  we  had  a  conference  of  chaplains  on  board 

the  E .  The  5 ,  with  R—  -  and  another 

Presbyterian  chaplain,  a  New  Zealander  who  had  been 

transferred,  C and  D (R.C.),  had  pulled 

alongside.  So  with  H and  L (Wesleyan)  we 

were  seven  altogether,  and  had  a  very  pleasant  little 

gathering,  prayers  being  said  by  H ,  R and 

D (C.  of  E.,  Presbyterian,  and  R.C.).  We  dis- 
cussed all  sorts  of  things,  where  we  were  to  go  and 
what  to  do  and  how  to  work  together,  etc.  We  are  not 
to  advance  beyond  the  first  dressing-station.  As  the 
R.F.'s  had  to  be  the  first  to  land,  I  had  to  leave  them. 

But  it  was  blowing  very  hard,  and  the  M was 

some  distance  off  in  the  outer  harbour,  and  I  could  not 
get  a  boat  to  take  me,  though  I  tried  all  day  and  tackled 
every  picket-boat  that  came  alongside.  However,  it 
gave  me  an  opportunity  to  hold  some  final  gatherings 
on  board  in  the  evening.  The  officers  all  seemed  very 
sorry  I  was  to  leave  them.  We  had  had  endless 
discussions. 

Wednesday,  April  21. — Again  I  was  packed  and 
ready  to  go  off,  and  had  my  servant  (whom  the  Colonel 
of  the  R.F.'s  very  kindly  allowed  me  to  keep)  ready 
waiting.  I  practically  had  despaired  of  getting  off, 
when  at  last  I  found  a  picket-boat  was  going  from 
the  B—  -  with  some  officers  who  had  been  over  for 
a  conference.  It  was  still  blowing  hard,  and  our 
departure  had  been  postponed  for  twenty-four  hours 
in  consequence.  I  got  off  eventually  about  5.30,  with 
all  my  kit.  The  troops  had  been  rearranged,  and  half 


42     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

a  battalion  of  the  Hants  had  come  on  board,  and  my 
cabin  was  wanted.  So  I  got  on  board  the  M — 
in  the  evening.  There  are  only  a  few  officers — about 
eighteen — here  and  various  odd  units,  the  transports 
of  five  regiments,  part  of  the  8gih  Field  Ambulance 
with  the  Colonel,  and  a  company  of  Royal  Scots,  the 
only  Territorial  regiment  in  the  Division.  I  knew 
three  of  the  transport  officers — nice  fellows — before, 
and  the  R.A.M.C.  doctors  slightly.  The  boat  is  fairly 
comfortable,  a  Red  Star  Line  boat.  There  are  about 
700  horses  on  board.  A  water-boat  came  alongside 
yesterday,  and  we  took  in  twenty  tons  of  water. 

Thursday,  April  22. — Presumably  the  expedition 
starts  to-day,  about  four  o'clock  I  understand,  if  the 
weather  has  moderated  enough.  I  shall  see  the  trans- 
ports pass  and  we  will  follow  later.  It  seems  a  per- 
fectly desperate  undertaking.  I  can  hardly  expect 
to  see  many  of  my  men  alive  again.  My  present  feel- 
ing is  that  the  whole  thing  has  been  bungled.  The 
Navy  should  never  have  started  the  bombardment 
without  the  Army.  Now  there  has  been  no  bombard- 
ment for  some  weeks.  Meanwhile  the  Turks,  under 
German  direction,  have  perfected  their  defences.  The 
aerial  reconnaissance  reports  acres  of  barbed  wire, 
labyrinths  of  trenches,  concealed  guns,  maxims  and 
howitzers  everywhere.  The  ground  is  mined.  In 
fact,  everything  conceivable  has  been  done.  Our  men 
have  to  be  towed  in  little  open  boats  to  land  in  the 
face  of  all  this.  Of  course  their  landing  will  be 
covered  by  the  Navy.  But  I  simply  dread  the  first 
few  days.  I  felt  so  miserable  saying  good-bye. 
However,  I  don't  suppose  it  can  be  much  worse  than 
what  has  been  going  on  in  France.  Slaughter  seems 
to  be  inevitable.  We  had  a  printed  message  from 
Hunter- Weston,  our  Divisional  General  yesterday. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  48 

He  said  the  eyes  of  the  world  are  on  us,  and  we  must 
be  prepared  to  face  heavy  losses  by  bullets,  shells, 
mines,  and  drowning.  Cheery,  isn't  it?  People's 
eyes  seem  perfectly  open.  My  brigade  is  to  land  first. 
At  least  three-quarters,  it  seems  to  me,  will  probably 
be  casualties  the  first  day.  They  are  quite  prepared 
for  it.  I  feel  very  gloomy  about  it  all  at  the  present 
moment.  One  thing  I  feel  certain  of,  and  that  is  that 
the  men  will  do  their  duty  and  cover  themselves  with 
glory,  even  if  they  are  to  be  exterminated ;  and  even  if 
they  had  gone  to  France  it  would  have  been  the  same. 
Extermination  is  going  on  everywhere,  and  nothing 
can  stop  it  now. 

I  held  a  service  in  the  saloon  in  the  evening,  and  a 
number  of  men  and  officers  came. 

Friday,  April  23. — I  had  a  Celebration  at  7.30. 
Only  three  present.  Practically  all  Presbyterian  or 
R.C.  on  board.  The  boats  did  not  go  out  on 
Thursday  as  we  expected.  The  wind  had  blown 
pretty  hard  all  day,  but  I  don't  think  that  was  the 
cause.  Some  of  the  officers  rowed  over  to  the  trans- 
ports and  brought  me  back  some  letters.  I  sat  on 
deck  most  of  the  day  and  read  Guy  Mannering,  which 
I  enjoyed.  There  is  always  a  lot  to  watch.  We  are 
anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbour  close  to  the 
boom  through  which  all  the  ships  must  pass.  A 
number  of  French  boats  had  anchored  outside.  Boats 
of  all  kinds  kept  passing  all  day.  I  had  another 
service  at  six  o'clock  on  the  boat-deck.  But  it  was 
rather  interrupted,  as  the  transports  began  to  move 
out  from  the  inner  harbour,  and  when  the  A— 
came  I  had  to  let  the  men  go,  and  we  all  cheered.  An 
aeroplane  kept  circling  overhead,  and  battleships  were 

passing.     Only  the  A ,   C ,   and  D—    -  with 

the    86th    Brigade    on    board,    seemed    to   go.     We 


44     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

understand  they  are  going  to  anchor  off  Tenedos  and 
make  some  sort  of  demonstration  next  day,  and  the 
real  attack  and  landing  was  to  take  place  at  dawn  on 
Sunday.  The  nights  are  lovely.  There  is  a  half 
moon.  All  the  boats  are  lit  up.  The  searchlights 
play  across  the  harbour  mouth.  The  most  wonderful 
sights  are  the  hospital  ships  :  one  lay  quite  close  to 
us,  with  red  crosses  and  a  large  belt  of  green  in  electric 
light. 

Saturday,  April  24. — I  have  been  on  deck  watching 
practically  all  day.  There  has  been  a  great  procession 
of  boats.  The  most  wonderful  began  at  2  p.m.,  wrhen 
the  men-of-war  filed  very  slowly  and  silently  out,  one 
behind  the  other,  quite  close  to  us,  headed  by  the 
Queen  Elizabeth.  She  was  quite  magnificent,  with 
her  eight  huge  1 5-inch  guns,  in  sets  of  four,  piled 
on  the  top  of  each  other.  They  were  all  cleared  for 
action.  There  were  seven  men-of-war,  followed  by 
six  destroyers.  They  made  a  most  beautiful  curve 
as  they  passed  us  to  go  through  the  boom.  The  sun 
shone  out  and  they  gleamed.  It  was  an  unforgettable 
sight.  Some  of  the  ships  had  a  number  of  Australians 
on  board.  We  waved  and  cheered  occasionally,  but 
it  was  mostly  quite  silent.  Then  came  many  more 
transports  towing  lighters,  mine-sweepers,  and  tugs 
of  all  kinds  among  them.  What  a  tremendous  busi- 
ness it  all  is  !  A  large  number  of  boats  have  anchored 
just  outside  the  boom.  We  are  to  move  out  at 
6. 20  a.m.  to-morrow.  The  attack  presumably  will 
start  at  dawn.  It  will  be  a  great  joy  if  we  find  even 
half  the  86th  Brigade  in  the  firing-line  when  we  land. 
I  feel  a  little  more  hopeful  now.  Everything  possible 
seems  to  have  been  done,  and  the  victory  surely  will 
be  ours  if  it  is  for  the  good  of  the  world  that  it  should 
be.  The  transports  of  the  86th  Brigade  are  on  board, 


IN   GALLIPOLI  45 

and  the  officers  and  men  feel  very  sick  at  being  left 
behind  and  seeing  their  regiments  pass.  We  hear 
there  is  to  be  a  most  terrific  bombardment  of  about 
i2O,ooo(?)  shells.  The  troops  are  to  land  in  every 
manner  of  way.  We  will  come  on  the  scene  only 
when  they  have  been  able  to  advance  at  least  five 
miles.  The  8yth  and  88th  Brigades  will  follow  close 
on  the  86th.  No  wounded  can  be  carried  off  for 
forty-eight  hours.  I  think  that  we  all  feel  that  we  are 
the  centre  of  the  world,  and  that  the  war  in  France 
for  the  moment  falls  in  the  background.  It  is  all  the 
most  extraordinary  adventure.  We  have  had  mes- 
sages from  the  King  and  Sir  Ian  Hamilton.  None 
of  us  will  ever  forget  that  procession  of  men-of-war 
and  transports.  I  talked  a  lot  with  the  men  this  after- 
noon and  with  the  officers  on  board.  Well,  I  suppose 
we  will  know  something  soon. 


CHAPTER    V 

OFF   CAPE   HELLES 

(April  25—30) 

SPECIAL  BRIGADE  ORDER 

BY  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  S.  W.  HARE 

COMMANDING  86TH   INFANTRY  BRIGADE 

FUSILIERS, 

Our  Brigade  is  to  have  the  honour  to  be  the 
first  to  land  and  to  cover  the  disembarkation  of  the 
rest  of  the  Division.  Our  task  will  be  no  easy  one. 
Let  us  carry  it  through  in  a  way  worthy  of  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  distinguished  regiments  of  which  the 
Fusilier  Brigade  is  composed;  in  such  a  way  that  the 
men  of  Albuhera  and  Minden,  of  Delhi  and  Lucknow 
may  hail  us  as  their  equals  in  valour  and  military 
achievement,  and  that  future  historians  may  say  of  us 
as  Napier  said  of  the  Fusilier  Brigade  at  Albuhera, 
"  Nothing  could  stop  this  astonishing  Infantry." 
S.  W.  HARE,  BRIGADIER-GENERAL, 

Commanding  86th  Infantry  Brigade. 

Sunday,  April  25. — At  6.20  a.m.  we  weighed  anchor 
on  a  beautiful  calm  morning  and  steamed  slowly  out 
of  harbour.  I  had  a  Celebration  at  7  a.m.  and  a  service 
on  deck  at  9  a.m.  As  we  finished  we  began  to  hear 
the  first  sounds  of  firing  in  the  dim  distance.  Every 
one  had  their  glasses  out,  and  we  fixed  them  on  the 
horizon  to  the  front  of  us.  Gradually  we  made  out  the 
outlines  of  the  Gallipoli  peninsula  and  the  mouth  of 

46 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION     47 

the  Dardanelles,  and  saw  transports  and  battleships 
lying  off  all  the  way  round  and  up  the  Dardanelles, 
and  heard  the  sound  of  guns  from  the  latter  booming 
out  louder  and  louder  as  we  drew  closer.  We  all  knew 
pretty  well  the  plan  of  campaign  before  we  left  Lemnos. 
Three  landings  were  to  be  made  on  "V,"  "W"  and 
"X  "  beaches  on  the  point  of  the  peninsula  by  the  2Qth 
Division.  The  French  were  to  land  on  the  Asiatic  side 
and  the  Australians  right  up  the  Gulf  of  Saros  (at  least 
so  we  thought).  You  can  imagine  how  we  strained 
our  eyes  to  see  what  had  happened.  We  anchored 
right  in  the  middle  of  the  stream  flowing  out  through 
the  Dardanelles  just  three  miles  from  the  land.  In 
front  slightly  to  the  left  is  the  Gallipoli  peninsula, 
with  Cape  Helles  at  the  point,  and  a  village,  a  light- 
house and  forts.  Across,  on  the  right,  is  the  Asiatic 
coast,  with  a  large  village  on  the  top  of  a  cliff  on  the 
sea,  a  sandy  beach  inside  the  Dardanelles  and  another 
village  further  up.  The  Gallipoli  peninsula  is  preci- 
pitous all  round  except  for  one  or  two  small  beaches. 
Above  the  cliffs  the  land  from  the  sea  looks  fairly  level, 
sloping  gradually  up  for  a  distance  of  five  miles  to  a 
hill  on  the  horizon,  Achi  Baba  Dagh,  about  600  feet 
high.  As  a  matter  of  fact  about  a  mile  from  the  coast 
is  a  valley,  really  only  a  depression. 

Well,  both  sides  were  receiving  a  tremendous  bom- 
bardment from  the  men-of-war.  They  were  demolish- 
ing forts  and  villages  along  the  coast  on  either  side, 
and  through  the  glasses  we  could  see  them  crumble 
away  under  the  shells.  The  lighthouse  on  Cape 
Helles  was  demolished.  We  watched  with  special 
interest  the  Russian  cruiser  with  five  funnels  demolish 
the  village  of  Yeni  Shehr  on  the  Asiatic  side.  The 
Queen  Elisabeth  was  about  a  mile  up  the  Dardanelles, 
blazing  away  with  her  i5-inch  guns,  landing  shells  all 


48     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

over  and  up  onto  the  top  of  Achi  Baba.  Meanwhile 
we  could  see  that  the  landing  had  been  effected  by  the 
different  troops  on  both  sides.  We  could  just  make 
out  men  on  the  beach.  Just  under  the  village  and  fort 
of  Sed-ul-Bahr  we  could  see  where  a  tramp  steamer1 
had  been  run  ashore,  as  we  had  understood  it  would 
be,  the  troops,  I  believe,  jumping  out  of  the  sides, 
which  were  to  be  let  down.  On  "  X  "  and  "  W  "  beaches 
there  were  a  lot  of  boats  and  lighters  drawn  up.  We 
could  make  out  troops  on  the  top  of  the  cliff.  The 
men-of-war  and  many  of  the  transports  lay  quite  close 
up  to  the  shore,  and  there  were  a  crowd  of  tugs  and 
picket-boats  of  all  kinds  about  everywhere.  We  saw 
no  shell  drop  in  the  water  and  no  boats  seemed  to  have 
been  hit.  We  got  no  news  for  some  time,  however. 

The    first    we    heard    was    from    the    F ,    which 

anchored  alongside  and  said  she  had  landed  her  men 
of  the  Naval  Division  without  a  casualty.  We  could 
see  rows  of  small  boats  put  off  to  the  hospital  ships. 
Later  in  the  evening  a  destroyer  passed  and  shouted 
out  that  we  had  demolished  five  forts,  and  in  some 
places  advanced  three  miles.  This  subsequently  seemed 
to  be  greatly  over-estimated.  It  was  a  most  extra- 
ordinary sight,  laid  out  like  a  panorama  in  front  of  us, 
and  yet  impossible  for  us  really  to  know  what  was 
happening.  We  could  see  French  troops  landing  on 
a  sandy  beach  on  the  Asiatic  side  and  artillery  coming 
into  action.  Our  artillery  had  not  landed  yet.  Our 
eyes  got  tired  out  with  straining  to  look  through 
glasses.  I  had  another  service  at  8  p.m.  in  the  saloon, 
which  was  crowded  mostly  with  Presbyterians,  many 
officers  coming.  The  bombardment  quieted  down  in 
the  evening  and  I  went  to  bed  about  10.30. 

1  The  famous  River  Clyde,  of  course. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  49 

Monday,  April  26. — I  awoke  at  1.45  a.m.  to  the  sound 
of  a  terrific  bombardment  and  almost  incessant  rifle  fire. 
I  put  a  coat  on  and  went  up  on  deck.  I  found  a  ship's 
officer  on  watch.  I  had  been  terrified  of  a  counter 
attack  by  the  Turks  at  night  with  our  men  exhausted. 
There  was  a  terrific  noise  going  on — almost  incessant 
rifle  fire  and  machine  guns  on  both  sides  of  the  Dar- 
danelles. I  felt  quite  sickened,  feeling  how  terrible 
the  first  night  must  have  been  for  the  men.  I  stayed 
there  an  hour,  during  which  it  went  on  all  the  time, 
watching  the  flashes  of  the  guns.  But  it  seemed  no 
good  going  on  watching,  so  I  went  to  bed  again  at 
2.45.  Practically  every  one  else  had  slept  through  it 
all.  At  breakfast  of  course  we  knew  nothing  except 
that  there  had  been  violent  fighting,  and  could  make 
nothing  more  out  during  the  morning.  It  did  not 
seem  that  we  were  making  much  advance.  The  bom- 
bardment continued  intermittently.  We  could  see  the 
Turkish  shrapnel  burst  over  where  our  men  must  be. 
It  was  another  beautiful  day.  I  got  tired  of  watching, 
however,  and  read  a  good  deal.  At  last  in  the  after- 
noon a  tug  came  up  with  orders  that  we  were  to  go 
within  half  a  mile  of  "X  "  beach  and  land  160  boxes  of 
ammunition,  which  was  a  very  welcome  change.  As 
we  got  nearer  we  could  see  a  well-established  landing 
on  "  W  "  beach.  Some  wagons  appeared  to  have  been 
landed,  and  there  was  a  fairly  easy  way  up  the  cliffs. 
Crowds  of  men  were  moving  about,  landing  stores. 
The  R.A.M.C.  had  established  a  base  and  were  tend- 
ing wounded.  We  coasted  along  round  the  point  to 
"X  "  beach,  a  much  smaller  one  with  no  natural  way  up 
the  cliff,  where  we  saw  the  engineers  busy  cutting  out 
a  road.  We  had  been  told  to  look  out  for  snipers,  and 
some  shots  appeared  to  drop  round  the  ship.  We 
anchored  off  the  coast  (the  Captain  was  very  excited 


50     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

and  shouted  a  lot),  and  four  boats  put  off  with  ammuni- 
tion, getting  ashore  as  ordered  by  four  o'clock.  We 
could  see  a  large  crowd  on  the  beach,  also  landing 
stores,  and  a  R.A.M.C.  station. 

Well,  at  last  we  got  some  news  from  those  who  went 
ashore,  and  also  from  a  man  of  the  Border  Regiment, 
who  had  just  had  his  fingers  shot  off,  while  the  boats 
were  there,  by  a  sniper.  However,  he  was  quite  cheery 
and  I  went  and  saw  him  in  the  evening.  Well,  of 
course  this  was  only  one  beach  and  we  could  get  no 
general  survey  or  really  authentic  news.  But  what 
came  out  most  clearly  was  that  my  own  two  special 
regiments  had  been  terribly  cut  up,  but  otherwise  the 
casualties  had  not  been  heavy.1  In  fact  it  was  very 
black  about  the  R.F.'s  and  the  L.F.'s.  The  Borderers 
had  landed  without  mishap  and  supported  the  R.F.'s. 
The  wounded  man  said  he  had  heard  the  R.F.'s  roll 
called  that  morning,  and  there  were  only  about  240 
that  answered.2  The  Colonel  and  two  Majors  were 
said  to  be  wounded  and  only  nine  officers  left.  But  it 
is  impossible  to  know  any  facts  for  certain.  On  "  W  " 
beach  it  appears  that  the  L.F.'s  were  terribly  cut  up 
on  landing.  It  was  the  obvious  landing-place,  and  the 
Turks  had  laid  barbed  wire  in  the  water.  This  we  had 
heard  before.  Well,  as  soon  as  our  boats  got  back  we 
weighed  anchor  and  came  back  to  our  old  position.  I 
felt  very  blue.  My  two  particular  regiments  cut  up 
and  I  was  not  with  them  or  even  near  them,  and  it 
is  impossible  to  hear  any  details.  It  all  sounds  very 
horrible.  I  ought  to  have  been  there,  at  any  rate  on 
the  beach,  seeing  the  poor  wounded  fellows  and  bury- 
ing the  dead.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  chaplain 

1  Of  course  this  does  not  refer  to  the  terrible  landing  at  "  V  " 
beach. 

2  There  were  really  more  than  these. 


7,    * 

5-g 
s  3 


IN   GALLIPOLI  51 

there.1  But  what  can  I  do  ?  I  am  ordered  to  be  with 
my  Field  Ambulance.  Well,  things  were  not  so  noisy 
this  night.  It  appears  most  of  the  firing  the  night 
before  had  been  wild  and  unnecessary,  but  I  expect 
every  one's  nerves  must  have  been  on  edge  and  they 
blazed  away  without  reason.  I  am  not  surprised.  The 
landing  must  have  been  ghastly.  However,  on  seeing 
the  cliffs  the  marvel  is  that  they  managed  to  land  at 
all.  The  enemy  had  known  for  months  that  they  were 
coming  and  had  time  to  make  every  preparation.  Two 
regiments,  and  how  many  more  we  don't  know,  had  to 
be  sacrificed  to  make  the  landing.  There  are  five 
transport  officers  on  board,  the  four  regiments  of  my 
brigade  having  their  transports  here,  and  another.  It 
is  bad  for  them  being  left  in  suspense  while  their  regi- 
ments are  being  cut  up. 

Tuesday,  April  27. — There  seems  to  have  been  a 
certain  amount  of  bombardment  during  the  night,  but 
when  I  woke  up  I  saw  the  Russian  and  a  French  man- 
of-war  steaming  away  to  the  south,  and  all  sound  of 
firing  ceased  on  the  Asiatic  side.  Later  a  French 
torpedo-boat  passed  us,  and  when  we  asked  how  they 
were  getting  on,  they  said,  "C'est  fini — determine*," 
which  sounds  hopeful.  No  one  paid  us  any  attention 
all  day  and  we  could  get  no  news.  I  got  tired  of  watch- 
ing through  glasses,  and  lay  in  a  chair  and  read  Guy 
Mannering  all  day — an  extraordinary  occupation  in 
the  middle  of  a  terrific  bombardment  and  while  many 
of  one's  recent  friends  lay  mangled,  dying,  and  dead. 
But  the  only  thing  is  to  be  philosophical.  It  is  war, 
and  war  must  mean  death,  and  it  is  no  use  getting  agi- 
tated. The  fighting  did  not  appear  to  progress  very 
rapidly.  They  did  not  get  anywhere  near  the  top  of 

1  I  discovered  later  that  both  H and  L had  landed  on 

the  Sunday,  and  had  been  working  heroically. 


52     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Achi  Baba.  We  could  see  shrapnel  burst  everywhere 
and  at  intervals  the  men-of-war  started  bombarding 
certain  points  on  the  horizon  or  lower  slopes  of  the  hill. 
Shrapnel  seemed  also  to  be  bursting  over  where  our 
men  presumably  were.  We  had  been  delighted  the 
evening  before  to  see  nine  French  transports  come  up 
crowded  with  men,  and  also  an  English  one  with  part 
of  the  R.N.D.,  evidently  to  reinforce  us.  Our  artillery 
were  well  in  action  all  day  and  the  nearer  slopes  seemed 
quite  safe.  But  as  this  is  a  transport  ship  they  will 
not  want  us  till  all  is  cleared  of  the  enemy.  Besides, 
the  beaches  are  small  and  crowded  with  more  important 
units  landing.  We  saw  masses  of  troops  moving  all 
along  the  tops  of  the  cliffs,  in  some  cases  running 
back  as  though  being  shelled,  possibly  reserves  ex- 
posing themselves  a  little  too  freely.  But  it  was  im- 
possible to  make  anything  out  for  certain  and  one  gets 
tired  of  guessing.  We  keep  wondering  what  the  Aus- 
tralians are  doing.  Again  it  was  a  lovely  day  and 
the  whole  thing  seemed  like  a  sort  of  show.  It  blew 
rather  a  squall  in  the  evening,  but  calmed  off  com- 
pletely at  night,  and  was  quite  warm  with  a  brilliant 
full  moon.  The  ships  were  all  lit  up  and  everything 
was  perfectly  peaceful.  I  suppose  some  day  we  shall 
know  something.  I  wish  I  knew  the  fate  of  the  R.F.'s 
and  L.F.'s  for  certain.  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  as  bad 
as  we  imagine;  but  I  am  afraid  it  must  be  very  bad. 
I  should  have  been  there,  and  wonder  if  I  should  not 

have  insisted  on  staying  on  board  the  A .     But 

that  is  unprofitable  speculation  now. 

Wednesday,  April  28. — Another  day  of  waiting  with 
absolutely  no  news.  Again  a  beautifully  fine  day. 
We  have  been  wonderfully  fortunate  in  our  weather. 
Again  we  watched  through  glasses  all  day.  The  battle 
seemed  to  rage  on  both  sides  of  Achi  Baba.  We 


^8»qf 


THE  RUSSIAN  CRUISER,  THE  *  ASKOLD,'  SOON  NICKNAMED  BY  THE 
MEN  "THE  PACKET  OF  WOODBINES" 


GENERAL   VIEW   OF    PENINSULA   LOOKING   TOWARDS    MORTO   BAY 


s 


IN   GALLIPOLI  53 


could  see  shrapnel  bursting  everywhere,  but  it  was 
really  impossible  to  be  certain  whether  it  was  our  own 
or  the  enemy's  !  Later  in  the  afternoon  the  battleships 
started  dropping  shells  on  the  further  side  of  Achi 
Baba.  At  about  6.30  a  most  tremendous  bombard- 
ment started  from  a  number  of  battleships  on  three 
sides  of  the  promontory.  Up  to  the  north  we  could 
see  a  captive  balloon  moored  to  a  ship  which  was 
apparently  directing  operations.  Not  far  from  it,  well 
out  to  sea,  was  the  Queen  Elizabeth.  Two  or  three 
battleships  up  the  Dardanelles  were  firing  away  with 
tremendous  rapidity.  They  seemed  to  be  sweeping 
along  the  whole  top  of  the  Achi  Baba  range,  evidently 
covering  a  big  infantry  advance.  The  sun  was  setting 
and  lit  up  the  whole  promontory,  evidently  giving  a 
good  light  for  observations.  The  bombardment  lasted 
about  an  hour  or  less,  and  must  have  been  terrific  for 
those  on  the  hill.  After  supper  the  wind  got  up  and 
raged  very  strong  all  night  and  turned  pretty  cold, 
but  as  it  was  off  shore  and  with  the  current  it  did  not 
seem  to  make  any  waves,  so  we  had  a  calm  night. 
We  are  all  longing  to  land  and  get  some  news.  All 
the  world  must  know  much  more  than  we  do  only  a 
few  miles  away  from  the  scene  of  action.  What  are  the 
Australians  doing?  How  is  the  Navy  getting  on 
further  up  the  Dardanelles  ?  We  know  nothing. 

Thursday,  April  29. — This  is  a  perfectly  intermin- 
able wait.  Day  after  day  passes  and  we  get  no  news 
and  no  orders.  It  was  very  quiet  on  land  till  evening, 
when  a  slight  bombardment  of  the  right-hand  shoulder 
of  Achi  Baba  took  place,  but  the  battle  seemed  to  have 
got  a  good  deal  further  away  and  the  shells  to  be 
dropping  mostly  on  the  further  side.  We  saw  practi- 
cally no  shrapnel  burst.  There  was  a  little  fighting  on 
the  Asiatic  side.  It  turned  calm  again  in  the  afternoon 


54     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

and  was  dead  calm  at  night,  with  a  perfectly  gorgeous 
full  moon  rising  behind  the  Asia  Minor  mountains  and 
shining  on  the  sea,  while  the  sun  set  in  an  absolutely 
clear  sky.  I  wrote  a  letter  home  as  I  felt  I  must  go 
on  doing  so,  hoping  that  some  day  a  chance  of  posting 
them  may  come.  I  am  personally  quite  happy  to  be 
anywhere,  but  it  seems  a  ridiculous  waste  of  time. 
Three  or  four  transports  came  up  in  the  evening,  and 
seem  to  have  put  in  to  shore  while  we  are  still  left  here. 
It  seems  quite  inexplicable  why  they  send  us  no  orders. 

Friday,  April  30. — Just  after  breakfast  the  Turks 
started  to  bombard  the  French  base  camp  on  "  V  "  beach. 
We  could  see  about  half-a-dozen  shells  drop  apparently 
right  in  the  centre  of  their  camp  where  they  had  a 
number  of  tents  pitched,  and  quantities  of  horses 
picketed  and  hundreds  of  men  about.  One  shell 
seemed  to  come  from  the  Asiatic  side.  As  far  as  it 
was  possible  to  see  through  the  telescope  compara- 
tively little  damage  was  done,  men  were  calmly  walking 
about,  the  tents  seemed  undisturbed,  and  the  tramp 
steamer,  which  had  been  run  ashore,  appeared  to  be 
none  the  worse.  The  Turks  seemed  to  have  planned 
a  general  bombardment,  as  shells  appeared  to  come 
from  the  other  side  of  Achi  Baba,  and  shrapnel  to  burst 
all  over  the  slopes  on  this  side.  Several  shells  dropped 
in  the  water  in  the  Dardanelles  close  to  the  battleships. 
The  ships  all  started  to  reply,  and  before  long  the 
batteries  on  the  Asiatic  side  were  silenced,  or  ceased 
to  fire,  and  shells  have  been  dropping  intermittently 
on  the  slopes  of  Achi  Baba.  But  everything  is  con- 
jecture at  this  distance.  It  is  a  gorgeous  morning  and 
turning  much  warmer. 

The  following  account  has  been  contributed  by 
Lieut  .-Colonel  Newenham  commanding  the  2nd  Royal 
Fusiliers. 


o  U 


O  C/3 

cn  S, 

^  rt 

3  u 


s  § 


IN   GALLIPOLI  55 

On  April  23,  by  night,  the  ships  containing  the 
covering  force — i.  e.  86th  Brigade  (2nd  Royal  Fusi- 
liers, ist  Lancashire  Fusiliers,  ist  Royal  Munster 
Fusiliers,  and  ist  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers) — sailed  to 
Tenedos,  where  we  lay  on  the  24th,  and  completed 
necessary  transfers  of  men  and  warships,  etc. 

Half  Battalion  Royal  Fusiliers  and  Headquarters 
went  on  board  H .M.S. Implacable  about  7  p.m.,  from 
which  ship  we  had  been  practising  getting  into  boats, 
and  so  on ;  the  other  Half  Battalion,  under  Brandreth, 
spent  the  night  on  two  Fleet  mine-sweepers.  At  about 
10.30  p.m.  the  brigade  and  warships  all  sailed  for 
the  peninsula,  arriving  there  by  night.  We  had  a 
good  breakfast  on  Implacable  at  3.30  a.m.  We  then 
proceeded  to  load  up  the  boats,  four  tows  of  six 
boats  each  and  a  steam  pinnace,  twenty-five  to  thirty 
men  in  each  boat,  besides  the  six  bluejackets  to  row 
when  the  pinnace  cast  us  off. 

April  25. — At  4.45  a.m.  the  bombardment  by  the 
Fleet  began,  twelve  or  fourteen  battleships,  including 
Queen  Elizabeth  with  her  1 5-inch  guns,  all  blazing 
away,  a  tremendous  din,  but  nothing  to  when  we 
landed.  At  about  5.15  a.m.  we  started  off  in  our 
tows,  with  our  mother-ship,  Implacable,  in  the  middle, 
like  a  most  majestic  eagle  and  her  brood. 


6    6 


0         0 

o 

0  0 

o     o 

The  Captain  of  the  Implacable,  Lockyer,  was  splen- 
did— they  were  all  top-hole;  he  had  his  anchor  over 


6 

A      Ste&m 
i.i  Pmnaces 

0 

in 

0 

0 

0 

o  1 

y  Boats 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

u  > 

56     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

the  bows  with  a  bit  of  spar,  and  took  his  ship  right 
in  along  with  our  boats  till  the  anchor  dragged;  we 
all  thought  it  splendid,  and  it  most  undoubtedly  saved 
us  many  losses  in  the  boats  and  landing. 

All  the  officers  and  men  of  Implacable  were  most 
awfully  good  to  us,  they  fed  the  men  in  the  evening 
and  gave  them  a  splendid  meal  at  3.30  in  the  morning, 
which  made  all  the  difference  to  them  in  the  bad  time 
coming. 

However,  to  continue :  while  we  (W  and  X  Com- 
panies) were  being  towed  towards  our  beach  called 
"X,"  the  remaining  Half  Battalion,  Y  and  Z  Com- 
panies, on  the  mine-sweeper,  were  coming  on ;  they 
were  to  come  in  as  far  as  the  vessel  could  go,  and  then 
be  landed  by  the  same  boats  which  had  put  us  ashore. 
As  we  got  to  shore  the  Implacable  raised  her  sights 
and  fired  further  over  our  heads. 

We  got  off  very  lightly  while  getting  ashore ;  I  can 
only  put  it  down  largely  to  the  way  our  mother-ship 
plastered  the  beach  for  us  at  close  range;  however, 
we  had  our  bad  time  later  on.  About  100  yards 
from  the  shore  the  launches  cast  us  off  and  we  rowed 
in  for  all  we  were  worth  till  the  boats  grounded,  then 
jumped  into  the  water,  up  to  our  chests  in  some 
places,  waded  ashore  and  swarmed  up  the  cliff,  very 
straight  but,  fortunately,  soft  enough  for  a  good  foot- 
hold. We  then  came  under  fire  from  front  and  both 
flanks.  I  sent  one  company,  under  Frank  Leslie,  to 
left  front  to  hold  them  back  there,  and  one  straight 
ahead  and  to  the  right  front.  The  fire  was  very  hot, 
rifles,  machine  guns  and  shrapnel,  and  our  losses 
heavy  at  once.  I  can  never  say  half  enough  for  the 
gallantry  of  the  men  under  these  trying  circumstances. 
They  lost  most  of  the  leaders,  but  fought  on  splen- 
didly just  the  same.  In  the  meantime,  the  other  Half 
Battalion  was  landing  behind  us.  I  had  orders  to 
join  up  with  the  Lancashire  Fusiliers,  who  were  landed 
on  "  W  "  beach.  I  knew  they  had  had  a  terrible  time 
in  the  boats,  as  they  were  next  to  us  going  ashore. 
I  collected  all  I  could,  after  holding  the  left  and  front 


IN   GALLIPOLI  57 

and  leaving  a  reserve  Company,  to  bring  ammunition, 
water,  etc.,  up  the  cliff,  and  moved  to  attack  Tekke 
Hill ;  this  we  eventually  captured  on  our  side  with  the 
bayonet,  losing  heavily,  at  about  noon.  The  Im- 
placable was  so  close  in  that  we  heard  her  crew  cheer- 
ing us  after  the  attack. 

I  got  signal  communication  with  the  brigade  about 
7  a.m.,  and  with  the  K.O.S.B.  at  "  Y  "  beach  later,  to 
say  they  and  the  R.N.D.  Battalion  had  landed  but 
could  not  join  up  with  us.  I  also  learned  that  the 
landing  on  "V"  beach  was  rather  hung  up.  It  was, 
therefore,  most  important  to  hang  on  to  our  bit. 
About  3  p.m.  our  centre,  which  was  unavoidably 
rather  weak,  was  being  driven  back.  I  got  a  message 
to  "X  "  beach,  where  8yth  Brigade  were  now  landing, 
and  eventually  we  were  supported  by  some  of  the 
Border  Regiment. 

I  had  been  wounded  earlier,  and  now  managed, 
with  the  help  of  Crowther,  my  servant,  to  get  into 
cover  and  get  "first  aided."  Incidentally  we  were 
very  nearly  cut  off,  but  just  saved  the  situation  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Borderers. 

We  lost  Frank  Leslie,  Scudamore,  Brickland, 
de  Trafford  killed,  and  twelve  other  officers  wounded, 
before  early  afternoon. 

Our  brigade  was  temporarily  "washed  out,"  the 
remains  of  my  Battalion  joining  the  Hampshire 
Regiment  to  form  one  Battalion. 

On  May  10  we  had  lost  20  officers  and  about  800 
men. 

I  am  able  to  publish  the  following  accounts  of  the 
landing  on  "W"  beach,  later  known  as  Lancashire 
landing,  by  three  senior  officers  of  the  ist  Lancashire 
Fusiliers  who  were  afterwards  killed. 

"As  the  boats  touched  the  shore,  a  very  heavy  and 
brisk  fire  was  poured  into  us,  several  officers  and  men 
being  killed  and  wounded  in  the  entanglements, 


58     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

through  which  we  were  trying  to  cut  a  way.  Several 
of  my  company  were  with  me  under  the  wire,  one  of 
my  subalterns  was  killed  next  to  me,  and  also  the 
wire-cutter  who  was  lying  the  other  side  of  me.  I 
seized  his  cutter  and  cut  a  small  lane  myself  through 
which  a  few  of  us  broke  and  lined  up  under  the  only 
available  cover  procurable,  a  small  sand  ridge  covered 
with  bluffs  of  grass.  I  then  ordered  fire  to  be  opened 
on  the  crests,  but  owing  to  submersion  in  the  water 
and  dragging  rifles  through  the  sand,  the  breech 
mechanism  was  clogged,  thereby  rendering  the  rifles 
ineffective.  The  only  thing  left  to  do  was  to  fix 
bayonets  and  charge  up*the  crests,  which  was  done  in 
a  very  gallant  manner,  though  we  suffered  greatly  in 
doing  so.  However,  this  had  the  effect  of  driving  the 
enemy  from  his  trenches,  which  we  immediately  occu- 
pied. After  a  pause  to  reorganize  the  men  we  ad- 
vanced, but  were  met  with  heavy  fire  from  further 
positions.  One  company  was  pushed  onto  a  flank, 
and  thus  we  succeeded  in  forcing  the  enemy  back. 
Towards  evening  we  made  slight  progress  forward, 
when  we  got  up  entrenching  tools  and  dug  in.  Dur- 
ing the  night  a  violent  counter-attack  was  made  by  the 
enemy  against  us.  But  we  stood  firm  and  drove  them 
back  again.  Our  casualties  were  very  heavy.  In 
my  company  alone  I  had  95  casualties  out  of  205 
men.  One  of  my  platoons  captured  13  Turks  in  one 
trench.  The  officers  and  men  who  were  killed  were 
buried  together,  close  to  the  beach  in  an  enclosure. 
We  are  now  much  reduced  in  strength,  but  the 
spirit  of  the  old  corps  is  just  as  strong  as  ever  it 
was." 

Major  Adams,  who  wrote  this  account,  was  buried 
just  above  the  beach  on  May  1 1 .  The  regiment  at  one 
time  hoped  to  erect  a  permanent  monument  on  the 
beach  to  their  comrades  who  fell  there.  He  was  much 
beloved  by  his  regiment,  and  led  his  company  very 
gallantly  till  his  end.  He  had  been  twenty-five  years 
in  the  regiment. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  59 

From  a  letter  from  Captain  H.  R.  Clayton  who  was 
killed  on  June  28  :  — 

"At  3  a.m.  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  April  we  had 
re'veille'  and  breakfast  about  3.30  a.m.  At  5.30  we 
had  to  be  all  ready,  and  paraded  and  started  to  get  into 
the  ship's  boats,  each  containing  forty-five,  including 
sailors  to  row.  There  were  several  pinnaces,  and  each 
towed  four  boats.  As  the  sun  rose  straight  in  our  eyes 
over  the  place  we  had  to  land,  the  pinnaces  started  for 
the  shore  with  about  100  yards  between,  and  each  tow- 
ing its  four  boats.  During  this  time  the  ship's  guns 
were  pouring  shells  on  the  land.  We  thought  nothing 
could  live,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  they  bombarded 
rather  too  far  inland,  and  the  trenches  overlooking  the 
landing  beaches  were  not  touched,  though  some  yards 
of  barbed  wire  on  the  beaches  were  torn  up.  About 
200  yards  from  the  beach  the  pinnaces  slipped  the 
boats  and  the  sailors  rowed  for  the  shore.  Can  you 
imagine  us  packed  in  our  boats  quite  defenceless,  get- 
ting nearer  and  nearer  and  wondering  when  Hell  would 
be  let  loose  ? 

"They  let  us  off  a  lot,  thank  God,  as  they  did  not 
fire  until  the  boats  began  to  ground,  and  the  rifles  and 
machine  guns  poured  into  us  as  we  got  out  of  the  boats 
and  made  for  the  sandy  shore.  There  was  tremen- 
dously strong  barbed  wire  where  my  boat  landed. 
Men  were  being  hit  in  the  boats  and  as  they  splashed 
ashore.  I  got  up  to  my  waist  in  water,  tripped  over 
a  rock  and  went  under,  got  up  and  made  for  the  shore 
and  lay  down  by  the  barbed  wire.  There  was  a  man 
there  before  me  shouting  for  wire-cutters.  I  got  mine 
out,  but  could  not  make  the  slightest  impression.  The 
front  of  the  wire  by  now  was  a  thick  mass  of  men,  the 
majority  of  whom  never  moved  again.  The  trenches 
on  the  right  raked  us  and  those  above  us  raked  our 
right,  while  trenches  and  machine  guns  fired  straight 
down  the  valley.  The  noise  was  ghastly  and  the  sights 
horrible.  I  eventually  crawled  through  the  wire  with 


60     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

great  difficulty,  as  my  pack  kept  catching  on  the  wire, 
and  got  under  a  small  mound  which  actually  gave  us 
protection.  The  weight  of  our  packs  tired  us,  so  that 
we  could  only  gasp  for  breath.  After  a  little  time  we 
fixed  bayonets  and  started  up  the  cliffs  right  and  left. 
On  the  right  several  were  blown  up  by  a  mine.  When 
we  started  up  the  cliff  the  enemy  went,  but  when  we 
got  to  the  top  they  were  ready  and  poured  shot  on 
us.  After  a  breather  in  the  enemy  trenches  above,  we 
pushed  on  along  the  open  and  had  an  awful  time. 
The  place  was  strewn.  I  could  see  them  being  shot 
all  round  as  we  lay  before  advancing  again.  To  make 
matters  worse  when  I  got  ashore  on  landing  I  got  out 
my  glasses  to  look  about,  but  they  were  full  of  water 
and  I  could  see  nothing;  my  watch  stopped  and  has 
not  gone  since;  the  men's  rifles  were  so  clogged  with 
sand  that  they  could  not  use  them." 

