Chapter IV: Part 4

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

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

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

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

6.40.--We have had no shells since I wrote the above, for which we are thankful. When examining the situation before breakfast I felt that the whole valley up to Achi Baba was to be ours before night. Advances all along the line have been made, some units having gained about 700 yards, the French also taking a trench which they afterwards lost. This is the usual way with the French, they have repeatedly broken our line across the peninsula.

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

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

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

The casualties among the Turks up to May 8 are said to number 40,000. Since then the Australians have accounted for another 7000. To the present date the total is probably not less than 60,000. We ought to be well enough pleased with our work.

_May 21st._--Had a walk round Tekke Burnu, the S.W. point of Gallipoli, where we have two 5-inch field guns. An officer to whom I spoke said he was the first to locate the whereabouts of the gun that threw the Jack Johnsons. We had all guessed from their whistle that they came from the right ridge of Achi Baba. Two of the shells fired at this battery failed to explode, and this man had the holes carefully exposed for their whole depth, and two poles placed in these pointed exactly to the same spot. Each of these shells had penetrated to a depth of 8 feet in very hard clay.

_May 