The  following  letter  is  from  Major  Shaw,  of  the 
ist  Lancashire  Fusiliers,  to  his  brother.  Major  Shaw 
was  killed  on  June  4. 

"What  can  one  say,  and  where  can  one  begin,  after 
ten  days  and  nights  of  hundreds  of  hairbreadth  escapes 
from  death  ?  To-day  is  the  first  time  since  landing 
that  I  have  been  out  of  the  firing  line  night  or  day, 
and  when  I  say  the  firing  line  I  mean  the  enemy  never 
more  than  1000  yards  from  one.  Put  your  head  up 
out  of  the  trench,  whizz  goes  a  bullet  from  an  invisible 
sniper  with  telescopic  sights;  walk  about  outside,  and 
bang  goes  a  shrapnel  close  to  you.  The  word  is,  *  Get 
in  and  get  under;  dig  like  mad.'  I  write  this  in  a 
dug-out  in  the  Divisional  Reserve,  with  an  unpleasant 
dust-storm  blinding  me.  To-day  is  a  holiday,  and  I 
have  been  to  the  sea  and  had  a  swim ;  my  last  wash 
was  on  board  a  battleship.  Plenty  of  rations,  not 
much  water,  no  marching,  but  nervous  exhaustion, 
and  no  sleep,  that  is  the  trouble  as  of  yore.  I  always 
have  and  still  contend  that  you  cannot  get  used  to 
being  under  fire ;  it  is  purely  a  case  of  hardening  your- 


S  g 

C/3       ~ 


IN   GALLIPOLI  61 

self  for  the  worst  and  shoving  along.  This  is  not 
trench  warfare.  We  have  been  in  the  open  till  a  few 
days  ago,  and  are  just  on  the  defensive  pro  tern.  If 
we  move  we  expect  to  gain  at  least  two  miles  of 
country.  The  enemy  have  been  hurling  themselves 
against  our  trenches  nightly.  Rockets  going,  guns 
banging,  and  a  roar  of  rapid  fire  commencing  at  dusk 
and  ceasing  at  dawn.  The  last  time  (night  before  last) 
they  had  a  real  go  at  us.  We  did  well :  heaped  up 
200  dead  and  captured  100.  Our  small  band  of 
remnants  cannot  be  budged.  We  hardly  lost  a  soul 
in  this  effort.  I  was  very  pleased.  The  second  day 
in  attack  I  was  sniped  in  the  fleshy  part  of  the  right 
knee — clean  hole,  but  not  lamed  much,  so  have  not 
been  out  of  action  or  reported  wounded,  and  am  now 
healed  up.  The  enemy  got  through  the  British  line 
once,  and  the  French  once  by  night,  but  were  ejected 
by  the  reserves,  so  no  harm  done.  Shouts  of  '  Allah  ! 
Allah!  '  and  terrific  uproar;  most  exciting  this  was. 
I  only  wished  at  the  time  you  could  have  been  with 
me  to  see  it.  I  suppose  by  the  time  you  get  this  our 
historical  landing  will  have  been  written  up  in  the 
papers.  The  Naval  johnnies  say  we  accomplished  the 
impossible,  and  the  name  of  that  bay  is  to  be  the 
1  Lancashire  Landing,'  in  our  honour.  I  hate  even 
thinking  about  that  scene  of  carnage,  but,  to  oblige 
you,  I  will  unburden  myself  for  the  last  time  while  I 
have  the  chance.  The  Euryalus  did  everything  they 
could  to  make  us  comfortable  that  night,  and  after  a 
good  breakfast  we  took  to  the  boats  at  4  a.m.  The 
fleet  closed  in  at  daybreak,  not  a  breath  of  wind,  a 
beautiful  warm  summer  morning,  most  peaceful  scene, 
and  as  it  grew  lighter  we  clearly  discerned  the  land 
about  two  miles  off.  We  knew  well  we  were  in  for  a 
dangerous  venture ;  everybody  was  in  a  state  of  ten- 
sion, but  quite  cheerful,  especially  the  boat's  crew.  I 
had  six  sailors  (three  killed,  I  hear),  and  thirty-five 
men  of  my  Company,  Headquarters  Q.M.S.,  Ser- 
geant-Major, Rangetakers,  Signallers,  Observers,  and 
2nd  Captain  Maunsell.  They  (the  Headquarters)  are 


62     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

all  casualties — I  believe  killed.  My  boat  was  in  the 
centre  of  the  line.  The  ships  started  a  tremendous 
bombardment,  and  kept  it  up  as  the  steam  pinnaces 
towed  us  ashore.  The  enemy  made  no  reply;  the 
place  might  have  been  deserted.  About  200  yards 
from  the  beach  the  tows  were  cast  off  and  the  boats 
shot  ahead  in  line,  and  the  sailors  rowed  like  mad. 
At  about  100  yards  from  the  beach  the  enemy  opened 
fire,  and  bullets  came  thick  all  round,  splashing  up 
the  water.  I  didn't  see  any  one  actually  hit  in  the 
boats,  though  several  were;  e.  g.  my  Quartermaster- 
Sergeant  and  Sergeant-Major  sitting  next  to  me;  but 
we  were  so  jammed  together  that  you  couldn't  have 
moved,  so  that  they  must  have  been  sitting  there  dead. 
As  soon  as  I  felt  the  boat  touch,  I  dashed  over  the  side 
into  three  feet  of  water  and  rushed  for  the  barbed  wire 
entanglement  on  the  beach;  it  must  have  been  only 
three  feet  high  or  so,  and  three  bays,  because  I  got 
over  it  amidst  a  perfect  storm  of  lead  and  made  for 
cover,  sand  dunes  on  the  other  side,  and  got  good 
cover.  I  then  found  Maunsell  and  only  two  men  had 
followed  me.  On  the  right  of  me  on  the  cliff  was  a 
line  of  Turks  in  a  trench  taking  pot  shots  at  us,  ditto 
on  the  left.  I  looked  back.  There  was  one  soldier 
between  me  and  the  wire,  and  a  whole  line  in  a  row  on 
the  edge  of  the  sands.  The  sea  behind  them  was 
absolutely  crimson,  and  you  could  hear  the  groans 
through  the  rattle  of  musketry.  A  few  were  firing. 
I  signalled  to  them  to  advance.  I  shouted  to  the 
soldier  behind  to  signal,  but  he  shouted  back,  '  I  am 
shot  through  the  chest.'  I  then  perceived  they  were 
all  hit.  I  took  a  rifle  from  one  of  the  men  with  me 
and  started  in  at  the  men  on  the  cliff  on  my  right, 
but  could  only  fire  slowly,  as  I  had  to  get  the  bolt 
open  with  my  foot — it  was  clogged  with  sand.  About 
this  time  Maunsell  was  shot  dead  next  to  me.  Our 
men  now  began  to  scale  the  cliffs  from  the  boats  on  the 
outer  flanks,  and  I  need  only  add  it  was  a  capital 
sight.  They  carried  the  trenches  at  the  top  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet :  there  was  some  desperate  work 


IN    GALLIPOLI  63 

up  there.  In  the  trench  I  had  been  firing  at,  the 
enemy  touched  off  a  land  mine  just  too  soon,  but  the 
people  near  it,  I  hear,  are  deprived  of  speech,  and  deaf. 
This  released  me,  and  I  collected  about  thirty  men 
and  pushed  on  up  the  hollow  to  my  objective,  point 
318,  where  I  got  about  5  p.m.  After  some  further 
hair-raising  experiences,  we  entrenched  there  for  the 
night.  I  shall  not  re-read  this.  I  hate  to  think  about 
it.  Perhaps  some  time,  if  I  am  spared  to  join  you, 
we  may  go  over  it  again  together,  so  please  do  not 
destroy  it  or  have  it  published. 

"I  fear  we  are  in  for  a  wet  night  when  this  dust 
ceases.  It  is  hot  by  day,  and  very  cold  about  5  a.m. 
I  generally  get  up  and  beat  my  arms  a  la  cabman  about 
this  time.  It  is  a  shame  to  fight  here.  It  is  highly 
cultivated  :  vines,  corn,  and  patches  of  heather,  and  all 
sorts  of  wild  flowers.  The  trees  are  very  small,  only 
twelve  to  fifteen  feet  high.  All  the  farm-houses  are 
blown  to  blazes.  Be  happy  and  comfortable  at  home. 
You  miss  the  excitement,  but  you  are  spared  much. 
Hoping  you  are  all  well,  as  I  am  so  far,  and  with  love 
to  every  one." 

Sir  Ian  Hamilton,  writing  to  a  friend,  commenting 
on  this  letter,  says — 

"  I  have  mentioned  Captain  Shaw's  name  in  my 
second  dispatch,  so  his  gallantry  will  not  go  unre- 
corded. As  to  his  account  written  on  May  5,  it  is  the 
most  live  comment  on  the  subject  of  the  landing  I  have 
seen.  Now  that  the  gallant  fellow  is  no  more,  I  cer- 
tainly strongly  think  you  ought  to  have  it  published, 
for  surely  the  embargo  was  only  meant  to  prevent  the 
bloom  being  taken  off  the  story  before  the  two  brothers 
read  it  together." 

His  brother  entirely  agrees  with  this  last  sentence. 


CHAPTER    VI 

ON   CAPE   HELLES 

(May  i—5) 

Saturday,  May  i. — I  have  left  my  diary  unwritten 
for  a  fortnight,  and  don't  know  how  I  shall  ever  catch 
up  or  give  any  connected  or  clear  account  of  what  has 
happened.  I  could  write  volumes  if  there  were  time. 

We  anchored  close  off  "W"  beach,  now  known  as 
Lancashire  landing,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  L.F.'s 
led  the  way  and  secured  the  landing  there  on  Sunday, 
April  25,  leaving  over  a  hundred  men  dead  on  the 
beach.  It  is  inconceivable,  seeing  the  coast,  how  they 
ever  managed  to  land.  The  whole  story  will  be  written 
some  day,  and  as  I  can  only  give  it  second-hand  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  to  repeat  it  here.  But  we  could  not 
manage  to  get  ashore  that  day.  I  decided  to  stay  with 
the  Field  Ambulance,  and  land  when  they  did.  One 
boat-load  managed  to  get  ashore,  but  there  was  no 
room  for  me,  and  they  returned  later  with  news  and 
some  naval  officers  and  engineers  also  came  aboard, 
and  at  last  we  heard  what  had  actually  happened,  the 
absolutely  desperate  affair  the  landing  had  been,  and 
the  appalling  cost  of  it  all.  I  was  relieved  to  hear 
that  the  R.F.'s  had  not  lost  as  heavily  as  we  had  first 
heard,  and  that  some  450  men  and  ten  officers  were 
still  left,  and  that  the  L.F.'s,  though  they  had  fewer 
men,  had  all  their  senior  officers  left.  The  Dublins 
were  the  worst,  with  only  one  officer  and  300  odd  men 

64 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION      65 

left.  Occasional  shells  were  still  dropping  about  the 
beach.  The  camp  was  becoming  a  very  busy  sight, 
roads  being  made  and  stores  of  all  kinds,  guns,  horses, 
wagons,  etc.,  being  landed. 

Sunday,  May  2. — We  anchored  very  much  closer  in 
and  started  unloading.  I  had  services  on  board  in 
the  morning,  and  eventually  decided  I  could  wait  no 
longer,  and  went  ashore  with  all  the  kit  I  could  carry 
in  the  afternoon.  Some  of  the  Field  Ambulance  had 
landed,  and  I  left  my  things  with  them  and  found 

H ,  with  the  88th  Field  Ambulance  next  door.     He 

said  he  had  been  having  a  most  terrible  time.  He  had 
just  come  back  from  the  trenches,  where  he  had  been 
caught  all  night  in  the  middle  of  a  big  battle.  The 
Turks  had  been  attacking  all  the  time,  and  shells  had 
been  bursting  all  round  them.  They  had  been  repulsed 
with  considerable  loss.  He  had  gone  out  to  hold  a 
Celebration,  but  of  course  any  service  had  been  impos- 
sible. He  had  landed  the  first  day  and  been  through 
everything,  and  had,  like  every  one  else,  a  harrowing- 
time.  L ,  the  Wesleyan  chaplain,  was  also  there. 

They  had  mostly  been  helping  the  Field  Ambulance 
and  dressing  the  wounded.  We  walked  up  to  the  hill 
behind  the  camp  and  watched  the  battle.  Practically 
no  progress  had  been  made  since  the  Wednesday. 
Achi  Baba  had  been  very  strongly  fortified,  and  is  a 
network  of  trenches  and  barbed  wire,  with  machine 
guns  and  artillery  everywhere.  We  then  walked  over 
to  "  V  "  beach,  now  only  used  by  the  French,  where  the 
Dublins  and  Munsters  had  landed  and  lost  so  terribly. 
There  is  a  ruined  castle  and  village  there,  and  the 
tramp  steamer,  the  River  Clyde,  which  has  been  run 
aground,  and  from  which  the  landing  had  been  made 
with  such  disastrous  results  to  the  Dublins.  Even 
poor  Finn,  the  R.C.  chaplain,  had  been  killed,  being 
F 


66     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

ordered  to  land  in  the  first  boat.(l)  There  we  met  K- 


the  R.C.  chaplain  of  the  Munsters,  who  had  been  up  in 
the  firing  line  with  his  regiment  the  whole  time  since 
landing,  and  had  just  come  away  for  a  short  change. 
We  returned  to  camp  later  to  find  a  message  had  come 
in  to  ask  a  chaplain  to  go  out  and  bury  some  artillery 

officers.     So  R ,  H ,  and  myself  set  out  at  dusk 

along  the  Krithia  road,  and  went  about  one  and  a  half 
miles  to  some  pillars,  and  made  inquiries  for  the  burial- 
party  everywhere,  but  could  get  no  directions.  Then 
a  battle  commenced.  We  were  close  to  the  French 
lines,  among  a  lot  of  trees,  and  the  French  75*5  started 
blazing  away  close  to  us,  and  the  whole  place  was  in 
a  perfect  din  as  the  Turks  replied  and  the  ships  joined 
in.  It  became  quite  dark,  and  as  we  could  find  out 
nothing  we  decided  it  was  more  expedient  to  retire. 
We  had  to  walk  right  into  the  mouth  of  the  French 
guns,  which  was  fairly  alarming.  Everywhere  carts 
and  wagons,  with  Indians,  French,  and  English,  were 
going  up  to  the  firing  line  with  supplies  and  ammuni- 
tion. We  passed  a  battalion  of  the  Naval  Division 
waiting  to  go  up  to  the  firing  line.  They  looked  such 
boys,  and  seemed  very  bewildered.  I  felt  so  sorry  for 
them.  I  expected  to  feel  much  more  alarmed  than  I 
did.  I  could  only  feel  what  an  utterly  senseless  and 
wasteful  thing  war  was.  But  it  was  all  pretty  miser- 
able. 

The  battle  raged  harder  and  harder.  When  we  got 
back  the  other  two  went  to  bed,  but  I  wandered  about 
the  camp  a  little  and  got  my  dug-out  ready.  I  had  got 
all  my  kit  ashore.  It  turned  pretty  cold  at  night.  The 
88th  Field  Ambulance  was  immediately  next  to  ours. 
They  had  not  got  ours  into  working  order  yet.  But 
about  ii  p.m.  in  poured  the  wounded  to  the  88th,  and 
about  25  came  at  once.  Their  tents  were  already  full 


IN    GALLIPOLI  67 

and  they  had  used  up  all  their  blankets,  and  for  some 
time  these  poor  wretches  had  to  be  left  lying  in  the 
open.  I  went  round  a  little,  but  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  confusion,  and  as  it  was  not  my  Field  Ambulance 
I  felt  I  should  only  be  interfering  and  could  do  no 
good,  and  went  off  to  bed  feeling  pretty  miserable. 

(*)  I  leave  this  as  I  wrote  it  at  the  time.  I  have  since 
heard  that  Father  Finn  asked  to  be  allowed  to  land 
with  his  men,  and  had  been  put  into  one  of  the  first 
boats,  and  was  shot  either  getting  off  the  boat  or  imme- 
diately after  getting  ashore.  The  men  never  forgot 
him  and  were  never  tired  of  speaking  of  him.  I  think 
they  felt  his  death  almost  more  than  anything  that 
happened  in  that  terrible  landing  off  the  River  Clyde. 
I  am  told  they  kept  his  helmet  for  a  very  long  time 
after  and  carried  it  with  them  wherever  they  went. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  Father  Finn  was  an  instance  of 
the  extraordinary  hold  a  chaplain,  and  perhaps  especi- 
ally an  R.C.,  can  have  on  the  affections  of  his  men 
if  he  absolutely  becomes  one  of  them  and  shares  their 
danger. 

At  a  chaplains'  meeting  held  some  weeks  later,  two, 
a  Presbyterian  and  an  R.C.,  undertook  to  see  that 
Father  Finn's  grave  was  properly  tended.  He  was 
buried  close  to  the  sea  on  "  V  "  beach,  and  a  road  had 
been  made  over  the  place.  I  think  they  managed  to 
get  the  grave  marked  off  with  a  little  fence. 

Monday,  May  3. — I  awoke  to  find  the  wounded  had 
mostly  been  stowed  away  under  some  sort  of  shelters, 
but  there  were  crowds  of  them  lying  about.  The  rest 
of  my  Field  Ambulance  had  not  landed  yet.  So  after 
hanging  about  a  bit  I  went  over  to  "X  "  beach  where 
the  R.F.'s  had  landed,  and  found  E—  -  the  quarter- 
master. He  greeted  me  with  the  sad  news  of  Shafto's 
(the  adjutant)  and  Anstice's  (2)  deaths.  Would  I  go  up 


€8     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

and  bury  them  ?  Of  course.  The  regiments  had  just 
come  into  reserve,  and  he  said  he  was  going  up  him- 
self, so  off  we  went  about  one  and  a  half  miles  inland, 
and  found  what  was  left  of  them — six  officers  and  435 
men — in  a  vineyard.  They  had  just  come  out  of  the 
firing  line  for  the  first  time  since  landing.  But  they 
were  wonderfully  cheerful.  It  was  quite  a  joy  to  be 
with  them  again.  They  had  just  lost  four  officers, 

Shafto  and  Anstice  killed,  M and  B —  -  wounded, 

and  this  left  J in  command,  and  Mundy  as  ad- 
jutant, Hugget  as  machine-gun  officer,  and  with  Z , 

T ,   and   G they   made   a   very   happy   little 

family. (3)    J has  made  a  simply  capital  C.O.,  and 

was  full  of  praise  of  Mundy.  Of  course  all  were  over- 
whelmed by  Shafto's  death.  He  was  a  universal 
favourite  and  a  particularly  charming  man.  He  had 
already  been  buried,  and  his  grave  was  near  the  firing 
line,  so  I  could  not  very  well  get  there. (4)  They  were 
very  delighted  to  see  me.  I  next  saw  the  brigade  staff. 

Colonel of  the  South  Wales  Borderers  was  acting 

as  Brigadier,  as  the  general  had  been  wounded  the  first 

day,  and  F ,  whom  I  was  delighted  to  find  alive, 

was  Brigade-Major  in  place  of  Frankland(5)  who  had 
been  shot  landing. 

I  made  my  way  up  towards  the  firing  line  to  a  gully 
— or  nullah,  as  they  are  called  here — only  about  500 

yards  behind  it,  where  N of  the  R.F.'s,  and  O 

of  the  L.F.'s  had  their  regimental  dressing-stations. 
There  was  an  absolute  lull  in  the  battle  all  day.  The 
Turks  were  out  everywhere,  burying  their  dead,  with 
white  flags,  and  our  men  were  walking  about  cooking 
their  meals  in  the  firing  line,  and  it  was  a  wonderfully 
peaceful  scene.  I  found  N—  -  absolutely  tired  out. 
He  had  had  a  very  trying  time  ever  since  landing,  and 
been  under  fire  practically  all  the  time.  I  said,  as  his 


IN    GALLIPOLI  69 

regiment  was  in  reserve,  he  had  much  better  come 
down  to  the  beach  with  me  and  see  the  Field  Am- 
bulance, which,  as  it  had  not  landed,  had  been  unable 
to  help  him.  It  seemed  ridiculous  his  staying  up 
there.  So  he  walked  down  to  the  beach  with  me  and 
his  servant  and  two  sick  men.  He  had  been  thoroughly 
shaken,  and  no  wonder,  poor  fellow — no  sleep,  con- 
stant fighting,  and  all  alone  with  the  stretcher-bearers 
and  servant,  all  of  whom  I  think  had  imposed  upon 
him.  We  found  that  the  Field  Ambulance  had  at 
last  all  landed.  The  shock  of  landing  had  been  so 
great  they  had  not  been  able  to  adjust  themselves. 
Practically  all  on  the  Brigade  Staff  had  gone,  and  no 
one  seemed  to  know  what  to  do.  It  was  all  rather 
terrible. 

Well,  I  got  my  things  and  returned  to  the  regiment 

with  N for  the  night.     We  moved  his  aid  post  to 

a  place  some  way  behind  the  reserve  trenches,  as  it 
turned  out  worse  than  where  he  had  been  before,  and 
he  had  the  worst  night  of  all,  poor  fellow.  I  lay  in 
a  dug-out  with  three  other  officers.  But  I  did  not 
sleep  a  wink.  I  could  not  have  imagined  such  a 
shindy.  It  started  about  9.15  and  went  on  till  6.15 
next  morning,  and  the  longest  pause  I  counted  was  six 
seconds  when  there  was  no  firing.  In  the  trenches 
the  firing  of  rifles  and  machine  guns  was  ceaseless 
the  whole  night.  The  ships'  guns  and  our  field 
artillery  were  firing  intermittently  all  night.  One 
gun  close  to  us  made  a  terrible  row.  About  one  mile 
away  the  French  75*5  were  going  all  the  time,  some- 
times firing,  as  we  timed  it,  as  many  as  fifty  rounds 
a  minute.  Then,  of  course,  the  Turks  were  replying 
all  the  time  with  shrapnel.  One,  at  least,  I  saw  burst 
just  above  us,  but  most  burst  behind  or  to  our  left, 
where  I  discovered  one  or  two  men  had  been  wounded 


70     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

in  the  trenches.  The  others  slept  peacefully  through 
it  all,  they  were  so  worn  out.  It  was  a  strange  experi- 
ence. I  did  not  feel  particularly  alarmed,  but  the  night 
seemed  pretty  interminable  and  the  noise  only  to  get 
more  terrific  towards  morning.  I  got  up  and  watched 
the  shrapnel  bursting  everywhere.  But  we  have  all 
discovered  by  now  that  the  Turkish  shrapnel  does 
very  little  damage  except  during  an  actual  advance 
at  close  range.  I  doubt  if  ours  does  much  more. 
Provided  you  are  well  dug  in  you  seem  pretty  secure 
against  everything.  It  is  only  during  an  advance  that 
men  get  badly  cut  up.  The  snipers  have  been  terribly 
bad.  They  are  painted  green  and  hide  in  holes  in  the 
ground  surrounded  by  branches,  and  have  masses  of 
ammunition,  food,  and  water  with  them,  and  just  wait 
their  opportunity  to  pick  off  people.  But  I  am  at- 
tempting only  to  give  a  first-hand  account,  and  if  I 
were  to  tell  everything  I  hear  I  would  never  stop.  As 
far  as  I  could  make  out  all  that  night's  cannonade  had 
effected  nothing,  except  a  few  wounded  on  our  side. 
Of  course  we  could  not  know  how  much  damage  it  had 
done  to  the  Turks.  But  I  think  it  had  been  mainly  the 
result  of  alarm. 


(2)  It  is  always  interesting  hearing  the  men's  opinions 
of  their  officers.  I  do  not  think  I  heard  any  one  spoken 
more  highly  of  by  the  men  of  the  Royal  Fusiliers  than 
young  Anstice.  Over  and  over  again  during  the  sub- 
sequent weeks  they  would  say  to  me:  "You  should 
have  seen  Mr.  Anstice  !  I  reckon  he  deserves  the  V.C. 
if  any  one  does.  There  was  nothing  he  would  not  do 
for  his  men.  Why,  I  saw  him  myself  working  like  a 
nigger,  and  much  harder  than  any  of  the  men,  carrying 
ammunition,  water  and  rations,  going  about  all  up  and 
dowrr  the  line  without  a  sign  of  fear.  And  we  none  of 
us  thought  he  had  it  in  him.  But  they  never  stop 


IN    GALLIPOLI  71 

talking  about  him   now.     We  are  all  changing  our 
opinions  about  many  people  out  here." 

(3)  I  think  nothing  throughout  my  time  on  the  pen- 
insula struck  me  as  so  remarkable  as  the  way  in  which 
this  handful  of  officers,  with  a  junior  captain  as  C.O., 
and  little  more  than  a  boy  as  adjutant,  handled  their 
regiment  after  the   harrowing  experiences  they  had 
been  through.     They  entered  into  it  with  such  zest 
and  worked  tremendously  hardv  overlooking  nothing. 
Mundy,   who  acted  as  adjutant,  seemed  to  think  of 
everything.     The  smallest  detail  did  not  escape  him. 
His  map-drawing  was  remarkable,  and  the  quick  way 
in  which  he  grasped  a  situation  and  saw  what  was  the 
best  thing  to  do  showed  that  he  had  real  military 
genius.     And  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  part  was 
that  previously  none  of  his  brother  officers  realized  he 
had  it  in  him.     War  seems  to  bring  out  so  many  latent 

qualities.     And  the  way  in  which  J handled  the 

regiment,  the  wisdom  and  tactfulness  he  showed,  his 
power  of  winning  immediately  the  confidence  of  officers 
and  men  alike,  the  sane,  calm  judgment  he  displayed 
throughout,  are  beyond  all  praise.     I  can  only  say 
that  under  them  the  regiment,  though  so  terribly  de- 
pleted in  numbers,  made  not  only  an  exceedingly  happy 
and  enthusiastic  family,  but  a  really  valuable  fighting 
unit. 

(4)  It  was  a  deep  regret  to  me  that  I  was  unable  to 
bury  him.     However,  I  had  decided  to  go  at  the  first 
opportunity  with  some  of  the  other  officers  and  hold  a 
service  at  the  grave.     But  he  was  buried  in  a  very 
exposed  spot  and  this  was  impossible.     It  was  not  till 
July  10,  practically  my  last  day  on  the  peninsula,  that 
this  was  possible,  as  is  recorded  later. 

I  do  not  think  I  met  any  officer  who  won  every  one's 
affections  so  quickly  as  Captain  Shafto,  the  adjutant  of 
the  Royal  Fusiliers.  Officers  of  many  regiments  in 
the  Division  would  ask  :  Who  is  that  delightful  adju- 
tant with  a  smile  always  on  his  face,  who  is  always 
ready  to  do  anything  for  any  one  ?  Many  is  the 
time  I  worried  him  myself,  but  I  never  saw  him 


72     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

provoked  or  put  out.  He  was  always  at  every  one's 
disposal. 

(5)  Major  Frankland  was  quite  one  of  the  finest  officers 
who  came  out  with  the  Division.  He  had  been  out  in 
France  since  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  when  he 
returned  to  take  over  duty  as  Brigade-Major  of  the 
86th  Brigade  he  was  very  much  overstrained  and 
suffering  from  sleeplessness.  However,  he  threw  him- 
self into  his  work  with  indefatigable  zeal,  and  was 
always  at  the  service  of  any  one  who  came  to  him. 
The  voyage  out  considerably  rested  him,  and  it  was 
with  a  fiery  enthusiasm  that  he  went  off  to  the  landing. 
The  Brigade  Staff  landed  on  "W"  beach.  When 
Frankland  saw  the  terrible  time  the  L.F.'s  were  having 
he  went  straight  up  to  the  hill  on  the  right,  feeling 
the  matter  was  becoming  almost  desperate,  and  utterly 
fearlessly  walked  along  the  edge  of  the  cliff  where  he 
was  killed.  I  afterwards  saw  his  grave  just  at  the  top 
of  the  steep  cliff  by  the  lighthouse. 

Tuesday,  May  4. — In  the  morning  it  gradually 
calmed  down.  I  had  breakfast  with  the  R.F.'s,  and 
left  them  soon  after  preparing  to  return  to  the  firing 
line.  They  were  only  allowed  one  night's  rest.  I 
felt  very  sad  to  say  good-bye  to  them,  but  it  was 
impossible  to  go  into  the  firing  line  with  them. 
I  walked  off  along  the  line  of  the  Munsters  and 
Dublins.  There  are  only  a  few  Anglicans  among 

them,  and  as  Father  K was  there  I  did  not  stop 

much  to  talk  to  the  men,  but  I  was  loaded  up  with  a 
number  of  letters  to  post  and  commissions  of  various 
kinds.  So  few  of  them  were  left  that  they  had  been 
joined  together  to  form  one  regiment,  "the  Dubsters." 
Only  O'Hara,  a  young  lieutenant  of  about  twenty- 
three,  was  left  of  the  Dublin  officers.  Ten  had  been 
killed,  the  rest  wounded.  He  looked  very  harassed, 
poor  boy  !  But  I  did  admire  him  for  having  stuck  it 


IN    GALLIPOLI  7S 

out  as  he  had.  He  said  he  did  not  know  how  he  had 
got  through  it.  I  was  very  touched  by  him,  and 
promised  to  do  anything  I  could  to  help.(6) 

Then  I  returned  to  the  beach  and  determined  to  try  and 
find  the  Colonel  of  the  R.F.'s,  who  was  wounded  and 
supposed  to  be  on  one  of  the  ships.  I  got  a  boat  and 

rowed  out  to  the  C .    An  elderly  man  also  got  in, 

who  turned  out  to  be  Josiah  Wedgwood,  who  is  out 
here  with  a  mounted  machine-gun  battery,  and  had 
dismounted  some  of  his  guns  and  been  in  the  firing  line 
close  to  the  French.  I  saw  a  number  of  wounded 
officers,  including  the  Colonel  of  the  Inniskillings,  who- 
was  very  bad  indeed,  on  the  C—  — ,  and  several  who 
were  only  slightly  wounded  and  hoped  to  be  back 
soon,  but  I  could  not  find  the  Colonel  of  the  R.F.'s. 
Evidently  most  of  the  wounded  had  been  taken  off  to 
Alexandria  and  Malta.  Then  I  got  on  a  mine-sweeper 
and  had  some  supper.  The  whole  place  was  a  mass 
of  unwashed  wounded,  hobbling  about  uncared  for,  as 
there  were  only  four  doctors  on  board  and  they  ab- 
solutely overworked.  The  mine-sweeper  was  full  of 
wounded  they  were  bringing  on  board.  There  seemed 
a  tremendous  number  of  them.  A  very  large  propor- 
tion have  been  slight  cases  fortunately,  but  I  did  long 
to  be  able  to  give  the  men  a  good  wash  and  a  change 

of  clothes.     Then  I  went  on  board  the  A ,  where 

I  found  M and  T both  expecting  to  be  back 

soon,  and  various  others  officers.  They  keep  the  mild 
cases  there.  I  hailed  a  steam  pinnace  which  was 
towing  a  number  of  wounded  Turks  and  it  took  me 
ashore. 

(G)  I  think  it  was  quite  wonderful  how  O'Hara 
managed  to  get  through  those  first  few  days.  He  most 
thoroughly  deserved  the  D.S.O.,  which,  to  the  delight 
of  all  who  knew  him,  was  given  him  later.  Little 


74     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

more  than  a  boy,  he  had  landed  with  his  magnificent 
regiment,  the  Dublins,  in  the  most  terrible  of  all  the 
landings  on  "V"  beach,  beneath  the  ruins  of  Sed-ul- 
Bahr,  which  was  full  of  machine  guns  which  swept  the 
beach,  and  the  most  appalling  wire  entanglements  were 
spread  all  over.  The  next  day  they  had  to  take  the 
castle  with  the  bayonet,  after  which  he  found  himself 
the  only  officer  left.  He  had  then  to  lead  what  was  left 
of  his  regiment  up  into  the  centre  of  the  firing  line, 
and  remain  there  till  May  3.  He  told  me  what  he  felt 
most  was  the  loneliness  of  it  all.  All  his  brother 
officers  were  gone.  He  had  no  one  to  talk  to.  The 
sergeant-major,  who  had  been  simply  splendid  and 
his  right  hand,  was  killed  by  a  sniper  the  next  day. 
O'Hara  told  me  he  felt  his  whole  outlook  on  life  had 
been  changed,  and  he  could  never  be  the  same  again. 
I  was  deeply  grieved  to  hear  he  died  of  wounds  at 
Suvla. 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  the  Brigade-Major,  86th 
Brigade,  dated  May  22,  1915,  regarding  the  2nd  Royal 
Fusiliers  :  — 

"Where  all  have  done  well  the  Royal  Fusiliers  have 
been  beyond  praise.  With  six  junior  officers  and 
about  400  men  they  have  never  lost  their  form  for  a 
minute.  Not  only  have  they  always  done  what  might 
have  been  expected  of  them,  but  they  have  risen  to  a 
standard  of  soldiering  which  could  not  be  higher,  and 
never  departed  from  it.  I  am  filled  with  admiration  for 
them.  .  .  .  The  Royal  Fusiliers,  as  I  said  earlier,  have 
done  magnificently.  They  have  lost  none  as  prisoners. 
In  the  night  of  1/2  May,  when  the  Turks  broke  our 
line,  they  saved  the  situation  with  the  bayonet." 

Wednesday,  May  5. — After  hanging  round  camp 
during  the  morning  (I  think  I  was  at  the  Casualty 
Clearing  Station  [C.C.S.] ;  probably  I  also  went  over  to 
41 X  "  beach  and  saw  Harding)  I  went  up  to  the  L.F.'s, 
who  had  come  out  into  reserve  the  night  before.  I 


.      IN   GALLIPOLI  75 

found  all  the  senior  officers  still  there.  They  had  had 
six  officers  killed ;  but  only  a  little  over  300  men  left. 
They  were  very  glad  to  see  me  and  gave  me  various 
commissions.  I  wandered  down  to  the  88th  Brigade 
Headquarters.  The  brigades  were  all  being  changed. 
I  found  a  very  depressed  staff-captain,  who  said, 
"Where  are  the  padres?  Why  don't  they  come  and 
see  us?"  When  I  returned  to  the  L.F.'s  it  was  to 
find  they  were  to  go  off  to  the  firing  line  that  very 
evening,  much  to  their  disgust.  I  said  good-night  to 
them  as  they  gradually  dribbled  off  to  escape  observa- 
tion. I  felt  very  gloomy  seeing  them  go  off,  and 
returned  sad  and  depressed  to  camp. 

From  a  letter  dated  May  5  :  — 

"  I  am  sending  a  large  batch  of  diary  which  I  hope 
will  reach  you  some  day.  Of  course  it  does  not  give 
news  since  I  landed,  which  I  managed  to  do  at  last 
on  Sunday  evening.  I  feel  I  could  write  books  on 
my  doings  since  then.  1  am  most  interested  to  find 
how  all  my  horror  and  a  great  deal  of  my  cowardice 
has  left  me.  I  have  not  seen  any  particularly  grue- 
some sights  yet,  nor  been  in  any  real  danger,  so  I  have 
not  had  a  severe  testing.  I  think  one  of  the  stupidest 
things  about  the  inconceivably  appalling  stupidity  of 
war  is  the  way  life  is  squandered  to  no  military  pur- 
pose, simply  by  reasonable  precautions  being  neg- 
lected. I  suppose  you  will  have  seen  the  casualty 
lists.  Well,  I  forbear  all  comments.  I  am  quite 
callous.  In  fact  the  strange  thing,  I  find,  is  that  I  am 
really  extremely  happy,  though,  as  I  say,  I  have  not 
had  anything  bad  to  shake  me.  There  is  more  good- 
ness and  true  unselfishness  and  seriousness  about  on 
this  blood-stained  peninsula  than  there  is  at  a  race- 
meeting,  for  instance,  and  that  seems  the  only  thing 
after  all  that  matters.  It  is  no  excuse  for  war,  but  it 
makes  it  quite  possible  to  be  happy  in  it.  The  men, 
especially  my  two  regiments,  are  really  simply  won- 


76     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

derful  after  what  they  have  been  through.  Men  who 
were  at  Mons  say  that  was  nothing  to  it.  One  of  the 
Irish  regiments  in  my  brigade  has  only  one  officer 
left.  I  don't  think  anything  more  ghastly  can  be  con- 
ceived than  the  landing.  The  great  thing,  in  my 
opinion,  is  that  the  weather  has  been  so  fine  (though 
the  nights  are  cold),  and  every  one  is  well.  I  feel 
so  sorry  for  the  Turks,  because  I  am  sure  they  hate  it 
all  so.  I  wish  I  could  talk  to  their  wounded.  Of 
course  the  strain  on  my  regiments  who  have  been  in 
the  firing  line  without  one  night  out  since  they  landed 
is  terrible,  especially  now  they  are  less  than  half 
strength.  But  I  wish  you  could  have  seen  the  junior 
captain  of  one  regiment  who  was  left  in  command  and 
five  other  officers  (out  of  twenty-four)  handle  their  regi- 
ment, as  I  saw  them  do.  They  might  have  been  born 
to  it.  But  officers  should  not  be  married;  though  I 
think  if  they  are  not  they  think  of  their  mothers  just 
as  much. 

"  I  am  coming  back  to  the  base  at  nights  now,  as  I 
find  there  are  so  many  commissions  for  me  to  under- 
take for  officers  and  men  that  it  is  the  best  plan,  and 
also  I  can  do  better  if  I  sleep,  which  was  utterly  im- 
possible in  that  shindy  on  Monday  night.  I  think,  if 
I  might  perhaps  make  a  suggestion  to  everybody  who 
cannot  take  a  direct  part  in  war,  it  is  that  there  is  really 
no  need  to  feel  miserable  about  it.  Of  course  every- 
body hates  and  loathes  it  here  and  only  longs  for  it 
to  finish,  but  I  think  the  real  reason  is  that  they  feel 
it  is  such  an  utter  misuse  of  their  lives,  not  so  much 
from  fear  :  and  on  the  whole  nerves  are  wonderfully 
absent.  I  think  what  I  really  mean  to  say  is,  that  sin 
and  evil  alone  should  make  us  feel  miserable,  and  I 
have  never  felt  their  absence  as  much  as  since  I  landed 
here.  If  people  lose  those  they  love,  may  they  not 
have  at  least  the  supreme  consolation  that  the  vast 
majority  of  them  have  died  better  men  than  they  were 
before  ?  And  after  all  goodness  is  the  only  thing  that 
matters,  is  it  not  ?  All  the  old  scriptural  phrases  seem 
to  have  a  new  meaning.  Men  are  born  again.  Their 


IN    GALLIPOLI  77 

sins  are  forgiven — for  they  love  much.  All  are  kind 
and  considerate  and  really  think  least  of  themselves, 
or  if  they  don't  the  fact  is  very  conspicuous  and 
rare.  Don't  think  I  don't  mind  these  dear  fellows 
being  killed.  When  I  said  good-bye  to  one  regiment 
which  had  at  last  had  one  day  out  of  the  firing  line 
and  was  unexpectedly  ordered  back  there  while  I  was 
with  them,  though  still  tired  out  and  longing  for  a 
good  rest,  it  was  very  hard — I  cannot  tell  you  how  hard, 
but  it  was  not  depressing.  As  I  walk  about  and  the 
guns  blaze  away  all  round,  and  the  ships  pour  their 
large  shells  onto  a  little  hill,  and  every  possible  con- 
trivance that  it  seems  possible  to  imagine  is  being  put 
into  use,  and  I  realize  the  labour,  and  time,  and  cost, 
and  brains  involved,  I  only  think  of  the  waste  and  utter 
madness  and  stupidity  of  it  all.  But  after  all  it  is  no 
worse  than  the  energy  expended  in  growing  rich. 
Well,  I  seem  to  be  wandering,  but  the  meaning  of 
life  and  death  and  things  in  general  is  so  much  more 
interesting  than  what  is  actually  happening — though  I 
own  that  has  a  very  strong,  but  really  I  think  only 
passing,  interest.  I  feel  my  experience  and  sympathies 
so  tremendously  widened  during  the  last  three  days.  I 
am  afraid  I  shall  have  very  horrible  sights  to  see  soon, 
as  we  have  got  to  get  through  at  any  cost,  and  we  all 
know  what  that  means." 


CHAPTER    VII 

A   THREE    DAYS'    BATTLE,   AND   AFTER 

(May  6 — 14) 

Thursday,  May  6. — My  regiments  had  all  gone  up 
to  the  firing  line.  There  was  to  be  a  big  general  attack 
all  along  the  line,  beginning  at  u  a.m.  The  French 
were  to  start  on  the  right.  I  had  found  my  groom 
the  day  before,  and  decided  to  ride  off  and  see  what 
was  about  to  happen.  I  rode  down  the  West  Krithia 
road  to  where  some  artillery  horses  were,  and  decided 
it  would  be  best  to  tie  up  and  then  go  off  in  search  of 
the  Field  Ambulance  dressing-station,  which  I  under- 
stood was  close  by.  I  tramped  a  long  way,  but  could 
get  no  trace  of  it.  Meanwhile,  the  artillery  was  blazing 
away  for  all  it  was  worth.  Eventually  I  made  my 
way  back  to  camp,  where  I  lunched,  and  then  went  off 
and  got  my  horse  and  rode  over  to  the  dressing-station, 
which  I  now  heard  was  on  the  main  Krithia  road,  just 
this  side  of  the  towers  among  the  trees.  I  got  to  them 
about  three  o'clock,  and  stayed  till  about  six.  The 
wounded  were  coming  in  pretty  thick.  There  were 
three  ambulances  side  by  side,  the  88th  and  8gth  and 
the  Naval  Division,  all  among  the  trees  in  a  little  gully 
through  which  the  road  goes.  There  were  lovely  fig 
and  pear  trees  round  us,  and  little  terraced  gardens. 
The  majority  of  the  wounded  were  Naval  Division, 
especially  the  Howe  and  Hood  Battalions.  They  must 
have  lost  heavily.  The  Colonel  of  the  Howe  (I  think) 

78 


•: 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION     79 

was  killed.     The  wounded  who  came  in  at  first  were 
the  slight  cases  mostly,   who  walked   in   from   their 
regimental  dressing-stations.     There  were  also  some 
of  the  L.F.'s  and  other  regiments,   but  the  R.F.'s 
were  mainly  being  taken  another  way.     It  was  very 
difficult  to  know  what  to  do.     Either  the  wounded  were 
able  soon  to  hobble  off  to  the  C.C.S.,  or  they  were  so 
bad  that  they  were  given  morphia.     The  latter  cases 
were    very   few.      One   poor    fellow    had    been    shot 
through  the  spine  and  was  in  agony.     There  were  one 
or  two  officers.     I  wandered  from  station  to  station. 
There   was   a   chaplain    (I    think    Wesleyan)    at   the 
R.N.D.  station.     One  of  Asquith's  sons  was  wounded 
that  evening,  but  I  did  not  see  him.     They  seem  to 
have  made  rather  too  rash  and  rapid  an  advance  and 
got  under  shrapnel  fire.     But  it  is  impossible  to  get 
news  on  such  occasions.     Some  said,  "We  have  got 
the  Turks  on  the  run  " ;  others,  "  I  cannot  see  we  have 
gained  much."     The  great  question  was,  Were  we  in 
Krithia  yet?      The  answers  were  confused.      I   am 
afraid  we  advanced  nowhere  more  than  1000  yards,  at 
a  pretty  heavy  cost.     I  believe  the  French  did  fairly 
well  on  their  wing. 

Well,  it  did  not  seem  that  I  was  able  to  be  of  much 
help  there,  so  I  rode  back  to  the  camp  to  see  the 
ounded  as  they  came  in.  I  went  over  to  the  C.C.S., 
nd  chatted  as  far  as  possible  to  the  ones  I  saw.  They 
ere  very  crowded  in  tents,  so  that  there  was  no  floor 
space  left,  and  it  was  difficult  to  talk  to  them.  Either 
they  were  slightly  wounded  and  cheerful,  or  badly  and 
under  the  effects  of  morphia.  There  was  a  certain 
amount  of  confusion.  However,  it  was  impossible  to 
do  anything  to  make  things  better.  The  walking  cases 
are  cleared  off  to  the  ships  as  quick  as  possible,  but 
the  stretcher  cases  have  to  wait  twenty-four  hours. 


SO    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

So  eventually  I  went  off  to  bed,  as  most  of  the  wounded 
had  come  in.  I  had  by  now  got  a  tent  to  myself, 
until  then  having  slept  in  the  dining-tent.  The  battle 
went  on  raging,  but  one  gets  used  to  the  sound  of 
firing.  Somewhere  about  one  in  the  morning  the 
Colonel  woke  me  up  and  said  he  would  need  my  tent, 
as  more  wounded  were  coming  in ;  the  C.C.S.  was 
full,  and  they  would  have  to  open  up.  So  I  got 
all  my  things  out  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  then 
went  to  see  if  I  could  help.  I  think  it  was  about 
twenty  or  thirty  wounded  we  had  in  that  night.  They 
came  in  pretty  cold  and  miserable,  but  the  orderlies 
soon  had  beef-tea  and  bovril  ready,  and  covered  them 
with  blankets,  and  made  them  as  comfortable  as  pos- 
sible, and  they  were  soon  soundly  off  to  sleep.  So 
I  turned  in  again  (into  my  sleeping-bag,  that  is  to 
;say),  and  followed  their  example. 

Friday,  May  7. — As  there  had  been  so  much  fight- 
ing, I  imagined  there  must  be  various  funerals,  and 
was  very  anxious  to  know  what  had  happened  to  my 
regiments.  So  I  rode  off  with  my  groom  to  see  if  I 
could  get  up  at  least  to  the  regimental  dressing- 
stations.  I  went  along  the  West  Krithia  road,  past 
the  Pink  Farm,  and  then  into  a  deep  gully  leading 
towards  the  firing  line.  When  I  had  got  the  horses 
down  into  it,  I  left  them  with  the  groom  and  started 

to  walk  up  the  gully.     On  the  way  I  met  K ,  who 

had  just  left  the  Munsters.  They  had  not  been  in  the 
thick  of  the  fighting,  but  a  good  deal  of  shooting  was 
still  going  on.  Stray  bullets  were  whistling  about, 
and  some  went  uncomfortably  close.  However,  I 
wanted  to  get  up  if  possible,  until  one  or  two  came  so 
close  I  decided  it  would  be  wiser  to  return.  I  found 

K chatting  to  my  groom,  and  sat  down  with  them, 

when  a  bullet  whizzed  by  and  hit  my  horse,  fortunately 


IN    GALLIPOLI  81 

only  just  scratching  him.  However,  I  decided  it  was 
time  to  be  off.  Shrapnel  was  falling  about  every- 
where, and  I  did  not  much  enjoy  the  dash  from  the 
gully  to  Pink  Farm.  When  we  gof  there  the  silly 
groom  said  he  had  left  his  rifle  behind,  so  I  had  to 
wait  while  he  went  and  got  it.  Then  we  started  off 
again  to  try  and  get  round  by  the  coast,  and  rode  on 
until  we  got  to  a  little  dip  in  the  cliff,  where  was  a 
battery  of  artillery.  I  asked  where  the  officer  was. 
We  had  just  had  four  shells  drop  very  close  to  us.  I 
found  him  in  a  little  deep  hole  at  the  end  of  the  tele- 
phone. He  asked  me  to  come  in,  and  we  started  to 
talk.  He  said,  "Do  you  happen  to  know  a  padre 
called  Creighton  ?  ",  and  it  turned  out  he  was  the 

— s'   nephew,   young  L ,   whom  they  had  told 

me  about  and  asked  me  to  look  up  at  Leamington,  but 
I  had  not  succeeded  in  discovering  him  till  then.  So 
we  had  much  to  talk  about,  but  the  battery  chose  just 
that  moment  to  open  fire,  and  we  tried  to  carry  on 
conversation  while  all  the  time  he  was  receiving  direc- 
tions where  and  when  to  fire  down  the  telephone,  and 
shouting  them  out  to  his  gunner.  It  was  very 
amusing,  as  I  had  never  seen  a  battery  in  action 
before.  At  last  there  came  a  lull,  and  he  gave  me 
some  lunch.  They  fired  a  tremendous  amount  while 
I  was  there.  I  wondered  if  they  were  doing  any  more 
damage  than  the  Turkish  shells.  Then  I  left  the 
horses  and  made  my  way  onto  Gully  Beach  where  the 
8yth  Field  Ambulance  is,  but  found  no  chance  of 
getting  up  to  the  regiments.  A  very  deep  gully  runs 
down  to  Gully  Beach,  but  it  was  said  to  be  full  of 
snipers.  So  I  returned,  and  we  got  our  horses  and 
rode  back  along  the  coast  on  the  top  of  the  cliff.  I 
stopped  to  see  E—  -  at  "X  "  beach,  and  after  that  on 
the  way  back  met  crowds  of  New  Zealanders  who  had 


82     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

just  been  landed  and  were  going  up  into  reserve. 
They  were  all  advancing  over  a  very  exposed  stretch 
in  companies.  I  ventured  to  expostulate  with  one 
officer  I  passed.  However,  he  did  not  seem  to  bother. 
Of  course  the  Turks  soon  spotted  them  and  started 
shelling  us,  and  I  saw  many  of  them  rushing  over  the 
edge  of  the  cliff  as  I  galloped  off  to  "W"  beach.  I 
believe  they  had  one  or  two  casualties.  When  I  got 
back  I  found  the  wounded  had  been  largely  cleared 
off,  but  decided  I  had  better  sleep  in  another  tent,  as 
the  attack  was  still  progressing.  I  went  round  the 
C.C.S.  again,  but  there  was  not  much  to  be  done. 

Saturday,  May  8. — H is  disturbed  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  life,  and  the  impossibility  of  doing  anything. 
So  I  suggested  we  should  go  off  together  and  explore. 
We  said  Mattins,  and  then  started  off  on  foot  (I  came 
to  the  conclusion  a  horse  was  more  trouble  than  it  was 
worth)  along  the  Krithia  road.  We  got  among  the 
Lancashire  Territorial  Division  and  some  of  the 
Artillery  and  talked  to  different  people,  and  eventually 
started  off  along  the  course  of  a  little  stream  towards 
the  firing  line.  We  went  a  good  way,  but  the  stray 
bullets  started  again,  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  get 
even  into  the  reserve  trenches.  So  we  turned  back  and 

found  Q ,   the  L.F.   Medical   Officer,  and  had  a 

chat  with  him.  But  H—  -  felt  it  was  useless  going 
on,  so  he  returned,  and  I  made  my  way  again  to  the 
gully  where  I  had  been  the  day  before.  On  the  way 
I  met  New  Zealanders  and  Australians  going  up  to  the 
attack,  line  after  line  of  them.  In  the  gully  I  found 
a  New  Zealand  dressing-station,  with  a  doctor  and 
padre,  and  lunched  with  them.  They  were  very 
cheery,  but  had  had  a  pretty  bad  time  of  it  on  their 
own  beach.  These  Colonials  are  magnificent  men. 
Again  spent  bullets  made  it  unwise  to  go  any  further. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  83 

The  attack  was  to  start  at  3.30,  and  to  be  carried  out 
by  the  Colonials  mainly.  So  I  decided  to  make  my 

way  to  Gully  Beach,   and  so  up  to  N ,   who,    I 

understood,  had  his  medical  station  up  the  gully.  I  met 
Corporal  M—  -  on  "X  "  beach,  and  he  led  me  there. 
It  was  a  mile  and  a  half  up  the  gully  from  the  beach 
to  him.  Stray  bullets  and  shells  were  whizzing  about 
everywhere,  but  high  up,  fortunately,  though  occa- 
sonally  they  dropped.  The  Lanes.  Territorials  were 
all  about,  and  all  kinds  of  other  units  in  the  gully, 
which  became  a  highway. 

At  last  I  found  N ,  who  had  a  very  secure  little 

station  on  the  reverse  side  of  a  cliff,  and  seemed  quite 
happy.  The  regiment  had  been  having  some  casual- 
ties, and  three  men  had  recently  been  buried  without 
a  service.  I  had  some  tea.  I  felt  very  inclined  to  go 
up  to  the  regiment,  who  were  in  reserve  trenches 

further   up,   but  Corporal   M said  it  would  not 

be  safe.  Meanwhile  the  attack  was  developing,  and 
there  was  a  blaze  of  artillery.  So  there  seemed  no- 
thing for  it  but  to  return.  I  met  R and  C 

and  D ,  either  that  day  or  previously,  and  they  all 

seemed  flourishing.     I  have  heard  since  that  R 

(the  Presbyterian  chaplain  to  the  Division)  greatly 
distinguished  himself  in  the  K.O.S.B.  landing.  But 
that  is  a  second-hand  story.  It  was  getting  dark 
before  I  got  back.  The  difficulty  is  to  realize  what 
is  going  on.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  what  happened 
was  that  the  Australians  and  New  Zealanders  made 
a  tremendous  charge  about  6  p.m.  They  fixed 
bayonets,  and,  with  three  shouts  for  Australia  with 
the  Brigadier  and  Brigade-Major  in  the  firing  line, 
they  rushed  forward  in  masses  against  an  extremely 
strong  position  full  of  machine  guns.  They  were 
simply  mown  down.  I  have  no  idea  of  the  actual 


84     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

casualties,  but  the  Colonials  estimate  it  at  some- 
where near  1500,  out  of  something  like  6000,  or 
perhaps  less.  It  was  simply  ghastly.  They  gained, 
I  believe,  700  yards.  But  when  I  got  back  to  camp 
the  wounded  were  already  pouring  in — those  who 
could  hobble.  I  never  saw  a  less  complaining  lot. 
They  bore  their  wounds  absolutely  stoically.  "  But  it 
was  fine  to  see  the  boys  charge  !  "  was  the  one  com- 
ment. I  think  the  idea  of  the  three  days'  operations 
was  to  rush  Achi  Baba  by  these  different  attacks.  But 
the  Turks  had  dug  themselves  in,  and  had  machine 
guns  all  about,  and  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to 
oust  them  by  direct  attack  :  hence  these  fearful  casual- 
ties, almost  equalling  the  landing.  All  regiments 
suffered  during  the  three  days,  but  none  so  badly  as 
the  Colonials.-  The  facts  of  the  attack  are  difficult  to 
gather  now,  and  must  be  left  to  a  future  historian. 
But  all  I  can  vouch  for  was  the  ghastly  mass  of  casual- 
ties which  came  in  this  night  and  all  Sunday  up  to 
ten  o'clock  Sunday  night. 

The  88th  Brigade  (the  86th  had  been  broken  up, 
owing  to  small  numbers)  were  holding  the  first  line  of 
trenches  when  the  Australians  and  New  Zealanders 
came  through  them  to  the  attack.  Every  officer  and 
man  I  spoke  to  afterwards  said  it  was  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  sights  they  had  ever  seen.  On  they 
dashed,  as  though  nothing  could  stop  them.  As  those 
in  front  were  shot  down,  others  came  up  from  behind 
to  fill  in  their  places.  I  had  been  very  anxious  to 
know  what  our  highly  disciplined  regulars  would  say 
about  the  fighting  qualities  of  these  men,  about  whom 
the  want  of  discipline,  as  we  understand  it,  was  such 
a  constant  comment.  I  never  heard  anything  more 
about  it  afterwards  from  those  who  saw  their  charge 
that  day.  There  was  not  a  word  but  of  unqualified 
admiration. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  85 

As  a  delightful  commentary  to  this,  I  have  recently 
heard  from  a  friend,  just  arrived  from  Australia,  that 
a  wounded  Australian  officer,  who  had  returned,  was 
speaking  to  the  boys  of  a  large  public  school.  His 
opening  remark  was,  "Now,  boys,  I  want  you  to 
understand  that  there  has  never  been  a  finer  fighting 
unit  than  the  2pth  Division."  The  Australian  is  often 
accused  of  having  a  high  opinion  of  himself.  But  he 
certainly  knows  where  and  when  to  praise,  and  every 
one  of  them  whom  I  subsequently  met,  and  who  had 
seen  anything  of  the  2Qth  Division,  was  unqualified  in 
his  admiration  for  them.  Often  they  would  add,  "We 
see  now  the  value  of  discipline." 

Sunday,  May  9. — It  was  impossible  to  hold  services. 
The  camp  was  fearfully  busy,  and  full  of  wounded, 
and  my  regiments  were  in  the  firing  line.  I  went  to 
the  C.C.S.  and  round  our  own  tents,  and  gave  out 
cigarettes.  There  was  a  mass  of  wounded  everywhere. 
The  bad  cases  had  started  coming  in  during  the  night. 
They  came  in  all  day.  Terrible  stomach  wounds  and 
head  wounds.  The  Australians,  who  were  the  vast 
majority,  were  wonderfully  plucky.  I  saw  the 
Brigade-Major  lying  on  a  stretcher  in  the  open.  "My, 
it  was  grand  to  see  the  boys  charge  !  There  was  the 
Brigadier,  and  he  shouted  out,  *  Now,  boys,  at 
them  !  '  "  People  who  saw  it  said  it  was  a  great 
charge,  but  utterly  reckless.  They  don't  seem  to 
understand  fear,  and  even  the  wounded  were  only 
anxious  to  get  better  and  have  another  go  !  But  what 
a  terrible  waste  it  all  seemed  of  such  magnificent  men  ! 
It  was  a  bad  day  :  I  believe  they  cleared  off  700 
wounded  from  the  C.C.S.  that  day  alone,  and  still 
it  was  full  at  night  again.  I  decided  eventually  to  go 
up  again  and  see  if  I  could  hold  any  services  any- 
where. So  I  got  up  to  Q 's  station  again.  He 


86     WITH   THE    TWENTY-NINTH   DIVISION 

was  close  to  the  Australian  station,  and  had  had  a  bad 
night  of  it  helping  them.  So  had  our  own  dressing- 
station.  Q was  feeling  a  little  blue.  I  brought 

Gospels  with  me,  and  sent  some  up  to  the  firing  line. 
I  had  lunch  with  him,  and  then  went  over  to  the 
Australian  dressing-station,  and  found  they  still  had 
a  large  number  of  bad  stretcher  cases  there,  but  that 
the  stretchers  had  given  out.  So  I  decided  to  go  back 
to  camp  and  see  if  I  could  raise  any  more  stretchers. 
But  I  found  it  difficult  as  usual  to  do  anything,  and 

mainly  met  abuse  when  I  asked.     I  found  H ,  and 

went  round  with  him,  but  I  think  everybody  was  at 
their  tether  end.  The  ships  were  all  full;  eighteen 
cases  were  taken  off,  and,  after  spending  two  hours 
going  round  them  in  a  mine-sweeper  they  were  all 
returned.  However,  our  Colonel  was  getting  am- 
bulance-wagons to  go  out  as  quickly  as  possible.  I 
think  it  must  have  been  that  day  that  I  discovered 
oranges  were  being  sold  on  the  beach,  and  I  rushed 
down  and  secured  a  huge  basketful,  took  them  round 
with  another  man,  and  gave  one  to  each  wounded  man, 
for  which  they  seemed  exceedingly  grateful.  The  only 

services  possible  were  two  or  three  little  ones  H 

and  I  took  with  the  less  serious  cases  in  the  C.C.S.  It 
was  a  pretty  dismal  day.  Then  we  found  there  were 
some  sixty  more  to  come  in.  We  would  need  every 
available  tent  to  put  them  in,  as  the  C.C.S.  was  so  full. 
The  doctors  were  dead  tired.  So  I  sat  up  to  see  if 
I  could  do  anything.  We  eventually  got  the  sixty, 
mostly  serious  cases  in  great  pain,  all  stowed  away. 
These  stomach  wounds  are  terrible.  Well,  about 
ii  p.m.  everything  was  finished;  only  we  were  expect- 
ing more  in  at  one  o'clock.  So  I  got  up  again  for 
these,  but  found  it  a  false  alarm,  and  only  four  more 
cases  came  in. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  87 

Monday,  May  10. — The  ships  were  still  full,  so  they 
could  not  be  cleared  from  the  C.C.S.  I  counted  some 
thirty-five  stomach  cases  there,  three  officers.  One  or 
two  had  died.  Well,  as  usual,  it  did  not  seem  much 
use  hanging  round,  so  I  decided  to  go  off  and  see  the 
Dubsters  (Dublins  and  Munsters  joined  into  one  regi- 
ment), who,  I  heard,  had  come  into  reserve  on  Gully 

Beach.  I  made  my  way  there,  calling  on  E ,  on 

"X"  beach,  on  the  way,  and  first  of  all  came  across 
the  South  Wales  Borderers,  and  was  hailed  by  their 
officers,  and  lunched  with  them.  They  had  suffered 
very  heavily  (over  100  casualties)  in  the  last  attack  : 
fixed  bayonets  against  machine  guns.  Then  I  went 
on  to  the  Dubsters,  who  had  a  delightful  rest-camp 
along  the  beach,  and  saw  O'Hara,  and  Floyd,  and  the 
Munster  officers,  and  arranged  an  evening  service  for 
the  fewr  Anglicans.  Then  I  started  up  the  gully  to 
find  out  news  of  the  R.F.'s,  and  on  the  way  up  was 

hailed  by  the  cheery  voice  of  J ,  who  was  having 

tea  with  an  artillery  major  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  and 
I  joined  them.  The  regiment  was  just  coming  into 
reserve.  They  had  had  about  50  casualties  (10  killed) 

since  I  saw  them  last.  Z had  been  wounded. 

J wanted  to  insist  on  my  spending  the  night  with 

them,  but  I  had  to  return  to  the  Dubsters.  However, 
I  went  across  country  in  search  of  the  regiment  with 
him  before  going  back,  and  then  came  and  had  a 
service  with  the  Dubsters,  perched  on  the  side  of  the 
cliff.  I  gave  them  all  Gospels,  and  arranged  a  Cele- 
bration for  the  next  morning.  But  I  had  to  go  back 
to  camp  to  get  my  things,  so  I  rode  back  in  time  for 
supper,  to  find  that  at  last  more  of  the  cases  had  been 
cleared  off,  and  the  Field  Ambulance  was  empty. 

Tuesday,  May  u. — I  had  to  get  up  early  and  ride 
off  with  my  groom  to  Gully  Beach,  where  I  had  a 


88     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Celebration  on  the  beach,  while  K —  -  held  Mass.     I 
felt  it  a  little  public,  but  the  men  were  very  reverent. 

I  saw  C ,  and  the  South  Wales  Borderers  gave  me 

some  food,  and  then  I  rode  off  in  search  of  the  R.F.'s, 
whom  I  found  in  reserve  pretty  well  in  the  centre  of 
the  peninsula,  with  the  88th  Brigade.     They  were  as 
cheery  as  usual,  and  were  planning  a  trip  to  "W 
beach,  so  I  asked  them  to  come  in,  and  lunch  with  the 

R.A.M.C.     J ,  Mundy,  and  N rode  in  with 

me,  and  the  Field  Ambulance  officers  entertained  them 
all  to  lunch,  which  they  enjoyed  as  a  change  from  the 
trenches.  We  wandered  round  the  beach  a  bit  to  see 
various  people,  and  I  packed  up  my  things  to  go  out 
and  spend  a  night  or  two  with  them  in  reserve.  While 
doing  this  I  got  a  note  from  the  L.F.'s,  with  the  sad 
news  that  poor  Major  Adams  had  just  been  shot  as 
they  were  getting  ready  to  come  out  of  the  trenches. 
It  was  a  great  blow.  He  seemed  to  have  made  up  his 
mind  that  he  was  going  to  be  killed,  but  had  been  so 
much  more  cheerful  when  I  had  seen  him  the  week 
before,  after  having  come  safely  through  the  first  bad 
week.  However,  the  last  words  he  had  said  to  me,  as 
the  regiment  returned  to  the  firing  line,  were,  "You 
will  write  to  my  wife  if  I  get  pipped  ?  "  He  gave  me 
her  address.  I  am  glad  it  was  an  instantaneous  death. 
Well,  the  C.O.  asked  me  to  bury  him,  so  I  rode  back, 
the  L.F.'s  being  next  the  R.F.'s,  and  found  them  very 
gloomy.  Until  then  their  senior  officers  were  intact, 
and  he  was  a  very  old  friend  of  the  regiment,  with 
about  twenty-five  years'  service.  I  sent  a  note  back  to 
camp,  entreating  the  body  to  be  kept  till  we  came  up 
at  6  p.m.,  so  that  the  officers  might  be  present.  The 
regiment  was  sadly  diminished,  only  about  230  men 
left  in  the  firing  line.  When  we  got  to  the  cemetery 
at  six,  it  was  to  find  he  had  been  buried  some  hours 


IN   GALLIPOLI  89 

>efore  by  H ,  so  I  just  said  a  few  prayers  over  the 

grave,  and  went  with  the  two  majors  to  see  about  a 
piece  of  ground  being  railed  off  to  serve  as  a  L.F. 
burying-place,  where  some  day  a  memorial  might  be 
erected  above  the  beach  where  they  made  their  famous 
landing.  I  came  back  to  supper  with  the  R.F.'s,  and 
slept  under  a  sort  of  little  hedge.  Fortunately,  I  had 
brought  out  my  oilskin-sheet  as  well  as  my  ground- 
sheet,  as  it  rained  in  the  night,  and  all  next  morning. 

Wednesday,  May  12. — It  was  the  first  rain  we  had 
had  since  I  landed,  and  was  not  at  all  pleasant,  as  we 
were  in  a  very  clayey  field,  and  everything  was  in  a 
bad  mess.  However,  I  stretched  my  oilskin  alongside 

a  sheet  of  J 's,  and  we  made  a  kind  of  little  tent, 

where  it  was  possible  to  keep  fairly  dry.  Fortunately, 
it  was  pretty  quiet  all  day  and  night,  and  there  seemed 
to  be  little  fighting  going  on.  I  wrent  round  the  lines 
a  little,  and  the  men  looked  pretty  wet  and  miserable. 
But  we  could  not  complain,  as  we  had  had  most  beau- 
tiful weather,  and  it  was  not  really  cold.  It  was 
unsettled  most  of  the  afternoon,  but  cleared  up  enough 
by  6  p.m.  for  me  to  be  able  to  hold  a  service  in  an 
adjoining  field  for  the  combined  L.F.'s  and  R.F.'s, 
to  which  several  officers  and  a  number  of  men  came. 
But  the  battle  began  again  just  about  that  time,  and 
raged  very  fiercely  over  our  heads,  a  French  battery 
close  by  opening  fire.  The  whole  night  was  very 
noisy.  I  rigged  up  a  little  tent  with  my  oilskin,  and 
kept  quite  dry.  It  hardly  rained,  though  there  was 
a  heavy  dew,  but  the  noise  of  artillery  and  rifle-fire 
kept  waking  me.  I  don't  think  anything  much  hap- 
pened. The  Turks  seem  to  get  panicky  at  intervals, 
and  fire  for  no  particular  reason. 

Thursday,  May  13  (Ascension  Day). — I  had  a 
Celebration  at  9  a.m.  in  the  same  field,  and  made  it 


90     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

a  commemoration  of  those  who  had  been  killed  in  the 
two  regiments,  reading  out  the  entire  list  of  names. 
Quite  a  large  number  of  officers  and  men  were  present. 
I  fixed  up  a  little  altar,  and  made  it  all  as  nice  as  pos- 
sible. The  firing  had  pretty  well  died  down,  and  we 

were  fairly  peaceful.     H had  a  Celebration  close 

by  at  the  same  time  for  his  regiments.  It  turned  out 
a  lovely  day,  and  the  camp  soon  began  to  dry  up. 

K came  down,  and  J ,  N ,  Mundy,  and  I 

rode  off  with  him  to  lunch  at  "X"  beach.  On  the 
way  we  saw  for  the  first  time  our  latest  pest,  a  Black 
Maria,  a  lyddite  shell  fired  from  a  howitzer  which  has 
now  got  the  range  of  "W"  beach.  The  shells  are 
most  terrifying.  They  burst  with  tremendous  force 
in  the  air,  and  blow  pieces  as  far  as  150  yards  around. 
We  don't  mind  the  shrapnel  mucH,  but  these  are  most 
terrifying.  They  also  fired  some  common  shells  at  us, 
and  one  fell  right  among  a  party  of  men  bathing  on 
"X  "  beach,  but  did  no  damage.  After  lunch  we  got 

hold  of  a  steam  pinnace,  and  went  aboard  the  A , 

where  we  found  M ,  and  had  baths,  and  then  had 

tea  with  the  purser  in  his  cabin.  They  had  been 
having  a  tremendous  time  with  wounded,  and  there 
were  1000  of  the  slighter  cases  on  board.  I  also  saw 
a  paper  of  May  4,  brought  out  by  a  King's  Messenger, 
with  lists  of  our  casualties.  Coming  on  the  top  of  the 
huge  French  lists,  with  the  news  of  the  Lusitania  and 
the  Goliath,  I  fear  people  at  home  will  be  feeling 
perturbed,  and  the  enemy  will  rejoice. 

We  went  on  board  the  Implacable  on  the  way  back, 
where  I  met  Ashmead-Bartlett,  the  official  newspaper 
correspondent,  who  was  most  pessimistic.  "The  best 
thing  we  could  do  was  to  evacuate  the  place.  This 
was  developing  into  a  major  operation,  and  we  had  not 
the  troops  for  it.  Achi  Baba  was  untakable,  except 


IN   GALLIPOLI 


91 


after  months  of  siege  warfare."  Three  Black  Marias 
had  just  fallen  on  "W"  beach,  and  over  forty  horses 
and  two  men  had  been  killed,  besides  several  badly 
wounded.  We  could  see  them  burst  all  along  from 
the  Implacable.  It  is  a  bad  thing  when  one's  base  is 
under  fire,  and  certainly  most  unpleasant.  The 
Goliath  had  been  a  bad  business.  It  appears  a 
Turkish  torpedo-boat  had  somehow  penetrated  the 
destroyer-screen.  We  all  felt  pretty  blue,  especi- 
ally as  no  one  sees  how  any  advance  is  to  be 
made  after  the  failure  of  the  Australian  attack.  We 
keep  wondering  what  people  at  home  must  think. 
To  all  appearances  the  whole  expedition  was  hastily 
conceived  and  badly  planned.  The  men  are  quite 
magnificent,  all  of  them.  But  you  cannot  make  frontal 
attacks  against  modern  weapons  without  being  pre- 
pared to  sacrifice  thousands.  The  only  other  thing  is 
some  bold  stroke,  or  new  landing.  However,  it  is  easy 
to  criticise,  and  it  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  undertak- 
ing, which  we  should  never  have  handled.  These 
feelings  do  not  make  it  easy  for  those  here.  We  have 
to  get  the  Government  out  of  a  muddle,  and  have  no 
idea  how  to  do  it,  and,  meanwhile,  we  are  shelled 
wherever  we  go.  Well,  when  we  got  back  to  "X" 
beach,  only  my  horse  was  there.  The  others  had  all 
been  killed  by  a  Black  Maria  in  the  lines  on  "W" 
beach.  So  I  let  Mundy  have  my  horse,  and  walked 

back  with  J in  time  for  supper.     We  had  a  nice 

quiet,  dry  night,  and  all  slept  peacefully. 

One  of  the  most  delightful  things  was  the  relation- 
ship between  the  R.F.'s  and  the  Implacable — their 
mother-ship  at  the  landing.  I  don't  suppose  either 
will  ever  forget  the  other,  and  the  officers  and  men 
never  tire  of  telling  me  how  splendidly  the  officers  and 
crew  of  the  Implacable  had  looked  after  them,  both 


92     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

before  the  landing,  and  especially  afterwards.  After 
the  landing  had  been  made  good  on  "X"  beach,  with 
practically  no  casualties,  the  regiment  had  advanced 
well  inland,  but  had  not  succeeded  in  joining  up  with 
the  L.F.'s  on  their  right.  The  Turks  made  a  tre- 
mendous attack  that  night  in  overwhelming  numbers, 
and  the  R.F.'s  were  forced  back  to  the  brow  of  the 
cliff,  losing  very  heavily.  The  officers  told  me  they 
felt  all  was  up.  There  was  only  the  sea  behind  them. 
The  Commander  of  the  Implacable  thought  something 
was  wrong,  and,  though  he  had  not  been  instructed 
to  do  so,  took  it  on  himself  to  open  fire  on  the 
oncoming  Turks,  and  did  it  with  such  effect  as  to  save 
the  situation. 

Friday,  May  14. — I  spent  the  whole  day  quietly  in 
the  reserve  trenches.  The  Turks  fired  a  quantity  of 
shells  that  and  the  following  morning.  All  the  reserve 
troops  were  in  full  view  of  Achi  Baba,  and  my  only 
wonder  is  that  they  did  not  shell  us  incessantly.  For- 
tunately for  us,  the  shells  went  mostly  to  the  right, 
where  the  troops  were  closer.  Sometimes  eight  would 
come  altogether.  They  mostly  burst  too  high,  or  did 
not  burst  at  all,  and  it  is  wonderful  how  little  damage 
they  do.  I  believe  only  two  men  were  killed  and  one 
or  two  wounded  all  the  time,  though  hundreds  of  shells 
must  have  burst  among  them.  Of  course,  these  were 
ordinary  shrapnel,  and  not  Black  Marias.  When 
they  had  stopped  I  wandered  over  to  a  little  round 
hill  to  our  right,  close  to  which  they  had  been  drop- 
ping, to  find  out  the  extent  of  the  damage.  I  found 
some  New  Zealanders  there,  but  they  had  mostly  burst 
further  back  over  the  R.N.D.  I  distributed  some 
New  Testaments  among  the  L.F.'s,  and  found  that 
they  had  just  got  orders  to  move,  and  were  feeling 
very  annoyed,  and  weary  of  life.  They  went  off  at 
4  p.m.  that  afternoon  to  join  the  Indian  Brigade  on 
the  extreme  left  of  our  line,  and  I  promised  to  go  and 


IN   GALLIPOLI  93 

see  them  as  soon  as  possible.  I  got  a  number  of 
papers  of  different  kinds  off  them,  and  that  day  we 
spent  very  quietly,  mostly  sleeping  and  eating.  In 
the  evening  I  went  over  and  had  a  pleasant  chat  with 

the  Brigadier  and  Staff — very  nice  fellows.     F is 

acting  as  Brigade-Major,  and  doing  it  very  well. 

From  a  letter  dated  May  14  : — 

"I  am  exceedingly  flourishing,  the  weather  is 
delightful,  there  are  lovely  flowers,  many  birds,  heaps 
of  food,  plenty  to  do,  and  it  would  be  all  very  jolly 
if  it  were  not  for  the  war.  I  wrote  a  lot  of  hasty 
impressions  last  time,  just  after  having  had  my  first 
experience  of  war.  Well,  since  then  they  are  con- 
stantly varying.  I  wonder  how  much  they  have  let 
you  know  in  England.  One  thing  is  quite  clear,  and 
that  is  this  is  a  far  bigger  job  than  they  had  ever 
imagined,  and  fraught  with  difficulties,  some  of  which 
appear  pretty  insurmountable.  However,  if  it  were 
possible  to  make  a  landing  here  at  all,  it  should  be 
possible  to  go  on  and  do  the  rest.  The  main  nuisance 
at  the  present  is  that  there  is  not  a  spot  of  land  in  our 
possession  on  this  peninsula  where  one  is  safe  from 
shell  fire.  Fortunately,  the  Turkish  shell  are  mainly 
bad,  and  do  comparatively  little  damage.  They  have 
been  bursting  all  around  us  all  morning,  but  I  know 
of  no  one  damaged  yet.  Shells  are  flying  over  our 
heads  all  the  time  as  I  write.  They  fortunately  are 
directed  very  high,  and  no  one  pays  any  attention  to 
them.  But  I  find  it  a  little  disconcerting.  It  is  ter- 
rible how  many  people  we  have  lost  killed.  You  will 
have  noticed  that  in  the  casualty  lists.  Men  who  were 
at  Mons  say  that  was  nothing  to  what  they  have  been 
through  here.  However,  they  are  all  pretty  cheerful, 
the  weather  being  fine,  and  there  being  plenty  of  food. 
There  seems  to  be  a  singular  callousness  as  to  the 
value  of  human  life,  so  many  in  proportion  to  the 
whole  force  have  been  killed.  (Shells  still  passing, 
and  no  one  paying  any  attention,  though  somebody 


94     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

must  be  hit,  as  the  whole  place  is  covered  with  men 
and  horses.)  Well,  it  is  a  strange,  sad  world,  and  it 
is  no  use  worrying  about  anything  or  wondering  what 
is  going  to  happen,  but  simply  to  keep  calm,  and  do 
the  job  nearest  at  hand ;  still  there  is  absolutely  no 
feeling  of  security  about  anything.  However,  there 
are  many  little  opportunities  of  being  of  use.  (There 
is  an  aeroplane  of  ours  flying  overhead,  and  they  have 
been  shooting  at  it  all  morning.)  In  many  ways  I  am 
enjoying  it  all,  but  it  is  an  awful  desperate  business." 


SPECIAL    ORDER 

General  Headquarters, 
May  12, 

For  the  first  time  for  eighteen  days  and  nights  it  has 
been  found  possible  to  withdraw  the  29th  Division  from 
the  fire  fight.  During  the  whole  of  that  long  period  of 
unprecedented  strain  the  Division  has  held  ground  or 
gained  it,  against  the  bullets  and  bayonets  of  the  con- 
stantly renewed  forces  of  the  foe. 

During  the  whole  of  that  long  period  they  have  been 
illuminating  the  pages  of  military  history  with  their 
blood.  The  losses  have  been  terrible,  but  mingling 
with  the  deep  sorrow  for  fallen  comrades  arises  a 
feeling  of  pride  in  the  invincible  spirit  which  has 
enabled  the  survivors  to  triumph  where  ordinary 
troops  must  inevitably  have  failed. 

I  tender  to  Major-General  Hunter- Weston  and  to  his 
Division  at  the  same  time  my  profoundest  sympathy 
with  their  losses  and  my  warmest  congratulations  on 
their  achievement. 

IAN  HAMILTON, 

GENERAL. 

The  rest  was  for  five  days. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

QUIETER   DAYS 

(May  15—31) 

Saturday,  May  15. — I  stayed  in  camp  all  day,  writing" 
my  diary,  except  when  the  Black  Marias  started  and 
\ve  all  rushed  down  to  the  beach  under  shelter  of  the 
cliff.  Fortunately,  though  several  fell,  none  did  any 
damage  that  day.  But  one  feels  such  a  fool  cower- 
ing under  a  cliff.  I  crawled  back  after  a  while  and 
visited  the  C.C.S.,  which  was  being  emptied.  There 
had  been  practically  no  casualties  all  this  week,  and 
very  little  fighting.  In  fact  "W"  beach,  the  base 
camp,  is  now  the  most  dangerous  spot.  H—  —  returned 
at  7.30,  and  I  then  went  back  to  the  R.F.'s  to  spend 
a  last  night  with  them.  I  took  two  funerals  in  the 
afternoon.  I  also  went  round  to  try  and  arrange  about 
some  services  in  camp,  but  found  it  very  difficult,  as 
there  are  so  many  odd  units,  and  could  only  leave  a 
notice  with  the  camp  adjutant.  No  Black  Marias  fell 
after  i  p.m. 

Sunday,  May  16. — I  was  up  in  good  time  to  get 
ready  for  a  7.30  Celebration.  Most  of  the  men  had 
been  on  Ascension  Day,  so  I  did  not  expect  a  large 
congregation.  I  fixed  everything  up  in  a  field,  but 
the  Turks  started  sending  their  morning  shells,  and 
they  were  dropping  much  more  in  our  direction.  One 
fell  right  in  our  camp,  but  did  no  damage.  However, 
I  felt  it  would  be  a  little  unwise  to  have  a  service  in 

95 


96      WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

the  open  while  they  were  dropping  about,  and  as  no 
one  came  to  it  packed  up  again.  After  breakfast  I  said 
good-bye  to  the  R.F.'s,  who  were  to  go  up  to  the 
firing  line  that  afternoon,  and  walked  back  to  camp 
to  take  a  morning  service  there,  while  H—  -  came  out 
to  the  brigade.  I  met  him  on  the  way  and  said  I 
hardly  thought  it  wise  or  safe  to  hold  a  service,  but  he 
persisted  and  held  one,  fortunately  without  damage. 

C had  a  man  wounded  at  one  of  his.     I  found 

L ,  the  Wesleyan,  holding  a  service  when  I  got 

back.  I  was  to  have  mine  at  10.30.  But  just  as  I 
was  getting  ready  the  Black  Marias  started  again,  and 
one  burst  right  in  camp,  doing  no  damage,  I  believe. 
By  the  way,  I  forgot  to  say  that  one  burst  in  one  of 
our  operating  tents  on  Friday  and  blew  it  to  pieces, 
together  with  a  number  of  stretchers  and  blankets  in- 
side, but  fortunately  no  one  was  there.  We  are  all 
rather  jumpy  in  camp  in  consequence,  and  it  is  a 
singularly  uncomfortable  feeling.  Everybody  rushed 
to  the  beach  and  took  their  horses  with  them,  and  we 
cowered  under  shelter  of  the  cliffs.  Some  more  burst 
around,  but  after  a  while  they  stopped  and  we  crept 
out.  A  service  by  now  was  out  of  the  question.  So 
I  decided  to  go  off  to  "X"  beach  and  see  who  was 
there.  I  found  the  R.F.  Transport  men  sorting  letters, 
and  got  two  from  home  which  were  most  acceptable, 
but  not  a  newspaper  or  anything  else.  Everybody 
else  seems  to  get  papers  and  all  kinds  of  little  luxuries. 
I  lunched  with  the  beach  master,  a  marine,  and  then 
walked  on  to  Gully  Beach,  where  I  saw  Floyd  and 
O'Hara  of  the  Dublins,  and  arranged  to  come  back 
later  and  hold  a  service  if  possible.  I  heard  the 
L.F.'s  were  some  way  further  up  on  "  Y  "  beach  where 
the  K.O.S.B.'s  had  made  their  historic  landing,  and 
which  had  again  been  got  hold  of  by  the  Gurkhas,  who 


IN   GALLIPOLI 


97 


had  been  doing  well  on  the  left.  It  was  a  good  mile 
and  a  half  further,  along  the  edge  of  the  cliff.  A 
number  of  dead  horses  which  had  been  thrown  into 
the  sea  had  been  washed  up  there  and  the  smell  was 
horrible.  Fatigue  parties  were  making  a  road  of  sorts. 
At  last  I  found  the  L.F.'s  next  the  Gurkhas.  They 
were  right  on  the  beach  in  a  very  peaceful  and  secure 
spot,  though  only  400  yards  from  the  firing  line.  You 
could  hear  the  sharp  report  of  the  rifles  of  one  or  two 
snipers  going  all  the  time.  A  very  steep  path,  well 
made  by  engineers,  leads  up  the  hill  to  the  firing  line. 
They  seemed  rather  more  cheerful,  and  I  had  a  service 
for  them  at  4  p.m.,  most  of  the  officers  coming.  They 
asked  me  to  come  and  spend  the  night  with  them.  I 
went  back  and  held  a  service  at  6.30  with  the  Dubsters 
high  up  on  the  side  of  the  cliff.  So  I  felt  my  Sunday 
had  not  been  altogether  in  vain  as  I  had  first  feared. 

I  then  walked  back,  meeting  C on  the  way  and 

getting  in  at  8.30  p.m. 

Monday,   May   17. — I  have  decided  to  try  and  do 

just  what  H wants,  even  against  my  judgment. 

So  I  arranged  to  go  out  while  he  stayed  in,  and  to  take 
my  turn  in  on  Tuesday.  I  wanted  to  spend  the  night 
with  the  L.F.'s,  not  knowing  when  I  would  see  them 
again.  I  stayed  in  writing  till  early  lunch,  and  then 
got  on  my  horse  and  rode  over  by  Gully  Beach,  where 

I  saw  C and  borrowed  some  books.     I  managed 

to  ride  all  the  way  along  the  rocky  strip  of  coast.  I 
spent  the  rest  of  the  day  with  the  L.F.'s,  and  held  a 
service  at  6.30,  as  so  many  had  been  unable  to  come 
the  night  before.  It  is  a  delightful  spot  for  a  camp, 
and  they  were  cheering  up.  For  one  thing,  the  first 
drafts  were  arriving  from  England,  and  each  regiment 
is  getting  an  officer  and  46  men.  Also  30  wounded 
men  were  returning,  including  Bromley  the  adjutant. 


98     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Now  they  have  10  officers  and  a  grand  total  of  nearly 
400  men,  and  further  drafts  of  100  men  are  said  to 
be  on  their  way.     So  it  may  be  possible  to  partially 
reconstitute  the  Division.     One  has  to  be  thankful  for 
the  smallest  mercies.     The  Inniskillings  were  in  the 
firing  line,  and  I  discovered  it  was  quite  safe  to  go  up. 
Armed  with  a  periscope  I  clambered  up  the  steep  hill, 
bullets  and  occasional  shells  whistling  overhead  all  the 
time,  till  I  found  myself  in  the  support  line,  out  of 
which   leads  a  little   narrow   trench,    down   which    I 
walked  a  few  yards,  till  I  got  into  another.     I  asked 
where  the  firing  line  was,  and  was  told  that  was  it. 
I  went  a  little  way  to  the  left,  where  there  was  a  loop- 
hole, but  did  not  look  through  it  much  as  the  snipers 
were  busy,  using  the  periscope  instead.     I  could  just 
make  out  the  line  of  Turkish  trenches,  and  could  see 
where  they  had  fixed  a  barbed  wire  entanglement  the 
night  before  quite  unbeknown  to  our  men,  who  should 
never  have  allowed  it.     But  of  course  I  could  not  see  a 
Turk.     Their  line  is  very  strong,  and  it  seems  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  do  anything  against  it.     The  General 
had  been  up  shortly  before.     Snipers  were  firing  all  the 
time,  and  one  or  two  men  had  been  killed  by  putting 
their  heads  over  the  parapet.     One  poor  sergeant  was 
even  shot  through  the  parapet  next  morning.     He  was 
still  alive  when  I  saw  him,  but  quite  unconscious.     I 
had  always  wanted  to  get  into  the  firing  line.     I  went 
up  again  at  night  and  buried  a  man  who  had  died,  in 
a  little  cemetery  they  have  fixed  on  the  hill-side.     I 
had  to  read  the  service  by  the  light  of  my  electric 
torch.     I  feel  it  is  the  only  consolation  one  can  give 
the  relatives  at  home.    We  also  consecrate  the  graves. 
I  spent  a  good  night  with  the  L.F.'s,  even  having 
bags  of  grass  to  sleep  on,  and  there  was  very  little 
firing.     I  had  a  bathe  in  the  afternoon. 


Y"  GULLY    WITH    GURKHA   BLUFF   ON    THE   LEFT,    LEADING    UP  THE 
CLIFFS   FROM    "Y"    BEACH.       THIS    FORMED   THE    MAIN    LINE   OF 
COMMUNICATION   ON    THE   EXTREME   LEFT 


IN    GALLIPOLI  99 

Tuesday,  May  18. — I  went  round  and  tried  to  talk  to 
some  of  the  men,  but  found  them  rather  shy,  not  like 
the  R.F.'s.  We  breakfasted  very  late,  and  immedi- 
ately after  I  again  climbed  the  hill  and  buried  another 
Inniskilling  sergeant.  It  seemed  so  strange  standing 
only  a  few  yards  from  the  firing  line,  and  hearing  the 
"ping,  ping"  of  the  bullets  overhead,  and  burying 
these  poor  fellows  who  had  just  been  killed.  Person- 
ally I  really  envy  their  sudden  death,  which  I  cannot 
help  feeling  a  very  merciful  thing  these  perilous  days. 
I  feel  absolutely  no  fear  of  death,  but  I  should  hate 
to  be  mangled  or  badly  wounded.  They  started  to 
shell  the  beach  that  morning,  but  could  not  drop  shells 
close  enough,  at  least  while  I  was  there,  to  do  any 
damage,  the  hills  are  too  steep.  However,  they  may 
place  their  guns  in  better  positions.  Then  I  rode  back, 

getting  in  at  11.30  to  set  H free.     I  found  more 

Black  Marias  had  visited  the  camp  in  my  absence,  and 
three  men  and  several  horses  had  been  absolutely 
blown  to  pieces  and  more  wounded.  It  is  only  one 
now  and  then  that  does  damage,  but  quite  enough  to 
make  us  all  feel  exceedingly  uncomfortable.  Being 
a  great  coward  myself,  I  got  my  servant  to  dig  a  deep 
pit  in  my  tent  and  throw  a  mound  round  it,  so  that  I 
can  drop  in  when  they  start.  It  minimises  the  chances 
of  being  hit  by  a  splinter,  but  if  one  were  to  lodge 
right  in  the  hole  or  burst  overhead  it  would  be  an  end. 
However,  one  must  take  some  risks.  While  I  have 
been  writing  this  afternoon  some  more  have  been  burst- 
ing on  the  aerodome  just  short  of  camp.  I  don't  think 
they  can  realize  what  damage  they  are  doing,  or  they 
would  never  give  us  any  peace.  Personally  I  would 
rather  be  anywhere  than  on  "  W  "  beach.  I  have  been 
sitting  writing  in  my  hole  all  afternoon.  I  shall  try 
and  construct  some  overhead  cover  later  on. 


100     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

At  last  I  have  written  up  to  date.  It  is  a  nuisance 
feeling  we  have  embarked  on  such  an  utterly  fool- 
hardy and  under-estimated  enterprise.  We  were  to 
have  taken  Achi  Baba  the  day  we  arrived.  That  is 
three  weeks  ago,  and  it  is  untaken  yet.  The  Turks 
have  immensely  strong  positions  all  up  the  hill,  and 
quantities  of  artillery  and  machine  guns  manned  by 
Germans.  It  is  another  bit  of  siege  warfare.  And 
how  are  we  to  do  this  and  carry  on  the  war  in  France 
too?  The  Turkish  positions  only  get  stronger 
every  day.  We  gave  them  such  a  lot  of  warning. 
They  are  magnificently  led,  well  armed,  and  very  brave 
and  numerous.  Now  there  are  submarine  scares  and 
we  see  the  ships  in  the  harbour  disappearing.  It  is 
all  rather  dismal.  The  best  things  are  the  weather, 
which  is  superb,  and  the  food,  which  is  really  excellent. 
In  fact  it  is  like  a  picnic  except  for  the  fighting  and  the 
Black  Marias.  How  I  hate  them  !  And  here  we  feel 
we  are  utterly  stuck  and  nobody  seems  to  know  what 
to  do.  This  was  not  at  all  the  Government's  programme. 
The  Balkan  States  are  not  coming  in,  and  I  don't 
blame  them.  It  looks  like  a  question  of  stalemate  and 
nothing  happening.  We  must  advance,  but  how  ? 
The  only  thing  to  do  seems  to  be  to  try  and  cheer 
people  up  as  much  as  possible,  and  remind  them  that 
it  is  not  our  fault,  and  that  the  whole  world  is  in  a 
pretty  good  muddle,  and  we  can  only  each  try  to  do 
our  best.  How  everybody  longs  for  it  to  be  over  ! 
You  seem  to  hear  nothing  else.  But  it  is  a  great  thing 
to  have  fine  weather,  plenty  to  eat,  no  lice,  and  to  feel 
well.  I  feel  so  sure  that,  though  it  is  impossible  to 
see  how,  somehow  or  another  some  day  good  will  come 
of  the  whole  war.  It  always  seemed  so  impossible  for 
the  world  to  go  on  as  it  was.  And  it  takes  a  long  time 
for  men  to  break  habits  and  to  learn  to  care  about  the 


IN   GALLIPOLI  101 

things  that  matter.     I  cannot  pray  (though  I  may  long) 
for  victory;  only  "Thy  Kingdom  come." 

When  I  had  finished  writing  I  wandered  off  for  a 
little  voyage  of  exploration.     The  C.C.S.  was  empty, 
so  I  walked  all  along  the  edge  of  the  cliff.     There  were 
transport  horses  and  mules  and  wagons  of  every  kind, 
closely  packed  in  the  effort  to  find  cover  from  Achi 
Baba  and  the   Black   Marias.     Then   I  got  to   "V" 
beach  and  went  on  board  the  River  Clyde,  inside  of 
which  the  Dublins  and  Munsters  had  been,  which  had 
been  run  ashore  the  fatal  day  of  landing.     There  she 
had  lain  ever  since,  a  perpetual  mark  for  the  Turkish 
batteries  on  the  Asiatic  side.     A  pontoon  pier  had  been 
run  out  from  the  shore  to  her,  and  most  of  the  troops 
and  horses  have  been  landed  on  it.     The  naval  lieuten- 
ant in  command  took  me  over.     She  has  been  shelled 
incessantly  and  is  full  of  shell-holes,   but  strangely 
there  have  been  no  casualties  among  those  on  board 
and  the  very  numerous  troops  that  have  been  landed 
from  her.     They  had  piled  up  sandbags  as  protection, 
and  the  little  saloon  under  the  bridge  was  untouched. 
The  French  use  the  beach  and  the  old  ruined  castle,  or 
what  of  it  remains.     The  Asiatic  batteries  are  a  horrid 
nuisance.     I   wandered  back,   looking  at  the  ruined 
forts  and  the  remains  of  the  labyrinth  of  barbed  wire 
which  the  Turks  had  erected  everywhere,  and  trenches 
which  wound  about  all  over  the  place.     It  is  almost 
inconceivable   how  we  ever  effected  the   landing.     I 
came  back  past  Divisional  Headquarters,  and  talked 
to  one  or  two  men,  and  looked  at  aeroplanes  in  the 
aerodome  next  to  it.     I  think  it  is  this  they  keep  aiming 
their  Black  Marias  at.     A  man  asked  me  if  it  would 
not  be  possible  to  have  a  service  up  there. 

Wednesday,  May  19. — I  started  off  soon  after  break- 
fast and  walked  a  long  way — nearly  five  miles — right 


102    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

up  to  the  R.F.  trenches.  I  went  along  the  cliffs  by 
"X"  beach,  and  then  cut  across  into  the  gully  (to 
which  I  have  often  referred  and  shall).  They  have 
made  a  good  road  down  into  it.  An  artillery  colonel 
walked  with  me  part  of  the  way,  and  part  the  chief 
engineer.  The  road  drops  into  the  gully,  which  is 
very  deep  and  narrow  and  goes  all  the  way  up  the 
bed  of  the  stream,  winding  along  through  steep  banks 
covered  with  scrubby  bushes  and  quantities  of  flowers. 
They  are  making  the  road  gradually,  and  it  is  a  regular 
highway.  All  the  time  the  "ping,  ping"  of  bullets 
overhead.  I  am  always  a  little  suspicious  of  the  stray 
bullets,  which  have  a  way  of  dropping  into  the  gully. 
Eventually  I  came  to  the  Headquarters  of  the  i4th 
Sikhs,  who  are  up  there  with  the  Gurkhas.  The  gully 
runs  almost  parallel  to  the  sea,  the  Indian  Brigade,  to 
which  the  L.F.'sand  Inniskillings  have  been  attached, 
holding  the  line  from  "  Y  "  beach  to  the  bottom  of  the 
gully. 

I  next  came  to  the  R.F.'s,  where  I  found  M—  -  in 
command.  They  were  all  a  little  weary,  having  been 
there  three  days  and  nights  in  the  trenches.  They  had 
lost  three  men  killed  and  a  few  wounded,  but  had  got 

a  draft  of  46  men  with  an  officer  and  X and  some 

25  wounded  back.  To  get  into  the  firing  line,  all  that 
is  necessary  is  to  climb  up  the  side  of  the  gully  and 
go  straight  in  by  a  communication  trench.  The  Sikhs 
hold  a  small  part,  and  then  come  the  R.F.'s  with  just 
over  400  yards.  They  had  been  working  hard  im- 
proving the  trench,  and  got  it  into  splendid  shape  wide 
enough  to  walk  down.  It  all  wound  and  twisted 
along,  with  men  sleeping  in  little  niches  dug  under 
the  forward  parapet.  They  get  their  water  suppy  even 
up  there  by  sinking  tins  at  places  in  the  bottom  and 
letting  the  water  slowly  rise  into  them.  The  General 


IN    GALLIPOLI 


103 


arrived  while  I  was  there,  and  I  went  along  with  him, 

G ,  and  X .     We  had  periscopes,  and  I  could 

just  make  out  the  line  of  Turkish  trenches  continuing 
from  where  I  had  seen  them  before,  right  across  the 
peninsula.  Men  were  on  the  look-out  at  intervals. 
Sniping  was  going  on  all  the  time  and  one  had  to  keep 
down.  There  was  a  splendid  machine-gun  position  at 
the  end,  and  while  I  was  there  they  saw  some  Turks 
digging  (though  I  could  not  quite  see  myself),  and  had 
a  pot  at  them  with  the  machine  gun,  till  they  stopped  in 
a  hurry.  They  seemed  quite  comfortable  in  the  trench, 
and  quite  as  secure  as  we  are  on  "  W  "  beach.  It  was 
very  interesting. 

I  came  back  and  lunched  with  the  officers  and  had 

a  lot  of  talk  with  J .     He  is  a  really  Ai  fellow. 

The  General  himself  said,  "You  cannot  expect  to  find 
— s  on  every  tree."  Our  views  of  life  agree  very 
much,  and  he  is  much  more  original  than  most  officers, 
being  a  good  Liberal  and  valuing  independence  and 
detachment  above  all  things.  So  we  talked  a  lot. 
Then  I  talked  with  M—  -  and  others,  had  tea,  and 
then  wandered  off  through  the  Gurkhas'  trenches  to 
"Y"  beach  and  saw  the  L.F.'s  just  as  they  were 
getting  ready  to  go  into  the  firing  line.  They  have 
now  got  ten  officers  and  seem  more  cheered.  It  was 
rather  alarming  clambering  up  through  the  hills  and 
into  wired  trenches.  I  got  into  the  wrong  ones  on 
my  way  back  and  made  it  much  longer.  I  love  the 
Sikhs.  They  are  so  clean  and  handsome,  and  have 
such  good  teeth.  They  seem  to  wash  themselves, 
their  hair  and  beards  and  cooking-pots  in  the  water 
in  the  gully  all  day.  I  had  some  talk  with  them  and 
their  officers,  who  seem  very  nice.  The  Gurkhas,  of 
course,  are  charming,  but  I  did  not  have  much  chance 
of  seeing  them.  I  got  back  to  supper  with  the  R.F.'s 


104    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

and  walked  back  by  the  light  of  the  new  moon,  taking 
one  and  a  half  hours,  and  only  getting  in  at  9.30, 
being  challenged  a  good  deal  on  the  way. 

My  servant  has  made  the  most  wonderful  dug-out  in 
my  tent.  It  is  just  like  a  grave  about  three  and  a  half 
feet  deep,  carved  away  underneath  on  the  side  nearest 
the  enemy.  Earth  is  piled  up  round  the  tent  both 
inside  and  outside,  and  half  of  the  dug-out  is  covered 
over  in  a  most  ingenious  fashion  with  a  covering  made 
of  sandbags  and  tins  full  of  earth  on  wooden  stakes  all 
carefully  piled  up.  So  I  shall  not  fly  any  more  to  the 
beach.  Chances  are  reduced  to  a  minimum,  and  I  am 
probably  safe  unless  a  Black  Maria  bursts  immediately 
on  top.  It  is  very  snug  to  sleep  in.  We  don't  seem 
to  have  had  any  Black  Marias  actually  the  last  two 
days.  The  first  night  I  slept  in  my  dug-out  I  awoke 
and  could  not  imagine  for  the  life  of  me  where  I  was. 
I  heard  the  sound  of  firing,  but  could  not  understand 
what  it  was.  I  have  never  felt  so  absolutely  lost. 
People  come  and  view  my  dug-out  now  with  envy. 

Thursday,  May  20. — I  stayed  in  camp  all  day  again 

to  please  H ,  and  for  no  other  purpose,  as  there 

was  nothing  for  me  to  do.  However,  I  wrote  my  diary 
and  various  letters  most  of  the  morning  and  part  of  the 
afternoon.  I  also  wandered  off  and  made  a  little  sketch 
of  the  River  Clyde,  and  "V"  beach  in  the  evening, 

but  it  was  not  a  success.     I  had  tea  with  W of  the 

cyclists,  and  a  talk  with  Y of  Headquarters ;  chief 

of  staff,  I  believe.  I  knew  his  brother  in  Canada. 
The  artillery  have  been  short  of  ammunition  lately  and 
it  has  been  difficult  to  make  any  progress.  The  Turks 
do  not  seem  to  be  short.  They  kept  pouring  in  shrap- 
nel all  over  the  place  all  day  long,  but  did  not  bother 
us  on  the  beach,  I  am  glad  to  say.  In  fact  we  have 
not  had  any  Black  Marias  for  some  days.  They  seemed 


IN   GALLIPOLI  105 

to  be  after  the  French  artillery  more  than  us.     So  I 
spent  an  uneventful  but  restful  day. 

Friday,  May  21. — I  rode  off  after  breakfast  up  the 
gully  to  the  R.F.'s  with  things  for  the  night.  As  I 
was  riding  down  the  gully  who  did  I  suddenly  come 
upon  sitting  by  the  side  of  it  but  Majors  Brandreth  and 
O ,  who  were  both  returning  cured  of  wounds  re- 
ceived the  day  of  landing.  This  was  a  very  cheering 
sight  and  quite  unexpected.  They  had  their  packs 
with  them  and  were  very  hot  and  tired.  I  insisted  on 
their  putting  their  packs  on  my  horse  and  walking  with 
them.  They  seemed  quite  cheerful.  Great  rejoicings 
in  the  regiment  to  see  them  back.  Nothing  had  been 
done  and  no  progress  made.  It  was  most  important 
to  press  the  line  of  trenches  forward.  Now  a  solution 
of  all  troubles  came  by  Brandreth  taking  command. 
He  got  to  work  at  once  and  inspected  the  position  and 
saw  the  General.  It  was  decided  to  go  out  that  night. 
I  stayed  with  them  all  afternoon.  They  had  succeeded 
in  getting  a  few  men  out  in  pits  a  few  yards  in  advance 
of  the  line.  I  went  down  the  trenches  again.  I  stayed 
in  the  doctor's  dug-out  that  night.  Poor  L.  C. 
Thomas,  who  had  been  church  orderly,  was  shot  in 
the  trench,  and  I  buried  him  at  8.30.  Every  one  went 
into  the  trenches  and  we  were  prepared  for  a  bad  night. 
Fortunately  only  four  men  were  wounded  that  night. 
The  first  was  hit  badly  by  one  of  our  own  shells.  I 
was  up  several  times  during  the  night.  Brandreth 
insisted  on  going  out  himself  first  of  all  with  a  string, 
150  yards  in  advance  of  the  trench.  Fortunately  he 
was  unhurt.  The  Turks  did  not  seem  suspicious.  I 
don't  exactly  know  what  happened.  Soon  after  one; 
when  the  moon  had  gone  down,  M took  his  com- 
pany out  and  they  started  to  dig  a  trench.  But  he 
seems  to  have  got  suspicious,  and  ordered  them  to 


106    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

retire  before  it  was  finished,  when  it  was  not  really 
necessary,  and  the  trench  was  only  dug  about  two  feet 
down.  Everything  possible  was  done  for  the  wounded 
men.  It  began  to  rain  in  the  morning,  but  did  not 
go  on  very  long,  though  things  became  rather  muddy. 

Brandreth  told  M he  would  have  to  go  out  again 

next  evening. 

It  was  very  weird  sleeping  out  there.  We  were  in 
a  dug-out  just  at  the  bottom  of  a  steep  side  of  the  gully. 
A  little  winding  path  led  up  to  the  firing  line.  The 
ping  of  the  bullets  which  flew  over  our  heads  re-echoed 
down  the  gully.  Firing  went  on  all  night  till  dawn. 

Saturday ,  May  22. — The  regiment  was  dismal.  The 
night  had  been  rather  a  failure.  A  nice  officer, 
Webb-Bowen,  of  the  Egyptian  army,  joined  it  in 
the  course  of  the  day.  The  men  were  pretty  worn 
out.  I  went  over  to  the  L.F.'s  in  the  morning. 
I  had  to  climb  through  endless  trenches,  but 

eventually  found  P in  a  dug-out  on  the  top  of 

the  hill  overlooking  the  sea.  Nothing  much  had  hap- 
pened to  the  regiment.  They  were  busy  digging  and 
improving  trenches  they  were  taking  over  from  the 

Sikhs.  I  went  down  and  saw  B and  Bromley  at 

the  bottom  of  the  hill  on  the  beach.  A  shell  had  just 
dropped  there  and  wounded  a  man.  There  is  no  se- 
cure spot.  I  was  trying  to  arrange  a  Celebration  for 
next  day  (Whitsunday).  I  went  back  all  through  the 
L.F.  trenches  and  saw  most  of  the  men,  and  got 
back  to  the  gully  for  lunch.  There  was  a  lot  of  firing 
that  afternoon.  It  appears  the  Turks  had  crawled  up 
the  reverse  side  of  the  little  hill  and  were  occupying  the 
trench  the  R.F.'s  had  started  to  dig  the  night  before. 

This  was  only  natural.  S had  felt  very  disgusted, 

and  had  crawled  out  to  one  of  the  pits  dug  in  advance 
of  our  line.  But  he  had  insisted  on  going  on  further. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  107 

Then  a  message  came  down  the  telephone  that  he  had 
been  hit  in  the  head.  So  we  were  all  very  alarmed. 
The  doctor  rushed  up.  Fortunately  it  turned  out  to 
be  only  fairly  slight.  He  had  crawled  on  with  two 
men  to  try  and  stop  the  Turks  getting  into  the  trench, 
and  claimed  to  have  shot  five  of  them,  and  enjoyed  his 
day's  shooting.  Just  as  he  was  preparing  to  return  he 
was  hit  apparently  by  a  stone  knocked  up  by  a  bullet. 
The  doctor  could  not  say  how  far  his  eye  had  been 
injured.  We  put  him  in  the  doctor's  dug-out,  and  he 
was  quite  sensible  and  dictated  a  message  to  the  C.O., 
and  gave  me  his  mother's  address  and  asked  me  to 
write,  and  I  sat  with  him  a  good  time  until  the  bearers 
came  and  took  him  off.  I  stayed  on  with  the  regiment 
till  evening.  They  were  making  careful  preparations 
for  the  night  attack.  It  was  to  begin  at  8.30.  At  the 
last  moment  a  message  came  from  the  brigade  that 
the  company  that  was  to  go  out  was  to  expect  no 
support,  as  they  were  afraid  of  a  Turkish  counter- 
attack, and  the  main  trench  must  be  preserved  at  all 
cost.  I  had  supper  and  then  had  to  return,  as  I  was 
to  take  a  Celebration  in  camp  next  morning.  I  felt 
very  anxious. 

Whitsunday,  May  23. — My  Celebration  was  rather  a 

fiasco.     H had  arranged  it.     I  am  afraid  no  one 

in  camp  knew  anything  about  it.  The  place  was 
changed  to  a  tent  in  the  C.C.S.  at  the  last  moment. 
The  result  was  only  three  staff  officers  arrived  out  of  the 
whole  camp.  Many  men  asked  afterwards  about  services. 
I  felt  rather  disgusted,  as  I  should  have  been  with  the 
R.F.'s.  I  rode  off  after  breakfast,  and,  as  I  feared, 
met  a  procession  of  stretchers  on  the  way.  Almost 

the  first  was  poor  M with  a  nasty  wound  in  the 

thigh  from  a  hand  grenade,  but  quite  cheerful.  I  had 
better  tell  the  story  as  I  gathered  it.  At  8.30  his  com- 


108    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

pany  crawled  out  of  the  trench.  The  men  seemed 
to  feel  it  was  a  counsel  of  despair.  The  officers  knew 
they  could  expect  no  support.  They  were  to  rush  the 
trench  they  had  begun  with  the  bayonet,  and  then  dig 

themselves  properly  in.     M was  wounded  almost 

at  once.  Webb-Bowen  was  then  in  command.  He 
had  only  arrived  that  day.  He  was  wounded  twice 
slightly,  but  insisted  on  carrying  on  all  through  the 
night.  Poor  Hall,  who  had  come  from  England  with 
the  draft  and  had  only  just  left  Oxford,  was  wounded 
and  died  of  wounds  shortly  after.  The  men  rushed 
forward  magnificently,  almost  officerless.  There  was  a 
perfect  hail  of  bullets,  and  then  the  Turks  started  throw- 
ing hand  grenades,  which  did  most  of  the  damage, 
making  ghastly  wounds.  The  men  did  not  seem  to 
get  their  tools.  In  any  case  it  was  impossible  to  stand 
and  dig.  They  kept  it  up  all  night,  being  told  they 
were  to  try  and  hold  the  trench  at  all  costs.  It  became 
perfectly  desperate.  The  rifles  jammed.  Eventually, 

just  before  dawn,  J was  sent  out  to  tell  them  to 

retire.  He  walked  three  times  up  and  down  the  line, 
calling  out  for  any  wounded,  among  a  hail  of  bullets 
and  escaped  by  a  miracle.  Every  wounded  man  was 
carried  back.  Eighteen  men  were  killed,  forty-six 
wounded,  and  three  officers  knocked  out  (poor  Webb- 
Bowen  died  next  night  in  the  C.C.S.  as  a  result  of 
his  wounds. 

I  arrived  just  in  time  to  bury  Hall.  The  men's 
bodies  (except  three)  had  not  been  recovered.  It  was 
a  miserable  business.  The  service  did  not  come  off. 
Fortunately  the  regiment  was  relieved  by  the  Wor- 
cesters,  who  arrived  about  midday  and  took  over. 
Captain  Nelson  of  their  regiment  went  into  the  trench 
and  insisted  on  looking  over  the  parapet,  and  was 
shot  in  the  head.  Richardson  had  had  a  terrible  night 


IN   GALLIPOLI  109 

of  it  with  forty-six  wounded  and  ghastly  wounds 
and  was  very  much  overstrained.  I  rushed  up  into 
the  trench  to  see  if  I  could  help  get  Nelson  out,  but 
I  missed  my  way.  However,  he  was  carried  out  and 
his  own  doctor  arrived.  I  have  not  heard  how  he 
is  getting  on  since.  After  lunch  the  regiment  event- 
ually moved  off  down  the  gully  to  the  reserve  trenches. 
The  men  were  dropping  with  sleep.  I  went  with 
them.  The  reserve  trench  ran  about  1000  yards,  and 
stray  bullets  were  flying  overhead  all  the  time.  I 
walked  the  whole  way  down  and  back.  It  was  im- 
possible to  hold  a  service,  so  I  decided  to  go  out 
next  day.  The  men  were  glad  of  a  rest.  When  I 

got  back  I  looked  into  the  C.C.S.  and  saw  M 

and  Webb-Bowen,  but  they  were  asleep.  Poor  Webb- 
Bowen  was  dead  next  morning. 

The  way  in  which  Webb-Bowen  acted  all  through 
that  night  is  beyond  praise.  He  was  twice  slightly 
wounded,  but  refused  to  return.  He  had  only  just 
arrived,  and  did  not  know  the  men  nor  they  him.  I 
sat  some  time  with  him  before  he  was  carried  off.  His 
only  anxiety  was  for  four  of  his  men  whom  he  had  been 
unable  to  reach  and  warn,  and  he  reproached  himself 
with  not  having  found  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact  they 
all  got  back  safely. 

I  learnt  afterwards  that  it  was  the  Sikhs  who  largely 
helped  to  save  the  situation.  The  company  of  the 
R.F.'s  was  in  danger  of  being  surrounded  by  the 
Turks  when  the  Sikhs  came  out  to  their  support. 
They  came  forward  absolutely  steadily  and  quietly  in 
an  unbroken  line.  The  men  were  enthusiastic  about 
them.  I  remember  one  of  them  saying  to  me,  "I  have 
changed  my  opinion  about  them  niggers  since  last 
night."  Practically  all  the  R.F.'s  had  been  with  the 
regiment  in  India. 

Monday,    May    24. — I    spent    the    morning    at    a 


110    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

chaplains'  meeting.     First  a  Celebration  for  C.  of  E., 

taken  by  U ,  who  had  just  arrived  and  is  to  be 

senior  C.  of  E.  chaplain.  I  gave  two  of  them  break- 
fast afterwards.  At  ten  we  had  our  meeting  and  fifteen 
were  present.  It  was  quite  informal.  Who  should 
turn  up  but  Moore,  whom  I  had  known  in  Canada  !  I 
knew  he  was  about,  but  he  did  not  know  I  was  here. 
He  was  very  cheery,  and  has  had  a  tremendous  series 
of  adventures  which  I  cannot  go  into  here.  We  had 
a  good  meeting,  the  main  object  of  which  was  to  com- 
pare notes  and  to  get  to  know  one  another.  A  fine  old 
Scotch  Presbyterian,  E ,  and  an  elderly  R.C.  chap- 
lain have  arrived  for  the  base.  So  things  will  settle 
themselves  better.  We  discussed  many  things  and 
were  very  amiable,  and  decided  to  meet  every  Monday. 
Moore  lunched  with  me  afterwards,  and  later  on  I  rode 
off  to  hold  a  service  for  the  R.F.'s,  which  eventually 
took  place,  after  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  owing  to  their 
long-drawn-out  trench,  at  6.30.  The  men  sat  under 
the  wall  of  a  ruined  house  while  bullets  whistled  over- 
head, and  I  had  to  sit  all  the  time  too.  I  arranged  a 
Celebration  for  the  next  morning  and  rode  back  to 
camp.  We  had  a  good  deal  of  rain  in  the  morning. 

Tuesday,  May  25. — Rather  a  depressing  day.  Sub- 
marines, apparently  from  Germany,  are  about,  and 
after  various  excitements  have  succeeded  in  sinking 
the  Triumph  at  12.30  in  full  view  of  the  coast.  We 
saw  all  the  torpedo-boats  rushing  up,  but  do  not  know 
how  many  were  rescued.  It  seems  strange  having  a 
base  under  shell  fire  and  lines  of  communication 
directly  threatened  by  submarines.  The  aerodrome 
was  shelled  all  morning  and  one  aeroplane  wrecked. 
I  rode  out  and  held  a  Celebration  at  the  same  place  at 
10  a.m.,  but  very  few  came.  I  think  they  were  pre- 
vented by  fatigues,  etc.  Then  I  rode  down  to  Gully 


IN   GALLIPOLI  111 

Beach  and  lunched  with  the  South  Wales  Borderers,  and 
there  was  a  heavy  shower.  The  Turks  were  doing  a 
lot  of  shelling  everywhere.  Their  ammunition  seems 
indeed  plentiful.  Our  batteries  may  not  fire  owing  to 
shortage.  The  Turks  drop  shells  everywhere.  I  for- 
got to  say  that  the  day  before  I  buried  a  R.F.  He 
had  been  shot  dead  by  a  spent  bullet  right  in  the 
reserve  trench.  While  taking  the  funeral  one  of  our 
shells  burst  prematurely,  and  there  was  a  shower  of 
bullets  and  a  man  was  hit  (bruised  only)  in  the  leg. 
I  carried  on  and  paid  no  attention.  The  Turks  were 
particularly  busy  this  afternoon.  They  dropped  shells 
indiscriminately  over  all  our  reserves.  People  have  the 
most  wonderful  escapes,  but  occasionally  some  one  is 
hit.  I  rode  back  to  take  poor  Webb-Bowen's  funeral, 
but  found  U—  -  had  just  taken  it.  Later  I  walked 
round  part  of  the  camp  with  him  to  show  him  various 
odd  units  which  had  had  no  services,  and  generally 
explore  and  discuss.  I  also  wrote  various  letters  to 
relations  of  the  dead.  I  wanted  to  get  news  of  the 
Triumph,  but  could  not.  I  explored  a  road  being  made 
at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs  to  "X"  beach  and  beyond. 
There  are  corps  of  Egyptians  and  Greeks  doing  this. 

We  make  very  little  progress,  there  is  a  continual 
wastage  of  men,  no  reinforcements,  and  now  sub- 
marines. What  is  going  to  happen  next  ?  I  wonder 
what  difference  Italy's  coming  in  will  make. 

Wednesday,  May  26. — I  stayed  in  camp  most  of  the 
morning,  writing  my  diary,  and  at  mid-day  got  a  mes- 
sage asking  me  to  go  out  and  take  a  funeral  for  the 
R.F.'s.  So  off  I  rode  as  soon  as  possible,  and  found 
a  poor  fellow  had  been  shot  through  the  head.  There 
had  been  a  tremendous  pour  of  rain  the  night  before 
in  the  gully,  though  not  a  drop  had  fallen  on  the  beach. 
The  water  had  washed  away  a  good  deal  of  the  road 


112    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

they  had  made  up  the  gully,  and  the  trenches  were 
almost  impassable,  so  they  had  been  walking  along 
the  top  when  this  man  happened  to  be  hit.  I  lunched 
afterwards  with  the  regiment.  Eight  officers  arrived 
while  we  were  lunching.  They  had  just  come  from 
England.  It  appears  K.  I.  is  to  be  turned  into  a  re- 
serve army,  and  these  men  were  from  it.  They  seemed 
good  fellows,  though  rather  inexperienced.  Later  on 
a  draft  of  150  men  arrived  with  some  very  senior 
sergeants  in  it.  Then  news  came  that  one  of  the 
Territorial  brigades  was  going  to  be  split  up  and  sent 
to  make  up  the  battalions  of  the  2Qth  Division.  This 
disgusted  them  all  a  good  deal.  Well,  I  left  them  and 
rode  down  the  gully  to  the  beach  and  then  round  to 
"  Y  "  beach.  On  the  way  I  stopped  to  see  the  Dublins. 
They  are  getting  new  officers.  I  was  talking  to  the 
adjutant  when  he  suddenly  said  to  me,  "  How  are  all 

the  people  at  home  ?  "  and  he  turned  out  to  be  S , 

from  Egypt,  where  his  mother  and  sister  are.  I  was 
delighted  that  O'Hara  had  got  the  D.S.O.  He  richly 
deserves  it.  Then  I  went  on  to  the  L.F.'s  on  "Y*1 
beach.  They  were  still  in  the  trenches,  but  I  saw 

B ,  and  he  told  me  they  were  coming  out  next  day 

for  a  rest.  It  was  a  fairly  quiet  day  on  the  left,  though 
some  shells  dropped  pretty  close  to  the  dug-out  which 

he  was  using  as  headquarters.     P and  two  others 

had  been  lent  to  one  of  the  Territorial  regiments 
and  they  were  getting  a  large  number  to  fill  up.  I 
arranged  to  go  out  and  spend  a  couple  of  nights  with 

them.     I  had  tea  with  Q and  rode  back  here  for 

supper. 

Thursday,  May  27. — I  was  awakened  by  my  servant, 
who  told  me  the  Majestic  had  just  been  sunk. 
She  sank  in  ten  minutes.  I  believe  about  fifty  men 
were  drowned  in  both  her  and  the  Triumph.  She  was 


IN   GALLIPOLI  113 

surrounded  by  small  boats,  mine-sweepers,  trawlers, 
etc.,  at  the  time,  and  the  torpedo  was  wonderfully 
aimed  to  go  right  among  them  and  hit  her.  This  was 
another  bit  of  very  bad  news.  The  destroyers  rushed 
about  afterwards  all  over  the  place,  and  have  been 
patrolling  up  and  down  incessantly  since,  but  it  seems 
impossible  to  destroy  a  submarine  in  such  deep  water. 
I  did  not  see  the  Majestic  sink,  but  those  who  did  said 
it  was  a  most  pathetic  sight,  so  close  to  shore.  After 
breakfast  I  fitted  my  saddlebags  and  rode  off  with 

U to  the  gully,  taking  him  right  up  to  the  top 

where    the    Worcesters    had    taken    over    the    R.F. 

trenches.     We  saw  C on  the  way.     I   left  him 

there  and  went  back  to  the  R.F.'s.  The  Territorials 
were  all  just  about  to  come,  and  everybody  was  busy 
and  in  rather  a  bad  temper.  Then  I  rode  off  to  the 
Sgth  R.A.M.C.,  who  were  relieving  the  88th  and  had 
a  dressing-station  near  the  West  Krithia  road.  I  had 
a  biscuit  for  lunch  there.  They  only  had  one  or  two 
wounded.  So  I  rode  off  and  left  my  horse  with  the 
L.F.  transport,  and  walked  from  there  to  Gully  Beach. 
I  saw  the  Dublins  again  and  found  they  were  going 
down  to  "W"  beach.  I  climbed  the  hill  and  saw  a 
New  Zealand  battery  and  had  some  talk  with  them.  I 
was  rather  glad  I  had  left  my  horse,  as  they  started 
shelling  the  beach.  I  made  my  way  round  to  the  L.F.'s 
and  had  a  cup  of  tea  with  the  Gurkha  officers.  I  like 
the  colonel.  Then  the  L.F.'s  began  to  come  out  of  the 
trenches,  while  the  Inniskillings  took  their  place  and 
the  Gurkhas  the  Munsters'.  There  was  a  good  deal  of 
crowding  on  the  beach  while  the  change  was  taking 
place.  It  was  a  perfect  night  with  a  full  moon.  The 
L.F.'s  had  just  got  their  Territorial  contingent.  But 
it  is  wonderful  how  soon  they  settled  everything  up- 
There  is  a  capital  fellow  who  always  looks  after  me, 


114    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Shelley,  a  South  African  V.C.  who  helped  save  the 
guns  at  Colenso,  and  has  quite  lived  up  to  his  reputa- 
tion here.  He  is  utterly  cool  and  fearless.  He  takes 
great  interest  in  me,  and  makes  me  a  comfortable  bed 

and  looks  after  me.  I  supped  with  B ,  Bromley, 

and  Q ,  and  at  last  everything  sorted  itself  out  and 

there  was  quiet.  It  was  a  wonderfully  peaceful  night, 
and  I  had  a  good  sleep. 

Friday,  May  28. — In  the  morning  after  breakfast  I 
went  with  Bromley  through  some  trenches  into  the 
gully.  On  the  way  I  buried  an  Inniskilling  who  had 
been  shot  getting  water.  Shaw's  company  was  in  the 
gully.  He  was  very  busy  getting  his  Territorials  into 
order.  I  arranged  to  come  over  and  hold  a  service. 
Then  I  went  down  the  gully  and  stopped  to  lunch  with 

the  R.F.'s.  I  walked  down  to  Gully  Beach  with  J , 

and  we  talked  of  many  things,  and  then  round  by  the 
shore  to  "Y"  beach.  There  I  went  round  and  saw 
the  men,  and  had  a  service  at  5.30.  Not  very  many 
came  but  several  officers.  It  was  rather  a  bad  place. 
Shaw  was  there  and  took  me  back  to  his  company  after- 
wards. I  first  held  a  funeral  service  over  two  men  who 
had  been  buried  immediately  behind  the  firing  line, 
which  was  being  held  by  the  Sikhs.  One  of  the  men 
was  Cowley,  who  had  performed  at  a  concert  I  got  up 
at  Nuneaton.  I  then  came  back  and  had  a  delightful 
service  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  which  the  whole  company 
of  over  200  attended.  I  was  given  a  most  beautiful 
supper  of  soup,  salmon,  fresh  beef,  and  two  vegetables, 
bread  and  jam  and  tea,  and  found  Shaw  had  got  his 
company  into  splendid  order.  He  is  a  good  officer, 
very  strict  with  the  Territorials.  One  of  the  officers 
escorted  me  back  through  the  trenches,  and  I  got  back 
about  9  p.m.  and  had  another  good  night. 

Saturday,    May    29. — I    had    another    Inniskilling 


IN    GALLIPOLI  115 

funeral  (the  poor  fellow  had  been  shot  by  one  of  his 
own  men  returning  from  putting  up  barbed  wire),  and 
had  a  Celebration  on  the  beach,  rather  nice,  with  about 
twenty  altogether,  at  10  a.m.  I  then  packed  up  and 
sent  off  my  things.  They  suddenly  began  to  drop 
6-inch  howitzer  shells  right  on  the  beach.  They  are 
terrifying — a  huge  explosion  and  pieces  flying  several 
hundreds  of  yards  round.  They  had  already  been 
sending  other  shells  which  did  no  damage.  They 
sent  several  more  as  I  crossed  the  hill  into  the  gully, 
but  I  believe  they  did  no  damage.  "  Y  "  beach  seemed 
such  a  secure  place.  I  walked  down  the  gully  and 
lunched  with  the  R.F.'s.  They  had  just  got  orders  to 

go  up  to  the  firing  line  again,  and  T and  Brand- 

reth    returned    from    an    exploration    of    the    's 

trenches,  and  were  very  disgusted  with  them — no 
communication  trenches  and  impossible  to  get  the 
wounded  out.  I  waited  about  and  finally  went  with 

J and  T over  to  brigade  headquarters,  where 

we  had  tea  with  the  new  Brigadier  just  arrived  from 

France,    and   F .     There   was   a   fair   amount   of 

shelling  going  on  and  I  had  a  little  difficulty  in  getting 
back,  via  the  Field  Ambulance,  to  where  my  horse  was. 
I  saw  U—  -  when  I  got  in  about  Sunday  services. 

Trinity  Sunday,   May   30. — I    helped   U at  a 

7  a.m.  Celebration  in  the  Post  Office  tent,  as  I  had  had 
services  with  my  regiments  during  the  week.  There 
were  about  thirty  present.  Then  I  helped  him  with  a 
service  on  Divisional  Hill  at  which  some  of  the  ar- 
tillery and  others  paraded,  and  I  took  the  Celebration 
afterwards  with  about  twenty-five  present.  It  was  a 
hot  and  oppressive  day.  After  lunch  I  rode  off  to  the 
R.F.'s.  A  service  was  impossible  as  they  were  getting 
ready  to  go  into  the  trenches,  and  I  sat  and  listened 
to  all  the  problems,  and  was  much  impressed  with  the 


116    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

way  young  Mundy  did  adjutant's  work  and  seemed  to 
think  of  everything.  They  had  been  digging  a  com- 
munication trench  all  night.  Further  investigation 

had  made  them  only  more  disgusted  with  the  's 

trenches,  and  I  saw  a  very  disagreeable  sight.  I 
crossed  an  open  piece  of  ground  going  to  look  for  a 
place  for  the  doctor  to  make  a  dressing-station  in,  with 
Mundy,  and  found  two  corpses  which  must  have  been 
there  some  weeks.  It  was  rather  a  bullet-swept  place, 
but  they  might  have  been  buried.  We  rescued  some 
shovels  on  the  way  back.  Brandreth  returned  from 
seeing  the  General,  and  I  listened  to  him  giving  out 
orders  for  taking  over  the  trenches.  The  regiment  has 
now  increased  to  over  1000.  They  had  rather  a  diffi- 
cult time  before  them.  Then  I  rode  back  to  Divisional 
Hill  and  held  a  service,  mainly  with  the  Veterinary 
Corps,  and  later  went  down  to  the  Dubsters,  who  had 
taken  up  their  abode  on  the  beach,  and  arranged  an 
extemporized  service  in  a  big  tent  used  for  slightly 
wounded  cases  who  are  able  to  do  light  work.  It  was 
getting  dark,  and  all  the  light  we  had  came  from 
four  candles.  The  tent  was  rilled  with  all  kinds  of  men 
and  we  had  a  delightful  service.  I  preached  on  one 
of  my  favourite  subjects,  Isaiah's  call. 

Monday,  May  31. — The  tragedy  of  the  moment  is 
that  I  have  lost  my  servant.  He  was  a  good  boy.  But 
the  regiment  needed  him  back.  I  hope  to  get  another, 
but  at  present  am  without  one  and  find  it  a  great 
nuisance.  I  missed  the  chaplain's  Celebration,  which 
was  held  at  eight  instead  of  8.30.  Four  new  chaplains 

arrived  to-day,  among  them  I ,  whom  I  knew  well 

at  Keble.  We  had  a  stupid  meeting  at  which  we 
decided  to  have  no  more  general  ones,  and  then  had 
a  C.  of  E.  one,  when  we  discussed  what  to  do  with 
the  new  arrivals.  Moore  took  me  off  to  see  Chater, 


IN   GALLIPOLI 


117 


who  is  now  adjutant  of  a  Marine  battalion  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  and  then  took  me  to  lunch  with  their 
brigade  staff.  It  was  interesting  seeing  something  of 
the  Naval  Division.  We  walked  off  later  to  the  French 
lines  on  the  right,  and  made  our  way  through  crowds 
of  Senegalese  to  Morto  Bay  on  the  Dardanelles,  where 
we  had  a  delicious  bathe,  and  talked  a  lot  to  an  Austra- 
lian artilleryman.  It  was  very  interesting  discussing 
the  Colonial  point  of  view.  One  discusses  the  whole 
situation  ad  infinitum  with  every  one  one  meets.  The 
whole  place  is  full  of  the  wildest  rumours.  We  really 
know  nothing  except  what  we  actually  see.  A  leaflet, 
the  Peninsula  Press,  is  published  every  day,  which 
gives  only  good  news.  Meanwhile  it  seems  more  and 
more  hopeless  to  take  Achi  Baba  by  a  frontal  attack. 
Rumours  of  Italy  sending  an  army  corps,  Balkan  in- 
tervention, etc.,  fly  about.  It  has  been  a  very  quiet 
day.  We  have  no  artillery  ammunition  and  seem 
powerless  to  advance  without.  It  is  getting  much 
hotter.  The  flies  are  very  bad  and  the  dust  terribly 
thick.  However,  there  is  little  sickness. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE   BATTLE   OF   JUNE  4 

(June  1—9) 

Tuesday,  June  i. — I  have  left  my  diary,  as  usual, 
unwritten  for  a  week,  and  now  don't  know  how  to 
write  it.  Such  terrible  things  have  happened  since 
I  last  wrote  that  they  seem  to  have  obliterated  all 
else. 

There  was  much  talk  of  the  big  attack  that  was  to 
be  made  all  along  the  line,  to  be  preceded  by  an  artil- 
lery bombardment.  The  R.F.'s  had  gone  up  into 
the  firing  line  on  Sunday  evening  to  prepare  for  the 
attack.  I  wandered  over  to  brigade  headquarters, 

partly  to  see  F ,  and  partly  to  find  the  way  to  their 

trenches.  F—  -  I  found  laid  up  with  a  broken  ankle, 
the  result  of  a  fall.  He  was  carried  off  later  to  hos- 
pital, and  the  newly  arrived  General  was  deprived  of 
his  Brigade-Major.  The  Battalion  C.O.'s  were  there 
having  a  pow-wow,  and  I  waited  about  till  they  were 
gone,  seeing  Brandreth  coming  out.  Then  I  had  a 
chat  with  F .  I  told  him  it  was  absolutely  impos- 
sible to  take  Achi  Baba  by  frontal  attack.  He  said 
he  was  quite  optimistic,  after  the  wonderful  effects  of 
an  artillery  bombardment.  Then  I  got  into  the  gully 
and  made  my  way,  via  a  long  trench,  into  the  R.F.'s 
headquarters,  where  I  found  Mundy,  and  had  some 
lunch.  He  was  quite  cheerful.  They  were  having 
lots  of  digging  to  do.  He  took  me  round  to  show 

118 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION    119 

me  what  they  had  done.  There  was  a  perfect 
labyrinth  of  trenches,  and  I  went  all  through  them, 
saw  J—  -  in  a  dug-out,  and  found  a  lot  of  digging 
going  on.  The  regiment  was  very  large,  with  drafts, 
and  Territorials,  and  new  officers.  Brandreth  had 
been  called  off  to  another  pow-wow.  More  trenches 
still  were  to  be  dug  that  night.  Every  one  was  tired 
out.  However,  it  had  to  be  done.  Then  I  rode  back 
to  camp. 

Wednesday,  June  2. — So  far  as  I  remember,  I  spent 
most  of  the  day  in  the  R.F.'s  trenches.  They  had 
made  wonderful  progress  in  digging,  but  were  pretty 
well  worn-out.  I  made  a  very  elaborate  tour  of  the 
trenches,  and  buried  various  people.  Their  graves 
had  to  be  dug  in  the  side  of  the  trenches.  I  buried 
two  in  one  grave,  a  New  Zealand  officer,  killed  some 
three  weeks  before,  in  another,  and  a  young  Terri- 
torial N.C.O.,  killed  while  getting  some  water  while 
I  was  there.  The  whole  place  is  littered  with  un- 
buried  dead.  Amphlett  took  me  all  through  his  part 
of  the  trenches,  rather  dangerous  in  places  from  en- 
filade fire.  A  young  officer,  one  of  the  new  arrivals, 
passed  me  on  my  way  out,  and  I  was  told  he  was 
Romanes,  from  Oxford,  but  I  had  no  chance  to  speak 
to  him. 

Thursday,  June  3. — I  again  rode  up  the  gully, 
left  my  horse  there,  and  made  my  way  through  the 
L.F.'s  trenches  to  "Y"  beach.  I  went  all  along  the 
firing  line,  and  had  a  good  look  at  the  Turkish 
trenches  and  barbed  wire.  I  saw  Shaw,  and  chatted 
with  him,  and  had  some  lunch  with  B—  -  in  his  dug- 
out. Cunliffe  returned  from  the  Territorials  while  I 
was  there.  I  went  back  eventually  through  the  sup- 
port trenches  to  the  gully,  and  went  over  to  see  the 
R.F.'s  from  there.  I  was  feeling  a  little  upset,  had 


120    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

slept  a  good  deal  during  the  afternoon,  and  had  rather 
a  headache,  so  I  did  not  go  into  the  trenches,  but 
had  supper  with  Brandreth  and  Mundy  (whom  I  have 
never  seen  again).  They  got  a  message  while  I  was 
there  to  say  they  were  to  be  ready  for  the  attack  the 
next  day.  They  had  had  a  little  rest  that  day,  and 
there  was  to  be  no  digging  that  night. 

Friday,  June  4. — I  got  a  note  from  H ,  saying 

I  was  in  no  case  to  go  beyond  the  first  field  dressing- 
station  of  the  Field  Ambulance.  Otherwise  I  think 
should  have  gone  up  to  the  R.F.'s  dressing-station. 

A and  I  decided  to  change  ambulances,  as  my 

men  would  go  to  the  88th,  and  his  to  the  Sgth.  We 
started  off  together  just  before  the  bombardment.  I 
suppose  the  whole  thing  will  go  down  to  history,  so 
I  need  not  dwell  on  it  unnecessarily.  At  11  a.m.  the 
artillery  started  to  fire  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  then 
paused  for  another  quarter,  when  the  troops  in  the 
trenches  were  supposed  to  shout  and  wave  bayonets  so 
as  to  get  the  Turks  into  the  firing  line,  then  another 
half-hour's  bombardment.  All  we  could  see  was  a  line 
of  smoke  and  dust  all  across  the  peninsula  where  the 
Turkish  trenches  were,  as  the  shells  fell  incessantly 
all  along  the  line.  These  things  have  been  often  de- 
scribed. Certainly  it  seemed  as  though  a  Turk  could 
not  be  left  alive  anywhere.  Then  at  twelve  it  stopped 
(or  was  supposed  to),  and  the  rifle  and  machine-gun 
fire  took  its  place.  We  were  in  a  dug-out  near  the 
Pink  Farm,  and  bullets  began  to  drop  round  us,  one 

dropping  onto  A 's  boot,  so  we  decided  to  retire, 

and  had  some  lunch  at  the  8gth  dressing-station. 
Some  bullets  even  got  as  far  as  there.  The  battle 
raged  all  afternoon.  I  could  make  nothing  out  even 
with  glasses.  I  waited  for  some  time,  but  no  wounded 
seemed  to  come  in.  It  was  impossible  for  them  to  come 


IN   GALLIPOLI  121 

over  the  open  among  the  hail  of  bullets  that  fell.     So  I 

made  my  way  down  to  Gully  Beach  with  R ,  who 

happened  to  come  along.  There  we  found  the  slight 
cases  beginning  to  come  in  in  crowds  to  the  Syth 
Field  Ambulance.  I  saw  several  of  the  R.F.'s,  and 
gathered  they  were  advancing.  But  I  had  learnt 
before  that  it  is  impossible  to  get  accurate  news  from 
the  wounded.  They  are  naturally  a  little  over- 
wrought, and  only  know  just  the  part  where  they 
happen  to  be.  We  waited  round  a  little,  and  then 
started  up  the  gully.  The  gully  was  in  a  perfect  tur- 
moil, of  course,  guns  going  off  on  all  sides,  and  the 
crack  of  the  bullets  tremendously  loud.  They  swept 
down  the  gully,  and  one  or  two  men  were  hit.  I  cannot 
imagine  anything  much  more  blood-curdling  than  to 
go  up  the  gully  for  the  first  time  while  a  fierce  battle  is 
raging.  You  cannot  see  a  gun  anywhere,  or  know 
where  the  noise  is  coming  from.  At  the  head  of  the 
gully  you  simply  go  up  the  side  right  into  the 
trenches.  You  see  nothing  except  men  passing  to 
and  fro  at  the  bottom,  and  there  is  the  incessant  din 
overhead.  Well,  I  went  on  up  to  the  88th  dressing- 
station,  two  thirds  of  the  way  up,  and  found  them 
very  busy.  More  R.F.'s  there.  I  went  right  up  to 
the  head  of  the  gully  to  an  advanced  post  of  the 
87th,  and  found  that  the  R.F.  dressing-station  had 

gone  right  up  to  their  support  trenches,  where  H 

had  been  so  emphatic  I  was  not  to  go.  I  am  quite 
sure  it  is  just  the  place  I  should  have  been.  So  I 
returned  to  the  88th,  and  asked  if  I  might  stay  the 
night,  as  L.F.'s  as  well  as  R.F.'s  were  coming  in. 

1    found    S ,    one   of   the    new    officers,    slightly 

wounded  in  the  arm.     A  terrible  battle  was  going  on. 

Several   officers   killed;   J and   others   wounded. 

However,  I  found  it  impossible  to  gather  much  from 


122    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

him.  The  doctors  gave  me  some  supper  in  a  very 
secreted  sort  of  hollow  in  the  side  of  the  gully,  and 
after  I  had  been  around  and  seen  all  the  wounded,  and 
no  more  seemed  to  be  coming  in,  I  rolled  up  in  a 
blanket,  and  had  a  good  sleep  despite  the  ceaseless 
hail  of  bullets.  I  was  up  about  4  a.m.,  and  went 

down,  to  find  J rather  badly  wounded  through  the 

thigh,  and  in  a  good  deal  of  pain,  but  very  cheery. 
I  was  with  him  on  and  off  most  of  the  morning,  till 
they  took  him  away.  I  was  really  rather  glad  he  was 
as  bad  as  he  was,  as  it  gave  some  hope  that  he  might 
survive  the  war.  A  large  number  of  wounded  had 
come  in,  and  the  wagons  came  up  all  morning  to 
clear  them. 

Saturday,   June   5. — Later   I   went  down   to   Gully 

Beach  and  found  C .     The  place  was  very  full  of 

wounded,  who  were  being  got  off  on  boats  as  quickly 
as  possible.  I  was  feeling  very  weary,  so  I  lay  down 

in  C 's  dug-out,  and  slept  most  of  the  morning. 

Then  I  walked  round  along  the  coast  to  "Y"  beach 
to  see  the  L.F.'s.  Everywhere,  of  course,  I  was  hear- 
ing about  the  battle.  The  left  had  been  held  up, 
unable  to  advance.  The  centre  had  advanced.  The 

casualties  very  heavy.     I  found  B and  Bromley. 

Clayton  and  Cunliffe  had  been  killed,  Shaw  was 
missing.  Three  companies  had  gone  out,  and  the  total 
casualties  were  450.  They  had  just  had  a  large  draft 
of  officers,  and  twenty-five  officer  casualties  altogether. 
I  saw  some  of  them  on  the  beach  waiting  to  be  moved. 

Later  on  I  walked  through  the  firing  line  with  B 

and  Bromley.  The  whole  situation  was  terrible — no 
advance,  and  nothing  but  casualties,  and  the  worst 
was  that  the  wounded  had  not  been  got  back,  but  lay 
between  ours  and  the  Turks'  firing  line.  It  was  im- 
possible to  get  at  some  of  them.  The  men  said  they 


IN    GALLIPOLI  123 

could  see  them  move.  The  firing  went  on  without 
ceasing.  I  saw  the  General,  and  he  said  the  Sikhs 
had  lost  even  more,  all  their  officers  gone,  and  only 
1 80  men  left.  The  5th  Gurkhas,  who  had  just  arrived, 
had  had  heavy  losses.  And  all  this  with  no  gain 
whatever.  He  took  it  quite  philosophically.  No  news 
of  dear  old  Shaw.  It  appeared  the  artillery  had  not 
done  the  damage  to  the  enemy  they  were  supposed 
to  do,  and  the  moment  the  advance  started  their 
machine  guns  played  along  the  top  of  the  parapet, 
and  not  a  man  got  even  up  to  the  enemy's  trenches 
on  the  left.  The  General  had  suggested  putting  up 
a  white  flag,  and  some  one  going  out  to  the  wounded. 
They  tried  this  later,  but  it  failed.  I  buried  eighteen 
of  them  in  one  grave  while  I  was  there.  Several  had 
been  killed  by  our  own  shells,  including  Shelley,  the 
South  African  V.C.  The  majority  of  the  bodies  are 
still  lying  out  there.  In  the  gully  I  buried  four  more 
who  had  died  of  wounds.  I  walked  back  to  "W" 
beach,  feeling  very  sad. 

I  have  known  few  officers  who  took  such  care  of  their 
men  as  Shaw.  He  was  very  strict  and  exact.  But 
he  seemed  to  neglect  nothing.  His  C.O.  said  he  felt 
he  could  leave  him  absolutely  alone,  and  knew  no  one 
on  whom  he  could  more  implicitly  rely.  He  was  a 
splendid  soldier,  and  quite  tireless.  He  led  his  men 
out  that  day  in  perfect  order,  and  I  have  heard  no 
more  of  him  since,  except  a  report  from  one  of  the 
men  that  he  saw  him  fall. 

Clayton  and  Cunliffe  were  two  other  first-rate  com- 
pany commanders.  In  fact,  I  was  always  tremen- 
dously impressed  with  the  careful,  quiet  way  the 
L.F.  officers  did  their  work. 

Sunday,  June  6. — I  was  awakened  very  early  by  the 
sound  of  furious  fighting.  It  had  gone  on  ever  since 


124    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Friday  midday,  but  now  was  intensified.  At  7  a.m. 
I  went  to  a  Celebration,  and  then  off  to  the  8gth  dress- 
ing-station on  the  West  Krithia  road.  Nothing  hap- 
pened all  day.  I  did  a  good  deal  of  digging,  as  shells 
were  dropping  around,  and  they  had  no  very  secure 

place  for  wounded.     I  wandered  off,  and  saw  E , 

the  R.F.  Quartermaster.  I  don't  think  he  had  had 
news  by  then  of  the  morning's  battle.  I  forget  when 
I  heard.  The  Turks  counter-attacked  early  Sunday 
morning,  about  3.30.  Dear  Major  Brandreth,  hear- 
ing the  firing  on  his  left,  went  off  to  see  what  was  hap- 
pening. He  was  last  seen  calling  to  the 's  and 

's,  who  were  breaking,  to  come  on.      Two  men 

say  they  saw  him  hit  in  the  neck.     Mundy  went  off  at 

the  same  time,  and  I  can  get  no  news  of  him.     T 

was  hit,  but  got  away.     This  left  only  G of  the 

original  officers,  and  all  the  ones  who  had  since  joined 
were  gone.  I  forgot  to  say  that  the  day  before  I  had 
seen  young  Romanes  carried  down  to  the  dressing- 
station  with  a  shrapnel  wound  in  the  head — no  chance 
of  recovery,  I  fear.  He  was  quite  unconscious.  I 
hung  round  the  rest  of  the  day,  dodging  shrapnel,  had 
a  nice  service  in  the  evening  with  some  Engineers  who 

had  been  on  the  A with  me,  and  then  came  back 

to  camp. 

Major  Brandreth,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
Royal  Fusiliers  at  the  time,  and  was  presumably  killed 
on  the  morning  of  June  6,  was  greatly  beloved  by 
the  regiment  which  he  led  so  gallantly.  He  had  been 
wounded  at  the  landing,  but  when  he  returned  at  once 
threw  himself  with  remarkable  energy  and  devotion 
into  the  tremendously  difficult  task  that  lay  before  the 
regiment.  He  was,  in  my  opinion,  a  type  of  the 
perfect  English  gentleman,  unfailingly  courteous  to 
every  one,  heedless  of  danger,  indefatigable  in  his 


i^u 

CO 


IN   GALLIPOLI  125 

work,  and  possessed  of  an  absolutely  simple,  straight- 
forward character.  The  men  and  officers  all  loved 
him.  Personally,  I  think  I  felt  his  loss  more  keenly 
than  anything. 

Several  officers  were  killed  on  June  4,  but  I  had 
been  unable  to  get  to  know  them  all.  They  had 
recently  arrived  from  England,  and  were  the  first  of 
the  new  officers  to  join  the  R.F.'s.  They  certainly 
were  a  splendid  sample  of  what  the  new  armies  could 
produce.  I  can  only  single  out  two  for  special  men- 
tion. Captain  Amphlett  assumed  command  of  one 
company.  One  of  the  officers  under  him  had  been 
with  the  regiment  many  years,  having  been  regimental 
Quartermaster-Sergeant.  As  he  lay  seriously  wounded 
afterwards  he  said  to  me,  "  I  never  wish  to  serve  under 
a  better  officer  than  Captain  Amphlett."  I  remember 

Lhim  taking  me  round  his  section  of  the  trenches,  a 
very  dangerous  one,  and  showing  me  all  the  work  he 
had  done  to  improve  them  and  construct  overhead 
cover,  etc.,  where  necessary.  He  seemed  to  make 
himself  one  with  his  men,  and  worked  ceaselessly  for 
them.  They  soon  got  to  know  him  and  value  his 
character.  He  was  killed  shortly  after  the  attack 

mmenced. 

Captain  Jenkinson's  death  was,  I  believe,  described 
later  in  The  Times  as  one  of  the  greatest  losses  to 
science  since  the  war  began.  He  stood  quite  alone 
in  England,  if  not  the  world,  in  his  own  subject, 
Embryology,  and  had  recently  embarked  on  a  course 
of  highly  specialized  investigation  in  that  subject,  in 
which  he  was  a  pioneer.  I  later  met  some  officers 
who  told  me  that  their  hope,  when  at  Oxford,  had  been 
that  when  they  had  taken  their  degrees  in  science, 
they  might  be  able  to  attend  his  lectures.  He  had 
such  a  quiet,  modest  nature  that  I  fear  none  of  us  at 
the  time  realized  his  reputation.  He  had  recently 
been  gazetted  captain,  but  said  nothing  about  it,  pre- 
ferring to  act  as  a  lieutenant.  His  letters  show  what 
a  keen  student  of  Nature  he  was  while  on  the  pen- 
insula, and  how  the  historical  surroundings  of  the 


126    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

place  appealed  to  him.  Strangely  enough,  the  three 
other  pioneers  in  Embryology  have  all  died  within  six 
months  of  his  death. 

Monday,  June  7. — Our  usual  chaplains'  meeting  in 

the    morning    was    hardly   successful :    only    H , 

U ,  and  A—   -  there.     We  decided  to  try  and  get 

a  tent  for  daily  services,  and  to  get  U—  -  more  defi- 
nitely attached  to  the  C.C.S.  I  was  longing  for  news 
of  the  R.F.'s,  but  they  had  not  come  out  of  the 
trenches  yet.  The  battle  had  been  raging  pretty 
incessantly.  I  cannot  remember  what  I  did  that 
afternoon.  I  think  I  went  to  the  8gth  station  on  the 
West  Krithia  road,  where  very  little  was  doing.  The 

86th  Brigade  was  to  be  reconstituted,  with  Y as 

Brigadier.     The  R.F.'s  would  be  out  of  the  trenches 

that  night.     I  discovered  X in  the  hospital,  with 

a  bad  wound  in  the  stomach.  He  was  taking  it  very 
well.  He  had  been  hit  on  Friday  soon  after  the 
advance,  but  had  been  got  back  into  the  trench,  where 
he  lay  for  twenty-six  hours.  He  said  he  could  not 
imagine  that  pain  could  have  been  so  great,  or  an 
experience  so  awful.  The  battle  raged  all  the  time, 
and  he  did  not  know  if  the  Turks  wrould  retake  the 
trench.  Of  course  lying  still  was  the  best  thing  for 
his  wound.  He  lay  in  hospital  several  days,  and 
seemed  to  be  doing  well  when  they  took  him  off.  He 
said  his  verse  for  the  day  happened  to  be,  "I  reckon 
that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  world  cannot  be 
compared  to  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed,"  and  that 
the  words  had  helped  him  to  bear  up  more  than  any- 
thing else. 

From  a  letter  dated  June  7  :  — 

"  A  very  terrible  battle  has  been  raging  the  last  three 


IN    GALLIPOLI  127 

days.  I  must  not  say  anything  about  it,  but  I  think, 
either  killed  or  wounded,  I  have  lost  every  friend  in 
my  special  regiment.  I  have  not  been  able  to  see 
them  yet,  but  hope  to  this  morning.  I  must  not  give 
any  numbers  or  facts.  I  suppose  everybody  in 
England  now  is  beginning  to  realize  what  war  means. 
The  lists  from  France  are  terrible.  It  is  absolutely 
inevitable  they  should  be  so  in  trench  warfare.  To 
win  a  victory  is  practically  an  impossibility,  and  there 
can  be  nothing  but  a  deadlock,  and  endless  slaughter. 
I  see  these  young  fellows  come  out  from  England  full 
of  patriotism.  They  go  straight  into  the  trenches, 
and  are  killed  in  a  day  or  two.  At  least  this  is  the 
result  of  my  observations.  Meanwhile,  I  have  a  job 
in  which  it  is  part  of  my  duty  to  protect  myself  and 
keep  out  of  danger.  It  seems  so  unreasonable  that 
certain  people  should  have  such  jobs.  I  have  to  sit 
in  safety  while  my  regiments  go  into  action,  and  my 
friends  are  lying  untended  between  the  trenches.  And 
yet  we  must  not  be  overwhelrapd  by  the  misery  and 
sufferings  of  war.  I  feel  so  absolutely  certain  that 
these  men  will  find  their  reward  in  ways  they  never 
before  dreamt  of.  Their  sufferings  will  be  their 
blessing.  I  am  so  glad  you  say  people  in  England 
are  brave  about  it  all.  We  think  a  lot  about  them. 
I  don't  think  anything  worries  a  soldier  so  much  as 
thinking  others  are  worrying  over  him.  Of  course 
they  cannot  help  it,  but  their  bravery  will  help  him. 
Everybody  does  hate  it  all  so  terribly.  I  think  it  is 
better  they  should.  It  would  be  rather  terrible  if  they 
liked  it — so  unnatural.  One  so  easily  becomes  faith- 
less and  says,  "To  what  purpose  is  this  waste  ?  "  But 
there  must  be  a  great  underlying  purpose,  and  men 
who  feel  it  all  must  turn  to  God,  and  leave  it  with  Him. 
The  battle  never  stops,  and  there  is  no  spot  free  from 
shell  fire.  They  started  shelling  the  beach  last  night 
from  the  Asiatic  side  after  we  were  all  asleep;  but 
fortunately  they  did  no  damage,  though  one  shell 
spluttered  earth  onto  my  tent.  But  one  gets  quite 
cunning  at  avoiding  shells.  Only  they  have  a  stupid 


128    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

way  of  dropping  them  at  any  moment  on  any  spot, 
quite  at  haphazard.  And  no  place  within  two  miles 
of  the  firing  line  is  free  from  stray  bullets,  which  drop 
into  the  most  unaccountable  places,  and  occasionally 
hit  a  man.  However,  these  are  little  risks  that  cannot 
be  avoided." 

Tuesday,  June  8. — I  went  to  Gully  Beach,  where  I 
found  what  was  left  of  the  R.F.'s,  and  stayed  with 
them  till  Friday.  It  was  so  tragic.  I  came  out  with 
such  a  magnificent  regiment,  with  such  regimental 
pride,  and  such  a  united  and  delightful  band  of 
officers.  Only  one  left,  G ,  the  former  Sergeant- 
Major,  besides  the  Quartermaster.  He  was  asleep 

when  I  arrived.     There  were  Corporal  M ,  and  the 

other  officers*  mess  orderlies — but  no  mess.  The  regi- 
ment had  dug  incessantly  for  five  days,  and  then  fought 
incessantly  for  three  days.  They  had  lost  five  out 
of  the  six  remaining  Officers,  all  the  ten  officers  who 
had  recently  joined  them,  and  somewhere  about  200 
of  the  remaining  men.  Of  the  original  regiment, 
including  transport,  stretcher-bearers,  etc.,  140  were 
left.  The  Sergeant-Major  was  still  there,  and  seemed 
all  right,  but  had  to  knock  off  work  for  three  days. 

G was  quite  played  out.     I  made  every  possible 

inquiry  during  the  following  days  after  Brandreth  and 
Mundy.  Two  men  said  they  saw  Brandreth  hit  in 
the  neck;  one  said  he  saw  his  orderly — since  missing 
— bandage  him  up.  But  no  one  had  seen  his  body. 
Mundy  was  quite  lost  sight  of.  Were  they  wounded 
prisoners?  Not  likely,  but  just  possible.  The  men 
were  wonderfully  cheery.  They  take  things  very 
calmly,  and  were  glad  to  be  on  the  beach,  where 
they  could  get  plenty  to  eat,  and  plenty  of  sleep 
in  perfect  peace  and  bathe  as  often  as  they  liked. 
Corporal  M gave  me  some  supper,  and  we  tried 


IN    GALLIPOLI  129 

to  pretend  it  was  the  same  mess.  A  scout  party  went 
out  that  night  to  try  and  discover  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  but  could  do  nothing  owing  to  the  heavy  fire. 
Dear  old  Brandreth,  it  is  too  terribly  tragic.  I  would 
give  anything  to  know  where  he  is.  And  Mundy, 

too.     I  am  only  glad  that  J has  got  a  sufficiently 

serious  wound  to  keep  him  away  from  it  all  for  a  good 
while.  I  collected  the  regiment  in  the  evening,  and 
spoke  to  them  and  tried  to  cheer  them  up.  I  slept 
with  G—  -  in  his  dug-out,  and  tried  to  cheer  him  up. 

E ,   the  Quartermaster,   appeared,   and  was  very 

cheery. 

Wednesday,  June  9. — I  stayed  on  at  Gully  Beach 
with  the  R.F.'s.  I  wanted  to  look  after  the  mess,  and 
help  keep  them  going  if  possible.  A  Captain  Taylor, 
of  the  Dublins,  arrived  to  take  command.  He  was 
followed  by  a  number  of  officers  from  different  regi- 
ments. A  draft  also  arrived  in  driblets — altogether 
about  200  men,  making  the  grand  total  up  to  nearly 
500.  The  new  officers  were  all  strange  to  each  other 
and  the  regiment.  I  believe  there  are  about  fifteen  of 
them  now.  I  find  it  difficult  to  get  to  know  them. 
There  was  absolutely  none  of  the  old  regimental  feel- 
ing left.  I  slept  with  one  of  the  new  arrivals  that 
night  and  the  following.  The  mess  swelled  to  large 
numbers,  and  we  were  always  having  visitors.  The 
88th  Brigade  were  relieved,  and  I  awoke  to  find  the 
Hants  streaming  down.  They  only  had  100  odd  fight- 
ing men  left,  and  no  officers ;  so  there  was  one  regiment 
worse  than  ours. 


CHAPTER    X 

IN   ABERDEEN   GULLY 

(June  10 — 27) 

Thursday,  June  10. — I  awoke  to  find  the  Munsters 
had  streamed  down  on  the  top  of  us.  They  had  been 
with  the  Dublins  in  some  reserve  trenches  on  the  top 
and  had  had  a  tremendous  shelling.  The  L.F.'s  had 
also  come  down  during  the  night.  I  had  been  with 
them  the  day  before.  The  officers  had  a  most  beautiful 
and  commodious  dug-out.  The  Brigade  Headquarters 
were  close  by.  But  the  Turks  dropped  three  9*2  Black 
Marias  among  them  that  evening,  killed  an  R.F., 
wounded  three  who  were  on  guard  and  several  other 
men,  including  a  young  Munster  officer  just  attached 
to  the  staff  who  later  died  of  his  wounds.  So  every- 
body made  for  the  beach  that  night,  and  there  was 
a  scene  of  the  most  tremendous  confusion  and  crowd. 
I  saw  the  L.F.'s  several  times  before  they  moved. 

P had  had  a  lot  of  fever  and  looked  very  pulled 

down.  Bromley  seemed  to  be  keeping  everything 
going.  Despite  their  enormous  losses  they  still  had 
over  500  left  as  they  had  had  a  very  big  draft,  and 

there   seem   to   be   plenty   of   officers   about.     B 

was  very  played  out  too.      He  has  now  gone  off  to 

Imbros  for  a  rest,  and  P has  gone  as  well.     I 

spent  my  time  wandering  about  among  the  regiments 
and  seeing  all  kinds  of  people.  The  gully  has  become 

130 


ci 
w 

; 


: 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION    131 

practically  the  base  for  the  2gth  Division.  The  Divi- 
sional Headquarters  are  there  now,  and  General  De 
Lisle  has  just  arrived  as  Divisional  General.  The  Re- 
serve brigades  are  put  on  the  beach  and  in  the  gully 
now.  Stray  bullets  are  very  bad.  They  drop  at  a 
tremendously  sharp  angle,  and  men  may  be  hit  any- 
where, and  occasionally  are.  It  makes  it  feel  a  little 
uncomfortable.  At  night  when  the  firing  is  heavier, 
we  used  to  hear  them  drop  into  the  water.  But  the 
beach  is  practically  safe  from  shell  fire. 

Friday,  June  1 1 . — I  stayed  on  till  late  evening,  going 
up  the  gully  a  bit,  bathing  with  the  L.F.'s,  and  holding 
two  services,  one  for  the  R.F.'s  in  the  middle  of  the 
crowded  beach,  and  one  with  the  L.F.'s  up  a  little 

uiet  gully.  All  the  end  of  the  week  we  had  very  bad 
wind  which  blew  the  sand  about  everywhere,  and  made 
things  very  disagreeable  and  people  rather  snappy. 

he  first  regiments  of  the  new  Lowland  Division  had 
arrived.  It  seems  so  terrible  taking  these  boys  and 
making  them  attack  a  position  like  Achi  Baba.  They 

ut  them  almost  straight  into  the  firing  line  so  as  to 
rest  the  poor  88th  Brigade,  but  could  only  keep  them 
there  three  days.  The  Turks  went  on  shelling  all  day, 
that  the  battle  which  had  begun  the  previous  Friday 
may  be  said  only  to  have  died  down  that  night.  The 
feeling  of  strangeness  in  the  R.F's  did  not  wear  off, 
and  of  course  the  new  arrivals  were  feeling  a  little 
gloomy.  In  fact  it  has  been  exceedingly  difficult  re- 
covering from  the  effects  of  the  last  battle.  The  Divi- 
sion now  is  practically  unrecognizable,  despite  the 
drafts.  I  think  the  South  Wales  Borderers  have  the 
largest  number  of  original  officers  left — eight.  Of 
course  it  is  no  use  brooding  over  it,  or  worrying  about 
those  who  have  been  killed,  or  the  fact  that  we  did  not 
succeed  on  Friday.  This  is  war,  and  one  must  harden 


132      WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

one's  heart  and  live  in  hope.  But  one  lives  in  a  curious 
sense  of  insecurity.  There  is  not  a  spot  on  this  part 
of  the  peninsula  which  is  in  our  hands  that  is  free 
from  shell  fire.  Most  of  it  is  within  range  of  the 
bullets.  And  submarines  are  continually  prowling 
about,  cutting  off  our  shipping  or  sinking  our  men-of- 
war.  They  don't  seem  to  bother  over  small  supply 
boats,  which  still  lie  anchored  off  "W"  beach  quite 
calmly.  I  got  in  about  9  p.m.  that  night,  and  just  as 
I  was  going  off  to  sleep  they  started  dropping  Black 
Marias  close  to  us,  a  very  alarming  experience  at  night. 
They  did  not  actually  fall  in  our  camp  and  I  think  did 
no  damage,  but  their  explosion  at  night  is  terrific. 
They  came  across  the  water  from  Asia.  The  original 
Asiatic  Annie  only  fired  small  common  shells,  which 
did  little  damage.  She  fired  at  a  supply  boat  for  some 
time  next  morning,  but  did  not  hit  it.  But  we  don't 
like  her  new  friend.  Shell  fire  is  curious.  It  only 
occasionally  does  any  damage,  and  then  quite  unex- 
pectedly. I  think  I  felt  more  terrified  as  I  lay  in  my 
dug-out  that  night  than  at  any  other  time. 

Saturday,  June  12. — I  have  been  having  a  good  deal 
of  trouble  about  my  batman  which  I  need  not  go  into 
in  detail.  The  A.S.C.  had  at  last  sent  me  one,  but  he 
knew  nothing  about  horses,  and  consequently  was 
rather  miserable  and  asked  to  be  returned.  So  I  had 
to  let  him  go,  though  he  was  a  good  boy.  Now  I  hope 
to  get  one  of  the  Field  Ambulance  men  whom  I  had 
before,  which  will  be  much  better.  I  spent  part  of  the 

morning  discussing  things  with  U and  H , 

and  sat  a  good  deal  writing  in  the  tent  while  the  wind 
raged  and  the  sand  was  intolerable.  I  took  a  funeral 
in  the  middle  and  the  sand  simply  stung  my  face. 
The  wind  delayed  the  landing  of  troops  and  stopped 
the  aeroplanes.  I  walked  off  to  the  gully  in  the  after- 


LOOKING    UP   GULLY    RAVINE.      THIS   WAS   THE    MAIN    LINE   OF 
COMMUNICATION   ON   THE   LEFT   CENTRE 


GULLY   BEACH   AT   THE   MOUTH    OF    GULLY    RAVINE 

The  Headquarters  of  the  2§th  were  eventually  established  on  the  right  foreground.    Tents 
of  the  8jth  Field  Ambulance  in  the  distance. 


: 


IN   GALLIPOLI  133 

noon  and  had  tea  with  the  loth  Battery,  where  young 
L —  -  is,  and  arranged  a  Celebration  at  the  White 
House,  the  end  of  the  support  trenches  in  which  the 
R.F.'s  are.  I  also  looked  in  on  the  brigade  officers 
who  now  have  moved  into  the  gully,  and  I  gave  out 
the  service  to  various  units.  It  was  a  wonderfully 
peaceful  day — very  little  firing  of  any  kind. 

Sunday,  June  13. — I  had  a  heavy  day.  First  a  Cele- 
bration at  7  a.m.  on  "  W"  beach.  Then  I  walked  into 
the  gully  and  had  another  Celebration  at  10  a.m.,  at 
the  White  House,  to  which  not  many  came.  Later  a 
parade  service  for  the  46oth  Howitzer  Battery,  which  I 
enjoyed  much.  The  Major  is  a  delightful  man.  He 
was  in  France,  and  is  very  happy  here,  and  has  four  de- 
lightful young  officers  under  him  whom  he  has  trained. 
I  think  they  must  be  Territorials.  I  had  a  very  plea- 
sant lunch  there.  The  wind  was  less  violent  and  there 
was  very  little  firing  again.  I  walked  to  the  head  of 
the  gully  and  had  a  little  service  for  the  Munsters, 
then  back  to  Headquarters  of  86th  Brigade  and  had 
an  evening  service  there.  I  so  much  prefer  these  little 
open-air  services.  I  walked  back  here,  and  felt  pretty 
dead  when  I  got  in. 

Monday,  June  14,  and  Tuesday,  June  15,  mixed 
up. — The  advanced  dressing-station  of  the  8gth  Field 
Ambulance  was  to  move  up  to  the  top,  or  near  the  top, 
of  the  big  gully.  So  I  decided  to  go  with  them,  especi- 
lly  as  my  brigade  was  up  in  the  firing  line.  I  had  a 
boy  in  the  ambulance  given  me  as  a  servant,  a  much 
more  satisfactory  arrangement.  So  I  sent  him  up  in 
a  wagon  with  my  things.  We  had  a  little  clerical 

meeting  that  morning.  C has  gone  sick  with 

dysentery.  It  is  getting  rather  prevalent,  and  most  of 
our  insides  are  more  or  less  upset.  At  the  meeting  I 
heard  A.B. of  Jerusalem  and  late  of  Smyrna  had 


134    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

just  arrived  as  chaplain  to  the  newly  arrived  Lowland 
Division.  So  I  decided  to  ride  over  that  way  and  try 
and  see  him.  Their  camp  is  about  a  mile  from  " W" 
beach.  They  are  all  dug  in  as  every  one  has  to  be 
now.  I  inquired  of  a  Presbyterian  chaplain  who 
pointed  out  where  he  was,  and  as  I  was  riding  over  to 
the  place,  suddenly,  without  any  warning,  a  Black 
Maria  from  Asia  dropped  just  about  ten  or  fifteen  yards 
immediately  in  the  direction  I  was  riding  and  made  a 
terrific  explosion,  throwing  bits  of  earth  out  of  a  hole 
about  ten  feet  across  and  four  and  a  half  feet  deep  for 
a  tremendous  distance  around.  My  horse  turned  at 
once  and  bolted,  and  for  quite  an  appreciable  time 
afterwards  pieces  kept  dropping  all  round  us.  I  as- 
sure you  I  did  not  check  him,  and  postponed  my  visit 

to  A.B. A  few  seconds  later  and  I  should  not  be 

writing  now.  Another  dropped  about  200  yards  from 
me,  and  I  made  off  for  the  gully  as  quickly  as  I  could. 
They  have  been  strewing  them  indiscriminately  all  over 
the  peninsula.  They  are  extraordinarily  alarming,  but 
only  occasionally  do  any  damage,  and  then  usually  to 
horses  and  mules,  which  have  been  slain  in  quantities, 
poor  things.  However,  they  at  any  rate  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  shot  if  badly  wounded. 

One  day  during  the  week  they  dropped  150  shells 
on  "W"  beach,  half  of  them  Black  Marias.  I  only 
know  of  two  men  actually  killed,  but  every  one  was 
tremendously  alarmed.  I  wonder  if  people  at  home 
realize  that  we  are  fighting  under  these  conditions. 
You  cannot  get  out  of  danger.  You  cannot  rest  a 
regiment  without  a  few  men  getting  hit  every  day  by 
stray  bullets  or  shrapnel.  Of  course  some  places  are 
better  than  others,  but  none  are  absolutely  immune. 
It  is  a  wonder  to  me  how  calmly  every  one  takes  the 
situation.  Then  added  to  all  this  we  hear  the  Turks 


IN    GALLIPOLI  135 

are  bringing  up  twelve  ID-inch  howitzers  and  that  che- 
mists have  arrived  in  Constantinople  to  make  artificial 
gas,  and  we  have  all  been  provided  with  respirators. 
It  is  impossible  to  advance  more  than  a  few  yards  at 
a  time  and  that  at  enormous  cost.  However,  we  hear 
that  two  divisions  of  Kitchener's  Army  are  on  their 
way,  which  is  excellent  news  if  true. 

Do  people  realize  our  conditions,  I  wonder,  in  Eng- 
land ?  I  don't  quite  see  why  we  should  be  the  only 
people  who  do.  If  we  are  wrong  we  will  gladly  be 
corrected.  It  seems  so  unfair  that  the  people  who  have 
to  do  the  thing  have  absolutely  no  say  in  the  planning, 
and  further,  that  they  should  be  volunteers  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  German  idea  is  perfectly  intelligible.  One 
is  taught  from  the  earliest  that  one  exists  for  the  State, 
and  that  the  State  has  absolute  right  to  control  all  its 
citizens.  It  says  "Go  here,"  and  you  go  without  ask- 
ing a  question.  We  say  that  the  State  exists  for  the 
interest  of  its  citizens  to  serve  them,  and  that  England 
is  a  free  country.  The  voluntary  system  seems  abso- 
lutely incompatible  with  war  neither  initiated  nor  con- 
trolled by  the  people.  I  have  just  read  these  pages  to 
one  of  our  doctors  and  asked  him  if  he  considers  it  a 
truthful  statement  of  fact,  and  he  says  absolutely,  only 
perhaps  I  am  inclined  to  be  a  little  pessimistic.  I  have 
no  desire  to  be  pessimistic,  only  truthful,  and  I  hate  a 
false  optimism  which  tries  to  pretend  that  everything 
is  going  well  when  secretly  one  feels  very  doubtful. 
The  men  are  marvellous — even  now  in  the  2Qth  Divi- 
sion, which  must  have  lost  as  many  men  and  more 
officers  than  it  started  with.  I  think  if  facts  were  abso- 
lutely clearly  faced  at  home  we  are  still  wise  and  great 
enough  to  find  a  solution .  The  whole  nation — not  merely 
volunteers — will  have  to  back  us  up.  One  sees  so 
many  things  one  did  not  see  before.  Personally  I  have 


136     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

absolute  faith  in  our  capacity  as  an  Empire  to  bring 
everything  to  a  successful  conclusion.  I  am  not  at  all 
pessimistic  there.  It  is  only  our  inconceivable  stu- 
pidity and  muddle  and  incompetence.  Why  should 
not  every  single  person  in  the  Empire  take  their  own 
share,  and  do  or  give  whatever  is  asked  of  them  ?  It 
would  make  it  much  easier  for  everybody.  We  only 
want  to  feel  that  we  are  all  doing  our  part  and  putting 
forth  our  best  energies.  Only  we  must  all  be  told  the 
plain  facts  and  needs,  and  realize  all  the  difficulties  and 
look  forward  a  little.  This  would  save  us  from  panic 
and  worry  and  every  one  would  feel  perfectly  calm.  I 
think  the  Colonies  are  teaching  us  a  great  lesson.  The 
spirit  of  the  Australians  and  New  Zealanders  here  is 
beyond  all  praise.  Well,  perhaps  I  am  only  saying 
what  people  generally  are  thinking,  and  if  so  it  will 
all  come  right,  and  the  needless  sacrifices  we  have 
made  will  not  be  so  needless  as  they  appear.  Per- 
haps even  those  in  high  positions  will  learn.  I 
still  feel  it  is  all  so  good  for  us.  So  why  am  I  a 
pessimist  ? 

Well,  to  resume.  I  rode  up  to  the  dressing-station, 
which  I  must  describe.  It  is  about  500  yards  from  the 
firing  line  in  a  little  gully  called  Aberdeen  Gully  (as 
the  Sgth  come  from  there),  which  runs  off  from  the  big 
gully.  A  narrow  path  about  fifty  yards  long  had  been 
cut  out  of  the  bed  formed  by  a  stream,  now  dry. 
The  path  runs  up  into  a  little  natural  amphitheatre  in 
the  cliff,  about  fifteen  yards  in  diameter.  The  sides  of 
the  gully  are  almost  precipitous,  but  it  has  been 
widened  enough  at  places  to  make  a  dressing-station, 
cook-house,  and  officers'  mess,  and  the  amphitheatre  is 
also  used  as  a  dressing-station  if  necessary.  It  is 
almost  absolutely  safe,  but  bullets  have  a  way  of  drop- 
ping anywhere,  and  a  man  got  one  in  his  arm  last 


IN    GALLIPOLI  137 

night,  and  one  was  at  the  foot  of  my  dug-out  this 
morning.  My  dug-out  is  reached  by  a  little  flight  of 
steps  partly  cut  out  of  the  soft  rock  and  partly  made 
of  sandbags.  It  is  only  just  large  enough  for  me, 
and  is  cut  into  the  rock  with  a  piece  of  corrugated  iron 
as  cover.  It  is  very  snug  and  away  from  people,  and 
I  sleep  on  pine  branches.  There  is  a  mountain  battery 
close  by  which  they  shell  a  good  deal,  and  pieces  come 
flying  over  us  at  times.  It  is  pretty  noisy,  as  every- 
thing re-echoes  in  the  gully,  and  always  at  dusk  the 
Turks  start  to  fire  and  bullets  whirr  overhead  inces- 
santly. When  a  battle  is  on  there  is  a  good  deal  of 
shrapnel  bursting  all  around,  and  it  is  rather  alarming ; 
but  the  bullets  are  really  the  most  dangerous.  I  spent 
the  day  mostly  in  preparing  my  dug-out  and  fixing 
things  up  generally,  but  slept  in  the  theatre  that  night. 
I  had  a  very  nice  little  service  with  the  Munsters,  who 
were  in  the  reserve  trenches,  and  arranged  for  a  Cele- 
bration the  next  morning  in  the  theatre.  I  found  an 
officer  who  was  very  keen  to  have  one.  But  they  had 
a  little  battle  next  morning  (Wednesday,  June  16),  and 
the  Munsters  had  to  be  called  to  arms.  The  Dublins 
were  attacked  in  a  curious  trench,  which  we  share  with 
the  Turks,  with  a  barricade  between.  The  Turks  came 
out  and  threw  hand-grenades  at  them,  and  they  had 
about  50  casualties  ( 10  killed),  but  claimed  to  have  killed 
about  200  Turks.  This  meant  that  the  Celebration  I 
had  arranged  was  upset  and  only  one  officer  appeared. 
However,  we  had  one  together.  I  had  been  all  through 
the  trenches  the  day  before,  and  it  was  interesting  to 
see  the  trenches  which  the  Turks  had  dug  and  which 
we  now  occupy.  The  L.F.'s  were  in  them.  Bromley 
is  now  both  C.O.  and  Adjutant,  and  seems  very  much 

to  enjoy  it.     I  think  B ,  who  has  gone  away  for  a 

rest,  was  getting  a  little  played  out,  and  Bromley  finds 


138    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

it  easier  to  be  adjutant  to  himself.  P had  also 

gone  sick  with  malaria. 

That  and  the  following  days  I  spent  around  the 
gully,  and  did  not  go  away  farther  than  down  to  the 
beach.  We  opened  the  station  for  patients  on  Wed- 
nesday and  the  8yth  cleared  off,  and  we  have  been 
handling  practically  all  the  patients  since.  There  are 
only  a  few,  except  when  there  is  an  actual  battle.  I 
took  the  opportunity  of  being  here  to  do  some  writing, 
and  hoped  I  would  have  plenty  of  time,  but  it  is  sur- 
prising how  it  goes.  Just  above  us  a  mule-track  leads 
over  the  hill  down  to  "Y"  beach  on  the  other  side, 
where  the  Indian  Brigade  is  holding  the  line  between 
us  and  the  sea.  I  often  go  up  to  the  top  to  a  place 
where  the  artillery  have  an  observation  station,  and  it 
is  possible  to  see  the  whole  peninsula  behind  and  the 
maze  of  trenches  in  front,  and  watch  any  artillery  work 
that  may  be  on,  and  look  all  over  the  sea  and  see  what 
ships  are  about.  They  often  drop  shells  round  us,  as 
there  is  a  mountain  battery  close  by  which  draws  a 
lot  of  fire. 

On  Friday  (June  18)  I  went  down  to  Gully  Beach. 
The  86th  Brigade  had  been  relieved  on  Thursday 
morning  by  the  Syth,  and  were  in  camp  on  the  beach. 
I  wanted  to  see  if  there  would  be  any  opportunity  for 
holding  services.  I  saw  the  Dublins  and  Munsters 
camping  in  the  gully  on  the  way.  The  L.F.'s  and 
R.F.'s  were  next  door  on  the  cliffs.  They  were  to 

be  inspected  by  Brigadier  Y ,  so  I  arranged  a 

little  service  immediately  after  in  between  their  lines, 
and  we  had  a  very  nice  little  gathering  on  the  beach. 
The  R.F.'s  seem  such  a  strange  regiment  now  that  I 
have  seen  very  little  of  them  lately.  I  don't  find  the 
officers  so  friendly,  of  course  they  hardly  know 
each  other,  and  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  have  any 


IN   GALLIPOLI  139 

corporate  feeling.     C.D. ,  who  came  out  with  the 

last  draft,  is  now  C.O.  W—  -  of  the  cyclists  has  also 
joined  them.  The  other  officers  are  just  a  scratch  lot 
got  together  anyhow.  I  feel  more  at  home  with  the 
L.F.'s,  as  Bromley  is  still  C.O.  I  went  to  hold  a 
service  with  the  Dublins  and  Munsters  afterwards,  but 
they  did  not  come.  A  battle  was  just  beginning,  and 
we  could  hear  the  Turks  giving  our  trenches  at  the  top 
of  the  gully  a  violent  bombardment,  and  soon  bullets 
began  to  hail  down.  It  started  about  6.30.  No  one 
was  expecting  anything.  A  lot  of  the  shells  came 
farther  down  the  gully.  I  started  to  go  up  to  the  dress- 
ing-station, but  the  bullets  were  getting  very  thick 
and  I  turned  into  a  dug-out  on  the  side  of  the  road. 
One  or  two  struck  the  road  close  to  me.  Then  I  saw 
an  ambulance  wagon  pass  and  got  into  it.  Close  to 
the  White  House  we  found  every  one  cowering  in 
their  dug-outs,  and  they  shouted  to  us  to  gallop.  A 
mounted  orderly  came  tearing  up  to  us  and  said,  "For 
God's  sake  gallop."  They  had  just  been  shelling  that 
bit  of  the  road  heavily,  so  we  galloped,  and  the  wagon 
swayed  from  side  to  side.  It  was  quite  exciting. 
Several  horses  had  been  killed.  At  last  we  got  up 
to  the  dressing-station,  but  the  wagon  took  cover 
for  a  bit  before  leaving  with  the  few  patients  we 
had. 

The  battle  continued  all  night,  and  the  firing  was 
very  heavy.  The  wounded  started  to  come  in  pretty 
soon,  slight  cases  as  usual  first.  I  decided  to  stay  up 
with  the  doctors.  There  is  little  one  can  do,  except 
distribute  cigarettes  and  say  a  word  or  two  to  the  men. 
They  came  pouring  in  all  through  the  night.  They 
had  had  a  tremendous  shelling  over  the  dressing- 
station,  as  evidently  they  imagined  we  had  reserves  in 
the  mule-track  trench  just  above  it.  Major  Archibald 


140    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

of  the  engineers  was  hit  up  there  and  Davidson  went 
off  to  see  him,  but  he  was  too  bad  to  be  moved.  As 
the  night  went  on  we  got  more  and  more  filled  up  until 
every  place  was  taken.  We  had  to  send  up  to  "W" 
beach  for  another  bearer  party,  which  arrived  about 
2.30  a.m.  under  Maurice,  and  got  safely  through  the 
bullets.  We  were  really  wonderfully  fortunate  in 
having  no  casualties  among  the  bearers,  who  were  con- 
tinually going  up  to  the  regimental  dressing-stations 
for  cases,  with  bullets  flying  about  everywhere.  The 
cases  were  very  nasty — a  number  of  them  caused  by 
hand-grenades.  We  had  over  a  hundred  in  that  night 
and  the  next  morning.  There  were  two  officers  of  the 
South  Wales  Borderers.  One  died  after  they  had 
taken  him  away,  I  heard.  I  sat  and  talked  a  good 
deal  with  another  officer,  a  nice  fellow,  with  a  painful 
but  not  dangerous  wound.  Fortunately  the  88th  next 
door  were  able  to  open  up,  else  we  could  hardly  have 
taken  in  every  one. 

The  battle  went  on,  on  and  off,  next  day  (Saturday, 
June  19).  It  was  all  over  the  trench  we  share  with  the 
Turks,  where  the  Dublins  had  had  their  little  fight. 

Farther  down  the  line  the s  broke  and  the  Royal 

Scots  and  some  Worcesters  had  to  go  to  their  help 
and  retake  a  trench.  Altogether  I  know  of  about  200 
casualties,  mostly  South  Wales  Borderers  and  Innis- 
killings.  I  had  a  good  many  funerals  to  take  that 
morning,  among  them  Cass,  an  officer.  They  said 
that  heaps  of  Turks  had  been  killed,  if  that  is  any 
consolation,  and  that  they  had  managed  to  retake  every- 
thing. It  was  rather  a  nasty  little  battle,  but  nothing 
compared  to  June  4.  I  went  down  the  gully  in  the 
afternoon  to  arrange  services  for  Sunday.  We  cleared 
all  the  wounded  pretty  quick  and  it  v/as  practically 
empty  when  I  got  back. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  141 

Sunday,  June  20. — I  had  no  Celebration  myself,  but 

rode  down  to  the  beach,  where  I has  a  tent  now 

close  to  the  new  Divisional  Quarters,  where  a  Cele- 
bration for  every  one  is  held.  I  breakfasted  after  with 
the  L.F.'s  and  then  had  a  parade  for  them  on  the 
beach,  the  first  formal  parade  I  have  had — quite  a  large 
crowd.  The  Brigadier  came  halfway  through.  Then 
I  had  a  smaller  parade  with  the  R.F.'s  next  door,  and 
afterwards  climbed  the  cliff  to  the  46oth  Battery  and 
had  a  nice  service  with  them,  lunching  with  the  officers 
after  it.  They  are  extremely  pleasant.  Batteries  al- 
ways are.  They  do  not  have  many  casualties  and  are 
able  to  keep  their  identity,  and  don't  have  a  very  hard 
life  or  much  strain,  and  are  consequently  very  cheerful. 
Then  I  walked  all  along  the  top  of  the  cliff  to  other 
batteries,  and  eventually  returned  to  the  New  Zealand 
Battery  and  had  a  service  there,  and  then  came  back 
and  had  one  here  in  the  theatre  for  the  ambulance  men 
and  some  others.  It  makes  a  splendid  place,  being 
absolutely  closed  in.  So  I  had  a  fairly  heavy  day. 

Monday,  June  2i.~I  rode  off  to  " W"  beach  for  the 
chaplains'  meeting,  to  which  only  a  few  turned  up,  and 
lunched  with  the  Field  Ambulance.  Then  I  rode  back 

by  the  cliffs  and  found  A.B. at  the  ist  Field 

Ambulance.  He  was  in  great  form,  full  of  energy 
and  quite  happy,  and  it  was  nice  seeing  him  again  and 
talking  over  things  of  years  ago  now.  Then  I  saw 

F on  Gully  Beach.  He  had  just  returned  after 

having  been  away  with  a  sprained  foot.  He  was  much 
distressed  about  the  miserable  June  4  battle,  and  I  felt 
very  inclined  to  say  I  told  you  so.  I  walked  up  with 
him  to  see  the  L.F.'s,  and  then  back  to  Aberdeen 
Gully. 

I  cannot  remember  what  happened  that  week,  day  by 
day.  It  was  a  quiet  week  and  the  weather  was  plea- 


142    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

sant.  We  had  nights  with  practically  no  firing.  The 
brigade  went  up  into  the  firing  line,  I  think  on  Thurs- 
day. They  had  the  trenches  on  the  right  of  the  gully. 
The  L.F.'s  stayed  down  in  the  support  trenches  by 
the  White  House,  and  the  R.F.'s  and  Munsters  were 
in  the  firing  line,  and  the  Dublins  partly  in  the  support 
trenches  by  the  gully  cemetery.  I  had  one  or  two  ser- 
vices during  the  week,  two  in  Aberdeen  Gully.  The 
-doctors  are  all  very  pleasant  and  nice  to  be  with.  They 
•come  out  for  four  days  at  a  time  each  with  their  sec- 
tions of  bearers  and  orderlies.  As  a  rule  they  are  very 
slack  with  practically  nothing  to  do.  I  wandered  about 
during  the  week  a  good  deal.  One  day  I  rode  down  to 
"  W  "  beach  to  see  Hordern,  the  principal  chaplain  for 
the  whole  army,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Alexandria 
for  a  couple  of  nights.  He  was  very  nice  and  we  dis- 
cussed many  things.  H has  gone.  Other  days  I 

was  either  down  with  the  regiments  on  the  beach  or  up 
in  the  trenches  or  supports  to  see  them.     Also  Sunday 
had  to  be  arranged  for.     There  was  very  little  fighting 
on  our  side  all  week.     The  French  had  a  battle,  and 
made  a  small  advance  after  a  most  tremendous  bom- 
bardment lasting  on  and  off  for  three  days.     A  most 
welcome  mail  arrived  during  the  week,  and  I  managed 
to  write  a  few  letters,  but  seemed  to  get  no  opportunity 
of  writing  my  diary.     Then  came  Sunday — a  busy 
-day  with  six  services — very  hot.     I  had  a  service  with 
the   roth   Battery  at    11.30,   and  lunched  with  them 
afterwards.     During  the  afternoon  the  368th  Battery 
across  the  gully  from  us  was  being  shelled  and  the 
scrub  got  on  fire.     Some   men   went  to  put   it  out, 
and  one  was  killed  and  two  wounded.     So  my  service 
with  them  resolved  itself  into  a  funeral.     Going  back 
up  the  gully  all  was  preparation  for  the  coming  battle. 
I  had  heard  all  the  details  from  the  artillery  people. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  143 

I  found  the  L.F.'s  bivouacking  in  the  gully  and 
had  a  little  service  with  them.  Then  I  had  one  in 
Aberdeen  Gully.  I  was  very  tired  and  went  off  to 
bed. 

I  had  an  alarming  experience  that  night.     I  think 

1  have  described  my  little  perch  cut  in  the  cliff  on  the 
right  side  of  the  gully.     Immediately  above  it  runs  a 
mule-track  which  goes  over  to  the  sea.     It  is  the  way 
by  which  they  carry  all  provisions  to  "Y"  beach. 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  bustle  that  night;  mules 
going  to  and  fro  all  day.     I  had  the  usual  internal 
upset  and  was  lying  in  my  little  dug-out.     It  was 
covered  by  a  piece  of  corrugated  iron  set  on  some 
fairly  strong  posts.     I  was  suddenly  awakened  about 

2  a.m.  by  the  most  terrific  crash.     It  seemed  as  though 
the  whole  world  was  falling  on  me.     I  felt  I  was  being 
buried  alive,  and  struggled  into  a  sitting  position,  earth 
pouring  off  me.     I  heard  a  voice  shouting  and  wailing 
and  groaning  above  me,  and  I  shouted  out  to  ask  what 
on  earth  they  were  doing.     "Oh,  he  kicked,  sir,"  was 
the  only  answer  I  could  get,  followed  by  more  groans. 
Then  a  lot  of  the  ambulance  people  collected.     I  was 
sleeping  in  pyjamas  and  a  dressing-gown,  and  shouted 
out  I  was  all  right.     The  whole  dug-out  was  a  mass  of 
debris  covering  all  my  things.     In  the  middle  of  it  all 
lay  a  water  tank  with  the  water  pouring  out.     How  I 
was  not  killed  I  don't  know.     It  turned  out  that  a 
mule  with  two  tanks  full  of  water  had  fallen  down  about 
twenty  feet  onto  the  top  of  me,  and  had  then  rolled 
into  the  gully  and  trotted  off  unhurt.     I  was  not  even 
scratched.     I  slept  on  a  stretcher  down  below  for  the 
rest  of  the  night,  and  have  now  made  myself  a  new 
shelter  at  the  bottom. 

The  work  done  by  the  Syth,  88th,  and  Sgth  Territorial 


144    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

Field  Ambulances  attached  to  the  2gth  Division  is  de- 
serving of  much  praise.  Being  attached  to  the  8gth 
Field  Ambulance,  which  in  turn  was  attached  to  the 
86th  Brigade,  I  naturally  saw  most  of  them.  The 
medical  and  surgical  skill  of  the  doctors  was  of  a  very 
high  order,  but  had  little  opportunity  to  show  itself. 
Either  there  were  very  few  cases  coming  in,  or  there 
was  a  tremendous  rush  making  it  possible  to  do  very 
little  beyond  redressing  the  wounds  which  had  already 
been  dressed  at  the  regimental  dressing-stations.  But 
the  doctors  were  very  anxious  to  do  what  was  possible 
when  the  rush  was  not  too  great  to  clean  up  the  wounds 
and  perform  minor  operations,  and  in  many  cases 
managed  to  do  this  later  on  with  very  beneficial  results. 
They  always  seemed  anxious  to  do  as  much  work  as 
possible,  and  were  ably  supported  by  the  orderlies  and 
stretcher  squads.  At  the  Sgth  we  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing a  very  snug  dressing-station  in  Aberdeen  Gully, 
where  the  patients  might  be  secure  and  undisturbed 
while  shells  burst  overhead. 

Of  all  the  medical  work  I  saw  in  hospitals  and  else- 
where, and  I  saw  a  great  deal,  nothing  could  exceed 
the  devotion  of  the  regimental  doctors,  orderlies,  and 
stretcher-bearers.  The  2Qth  Division  was  exception- 
ally fortunate  in  their  medical  officers.  No  matter  how 
fast  the  cases  poured  in  they  went  on  working  till  all 
were  attended  to.  If  one  regimental  dressing-station 
was  full,  the  nearest  doctor  would  always  lend  a  hand, 
and  on  occasions  one  would  find  men  of  various  regi- 
ments in  a  regimental  dressing-station.  The  stretcher- 
bearers  went  out  amidst  the  greatest  danger  quite  fear- 
lessly to  bring  in  their  wounded  comrades,  and  would 
go  on  till  they  dropped  with  exhaustion.  They  often 
had  to  carry  a  patient  down  nearly  a  mile  of  narrow 
trench  till  they  could  find  the  dressing-station,  which 
had  to  be  in  a  comparatively  safe  spot,  and  many  lost 
their  lives  doing  so. 

I  well  remember  seeing  one  of  the  regimental  medical 
officers  one  day  lying  seriously  wounded.  He  had 
heard  that  one  of  the  officers  in  his  regiment  who  had 


IN   GALLIPOLI 


145 


'one  out  to  the  attack  lay  in  front  of  the  trench  and 
ras  still  moving.  Without  hesitation  he  jumped  over 
the  parapet  and  tried  to  get  to  him,  but  was  wounded 
in  the  thigh  on  the  way.  He  had  shown  singular 
levotion  in  his  work,  and  was  always  ready  to  assist 
my  regiment  when  not  busy  with  his  own.  All 
the  men  I  saw  were  enthusiastic  about  their  medical 
tfficers. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  BATTLE  OF  JUNE  28,  AND  AFTER 

(June  28 — July  14) 

Monday,  June  28. — Another  battle.  Oh,  how  ter- 
rible they  are  !  It  began  at  10  a.m.  in  earnest,  with  a 
terrific  artillery  bombardment,  which  had  started  the 
night  before.  At  11  a.m.  the  infantry  went  out  and 
the  wounded  started  to  pour  in.  First  the  slight  cases 
able  to  walk,  in  crowds.  Everything  seemed  to  be 
going  well.  The  Turks  were  on  the  run  and  we  had 
got  a  line  or  two  of  trenches.  Then  later  on  in  came 
the  stretcher  cases,  and  kept  coming  all  night  and  next 
day  till  about  2  p.m.  We  had  five  doctors  fortunately, 
and  five  wagons  working  the  whole  time  clearing  the 
wounded  down  to  Gully  Beach.  In  twenty-four  hours 
we  had  had  500  wounded  through,  and  the  88th,  who 
are  next  door,  about  the  same  number.  We  were  about 
as  full  as  possible  all  the  time.  Eight  died  here,  but 
were  unconscious.  The  heat  was  terrific  and  the  flies 
were  simply  awful.  It  was  impossible  to  keep  them  off. 
I  was  not  feeling  well  and  was  pretty  limp.  There  is 
little  I  can  do.  The  men  are  just  longing  for  the 
wagons  to  take  them  away.  We  had  men  from  all 
regiments.  The  majority  seemed  to  have  shrapnel 
wounds.  Our  artillery  had  given  such  a  terrific  bom- 
bardment that  the  Turkish  infantry  simply  disappeared 
and  only  the  guns  played  on  the  advancing  troops. 
But  the  rifle  fire  started  towards  evening,  when  the 

146 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION    147 


EDublins  lost  heavily.  I  went  over  to  "Y"  beach  in 
the  afternoon  to  see  how  they  were  getting  on  there, 
and  found  them  full  of  wounded,  about  400  cases  alto- 
gether. An  artillery  officer  was  lying  there  with  his 
leg  blown  off.  He  died  afterwards.  I—  -  was  there, 
so  I  did  not  stop.  The  L.F.'s  and  R.F.'s  had  made 
the  last  advance,  and  I  gathered  had  lost  practically 
all  their  newly  collected  officers.  I  was  so  tired  that  I 
slept  part  of  the  night,  but  was  up  at  dawn.  They  had 
been  evacuating  all  night. 

Tuesday,  June  29. — We  had  a  visit  from  the  General 
in  the  morning.  He  wras  in  a  terrible  temper.  Every- 
thing was  in  a  muddle.  Where  was  the  medical 
officer  ?  How  many  stretchers  could  he  send  off  at 
once  to  J  1 1,  which  he  had  found  still  full  of  wounded  ? 
Kellas,  who  was  in  charge,  said  he  would  see.  "  Don't 

ftalk  so  much.  Don't  go  away.  I've  got  you  now. 
Can  you  send  6,  50,  500?"  "Oh,  perhaps  six." 
"Well,  send  them  up  immediately  under  a  medical 
officer."  So  I  volunteered  to  go  as  well,  and  we  even- 
tually made  a  party  of  seven  stretcher  squads  (four  men 
to  a  squad),  two  doctors,  and  myself.  We  went  up  the 
gully  to  J  11,  the  newly  captured  trench.  It  was  inter- 
esting to  see  the  gain  of  ground  and  the  things  left 
behind  by  the  Turks,  especially  after  having  looked  at 
it  all  so  long  through  a  periscope.  After  many  in- 
quiries we  found  J  n,  but  understood  that  there  were 
no  wounded,  and  that  the  General  had  been  sending  all 
inds  of  stretcher  squads  up.  However,  we  decided 
e  must  go,  and  went  a  long  way  along  till  we  got 
o  the  Gurkhas.  We  found  one  wounded  man,  and 
wo  more  were  hit  while  we  were  there.  Meanwhile 
hirty  men  had  been  taken  away  from  their  proper 
mployment.  The  stretcher  squads  should  have  been 
rrying  the  men  from  the  regimental  dressing-station 


148     WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

to  the  Field  Ambulance,  and  we  were  getting  urgent 
requests  for  this  all  the  time.  However,  Generals  have 
to  be  obeyed,  and  it  was  quite  interesting.  We  gained 
about  1000  yards  along  the  sea-coast  and  500  along 
the  gully.  The  R.F.'s  came  out  with  three  officers 
out  of  the  ten  and  250  out  of  the  500  men,  the  L.F.'s 
with  two  officers  out  of  ten  and  220  out  of  400  men. 
The  Dublins  lost  ten  officers  killed  and  one  wounded 
and  236  men ;  the  Munsters  not  so  heavily.  Fitz- 
Clarence,  a  fine  officer  just  arrived  to  the  R.F.'s;  Floyd, 
an  original  Dublin  who  had  been  in  the  M— 
with  me ;  Bousefield,  such  a  nice  boy,  also  an  original 
Dublin,  who  had  been  wounded ;  Taylor,  and  many 
others  were  amongst  the  killed.  The  new  Lowland 
Division,  just  arrived,  lost  very  heavily  in  the  left 
centre,  their  Brigadier  being  killed  and  three  Colonels 
laid  out.  The  Indian  Brigade  and  the  other  brigades 
of  the  8gth  Division  also  lost  a  good  deal.  The  total 
casualties  must  have  been  at  least  3000  with  the  usual 
enormous  number  of  officers.  I  have  since  heard  that 
a  brigade  of  the  newly  arrived  Lowland  Division, 
some  3000  strong,  went  out  to  take  H  12,  a  trench  in 
front  of  our  left  centre.  There  had  been  no  previous 
artillery  bombardment !  The  result — only  about  1300 
came  back,  the  Brigadier  and  two  Colonels  killed  and 
some  1 700  men  knocked  out,  practically  nothing  gained, 
and  almost  a  whole  brigade  put  out  of  action.  These 
things  seem  to  happen  every  battle.  The  amount  of 
unnecessary  lives  simply  thrown  away  is  appalling. 
Well,  we  managed  to  get  pretty  clear  in  the  afternoon, 
though  they  kept  coming  in  all  the  time.  The  8jtl\ 
Brigade  relieved  the  86th  during  the  day  and  the  poor 
remnants  of  regiments  came  out  for  rest.  It  was  a 
terribly  hot  day,  the  hottest  we  have  had,  and  the  water 
supply  to  the  trenches  had  been  difficult  to  keep  going. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  149 

The  men  looked  pretty  collapsed  when  they  came  out. 
The  L.F.'s  rested  in  the  old  support  trench.  Only 

three  officers  remained :  C ,  a  lieutenant  who  had 

been  in  France,  was  in  command;  Bromley  had  been 
wounded  with  shrapnel  in  the  heel,  but  had  insisted  on 
carrying  on  all  night,  and  then  arrived  at  the  dressing- 
station  ;  D ,  the  only  other  original  officer,  had 

had  rather  a  nasty  wound  close  to  the  lung.  I  tried 
to  fix  up  a  little  shelter  from  the  glaring  sun  for  the 
three  survivors,  who  were  quite  played  out.  Later  I 
went  lower  down  the  gully  where  the  R.F.'s  were. 

Fortunately  their  three  survivors  included  C.D. , 

the  C.O.,  and  W ,  the  adjutant.    C.D. —  -  is  doing 

exceedingly  well.  He  was  pretty  upset  by  the  battle. 
Fitz-CIarence  was  one  of  his  chief  friends.  Eustace, 
Willet,  and  Ayreton's  bodies  had  not  been  recovered. 
The  difference,  as  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  is 
that  now  I  hardly  know  the  officers  who  are  killed. 
I  did  not  stay  long  as  they  were  all  so  tired.  The  heat 
had  finished  everybody.  I  was  feeling  very  well  and 
fit  myself.  I  carried  a  man  a  long  way  on  a  stretcher 
in  the  morning. 

Major  Bromley  had  come  out  as  adjutant  to  the  2nd 
Lancashire  Fusiliers.  He  had  been  ship's  adjutant  on 
the  A—  -  on  our  way  out  and  managed  everything 
exceedingly  well,  showing  every  one  unfailing  cour- 
tesy. This  was  the  second  time  he  had  been  wounded. 
He  had  been  C.O.  as  well  as  adjutant  for  some  two  or 
three  weeks  previous  to  the  28th.  He  had  an  abso- 
lutely cool  head  and  never  seemed  in  the  least  per- 
turbed or  worried,  and  saw  to  everything  himself.  He 
was  very  powerfully  built,  a  splendid  gymnast  and 
swimmer.  His  wound  was  not  serious,  and  he  re- 
covered from  it  in  Egypt  and  set  sail  on  the  Royal 
Edward,  where  he  was  put  in  command  of  all  troops 
on  board  some  time  in  August.  The  Royal  Edward 


150    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

was  torpedoed  on  its  way  to  Mudros,  and  sank.  Brom- 
ley, so  I  have  since  been  told,  started  to  swim,  but  a 
boat  collided  with  him  and  stunned  him,  and  he  was 
drowned.  In  my  opinion  he  was  one  of  the  finest 
soldiers  in  the  Division. 


Wednesday,  June  30. — The  L.F.'s  and  R.F.'s  went 
down  to  the  beach  and  stayed  there  till  Saturday  night, 
when  they  relieved  the  88th  Brigade.  They  had  a 
thorough  good  rest.  Another  batch  of  officers  arrived, 
and  the  R.F.'s  now  have  ten  or  so  and  the  L.F.'s  about 
six.  On  Thursday,  after  lunching  with  the  R.F.'s,  I 
went  up  to  J  12  to  try  and  see  if  I  could  discover  the 
bodies  of  any  of  the  missing  officers.  I  took  a  guide 
with  me,  who  said  he  knew  where  they  had  fallen.  I 
went  up  by  Gurkha  Bluff  and  through  J  u  A — a  long 
communication  trench  running  along  the  top  of  the 
cliff,  parallel  with  the  sea  for  quite  1000  yards,  to  J  13 
and  beyond,  which  was  our  main  gain.  The  Turks  had 
retaken  J  13  and  part  of  J  12,  which  were  difficult  for 
us  to  hold,  but  we  have  held  J  1 1  A  and  dug  a  diagonal 
trench  from  the  junction  of  J  1 1  A  and  J  13  back  to  J  1 1, 
which  is  now  the  firing  line.  Between  J  11  and  J  12 
the  ground  was  littered  with  dead.  A  number  of 
Turks  had  got  cut  off  and  were  lying  mixed  up  with 
our  own  dead.  I  went  down  J  12  and  looked  through 
a  periscope.  A  lot  of  firing  was  going  on  and  bomb- 
throwing,  so  it  was  impossible  to  do  much,  but  I  was 
shown  where  Eustace  and  Ayreton  probably  were. 
The  day  before  I  had  gone  up  the  gully  to  look  for  the 
bodies  of  L.F.'s  killed  on  June  4.  I  took  three  of  the 
R.A.M.C.  with  me.  They  had  fallen  just  in  front  of 
J  9.  I  did  want  to  find  Shaw's  body.  But  we  found 
the  ground  was  mostly  exposed  to  fire  from  across  the 
gully  except  one  small  part.  There  were  bodies  in  all 


IN   GALLIPOLI  151 

states  of  decay,  and  I  saw  the  worst  sights  I  have  yet 
seen.  However,  I  can  stand  most  things  now.  But  I 
could  not  touch  them.  The  men  did  not  mind  and  we 
collected  a  few  discs.  J  10  had  a  number  of  men  killed 
on  the  28th  and  they  were  the  worst,  South  Wales 
Borderers  mostly.  It  was  altogether  rather  horrible. 
I  cannot  understand  why  they  don't  sometimes  try  and 
arrange  an  armistice  and  bury  the  dead.  But  I  have 
heard  of  no  attempt  having  been  made.  I  went  down 
to  the  beach  again  on  Friday  and  Saturday  and  saw 
the  regiments.  On  Saturday  I  had  services  with  them, 
as  they  were  to  go  up  again  that  night.  I  also  buried 
a  driver  of  the  46oth  Howitzer  Battery,  and  had  a  very 
impressive  little  funeral  with  the  battery  all  lined  up. 
The  Major  is  a  most  punctilious  officer  and  a  splendid 
man.  I  had  a  good  many  funerals  all  through  the 
week.  The  greatest  care  is  taken  of  the  graves,  and 
nice  little  crosses  with  names  printed  on  are  put  up 
everywhere.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  shelling  both 
evenings,  and  I  had  two  rather  exciting  gallops  up  the 
gully.  I  think  it  was  Friday  evening  when  word  came 
that  the  Turks  were  massing  and  bombarding  the 
trenches  on  the  left,  and  the  regiments  on  the  beach 
were  to  be  ready  to  fall  in  any  moment.  They  were 
shelling  the  gully,  and  the  batteries  on  either  side.  1 
sat  in  a  dug-out  for  some  time,  but  eventually  decided 
I  must  go  on,  and  galloped  for  all  I  was  worth. 

Sunday,  July  4. — A  quiet  day.  My  brigade  was  all 
up  in  the  trenches,  so  there  was  nothing  much  for  me 
to  do.  I  celebrated  at  the  88th  next  door,  and  then  went 
a  round  of  batteries  :  46oth  Howitzers,  New  Zealand, 
and  97th  R.F.A.  While  I  was  at  the  New  Zealand  a 
huge  French  transport  ship  was  sunk  just  off  "  W  " 
beach  by  a  submarine  and  disappeared  in  about  three 
minutes.  Fortunately  she  was  empty.  A  French  am- 


152    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

munition  dump  was  also  blown  up  during  the  after- 
noon. Rather  an  unlucky  day  for  them.  Then  I  went 
up  the  gully  to  the  firing  line  and  had  a  little  service 
with  the  Dublin  and  South  Wales  Borderers'  stretcher- 
bearers  ;  then  back  here  for  one  in  Aberdeen  Gully  for 
the  ambulances.  It  is  a  great  opportunity  for  teaching 
just  now ;  men  are  thinking  and  experiencing  many 
things  and  their  thoughts  need  guiding. 

Monday,  July  5. — About  3.45  we  were  awakened  by 
a  most  terrific  bombardment,  which  did  not  really  stop 
till  10.30.  In  this  little  gully  it  is  impossible  to  know 
what  is  happening.  It  seemed  as  though  we  were 
sending  the  most  shells  over  at  first.  And  then  the 
Turks  sent  more  and  more.  They  simply  flew  over  in 
hundreds.  I  think  we  are  almost  absolutely  secure  in 
here.  But  shells  came  as  close  as  possible.  Two  Jack 
Johnsons  fell  in  the  88th  gully  next  door,  and  one  blew 
their  kitchen  to  pieces.  But  they  could  not  get  us. 
We  expected  a  tremendous  influx  of  wounded  but 
hardly  any  one  came,  perhaps  twenty-four  altogether, 
mostly  slight — Dublins.  It  seemed  as  though  the 
bombardment  would  never  end.  It  rather  amused  me, 
as  there  was  so  much  noise  and  so  little  damage.  I 
wandered  down  the  gully  later  on  to  find  out  how  much 
damage  had  been  done,  but  could  hear  of  very  little. 
I  buried  one  engineer,  and  one  or  two  stray  men  were 
killed  and  wounded.  "  W  "  beach  had  a  simply  terri- 
fic shelling,  I  believe,  and  an  aeroplane  dropped 
bombs,  but  I  have  not  heard  of  much  damage  done, 
though  people  were  very  alarmed  there.  They  are 
shelling  it  continually  now  and  it  must  be  most  un- 
pleasant. It  appears  that  the  Turks  had  planned  a  big 
attack,  but  our  guns  had  got  onto  them.  A  good  deal 
of  slaughter  was  done  and  the  attack  broke,  and  they 
did  us  practically  no  damage,  which  is  a  comfort. 


IN    GALLIPOLI  153 

Their  shell  fire  is  not  particularly  accurate,  and  they 
simply  seemed  to  drop  shells  indiscriminately  over  the 
peninsula. 

Tuesday,  July  6. — The  South  Wales  Borderers  had 
a  nasty  little  scrap  early  this  morning  over  the 
"Turkey-trot  trench,"  i.e.  a  trench  we  share  with  the 
Turks  with  a  barricade  between  us.  They  tried  to 
take  a  part  held  by  the  Turks,  and  managed  to  get 
three  officers  killed  and  about  ten  men  ;  and  some 
twenty-four  wounded  came  in  here.  I  went  up  and 
buried  some  of  them.  The  way  officers  get  killed  off 
is  really  dreadful,  and  so  unnecessary.  I  took  a  funeral 
service  with  an  R.C.  priest.  We  each  said  prayers. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  off  with  T (one  of  the 

doctors)  for  a  long  expedition  in  the  trenches.  I 
wanted  to  go  up  and  see  the  brigade.  There  is  a 
perfect  maze  of  trenches.  The  brigade  is  now  in  the 
right  centre.  We  got  to  them  through  a  long  winding 

communication  trench  used  for  mules.  T went 

back,  but  I  went  all  the  length  of  the  firing  line  and 
had  tea  with  the  R.F.'s.  It  was  a  great  joy  to  find 
E.F. —  —back  again  as  adjutant.  I  got  some  news 
from  him  of  wounded  officers.  He  will  be  a  great  help 

to  the  regiment.  C.D. makes  a  splendid  C.O.  It 

was  quite  late  before  I  got  back.  The  men  had  been 
having  a  quiet  time  in  the  trenches  and  were  very 
cheery. 

Wednesday,  July  7. — I  stayed  in  and  wrote  most 
of  the  morning,  made  another  long  trip  through  the 
trenches  in  the  afternoon,  and  found  everything  again 
very  quiet.  A  new  division  of  Kitchener's  Army  has 
actually  arrived  and  we  are  really  to  go  off  for  a  little 
rest.  The  8yth  Brigade  goes  to-night  to  Imbros  and 
I  expect  we  go  next.  I  have  not  seen  much  of  the  new 
divisions.  I  have  lost  a  good  deal  of  energy  and 


154    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

confine  it  mainly  to  my  own  particular  job,  and  cease 
to  take  much  interest  in  what  goes  on  outside.  It  is 
very  hot  and  the  nights  are  getting  warm.  I  amuse 
myself  by  cooking  and  trying  to  vary  our  feeding 
arrangements,  and  we  now  have  infinitely  superior 
meals.  The  soup  squares  I  got  from  home  are  speci- 
ally good.  We  have  porridge  every  morning  for 
breakfast — a  great  improvement,  and  we  have  actually 
taught  the  cook  to  make  toast.  I  even  made  some  fish 
cakes  one  day.  We  have  had  masses  of  chocolate  sent 
out — mostly  all  melted,  though  I  have  been  very  lucky 
personally.  Parcels  were  delayed  for  about  a  month 
and  we  had  nothing.  Now  we  have  profusion.  But 
biscuits,  cake,  and  tinned  fruit  are  what  we  like  best. 
However,  we  cannot  complain  about  food  now,  though 
it  was  getting  impossible  to  eat  any  more  bully  this 
hot  weather. 

Thursday,  July  8.— I  rode  in  to  "W"  beach  in  the 
afternoon.     I  had  not  been  there  for  a  long  time.     I 

wanted  to  see  U among  other  things,  but  found 

him  out.  Of  course  he  had  chosen  just  that  day  to 
come  out  and  see  me.  He  hates  "  W  "  beach.  They 
are  always  being  shelled  there.  Our  ambulance  has 
been  wonderfully  lucky.  They  have  not  had  a  man 
or  horse  killed  yet.  I  wanted  to  get  some  money,  but 
found  the  field  cashier  was  sick  and  had  gone  off,  and 
no  one  was  appointed  in  his  place ;  so  I  did  not  succeed 
in  doing  much.  When  I  came  back  I  attempted  some 
baking  in  a  cunningly  constructed  stove,  made  out  of 
a  zinc  ammunition  box  set  into  the  side  of  the  cliff 
with  a  little  tin  chimney  fixed  into  it.  Thompson  and 
Stevens  were  very  amused,  because  when  I  started  to 
cook  the  supper  the  zinc  all  melted  away  and  the  whole 
thing  collapsed.  However,  they  all  acknowledged  it 
was  a  good  idea.  I  started  to  read  "Paradise  Lost  " 


IN   GALLIPOLI  155 

which  I  am  enjoying,  and  was  delighted  to  find  the 
lines — 

"  From  morn  till  noon  he  fell,  from  noon  till  dewy  eve, 
On  Lemnos,  the  yEgean  Isle." 

Friday,  July  9. — I  kept  quiet  all  day.  The  mail  had 
arrived  the  evening  before  and  there  were  many  letters 
to  be  written.  One  must  take  it  quietly  now  and  then 
in  this  weather.  I  had  some  very  delightful  letters 
which  cheered  me  immensely.  It  is  extraordinary  how 
much  the  mail  means  to  people  here  and  how  many 
letters  they  write.  I  think  getting  and  writing  letters 
are  the  greatest  relief  from  war.  One's  mind  is  carried 
away  to  other  things.  People  always  write  apologiz- 
ing for  their  petty  doings.  But  these  are  just  what  we 
like.  I  think  we  all  feel  we  would  like  to  get  away  and 
lead  petty  uneventful  lives  for  the  rest  of  our  existence. 
I  wanted  to  go  round  the  trenches  in  the  evening  and 
started  off,  but  was  blocked  by  Kitchener's  Army,  which 
was  swarming  up  the  gully,  four  deep,  a  very  cheering 
sight.  They  seem  splendid  men,  ever  so  superior  to 
the  Territorials  we  have  been  getting,  much  steadier 
and  maturer  to  look  at,  and  exceedingly  keen.  They 
all  want  to  take  the  hill  right  away.  They  have  been 
put  into  the  support  trenches,  and  sent  up  into  the 
firing  line  by  platoons  along  with  the  2Qth  Division, 
so  as  to  get  gradually  accustomed.  I  decided  it  was 
better  not  to  attempt  going  up  that  day,  so  returned. 

Saturday,  July  10. — I  went  up  to  the  trenches  pretty 
soon  after  breakfast  and  walked  through  them  for  miles. 

First,  W took  me  all  through  the  R.F.  lines,  and 

carried  out  a  most  thorough  inspection  of  the  trenches 
and  saw  that  everything  was  thoroughly  cleaned  up. 
It  is  really  wonderful  that  the  men  keep  as  well  as  they 
do.  The  flies  simply  swarm  everywhere  and  the  place 


156    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

is  strewn  with  dead  bodies.  The  head  of  a  Turk  was 
hanging  out  of  the  parapet  in  a  sap  they  were  dig- 
ging ;  a  heel  in  another  place.  It  is  wonderful  how  one 
gets  used  to  all  these  sights.  The  heat  would  be 
really  oppressive  if  it  was  not  that,  being  on  a  penin- 
sula, there  is  usually  a  breeze  blowing  from  the  sea 
somewhere.  I  went  all  through  the  86th  Brigade  lines 
into  the  Lanes.  Territorial  lines,  and  all  round  through 
support  trenches,  and  had  no  lunch  and  got  very  hot 
getting  back  here  to  tea.  I  had  had  another  stove 
fixed  up,  made  this  time  of  an  empty  biscuit  tin,  and 
baked  some  scones.  I  had  no  baking-powder,  but 
they  gave  me  some  bicarbonate  of  soda  tabloids,  and 
with  some  bacon  fat  and  Ideal  milk  and  sugar  and  flour 
I  mixed  up  my  dough  and  baked  some  beautiful  scones 
— more  like  dough-nuts — their  only  fault  being  they 
were  burnt  underneath,  which  was  almost  inevitable. 
It  amused  the  ambulance  men  a  good  deal. 
Sunday,  July  n. — I  had  nothing  planned,  as  my 

brigade  was  all  up  in  the  firing  line.     A had  asked 

me  to  take  a  service  for  him  on  "W"  beach.  I  got 
a  note  at  7.30  a.m.  from  I—  -  to  say  he  had  gone  off 
with  his  brigade  to  Lemnos,  and  M ,  the  newly  ar- 
rived chaplain,  who  was  to  relieve  him,  had  developed 
dysentery  :  would  I  take  a  7  a.m.  Celebration  ?  I  called 
in  on  M—  -  on  Gully  Beach  on  my  way  to  "W" 
beach  and  found  him  very  low  indeed — almost  speech- 
less. No  service  had  been  held.  However,  I  could 
do  nothing  and  walked  on  to  '*  W  "  beach.  I  had  some 
difficulty  in  finding  the  exact  spot  where  the  service 
was  to  be.  There  were  about  twenty  men  there,  under 
a  ledge  of  rock  by  the  lighthouse.  Just  as  we  started 
they  began  to  fire  Black  Marias  very  close  to  us. 
Pieces  from  the  first  one  dropped  exceedingly  close 
to  me.  I  managed  to  keep  quite  calm,  but  one  of 


IN   GALLIPOLI  157 

the  men,  the  moment  a  shell  burst,  dropped  flat  on 
the  ground.  I  think  an  aeroplane  that  had  just  de- 
scended was  attracting  the  fire.  I  went  afterwards  to 
the  ordnance  and  succeeded  in  buying  a  suit  of  khaki 
drill  for  8s.  6d.  after  filling  in  a  number  of  forms.  Then 
I  lunched  at  the  8gth  and  was  given  a  loan  of  a  horse 
back  to  Gully  Beach.  My  horse  is  temporarily  lame 
and  being  treated  on  the  beach.  He  was  nearly  slain 
by  a  Black  Maria  the  night  before,  which  burst  very 
close  to  him,  but  he  fortunately  escaped  with  a  graze.  I 
rode  to  Gully  Beach  to  see  if  I  could  do  anything  there. 
I  held  a  little  service  for  the  Border  Regiment,  and 
tried  to  arrange  one  for  the  Engineers,  which  did  not 
come  off.  Then  I  walked  back  up  the  gully,  and  got 
in  for  late  tea.  I  wandered  up  to  the  top  afterwards  to 
see  if  anything  could  be  done,  but  found  everything 
very  quiet.  Rumours  of  a  battle  next  day  had  been 
prevalent  some  time.  I  came  back  to  Aberdeen  Gully 
and  had  a  service  at  7  p.m. 

Monday,  July  12. — They  seem  to  have  changed  their 
day  for  battle  from  Sunday  to  Monday.  We  were 
warned  the  night  before  to  be  ready.  The  whole  pre- 
ceding week  had  been  very  quiet,  practically  nothing 
happening  all  along  the  line.  We  seem  to  have  to 
wait  till  we  can  collect  a  supply  of  shells.  Well,  the 
main  battle  was  to  be  on  the  right.  Our  end  was  only 
subsidiary.  The  bombardment  started  at  4.20.  The 

wounded  began  to  come  in  soon  after  five.     P and 

D had  come  out  at  midnight  to  help.     It  was  only 

a  small  action  at  our  end — a  complete  failure.  The 
Dublins  were  to  try  to  take  a  Turkish  sap.  The  ar- 
tillery bombardment  failed  and  the  machine  guns  got 
onto  them,  and  the  majority  that  went  out  were 

knocked  out.     We  had  about  fifty  wounded.     P 

worked  on  the  bad  cases  and  gave  the  deep  wounds 


158    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

(there  were  some  horrible  ones)  a  proper  cleaning. 
There  were  two  Dublin  officers  in  but  not  seriously 
wounded,  a'nd  an  artillery  officer  from  368th  Battery, 
also  slight.  One  of  the  new  Kitchener  officers  was 
brought  in  dying,  hit  through  the  head.  We  were 
kept  pretty  busy  during  the  early  morning,  but  man- 
aged to  get  them  all  cleared  by  about  10  a.m.  I  had 
a  busy  morning.  First,  I  went  right  up  to  the  firing 
line  to  see  about  burying  two  Hants  men,  but  their 
graves  were  not  dug,  and  I  discovered  a  Kitchener 
Army  chaplain  up  there  who  said  he  would  bury  them 
for  me.  Then  I  heard  that  a  Dublin  stretcher-bearer 
had  been  killed  and  arranged  to  bury  him.  The 
R.F.'s  had  also  had  one  killed,  so  I  went  up  through 

the  trenches  to  P 's  dressing-station  and  found  his 

body  had  been  carried  down  to  ours.  I  was  afraid  the 
R.F.'s  had  been  in  the  battle  too,  and  was  relieved  to 
find  they  had  not.  The  battle  was  on  the  extreme 
right,  and  the  French  were  said  to  be  making  good 
progress.  I  tried  to  make  it  out  through  the  glasses, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  see  anything.  So  I  returned  and 
buried  the  Dublin  stretcher-bearer  (they  are  all  Church 
of  England,  being  bandsmen),  and  then  came  back 
here  and  buried  the  R.F.  stretcher-bearer  and  an 
artilleryman  who  had  died  in  the  dressing-station. 

C came  in  to  lunch.     It  was  very  hot  and  he 

does  not  like  it.  It  is  wonderful  how  I  manage  to 
survive.  I  am  even  recovering  a  good  deal  of  energy. 
An  artillery  officer  of  the  46oth  Battery  arrived  to 
say  their  sergeant-major  had  been  killed  :  would  I 
come  and  bury  him  ?  The  46oth  is  a  special  favourite 
of  mine,  and  the  sergeant-major  always  used  to  give 

the  hymn  papers  round.     U wanted  a  meeting  of 

chaplains  on  "  W  "  beach.  The  artillery  officer  lent 
me  his  groom's  horse  and  we  rode  off  down  the  gully 


IN    GALLIPOLI  159 

to  the  beach,  where  I  buried  an  Australian  artillery 
captain  and  arranged  for  the  other  funeral,  and  then 
rode  on  the  borrowed  horse  to  Gully  Beach,  where  I 

eventually  found  U and  A ,  and  we  talked 

about  many  things.     U thinks  services  are  quite 

incongruous  with  righting.  He  says  the  whole  busi- 
ness is  so  absolutely  bloody,  and  we  try  and  collect 
men  and  sing  hymns.  We  are  all  a  little  tired  of 
hymns.  A —  -  disagreed,  thinking  the  services  were 
a  great  relief  and  meant  a  lot  to  the  men.  Personally 
I  think  they  fit  in  best  when  the  regiments  are  resting 
and  away  from  fighting,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  here. 
I  believe  that  men  are  all  thinking  about  things,  and 
the  main  thing  to  do  is  to  try  and  help  them  get  their 
thoughts  clear.  However,  I  think  we  all  felt  services 

were   merely   incidents.     I   agree  with   U .     The 

whole  thing  is  indescribably  bloody.  We  have  been 
here  ten  weeks  and  not  even  seen  a  civilian,  or  been 
away  from  shells  and  the  noise  of  rifle  fire.  Wounded 
and  dead  everywhere.  It  almost  seems  as  if  it  were 
normal  life  now. 

A.B. —   -  and  another  chaplain  appeared  later  and 
we  had  tea  together,  with  excellent  cake,  and  had  a 

nice  talk.     A.B. is  one  of  the  cheeriest  people  I 

know.  He  runs  about  everywhere  and  holds  endless 
services,  and  is  always  being  nearly  blown  up  or 
having  men  disembowelled  while  taking  a  service. 
But  nothing  worries  him  at  all.  At  four  o'clock 
another  battle  started,  in  the  centre  this  time.  A 
battleship  arrived  and  started  to  bombard,  and  there 
was  a  terrific  bombardment.  But  I  have  lost  interest 
in  battles.  I  rode  back  to  Gully  Beach,  and  was  very 
alarmed  by  a  six-inch  gun  of  ours  which  blazed  off  a 
big  shell  just  over  my  head  as  I  was  passing  in  front  of 
it.  I  met  the  Major  and  men  of  the46oth  Battery  and  we 


160    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

had  a  very  impressive  funeral.  The  body  was  carried 
up  the  hill  by  the  sergeants.  I  halted  it  as  they  were 
passing  through  the  lines  of  the  battery  and  took  the 
first  part  of  the  service  there.  Then  we  went  up  to  the 
grave  and  finished  the  service.  They  started  dropping 
shells  close  by.  These  batteries  are  very  happy  families 
as  a  rule.  They  live  close  together  and  see  little  of  any 
one  else,  don't  move  about,  and  have  comparatively 
few  casualties.  So  they  feel  them  all  the  more  when 
they  do  come.  I  walked  back  up  the  gully  and  made 
some  beautiful  biscuits  of  dripping,  flour,  and  sugar, 
which  were  really  a  great  success.  There  seemed  to 
be  a  big  battle  on  the  right  and  in  the  centre  going 
on  intermittently  all  the  time,  but  we  have  had  no 
definite  news  yet.  The  poor  Lowland  Division  were 
in  for  it  again,  but  more  successful  this  time  I  gather. 
Personally  I  have  felt  it  such  a  relief  to  have  a  battle 
without  the  2gth  Division  being  responsible  for  it.  I 
cease  to  take  much  interest  in  the  military  operations. 
They  are  beyond  me.  And  it  is  useless  worrying 
about  what  is  going  to  happen.  One  can  only  live 
from  day  to  day,  and  make  the  best  of  things  as  they 
come  along. 

Tuesday,  Jwly  13. — I  am  afraid  I  spent  a  large  part 
of  the  morning  in  cooking.  I  made  pastry  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life.  It  really  was  excellent.  I  made  a 
large  jam  tart,  using  just  flour,  dripping,  and  sugar  and 
spreading  apricot  jam  on  it.  It  took  about  two  hours 
to  do,  as  I  had  to  keep  a  very  slow  fire  to  prevent  it 
burning — but  I  must  say  it  was  a  wonderful  success. 
We  were  expecting  company,  which,  however,  did  not 
come.  In  the  afternoon  I  went  off  with  A —  -  and 
visited  one  or  two  of  the  batteries,  seeing  young  L — 
at  No.  10.  They  had  constructed  a  most  beautiful 
dug-out  and  made  themselves  exceedingly  comfortable 


IN   GALLIPOLI  161 


all  roofed  with  tin,  the  sides  cut  into  the  solid  rock, 
and  were  even  covered  with  mosquito  netting,  so  quite 
ree  from  flies.  We  sat  and  ate  Fuller's  sweets, 
t  No.  97  there  is  a  little  spring  where  we  got  some 
autiful  maidenhair  plants,  which  we  took  back  and 
decorated  the  mess  with.  I  buried  four  men  of  the 
mountain  battery  that  night.  They  had  all  been  killed 
at  their  gun.  It  was  strange  knowing  that  pretty  ter- 
rific fighting  was  going  on  somewhere  all  the  time,  and 
being  so  out  of  it  and  knowing  nothing  of  what  was 
going  on.  Our  wing,  for  a  change,  was  quiet. 

Wednesday,  July  14. — I  started  off  on  a  visit  to  the 
trenches  in  the  afternoon,  but  only  to  hear  on  the  way 
that  the  brigade  was  at  last  coming  out  of  the  trenches 
after  eleven  solid  days.  I  went  to  brigade  head- 
quarters to  see  if  I  could  find  out  what  they  were 
going  to  do  and  when  they  were  going  away.  But 
they  had  heard  nothing.  So  I  came  back  again,  find- 
ing the  R.F.'s  headquarters  staff  getting  things  ready 
for  the  night  in  a  bivouac  at  the  head  of  the  gully, 
arranged  to  return  to  supper.  They  were  jolly  glad 
to  get  out,  but  had  had  very  few  casualties  fortunately, 
and  no  attacks  to  make. 


CHAPTER    XII 

MUDROS   AGAIN 

(July  15 — August  9) 

Thursday,  July  15. — I  first  met  W—  -  at  9  a.m. 
at  the  R.F.'s,  and  we  went  off  to  hunt  for  Shafto's 
grave.  They  had  just  had  orders  to  move  down  to 
the  beach.  So  when  the  regiment  had  started,  we  set 
off  through  the  usual  labyrinth  of  trenches,  into  the 
mule-track,  and  then  along  it  till  we  saw  a  ruined 
house  with  a  large  fig-tree  beside  it,  underneath  which 
his  grave  was.  It  had  a  nice  cross,  and  was  elabor- 
ately decorated  with  shell  cases.  I  said  a  few  prayers. 
We  hunted  for  Anstice's  grave  as  well,  but  could  not 
find  it.  Then  we  rejoined  the  regiment  on  the  beach. 

I  had  a  little  lunch  with  G.  H ,  and  amused  myself 

watching  the  men  lining  up  and  being  dealt  out 
a  complete  new  set  of  clothing.  Orders  arrived  that 
the  regiment  was  to  be  prepared  to  move  any  moment. 
So  I  returned  to  Aberdeen  Gully,  and  got  my  servant 
to  pack  up  all  my  things.  A  cart  had  fortunately  just 
come  out,  which  took  them  down.  I  rode  back,  going 
round  for  the  first  time  along  the  road  which  has 
been  constructed  the  whole  way  from  Gully  Beach  to 
"  W  "  beach  at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  and  so  under  cover. 
At  "  W "  beach  I  repacked  everything,  and  after 
supper  went  down  to  "  V  "  beach,  where  the  brigade 
was  assembling  ready  to  go  off.  It  was  quite  dark. 
All  "  V  "  beach  is  open  in  the  middle,  and  the  troops 
were  just  lying  down  waiting  till  mine-sweepers 

162 


s 


WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION    163 

should  come  and  take  them  off.     We  were  told  the 
first  would  be  there  at   n   p.m.     However,   nothing 
happened,  and  we  were  soon  off  to  sleep.     Suddenly, 
at  midnight,   Asiatic  Annie  started,   and  dropped  a 
Black   Maria  very  close  to  us.     Everybody  jumped 
up.     I  know  I  rushed  for  a  dug-out  I  had  previously 
spotted.     A  number  of  men  literally  dived  in  on  top 
of  me.     I  think  we  were  all  so  confused  with  sleep 
we  did  not  know  what  was  happening.     Then  all  the 
men  were  drawn  up  under  the  shelter  of  a  stack  of 
supply  boxes,  and  we  all  remained  pretty  calm  while, 
fortunately,  the  remaining  shells  travelled  farther  and 
farther  over  our  heads.     But  it  was  singularly  alarm- 
ing  at   the   moment.     This   sort   of    thing   happens 
every  night  on  the  beaches.     Then  we  had  another 
long  wait.     Eventually  a  trawler  appeared  at  about 
2.30.     Kitchener's  Army  was  being  landed  as  we  were 
being  taken  off.     About  250  of  us  crowded  on  board, 
and  we  were  taken  off  to  a  mine-sweeper,  which  the 
skipper  had  great  difficulty  in  finding  in  the  dark. 
At  last  we  found   her.     She  had  to  put  troops  off 
onto  our  boat  while  we  got  on  her.     Eventually  we 
got    on    board.     Most   of    us    discovered   some   spot 
where  we  managed  to  get  a  little  sleep.     I  found  a 
large  armchair  in  a  little  saloon.     We  awoke  to  find 
ourselves  still  anchored  off  "  W  "  beach,  with  a  lot  of 
goods  on  board  which  had  to  be  shipped  off  onto  a 
lighter.     This  took  a  long  time.     While  it  was  going 
on,   shells  suddenly  started  again.     This  time  they 
were  aimed  at  a  supply  boat  close  to  us.     She  got  up 
steam  and  made  off  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  we  did 
the  same,  taking  the  lighter  with  us,  and  loading  her 
all  the  time.     Then  when  that  was  done  we  had  to  go 
alongside  the  hospital  ship  and  take  some  cases  on 
board,  and  at  last  we  started  off  for  Lemnos,  getting 


164    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

there  about  4  o'clock.  It  was  very  pleasant  and  peace- 
ful on  board.  At  Lemnos  there  was  another  long  wait 
till  boats  came  and  took  us  off.  We  landed  at  dusk, 
and  marched  off  to  our  camping-ground,  which  we 
found  in  the  middle  of  a  field  where  vegetable  mar- 
rows, maize,  and  other  vegetables  were  growing.  Some 

of  the  regiment  had  arrived  before  us.     G had 

returned,  and  taken  over  command.     I  had  decided 

to  join  a  company  mess,  and  found  G.  H ,  with 

a  couple  of  attached  Australian  officers,  under  a  fig- 
tree.  They  said  I  was  to  be  mess  president.  These 
Kitchener  officers  are  so  different  to  the  regulars. 

G.    H coached  the   Cambridge   Eight   last   year 

to  victory.  He  is  a  splendid  fellow.  There  was 
another  fellow  there  who  seemed  to  consider  himself 
a  bit  of  a  poet,  and  appeared  to  know  a  good  deal 
about  literature.  Another  captain  is  a  dentist.  But 
the  variety  makes  conversation  far  more  interesting. 
The  Australians  seemed  nice.  One  was  Australian 
born,  the  other  had  only  recently  gone  out.  We  were 
soon  asleep  under  the  fig-tree,  and  spent  a  very  peace- 
ful night,  away  at  last  from  the  sound  of  firing  and 
shells. 

Saturday,  July  17. — The  officers  of  Y  Company 
made  me  their  mess  president.  We  were  only  five 
in  all,  but  decided  to  celebrate  our  holiday  by  as  good 
a  mess  as  possible.  So,  escorted  by  two  orderlies, 
I  spent  the  morning  in  the  village  buying  pots  and 
pans  of  every  description,  and  quantities  of  fresh 
vegetables,  marrows,  French  beans,  egg  fruit, 
tomatoes,  melons,  little  pears,  nuts,  as  well  as  tinned 
butter,  fruit,  rice,  lemons,  eggs,  and  other  delicacies. 
It  is  quite  easy  to  make  a  table.  You  simply  dig 
a  square  trench.  The  centre  of  the  square  is  the  table, 
and  you  sit  round  it,  with  your  feet  in  the  trench. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  165 

We  got  a  pretty  good  cook,  and  I  showed  him  how 
to  make  omelettes,  macaroni  cheese,  milk  puddings, 
and  other  things.  We  even  managed  to  get  fresh 
milk  and  native  wine,  and  bought  large  earthenware 
jars,  one  of  which  was  kept  full  of  lemonade.  Fresh 
meat  was  provided  as  a  ration,  so  we  did  very  well, 
and  had  a  very  happy  party.  In  the  afternoon  I 
arranged  my  services,  walked  to  the  top  of  a  neigh- 
bouring hill  with  G.  H to  get  the  view,  and  came 

back  to  hold  an  extempore  sing-song  for  the  brigade 
in  a  large  tent  that  happened  to  be  empty.  It  was 
not  a  great  success.  I  could  not  get  the  men  to  sing. 
I've  heard  the  other  brigades  held  much  better  ones. 
But  it  was  got  up  in  too  great  a  hurry. 

Sunday,  July  18. — I  held  my  parades  in  front  of 
the  same  tent  at  7  and  9.30.  I  had  Ante-Communion 
in  each  case,  followed  by  Celebrations,  but  very  few 
stayed,  only  six  at  the  first,  and  twelve  at  the  latter. 
I  was  rather  surprised.  In  the  afternoon  I  walked 
over  to  a  neighbouring  village,  and  we  got  some  wine. 
It  was  full  of  soldiers,  mostly  Dublins,  having  a  good 
drink.  The  authorities  seemed  to  have  made  no 
restrictions,  though  they  did  afterwards.  I  also  had  to 
go  to  Mudros  to  get  more  provisions.  I  am  afraid  we 
do  not  observe  Sunday  much.  I  had  a  little  voluntary 
evening  service  later  on. 

Monday,  July  19. — A  new  Captain  for  Y  Com- 
pany (I  cannot  remember  his  name)  had  arrived  with 
a  draft.  He  had  a  friend  in  the  ordnance,  and  had 
been  off  to  see  him,  and  got  an  order  on  one  of  the 
ships  for  a  mess  tent.  So  off  I  went  with  him  in  the 
afternoon  to  get  it.  We  chartered  a  native  sailing-boat, 
and  eventually  got  to  our  ship,  and  went  aboard.  I 
found  a  lot  of  ambulance  men  who  had  come  with  a 
new  division.  I  had  tea  with  the  doctors,  who  intro- 


166    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

duced  me  to  the  purser,  from  whom  I  got  a  sack  of 
oatmeal — all  he  could  spare  me,  but  a  great  luxury. 
The  Captain  changed  his  order  for  one  tent  to  two 
tents,  with  permission  of  the  ordnance  officers,  and 
we  returned  with  a  boat  loaded  with  two  large  E.P. 
tents  (i.  e.  double  tents,  as  used  in  India).  We 
managed  to  get  hold  of  a  motor-lorry  after  a  good 
deal  of  trouble,  and  got  the  tents  up  to  the  camp, 
where  one  was  presented  to  headquarters.  They  are 
wonderfully  cool  tents,  but  very  bulky  and  cumber- 
some. When  we  had  ours  put  up  it  was  without  its 
curtains,  so  the  Captain  had  to  return  next  day  for 
them.  We  felt  well  satisfied,  and  set  up  for  a  nice 
comfortable  rest.  However,  it  was  not  to  last  long. 

Tuesday,  July  20. — I  awoke  with  a  temperature  and 
throat.  I  did  not  seem  to  improve,  and  at  midday 
found  my  temperature  nearly  102,  so  sent  for  the 
doctor,  who  said  I  had  an  influenza  cold,  and  must 
go  to  hospital.  A  large  new  draft  of  200  men,  and 
more  officers,  arrived  that  morning.  But  the  poor 
brigade  were  suddenly  ordered  to  return  the  next  day. 
So  all  our  preparations  had  been  in  vain.  It  turned 
out  a  false  alarm.  They  were  fearing  a  big  Turkish 
attack  which  never  came  off,  and  they  had  nothing 
to  do.  Meanwhile,  I  wandered  off  with  my  servant 
and  kit  in  search  of  a  hospital,  of  which  there  seem 
to  be  many.  The  first  I  came  to  said  they  were  very 
sorry,  but  they  were  not  for  my  division;  I  must  go 
to  the  1 6th  Stationary  Hospital.  So  we  started  off 
again.  It  was  very  hot.  At  last  I  found  the  orderly- 
room,  where  an  orderly  said  they  were  full  up.  I  got 
a  little  exasperated  then,  and  said,  "Am  I  to  wander 
round  the  island,  with  a  temperature  of  102,  looking 
for  a  hospital  ?  "  However,  a  doctor  soon  arrived,  and 
said  it  was  quite  all  right;  of  course  I  could  come  in. 


IN   GALLIPOLI  167 

They  were  very  full.  Would  I  mind  a  bell  tent?  I 
said,  "Of  course  not."  So  I  was  put  on  a  stretcher  in 
a  bell  tent,  and  slept  the  whole  time.  They  did  not 
pay  much  attention  to  me.  The  doctor  neither  took 
my  temperature  nor  looked  at  my  throat,  but  sounded 
me  very  carefully,  though  I  assured  him  heart  and 
lungs  were  quite  all  right.  Next  day  he  transferred 
me  to  a  proper  marquee,  a  double  tent,  where  I  was 
put  in  a  bed  with  sheets  made  of  the  same  canvas  as 
the  tent,  but  with  a  large  mosquito  net  over  it  to  keep 
off  the  flies.  W was  in  the  corner  of  it,  recover- 
ing from  dysentery. 

Wednesday,  July  21. — I  spent  a  peaceful  day,  but 
my  throat  got  worse.  Still  the  doctor  did  not  look 
at  it.  Next  day  (July  22)  I  again  complained  of 
my  throat.  In  fact,  I  could  hardly  speak,  so  he 
examined  it,  and  looked  very  grave.  He  said  I 
might  be  infectious,  and  asked  me  to  get  inside  the 
mosquito  netting.  Eventually  he  returned  with 
another  doctor,  who  also  examined  my  throat.  I 
asked  if  he  would  disclose  the  nature  of  my  disease. 
At  first  he  refused,  but  returned  later  to  say  I  should 
have  to  be  moved  to  a  bell  tent  by  myself,  and  that 
he  was  afraid  I  had  diphtheria.  I  was  not  in  the 
least  alarmed,  as  I  did  not  feel  particularly  ill,  only 
I  had  a  very  uncomfortable  throat,  and  I  was  carried 
off  to  a  bell  tent.  Here  I  found  a  stretcher  put  ready 
for  me  on  a  couple  of  boxes.  At  this  I  did  complain. 
I  said  I  was  supposed  to  have  a  serious  complaint,  and 
was  to  be  kept  in  hospital  some  weeks.  Was  I  to  lie 
on  a  stretcher  all  the  time,  while  men  with  mild  attacks 
of  dysentery,  who  were  able  to  be  up  and  about  all 
day,  were  given  beds  to  sleep  on  ?  So  a  bed  was  soon 
forthcoming,  and  I  must  say  ever  since  they  have 
done  everything  to  make  me  comfortable.  An  excel- 


168    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

lent  orderly,  a  trained  male  nurse,  waited  on  me ;  and 
my  servant,  who  had  been  entered  into  the  hospital 
with  something  the  matter  with  his  foot,  came  in  and 
lived  in  the  tent  with  me,  and  has  waited  on  me  hand 
and  foot  ever  since,  disinfecting  himself  with  carbolic 
and  gargle  under  strict  directions  from  the  doctor. 
That  evening  the  doctor  gave  me  an  injection  of 
serum.  It  gave  almost  instantaneous  relief.  The 
next  day  (Friday,  July  23)  he  gave  me  two  more  injec- 
tions. Of  course,  I  ate  practically  nothing  all  the 
time,  and  did  nothing  except  talk  to  an  occasional 

visitor.     A was  very  good  about  coming  in.     His 

brigade  (the  88th)  stayed  several  days  after  mine  left. 

By  Sunday,  July  25,  I  felt  much  better.     D ,  the 

chaplain  on  the  island,  brought  me  Communion  in  the 
morning,  and  I  started  to  read,  and  have  read  a  good 
deal  ever  since.  They  tried  to  get  me  off  on  a  ship  at 
first,  but  they  refused  to  have  me.  People  seem  to  be 
very  afraid  of  diphtheria.  The  doctor  is  alarmed  of 
after  effects,  and  has  allowed  me  to  do  nothing.  It 
is  now  (August  4)  over  a  fortnight  since  I  came  in. 
The  weather  has  not  been  too  hot  as  a  rule,  though  we 
have  had  one  or  two  bad  days.  To-day  has  been  one. 
My  servant  lifts  the  skirt  of  the  tent  up  all  round,  and 
pins  a  blanket  on  the  outside  between  me  and  the  sun. 
If  it  is  very  hot  I  lie  on  a  stretcher  on  the  ground,  and 
catch  any  possible  draught.  I  have  canvas  sheets, 
but  they  are  better  than  none.  I  have  also  got  a 
deck-chair,  in  which  I  am  now  sitting.  The  8gth 
Field  Ambulance  were  here  until  recently,  and  occa- 
sionally some  of  the  doctors  came  to  see  me.  I  got 
my  mail  while  they  were  here,  which  was  nice.  A 
parcel  mail  brought  me  some  welcome  biscuits,  cheese, 
toffee,  and  a  nice  supply  of  stationery.  We  actually 
have  a  man  who  comes  round  and  sells  The  Times, 


IN   GALLEPOLI  169 

only  about  ten  days  old,  at  fourpence  a  copy.  Other- 
wise we  hear  nothing  of  the  outer  world.  My  tent 
looks  out  over  the  harbour,  so  I  can  amuse  myself 
watching  the  troops  coming  and  going.  Nothing 
seems  to  have  happened  while  I  have  been  here,  but 
now  reports  are  coming  in  of  a  new  landing  having 
been  made,  and  there  has  been  a  large  exodus  of 
troops  yesterday  and  to-day.  I  do  hope  they  are  not 
attacking  to-day,  as  it  is  so  hot,  and  our  men  cannot 
stand  the  heat.  It  is  the  anniversary  of  the  declara- 
tion of  war.  The  hospitals  have  been  told  to  be  as 
empty  as  possible  by  to-morrow.  This  one  is  fuller 
than  ever.  It  is  only  supposed  to  take  in  200  cases, 
and  has  about  800,  mostly  slight.  It  came  out  with 
the  29th  Division,  and  has  worked  without  stopping 
since  the  beginning.  The  orderlies  are  quite  worn 
out,  and  keep  going  sick.  Mine  went  sick  some  days 
ago.  They  toil  on  with  temperature  up  to  103  before 
they  drop.  They  are  very  short-handed.  All  the 
other  hospitals  are  moving  to  the  other  side  of  the 
harbour.  They  have  till  now  all  been  crowded 
together  close  to  the  village,  on  ground  formerly 
occupied  by  the  French  horse  lines,  now  one  mass 
of  dust  and  sand,  which  the  wind  blows  about  in 
clouds.  No  wonder  the  orderlies  go  sick.  However, 
the  authorities  have  at  last  woken  up  to  the  extent  of 
realizing  that  the  other  side  of  the  harbour,  away  from 
dust,  villages,  and  horse  lines,  is  likely  to  be  more 
sanitary.  Meanwhile,  we  stay  here,  and  take  in 
everybody's  patients. 

My  servant  has  taken  admirable  care  of  me.  I  am 
not  allowed  meat  yet,  and  hospital  fare  unsupple- 
mented  would  be  bad.  However,  he  makes  me  beau- 
tiful toast,  poaches  eggs,  and  fries  me  tomatoes. 
Otherwise  I  get  porridge,  soup,  potatoes,  and  milk 


170    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

pudding.  I  am  getting  quite  hungry  now.  The 
doctor  says  I  may  take  a  little  walk  to-morrow.  I 
hope  to  get  away  next  week  on  a  ship,  perhaps  to 
Alexandria.  I  may  not  work  or  exert  myself  this 
month.  They  are  so  afraid  of  after  effects.  I  expostu- 
late, saying  people  must  take  chances  in  war-time. 
But  the  doctor  says  I  take  quite  enough  chances  by 
having  the  disease  at  all.  I  really  feel  perfectly  well, 
and  almost  strong  again.  I  am  very  fortunate  to  have 
got  off  so  lightly.  The  doctor  takes  the  greatest  care 
of  me.  He  is  young,  but  served  in  the  Bulgarian  Red 
Cross  in  the  Balkan  War.  He  hates  the  Bulgars, 
and  would  not  own  them  as  Allies.  I  think  he  is 
rather  pleased  at  having  got  me  well  so  soon.  A  new 
sergeant-major  for  the  hospital  has  just  arrived.  I 
heard  him  saying  that  he  was  only  released  from 
prison  in  Germany  three  weeks  ago,  and  then  sent 
straight  here.  What  a  strange  war !  Well,  this 
is  all  about  myself — but  what  else  have  I  to  write 
about  ? 

There  is  nothing  much  more  to  record  about  my 
time  in  No.  16  Stationary  Hospital,  Lemnos.  On 
Thursday,  August  5,  I  was  allowed  out  in  the  evening 
for  the  first  time.  The  next  day  the  pathologist,  who 
by  now  had  arrived,  declared  that  I  was  free  from  in- 
fection. I  started  to  have  my  meals  with  the  other 
invalid  officers  in  the  mess  tent.  They  were  mostly 
mild  dysentery  cases  from  Kitchener's  Army,  two  from 
Oxford,  and  it  was  nice  having  some  talk.  I  wan- 
dered round  the  village  once  or  twice.  Of  course  I 
was  pretty  shaky,  but,  as  usual,  recovered  very 
rapidly.  My  name  was  put  down  for  a  hospital 
ship.  The  doctor  would  not  hear  of  my  returning 
to  the  peninsula.  Meanwhile  rumours  were  growing 
fast.  A  huge  battle  to  last  five  days  was  about  to 


IN   GALLIPOLI  171 

begin.  The  hospital  was  to  be  prepared  for  enormous 
casualties. 

Sunday,  August  8. — I  was  able  to  go  to  church 
three  times.  Then  the  first  casualties  arrived,  mainly 
from  the  old  battle  front.  A  huge  attack  had  started 
on  Friday,  again  on  H  12,  where  so  many  lives 
had  already  been  lost.  The  88th  Brigade,  filled  with 
large  drafts,  had  gone  out,  and  the  Worcesters  espe- 
cially had  lost  enormously.  I  do  not  think  the  86th 
lost  as  much.  Nothing  seems  to  have  been  gained. 

C ,  one  of  the  R.F.'s,  arrived  with  dysentery,  and 

gave  some  account  of  what  had  happened.  Major 
F—  -  had  been  knocked  over  by  a  shell.  I  have  seen 
no  R.F.'s  since,  so  hope  all  is  well  with  them.  Mean- 
while, the  main  fighting  had  been  up  at  Anzac,  and 
beyond,  where  a  new  landing  had  been  made.  Three 
new  divisions  had  been  landed  altogether,  and  I  have 
since  seen  a  lot  of  their  wounded.  But  what  the  net 
result  has  been  it  is  impossible  to  say.  They  seem 
to  have  got  a  good  way  inland.  Of  course  the  casual- 
ties have  been  simply  colossal ;  no  one  knows  how 
many.  Every  available  hospital  ship  was  crammed. 
Some  said  the  operations  were  intended  to  be  of  a 
decisive  nature,  regardless  of  cost.  But  I  do  not 
believe  decisive  operations  are  possible  in  this  war. 
At  any  rate,  it  seems  impossible  to  know  anything,  or 
to  get  any  really  trustworthy  information. 

Monday,  August  9. — I  had  given  up  much  hope  of 
going  onto  a  hospital  ship,  owing  to  all  the  fighting, 
when  in  the  afternoon  I  suddenly  got  word  to  be 
ready  to  go  off  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  Of  course 
we  did  not  go  till  some  three  hours  later.  We  got 
onto  a  hospital  ship,  the  Sicilia,  one  of  the  original 
ones.  Needless  to  say,  we  were  in  clover.  I  felt 
such  a  fraud.  But  the  doctor  insisted  I  must  go.  I 


172    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

slept  with  other  mild  cases  in  hammocks  on  the  deck ; 
much  the  coolest  place,  and  quite  comfortable.  The 
food  was  extraordinarily  good,  quite  plain,  but 
very  well  cooked,  and  I  was  ravenous.  Most  of  the 
day  I  slept  and  read.  There  was  a  nice  matron  on 
board,  and  a  number  of  stalwart  nurses,  who  were 
pretty  well  overworked.  One  told  me  she  had  114 
patients,  each  of  whom  she  had  to  dress  or  look  after. 
There  were  a  good  many  bad  cases  on  board,  and 
the  Chaplain  showed  me  a  list  of  forty  funerals  in  five 
days.  I  had  an  exceedingly  pleasant  and  comfortable 
voyage,  and  felt  ever  so  much  better  for  it,  reaching 
Alexandria  on  Thursday,  I2th  August. 


POSTSCRIPT 

HERE  my  connection  with  the  29th  Division  ended, 
just  as  the  new  landing  at  Suvla  Bay  was  made,  and 
the  campaign  started  on  its  second  and  final  despair- 
ing phase.  I  am  in  no  position  to  say  anything  about 
it  at  first  hand.  I  returned  to  Mudros  on  September  i, 
remaining  there  till  the  end  of  the  year,  organizing 
a  scheme  of  recreations  and  canteens  for  the  troops 
in  hospitals,  rest  and  reinforcement  camps.  But 
though  I  often  came  across  members  of  the  2gth 
Division,  I  had  no  further  official  connection  with 
it.  The  last  news  I  have  is  that  of  the  Royal  Fusiliers' 
officers,  who  were  present  at  the  first  landing,  only 
one,  who  had  been  wounded,  and  the  quartermaster, 
were  left  with  the  battalion.  One  single  R.F.  alone 
had  come  through  the  whole  campaign  from  the  land- 
ing to  the  evacuation.  But  long  before  the  time  I 
left  it  the  2gth  Division,  though  continuing  the  same 
in  name,  was  unrecognizable  as  the  magnificent  unit 
I  had  come  out  with.  There  was  much  more  work 
for  it  to  do,  and  it  continued  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the 
fighting  after  the  Suvla  Bay  landing  right  up  to  the 
evacuation  of  the  peninsula.  There  are  many  other 
divisions  both  in  France,  in  the  Dardanelles  and  else- 
where, which  have  covered  themselves  with  imperish- 
able glory,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  have 
played  a  more  striking,  picturesque,  and  inconceivably 
difficult  part  than  the  29th  and  the  Australian  and  New 
Zealand  contingents.  From  the  beginning  of  opera- 


174    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

tions  till  the  final  close  they  continued  on  the  peninsula, 
with  practically  no  rest  and  change.  They  were  con- 
tinually in  the  forefront  of  the  battle.  Their  casual- 
ties were  appalling,  and  their  ranks  were  thinned  by 
sickness  and  frost-bite.  The  regiments  had  continu- 
ally to  be  made  up  with  large  drafts  from  England, 
and  their  officers  were  constantly  changing.  But  these 
new  and  only  partially  trained  men  seemed  to  catch 
some  of  the  inspiration  of  those  who  preceded  them. 

It  has  been  impossible,  where  numbers  were  so 
great,  to  make  special  reference  to  any  of  the  N.C.O.'s 
and  men,  and  only  a  few  officers  have  been  referred  to 
by  name  with  whom  I  was  especially  brought  into 
contact.  But  the  acts  of  heroism  and  perseverance 
might  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  and  those  mentioned 
must  serve  merely  as  samples  of  the  rest. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  world  the  whole  expedition 
appears  to  have  been  a  complete  failure.  But  those 
who  saw  anything  of  the  valour  and  endurance  of  the 
officers  and  men  who  took  part  in  it  cannot  accept  this 
verdict.  They  conquered  where  others  would  have 
failed;  and  whoever  may  be  blamed  by  future  his- 
torians for  our  failure  to  get  through  to  Con- 
stantinople, it  will  not  be  the  men  who  did  the 
fighting.  They  showed  themselves  worthy  of  the 
greatest  military  traditions,  and,  in  the  words  of 
Brigadier-General  Hare,  "the  men  of  Albuhera  and 
Minden,  of  Delhi  and  Lucknow,  will  be  proud  to  hail 
them,  as  their  equals  in  valour  and  military  achieve- 
ment." 


ADDITIONAL   CHAPTER 

(The  following  vivid  account  has  been  contributed 
by  Major  H.  M.  Farmar,  D.S.O.,  of  the  Lancashire 
Fusiliers,  Staff-Captain  and  then  Brigade-Major  to 
the  86th  Brigade.) 

THE  LANDING  OF  THE  86TH  INFANTRY  BRIGADE  UNDER 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL  S.  W.  HARE,  ON  THE  GAL- 
LIPOLI  PENINSULA,  25™  APRIL  1915,  AND  ITS 
SUBSEQUENT  OPERATIONS 

ON  the  23rd  April  1915,  ship  after  ship  steamed 
out  of  Mudros  Harbour — each  packed  with  soldiers, 
English,  Scotch,  Irish,  New  Zealanders,  Australians, 
French  troops,  black  Senegalese,  part  of  the  Foreign 
Legion — through  the  line  of  battleships  and  smaller 
war-craft,  both  British  and  French.  The  Australians 
led  the  way  and  made  the  air  ring  with  resounding 
cheers ;  these  were  replied  to  by  the  sailors,  and  taken 
up  by  each  transport  in  turn  with  inspiring  enthusiasm. 
The  Lancashire  Fusiliers  were  divided  between  H.M.S. 
Euryalus  and  H.M.S.  Implacable ;  the  Royal  Fusiliers 
in  H.M.S.  Implacable;  the  Royal  Munster  and  the 
Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers  in  the  S.S.  River  Clyde;  the 
Brigade  Headquarters  in  the  mine-sweeper  S.S. 
Whitby  Abbey.  The  exchange  from  the  transports 
was  made  after  the  arrival  at  Tenedos. 

On  the  25th  April  the  brigade  paraded  to  the  sound 
of  the  bombardment,  a  thunder  of  ships'  guns  about 


176    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

the  coast  in  the  first  light  of  dawn,  and  made  ready  to 
disembark. 

As  the  Whitby  Abbey  stood  in  towards  the  beach 
east  of  Cape  Helles,  aimed  fire  began  to  strike  the 
ship,  and  men  were  killed  and  wounded  as  they  stood 
paraded  on  the  deck  ready  to  file  into  the  boats. 
There  was  no  cover.  The  men-o'-war  boats  came 
alongside,  arranged  in  tows  of  four  or  five,  to  be  taken 
close  in  by  steam  pinnaces.  They  made  one  trip  from 
the  Euryalus,  and  had  to  be  cleared  of  dead  and 
wounded  before  others  could  file  into  them  from  the 
Whitby  Abbey.  When  the  steamboat  could  get  no 
closer  the  bluejackets  took  to  their  oars,  the  boats  were 
separated  and  made  for  the  beach. 

There  was  no  confusion,  but  it  was  not  easy  to  be 
quick,  as  the  boats  were  crowded  and  some  of  the 
rowers  were  hit.  Little  re-adjustments  had  to  be  made 
to  let  soldiers  get  to  vacant  oars.  The  Brigade  Staff 
landed  with  the  Lancashire  Fusiliers  on  beach  "W." 
The  Brigadier  and  Major  Frankland,  Brigade-Major, 
had  seen  the  first  party  of  Lancashire  Fusiliers,  who 
were  put  ashore  in  the  middle  of  the  beach,  suffer 
severely  in  the  barbed  wire  entanglements  near  the 
water's  edge  and  up  the  sandy  slope.  They  were 
subjected  to  a  cross  fire  of  machine  guns  and  rifle  fire. 

The  Brigadier  and  Major  Frankland  stood  up  and 
diverted  all  the  boats  they  could  to  the  left,  where  the 
men  were  able  to  land  under  a  certain  amount  of  cover 
afforded  by  the  cliffs.  The  survivors  on  the  beach 
forced  their  way  through  and  past  the  wire  and  pushed 
forward  up  the  centre  of  the  little  valley  leading  from 
the  shore,  Captain  Willis,  Captain  Tallents,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Seckham  displaying  the  utmost  gallantry. 

Major  Adams' company  had  made  for  the  cliff  edge  on 
the  left  of  the  beach,  which  they  took,  and  ensconced 


IN    GALLIPOLI  177 

themselves  in  some  Turkish  trenches.  The  Brigadier 
with  Major  Frankland,  followed  by  a  few  men,  went 
up  the  cliff  still  further  to  the  left.  The  men,  handi- 
capped by  their  heavy  packs  and  burden  of  ammuni- 
tion, had  difficulty  in  getting  up  the  v«ry  steep  bits 
near  the  top,  and  the  officers  found  themselves  on  the 
plateau  with  half-a-dozen  men  and  the  Turks  only 
twenty  to  forty  yards  distant.  These  were  firing  at 
Major  Adams'  company. 

Major  Frankland  took  a  rifle  from  a  man  and  shot 
three  Turks,  if  not  a  fourth.  More  men  arrived  and 
went  for  the  enemy,  who  gave  way.  The  Brigadier 
and  Brigade-Major  then  reconnoitred  towards  the 
direction  in  which  the  Royal  Fusiliers  were  expected 
to  appear,  and  on  their  return  the  Brigadier  was 
severely  wounded.  Seeing  that  all  was  going  well  on 
the  left,  Major  Frankland  visited  the  company  next 
on  the  right  to  get  them  to  conform  and  go  forward. 

The  adjutant,  Captain  Bromley,  who  was  at  this 
point,  set  the  men  an  example  of  fearlessness  which 
they  cheerfully  followed.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  action  of  the  Brigadier  in  landing  with  the  fore- 
most in  this  unprecedented  enterprise,  together  with 
Frankland's  mastery  of  the  situation  after  the  General 
was  wounded,  were  together  largely  responsible  for 
success. 

Each  separate  party  to  land  found  itself  with  an 
individual  task  to  perform  and  was  at  once  closely 
engaged.  At  a  moment  when  the  troops  were  endur- 
ing the  effects  of  a  bewildering  shock  they  were  given 
a  course  to  pursue  with  confidence  and  cohesion. 

The  Lancashire  Fusiliers  had  the  task  on  which 
depended  the  success  of  the  troops  landing  on  the 
beaches  right  and  left  of  them.  Had  they  failed  the 
others  must  have  been  destroyed.  A  message  came 


178    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

through  from  the  Royal  Fusiliers  that  they  had  landed 
north  of  Cape  Helles  without  much  opposition.  The 
attention  of  the  Turks  had  been  arrested  by  the  Lan- 
cashire Fusiliers.  It  was  arranged  for  the  two  batta- 
lions to  fight  for  a  junction  and  to  secure  themselves 
pending  a  further  advance. 

No  news  had  come  in  from  the  remaining  two  batta- 
lions of  the  brigade,  who  were  to  land  from  the  ex- 
collier  River  Clyde  in  the  little  haven  of  Sedd-el-Bahr 
on  the  right;  and  no  troops  appeared  to  have  moved 
on  to  the  high  ground  on  that  side  of  beach  "  W." 

The  Brigade-Major  and  Staff-Captain,  returned  to 
the  beach  with  the  idea  of  getting  troops  forward  on 
to  Hill  138  and  Hill  141,  to  take  the  Turkish  redoubts 
thereon,  and  to  assist  the  advance  of  the  Royal  Munster 
and  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers  from  Sedd-el-Bahr,  also 
to  establish  Brigade  Headquarters  at  the  ruined  light- 
house, which  had  previously  been  named  as  a  spot  to 
which  all  reports  should  be  sent  when  a  footing  had 
been  secured.  This  lighthouse  proved  to  be  within 
two  hundred  yards  of  a  Turkish  redoubt,  but  was  close 
to  the  edge  of  the  cliff. 

Captain  Haworth  was  reorganizing  the  remnant  of 
his  company,  the  first  to  land,  on  the  beach  :  only  about 
fifty  were  left  of  the  double  company,  and  there  were 
also  there  twelve  men  of  Captain  Shaw's  company 
under  Second  Lieutenant  Beaumont.  The  first  effort 
to  reach  the  high  ground  here  by  Captain  Haworth 
had  been  foiled  by  a  heavy  explosion  on  the  cliff  edge 
just  as  it  was  reached.  The  men  had  literally  been 
blown  back,  and  there  had  been  many  casualties. 
Porter  was  killed  here. 

Amongst  and  beyond  a  long  barbed  wire  entangle- 
ment, which  had  been  enfiladed  by  machine  guns, 
were  the  still  forms  of  many  score.  Such  a  charge 


IN   GALLIPOLI  179 

from  the  water's  edge  must  these  men  have  made. 
The  dead  dotted  behind  them  upon  the  sand  bore 
witness  to  the  fire  through  which  they  had  run.  Cap- 
tain Maunsell,  Captain  Thomas  and  Lieutenant  Wil- 
liamson were  there  in  the  foremost  lines,  fallen  with 
the  comrades  of  many  years  in  work  and  sport : 
comradeship  that  keeps  lit  the  spirit  of  the  regiment, 
and  on  this  day  made  possible  the  sacrifice  and  the 
success. 

Major  Frankland  explained  what  was  required,  and 
led,  under  cover  of  the  cliff,  to  the  lighthouse.  It  was 
then  found  that  Captain  Shaw  had  moved  his  company 
on  to  the  high  ground  immediately  on  the  right  of 
beach  "W,"  and  his  initiative  had  undoubtedly  se- 
cured us  from  an  immediate  counter  attack  on  this 
flank,  and  also  assisted  very  materially  to  further  Major 
Frankland's  plan.  Captain  Haworth  extended  his  men 
below  the  crest  of  the  cliff,  along  a  ledge,  and  then 
moved  them  towards  a  redoubt  which  could  be  seen 
close  behind  an  exceedingly  thick  entanglement  of 
barbed  wire.  Second  Lieutenant  Beaumont  was  sent 
with  his  twelve  men  to  the  ridge  which  connected  the 
high  ground  of  Hill  138  with  that  of  Hill  141,  dominat- 
ing Sedd-el-Bahr.  Both  parties  got  as  far  as  the  wire 
and  then  could  get  no  further :  there  was  a  fold  of 
ground  in  which  the  men  could  lie  without  much  risk, 
and  the  Turks  could  not  fire  directly  into  it  without 
exposing  themselves.  Any  effort  to  cut  the  wire 
proved  to  be  courting  instant  death. 

Lieutenant  Cunliffe  came  up  with  a  small  party  of 
machine  gunners  but  without  machine  guns.  He  took 
up  a  position  between  Captain  Shaw  and  Captain 
Haworth.  In  landing  Lieutenant  Cunliffe  had  been 
launched  into  deep  water  and  swam  ashore,  wearing  his 
full  equipment  with  heavy  pack  and  rifle.  It  was  a 


180    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

feat  which  only  a  very  fine  swimmer  could  have  per- 
formed, and  it  was  under  fire.  Later,  he  collected  his 
gun  teams  and  took  them  to  fill  the  gap  described, 
thereby  linking  up  the  battalion,  which  henceforward 
had  perfect  internal  communication  and  occupied  a 
position  which  fulfilled  all  that  was  required  of  it — 
a  result  attained  by  the  skill  and  boldness  of  Captain 
Willis  and  Captain  Shaw,  the  perspicuity  of  Cunliffe, 
and  by  the  tenacity  of  Captain  Haworth. 

Near  the  lighthouse  the  ground  rose  gently  to  the 
right  and  up  to  a  ridge  which  commanded  both 
the  ground  wre  occupied  and  also,  on  the  far  side,  the 
ground  above  Sedd-el-Bahr.  Captain  Haworth  was 
liable  to  enfilade  from  here,  and  an  occupation  by  the 
Turks  of  this  ridge  would  have  been  very  dangerous. 

Second  Lieutenant  Beaumont  with  his  twelve  men 
was  placed  to  protect  this  flank.  It  is  a  mystery  why 
no  counter-attack  was  made ;  there  were  a  considerable 
number  of  Turks  in  the  two  redoubts  and  in  the  fort 
above  Sedd-el-Bahr,  and  these  kept  up  a  brisk  fire. 

At  about  8.30  a.m.  Major  Frankland  made  a  personal 
reconnaissance  to  endeavour  to  find  a  way  of  assisting 
the  troops  landing  from  the  River  Clyde.  He  stood 
up  to  use  his  glasses  and  was  killed  instantly.  The 
Staff-Captain  then  temporarily  assumed  command  of 
the  brigade.  He  established  his  headquarters  under 
cover  of  the  ruins  of  the  lighthouse,  which  gave  a 
shelter  of  a  space  of  about  eight  yards  by  four. 

The  Signal  Section  got  into  touch  with  Divisional 
Headquarters  on  board  H.M.S.  Euryalus,  with  the 
River  Clyde  aground  at  Sedd-el-Bahr,  and  with  the 
Royal  Fusiliers.  This  section  consisted  of  Royal 
Engineers,  Territorial  Force.  Their  efficiency  and 
coolness  were  remarkable,  and  it  was  their  first  experi- 
ence under  fire.  Captain  King  and  Sergeant  Spears 


IN   GALLIPOLI  181 

set  an  example  which  was  lived  up  to  by  every  one  of 
the  section,  and  maintained  throughout  all  the  follow- 
ing most  arduous  operations.  All  the  day  the  Turks 
sniped  Brigade  Headquarters  and  Captain  Haworth's 
men  :  it  was  difficult  to  locate  whence  the  fire  came. 
About  a  dozen  men  were  hit. 

About  ii  a.m.  Captain  Haworth  was  shot  through 
the  back  and  body,  but  he  refused  to  be  moved,  and 
continued  to  command  his  men  until  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  when  reinforcements  of  two  battalions 
came  up  and  took  the  redoubts. 

The  Royal  Fusiliers  sent  in  precise  and  accurate 
reports  :  they  got  into  communication  with  the  8yth 
Brigade  on  their  left,  and  complied  with  the  order  to 
co-operate  with  the  Lancashire  Fusiliers  in  pushing 
back  the  enemy  sufficiently  far  to  give  freedom  in 
landing  more  troops  on  beach  "  W." 

The  Worcestershire  and  Essex  battalions  of  the  88th 
Brigade  began  operations  about  2  p.m.,  and  by  5.20 
p.m.  they  had  the  Turkish  positions  on  Hill  138  in 
their  hands.  The  troops  then  entrenched  themselves. 

Divisional  Headquarters  remained  on  board  H.M.S. 
Euryalus,  where  touch  with  all  landings  was  obtained 
by  wireless,  but  Colonel  Wolley-Dod,  General  Staff, 
landed  at  beach  "  W  "  during  the  afternoon  to  control 
operations  in  the  vicinity,  and  at  7  p.m.  sent  for  the 
Staff-Captain  to  assist  him. 

Throughout  this  day  at  Brigade  Headquarters  there 
was  doubt  as  to  the  exact  situation  at  Sedd-el-Bahr. 
By  running  from  the  lighthouse  and  then  slipping 
over  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  a  position  could  be  reached 
from  which  the  River  Clyde  could  be  seen ;  and  visual 
communication  was  established  with  the  88th  Brigade 
Signal  Section,  who  worked  behind  iron  plates  on  the 
bridge  of  the  collier. 


182    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

By  gingerly  picking  a  way  it  was  possible  to  reach 
a  point  above  some  men  who  had  landed  from  the 
ex-collier  and  to  shout  to  them.  They  could  get  no 
further,  and  the  cliff  was  unclimbable.  There  were 
very  few  and  almost  all  wounded.  There  appeared 
to  be  a  line  of  men  holding  a  ridge  across  the  beach, 
but  who  made  no  progress.  It  transpired  later  that 
they  were  dead,  cut  down  by  machine-gun  fire  as  they 
made  a  rush.  The  messages,  which  came  by  helio, 
gave  the  impression  that  great  difficulties  were  being 
encountered.  In  fact,  on  that  day  "  V  "  beach  was 
impossible  to  live  upon,  and,  almost,  to  land  upon, 
although  attempt  after  attempt  was  made.  The  Com- 
manding Officer  was  killed  :  the  troops  left  on  board 
were  sheltering  behind  iron  plating. 

The  night  of  the  25th  April  was  dark.  The  ist/5th 
Battalion  Royal  Scots  (Territorials)  were  landed  on 
beach  "W"  as  a  reserve,  and  some  working  parties 
of  the  Royal  Naval  Division.  The  survivors  of  the 
troops  in  the  River  Clyde  landed  at  Sedd-el-Bahr  and 
began  their  task  ashore.  The  Turks  attacked  the 
position  covering  beach  "  W."  The  reserve  had  to  be 
used,  and  then  every  man  with  a  rifle,  servants,  police, 
orderlies.  It  began  to  rain  and  was  cold. 

The  Signal  Section  had  to  vacate  their  position,  and 
communication  was  cut  off  except  by  means  of  order- 
lies, who  had  to  work  over  strange  ground,  and  these 
only  brought  in  requests  for  reinforcements,  of  which 
there  were  none.  The  volume  of  fire  was  very  great. 
Captain  Willis  did  great  service  during  this  night  in 
establishing  a  feeling  of  cool  confidence  in  his  portion 
of  the  line,  and  this  spread ;  no  ground  was  lost  that 
had  been  so  hardly  won. 

On  the  26th  April  the  troops  from  Sedd-el-Bahr 
cleared  the  village,  captured  the  old  Castle  Ridge,  and, 


IN   GALLIPOLI  183 

in  conjunction  with  the  troops  on  Hill  138,  cleared 
Hill  141.  The  Royal  Munster  Fusiliers  and  Royal 
Dublin  Fusiliers  with  a  half-battalion  of  the  Hamp- 
shire regiment,  organized  by  Colonel  Doughty  Wylie, 
and  led  by  him  and  such  officers  as  Majors  Grimshaw 
and  Molesworth,  Tomlinson,  Nightingale,  and  Walde- 
grave,  did  magnificently.  Their  force  of  arms  drove 
back  superior  numbers  of  the  Turks  from  their  points 
of  vantage  and  into  headlong  rout.  The  fallen  Grim- 
shaw was  spoken  of  as  might  have  been  Roland  of 
Charlemagne's  day  by  the  witnesses  of  his  deeds  in 
the  throes  of  close  combat. 

The  position  won  was  quickly  secured  and  consoli- 
dated under  the  direction  of  Colonel  Williams,  an 
officer  of  Sir  Ian  Hamilton's  Staff,  and  the  Brigade- 
Major  of  the  86th  Brigade,  Major  Molesworth  and  a 
few  remaining  officers  doing  the  work  of  a  score  in 
reorganizing.  The  men,  though  deprived  of  most  of 
their  accustomed  leaders,  worked  quietly  according  to 
their  thorough  training. 

Colonel  D.  E.  Cayley  of  the  Worcestershire  regi- 
ment was  appointed  temporarily  to  command  the 
brigade,  and  Captain  Kane,  Royal  Munster  Fusiliers, 
assumed  the  duties  of  Staff-Captain,  the  latter  having 
been  promoted  to  be  Brigade-Major. 

On  the  28th  April  the  86th  Brigade,  having  reorgan- 
ized, was  at  first  employed  in  reserve.  At  8  a.m.  they 
entrenched  a  position  in  support  of  the  main  attack, 
which  was  being  pressed  forward  by  the  French  on 
the  right,  the  88th  Brigade  in  the  centre,  and  8;th 
Brigade  on  the  left.  Only  general  instructions  could 
be  given  for  the  movement,  as  the  situation  ahead  could 
not  be  gauged,  and  it  was  necessary  to  take  risks  to 
reap  advantage  from  the  success  already  gained.  It 
was  possible  that  the  Turks  might  not  stand  before  the 


184    WITH  THE  TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

position  of  Achi  Baba  was  captured.  Delay  meant 
that  the  Turks  would  gain  heart,  and  also  more  guns 
and  reinforcements.  It  was  a  big  risk,  to  advance 
without  reconnaissance  and  without  artillery  support, 
the  thin  line  of  infantry  stretching  across  the  penin- 
sula, and  no  weight  anywhere  with  which  to  carry 
through  an  assault.  The  guns  of  the  ships  could  not 
give  the  close  support  necessary  for  infantry  owing  to 
the  flatness  of  their  trajectory.  But  it  was  necessary. 
Ground  had  to  be  gained  to  give  safety  in  disembark- 
ing stores,  men,  and  guns,  and  to  support  other  land- 
ings. The  attempt,  in  spite  of  slender  numbers, 
achieved  much  success. 

At  11.30  a.m.  Major-General  Marshall,  who  was 
temporarily  commanding  the  three  brigades  of  British 
infantry,  gave  orders  for  the  86th  Brigade  to  join  in 
the  main  attack.  The  88th  Brigade  were  in  difficulties 
and  were  short  of  ammunition.  The  86th  Brigade  re- 
ceived orders  to  take  forward  ammunition  for  the  88th, 
and  to  carry  the  latter  on  in  the  advance  to  the  objective 
given.  This  was  a  spur  lying  north-east  of  Krithia, 
and  involved  the  capture  of  this  village.  The  Royal 
Fusiliers  and  the  Lancashire  Fusiliers  were  given 
written  orders ;  and  the  firing  line  and  supports  for  the 
attack  were  organized  in  a  nullah,  under  cover,  and 
launched  under  the  command  of  Major  Bishop.  The 
Royal  Munster  Fusiliers  and  the  Royal  Dublin  Fusi- 
liers formed  the  reserve.  Major  Pearson  was  given 
the  task  of  organizing  the  ammunition  supply. 

The  written  orders,  issued  to  the  four  battalions, 
named  a  point  of  direction  for  the  first  phase  of  the 
advance,  a  prominent  white  mosque  at  the  western  end 
of  Krithia  village.  The  left  platoon  of  the  Lancashire 
Fusiliers,  under  Second  Lieutenant  Needham,  was 
given  the  duty  of  directing  the  advance;  the  Royal 


IN   GALLIPOLI  185 

Fusiliers  were  on  the  left.  The  whole  line  was  given 
orders  to  conform  to  the  movements  of  the  directing 
platoon.  Commanding  officers  were  interviewed  per- 
sonally by  the  Brigadier,  who  explained  the  situation 
and  the  orders.  Then  the  advance  began. 

At  this  juncture  the  French,  on  the  right,  appeared 
to  be  retiring  from  the  ground  they  had  taken  earlier 
in  the  day.  The  88th  Brigade  were  in  difficulties,  and 
a  Staff  Officer  sent  back  for  assistance.  Unluckily  the 
message  did  not  reach  Headquarters,  but  did  reach 
some  portions  of  both  the  Royal  Munster  Fusiliers  and 
the  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers,  and  some  of  these  were 
diverted,  unorganized,  into  the  88th  Brigade,  and  lost 
touch  with  their  own. 

These  battalions  had  lost  many  officers  on  the  25th 
and  26th,  and  were  moving  in  small  parties,  in  artillery 
formation,  to  avoid  the  effect  of  shrapnel  fire.  In  con- 
sequence the  86th  Brigade  lost  the  power  of  giving 
weight  to  their  movement.  It  was  a  most  unfortunate 
accident.  The  Brigade-Major  was  sent  to  collect  as 
many  as  he  could  get  touch  with,  and  returned  with 
those  he  found  to  Brigade  Headquarters. 

Major  Pearson  had  now  got  up  some  ammunition 
on  pack  animals.  Reports  were  received  that  the  8yth 
Brigade  on  the  left  was  held  up  by  entrenchments. 
Major-General  Marshall  gave  orders  for  the  ammuni- 
tion to  be  taken  forward  and  for  the  86th  Brigade  to 
push  on.  Some  fifty  of  the  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers 
loaded  themselves  with  bandoliers  full  of  ammunition, 
and  were  led  to  the  firing  line  by  the  Brigade-Major. 
The  firing  line  was  found  to  be  taking  advantage  of 
some  natural  cover,  and  was  sufficiently  protected  to 
avoid  many  casualties.  It  was  packed  and  stationary. 

The  ammunition  party,  by  good  fortune,  had  come 
up  near  to  Second  Lieutenant  Needham  with  the  direct- 


186    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

ing  platoon.  The  ammunition  was  passed  down  the 
line  and  the  party  sent  back  under  Sergeant  Fergusson, 
R.D.F.,  whose  services  were  most  valuable.  Orders 
brooked  no  delay,  and  there  was  no  change  of  plan. 
Training  has  been  to  mutually  support  advance  and 
to  conform  'to  movement. 

Captain  Shaw  was  next  to  Second  Lieutenant  Need- 
ham,  and  arranged  to  cover  his  advance  with  fire. 
Word  was  passed  down  the  line  that  an  advance  was 
about  to  take  place.  Then  Needham,  with  about  fifty 
men,  made  a  rush. 

The  adjutant,  Captain  Bromley,  dashed  out  with 
them.  Some  of  the  Royal  Fusiliers  under  Cripps  and 
O'Connell  conformed  and  moved  forward  on  the  left. 
The  Turks  fired  very  accurately,  and  the  rushes  had 
to  be  short  and  quick.  The  movement  was  exhilarat- 
ing and  rapid.  A  certain  number  of  men  were  lost, 
but  by  one  bit  of  the  line  covering  the  other  with  short 
bursts  of  rapid  fire,  a  wood  was  reached,  afterwards 
known  as  the  Twelve  Tree  Wood.  This  was  very 
shallow  and  had  thick  undergrowth.  Here  were  found 
many  dead  and  wounded  Turks. 

Captain  Bromley  and  Second  Lieutenant  Needham 
and  the  Brigade-Major,  with  Sergeant  Burtchael  and  a 
few  men,  went  through  the  wood,  down  a  heathery 
slope  into  a  shallow  depression,  and  up  into  some  cover 
on  the  opposite  rise  leading  to  Krithia. 

The  buildings  on  the  outskirts  could  be  clearly  seen, 
and  Turks  running  back  and  jumping  into  some  small 
quarries.  Shouts  for  the  line  to  come  forward  met 
with  no  response.  Probably  the  men  who  had  made 
the  rapid  advance  were  exhausted,  carrying  heavy 
packs  and  200  rounds  of  ammunition.  Officers  had 
been  wounded,  and  it  is  probable  that  no  one  respon- 
sible was  left  unwounded  who  knew  that  the  little  party 
had  gone  beyond  the  wood  to  reconnoitre  while  re- 


IN   GALLIPOLI  187 

organization  was  taking  place.  Seckham  had  been 
wounded  in  the  wood.  Captain  Bromley  offered  to 
go  back  and  bring  on  the  line  :  he  made  a  movement 
to  go  and  was  shot  through  the  knee.  Sergeant  Burt- 
chael  took  him  back,  and  they  joined  Captain  Willis, 
who  had  brought  his  men  up  near  the  wood,  and 
Captain  Shaw  was  close  by  on  his  left. 

The  little  party  remained  in  observation  and  were 
able  to  make  a  good  reconnaissance,  then,  as  no  further 
advance  was  made,  the  Turks  began  to  come  back.  A 
private  soldier  of  the  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers  was  hit 
in  the  groin,  and  when  he  was  bound  up,  those  remain- 
ing crawled  back  with  him  into  the  undergrowth  of 
the  slope  rising  to  the  wood,  and  lay  down.  A  Royal 
Fusilier  went  on  with  the  wounded  man,  crawling 
through  the  cover.  There  were  left  then  Second 
Lieutenant  Needham,  one  Royal  Dublin  Fusilier,  and 
the  Brigade-Major. 

The  Turks  came  up  quite  close,  and  a  machine  gun 
opened  fire  some  forty  yards  away,  firing  obliquely 
under  cover  of  the  wood  and  making  use  of  the  de- 
pression in  the  ground.  The  party  of  three  decided 
to  bolt ;  they  crawled  into  the  wood,  and  did  what  was 
possible  to  find  if  there  was  any  one  left  there  alive, 
but  apparently  the  wounded  had  got  clear. 

Both  sides  were  now  firing  at  the  wood,  and  nothing 
could  be  seen  of  the  British,  every  one  had  gone  back. 
This  had  been  done  because  the  French  on  the  ex- 
treme right  had  retired,  and  the  88th  Brigade  had  con- 
formed to  their  movement.  A  run  for  something  like 
a  mile  brought  shelter  behind  a  line  of  South  Wales 
Borderers,  of  the  8yth  Brigade,  in  response  to  a  signal 
from  Captain  Greenway. 

It  took  more  than  a  month  and  many  lives  to  regain 
the  ground  which  was  ours  on  this  day,  and  all  this 
time  the  Turks  were  digging  and  transforming  the 


188    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

slopes  of  Krithia  into  outworks  of  the  Achi  Baba 
stronghold.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  only 
troops  available  were  those  who  had  fought  and  lost 
fifty  per  cent,  of  their  numbers  during  the  three  pre- 
ceding days  and  nights. 

On  learning  the  result  of  the  reconnaissance  Major- 
General  Marshall  approved  of  a  plan  to  pivot  the  line 
of  the  Syth  and  86th  on  the  left,  and  to  swing  round 
the  right  in  order  to  take  the  entrenchments  which  were 
holding  up  the  left. 

As  the  troops  in  the  centre  fell  back  this  plan  could 
not  be  carried  out,  as  there  was  insufficient  daylight 
left  to  organize  protection  for  the  right  flank.  To 
make  the  best  of  matters  before  dark,  orders  were  given 
to  dig  in  on  a  line,  later  known  as  the  Eski  line. 
Troops  which  had  fallen  back  were  got  into  position, 
and  a  continuous  line  was  made  across  the  peninsula, 
the  French  joining  the  British  by  the  East  Krithia 
road.  This  was  done  during  the  night,  which  was 
dark  and  wet. 

Fortunately  the  Turks  made  no  counter-attack  during 
this  night  of  the  28th — 2gth  April,  and  the  day  of  the 
29th  also  passed  quietly.  Certain  re-adjustments  of 
the  line  were  able  to  be  made.  Barbed  wire  was 
brought  up  with  which  to  construct  obstacles,  reserves 
of  ammunition  were  collected  and  the  position  was 
strengthened. 

When  the  Brigade-Major  went  to  arrange  for  the 
consolidation  of  the  position,  only  one  officer  of  the 
Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers  was  left,  Lieutenant  O'Hara, 
who  rose  to  every  occasion  with  the  greatest  coolness 
and  competence,  from  commanding  a  platoon  at  the 
terrible  landing  from  the  River  Clyde  to  the  command 
of  a  company  the  next  day,  and  after  the  28th  April  to 
commanding  the  battalion. 

On  the  morning  of  the  3Oth  Colonel  H.  G.  Casson, 


IN   GALLIPOLI  189 

C.M.G.,  was  appointed  to  command  the  brigade. 
About  i.io  p.m.  a  strong  skirmishing  line  was  ob- 
served to  be  advancing  from  the  direction  of  Achi 
Baba. 

The  Royal  Munster  Fusiliers  and  the  Royal  Dublin 
Fusiliers  were  temporarily  amalgamated  into  one  unit 
under  Major  Hutchinson,  and  held  the  right  of  the 
section  allotted  to  the  brigade ;  the  Lancashire  Fusi- 
liers were  on  their  left,  and  the  Royal  Fusiliers  en- 
trenched in  reserve.  The  strength  of  the  brigade  had 
been  reduced  to — 

2nd  Royal  Fusiliers,  12  officers,  481  other  ranks; 
ist  Lancashire  Fusiliers,  u  officers,  399  other  ranks; 
ist  Royal  Munster  Fusiliers,  12  officers,  596  other 
ranks;  ist  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers,  I  officer,  374  other 
ranks ;  from  the  normal  strength  per  battalion  of  26 
officers  and  (approximately)  1000  other  ranks. 

Sniping  was  continuous,  and  late  in  the  day  the  posi- 
tion was  heavily  shelled. 

Brigade  Headquarters  had  been  established  under 
shelter  of  the  walls  about  a  ruined  stone  farm-house, 
later  known  as  Fig  Tree  Farm,  close  to  the  firing  line, 
because  it  had  been  desirable  for  many  reasons  to  be 
on  the  spot.  Here  were  beautiful  fig-trees  and  a 
garden,  grown  wild  with  flowers  in  bloom. 

In  the  afternoon  General  Hunter- Weston  visited  the 
line  and  ordered  Brigade  Headquarters  to  be  moved 
further  back. 

On  the  ist  May  the  day  was  spent  in  strengthening 
the  position  and  resting  the  men.  Reinforcements, 
stores,  and  guns  were  landed. 

At  dusk  an  action  began  which  increased  in  violence 
as  the  night  progressed.  Somewhat  early  in  the  night 
a  spot  difficult  to  defend,  owing  to  the  line  being 
pierced  at  an  angle  by  bifurcating  nullahs,  was  rushed, 
and  a  number  of  the  enemy  succeeded  in  breaking 


190    WITH  THE   TWENTY-NINTH  DIVISION 

through.  A  counter-attack  with  the  bayonet  by  the 
Royal  Fusiliers  and  some  of  the  Essex  regiment  led 
by  Captain  Pepys  was  successful. 

All  through  the  operations  the  Royal  Fusiliers 
worked  with  the  smoothest  precision ;  never  for  a 
moment  did  they  lose  their  high  standard  of  efficiency. 
No  task  was  relinquished  while  it  was  humanly  pos- 
sible to  complete  it.  With  such  men  as  Moore,  Shafto, 
and  Hope-Johnston  in  control,  all  officers  inspiring 
confidence,  and  the  disciplined  conduct  of  the  men 
showing  their  friendly  trust  in  them,  there  was  never 
a  fear  that  the  reserve  might  fail  in  stemming  the 
assault.  Captain  Moore,  in  telephonic  communication 
throughout  the  night  with  the  firing  line  and  Brigade 
Headquarters,  gave  accurate  and  constant  information 
of  the  progress  of  the  fight,  and  acted  on  his  own 
initiative  or  carried  out  orders  rapidly  to  deal  with 
every  situation. 

The  firing  was  heavy,  and,  in  spite  of  a  brigade 
reserve  of  70,000  rounds  which  had  been  accumulated 
by  the  ruined  farm-house,  more  ammunition  was 
needed.  When  the  line  was  broken,  some  forty  men 
fell  back  till  they  were  stopped  at  Brigade  Head- 
quarters. It  was  a  platoon  which  had  lost  its  officer 
and  accustomed  N.C.O.'s. 

The  men  were  told  that  there  was  an  opportunity 
to  make  up  for  their  conduct.  They  jumped  at  the 
chance.  Under  a  heavy  fire,  led  by  Captain  Kane, 
who  was  temporarily  acting  as  Staff-Captain,  and  the 
staff  clerk,  Sergeant  Burton  (lately  of  Messrs.  Cox 
and  Co.),  they  made  three  journeys  to  the  firing  line, 
carrying  boxes  of  ammunition.  No  mean  feat  in  pitch 
darkness,  over  broken  country  and  with  bullets  flying, 
and  the  men  were  eventually  allowed  to  resume  their 
places  in  the  firing  line. 

Later  it  was  learnt,  from  copies  which  were  found 


IN   GALLIPOLI  191 

of  the  Turkish  orders  for  the  attack,  that  this  had  been 
made  by  16,000  of  their  best  troops,  with  2000  in  re- 
serve. The  fiercest  fighting  was  against  the  Irish 
regiments,  who  were  defending  the  weakest  part  of  the 
line  and  bore  the  greatest  weight  of  the  attack.  When 
the  masses  were  checked  close  to  the  British  line, 
Germans  could  be  heard  cursing,  and  the  sound  of 
blows  as  they  tried  to  urge  on  the  Turks.  In  the 
morning  there  were  dead  in  piles  close  to  the  British 
trenches.  A  certain  number  of  the  enemy  came  in  and 
gave  themselves  up. 

At  dawn  the  sight  was  wonderful ;  the  countryside 
alive  with  the  enemy  in  retreat,  the  French  artillery 
and  our  own  dealing  death  to  them  with  shrapnel. 
Many  snipers  were  left  close  to  the  line,  and  the 
sniping  on  the  2nd  May  was  very  severe. 

A  counter-attack  was  ordered,  but  owing  to  the 
absence  of  adequate  artillery  support  and  the  heavy 
fire  to  which  our  troops  were  subjected  from  the 
moment  of  showing  themselves  beyond  the  trenches, 
no  progress  was  made  and  the  line  previously  held  was 
resumed.  The  night  of  the  2nd — 3rd  May  there  was 
an  attack  by  the  enemy,  but  it  was  not  seriously  pressed. 

The  3rd  May  was  quiet,  and  was  spent  by  both  sides 
in  bringing  in  wounded  and  burying  dead.  Sub- 
sequently the  Turks  never  permitted  this.  That 
night  there  was  continuous  firing  and  shelling  by  the 
enemy. 

Of  all  brave  men  who  throughout  this  period  deserve 
most  generous  gratitude  there  is  Pirie,  the  surgeon. 
He  was  apparently  untiring.  To  realize  the  casual- 
ties is  to  know  his  task,  fulfilled  with  sympathy,  fine 
skill,  and  unruffled  nerve.  He  ignored  danger. 


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RICHARD  CLAY    &  SONS,  LIMITED, 

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AND  BUNGAY    SUFFOLK. 


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With  the  Twenty-ninth 
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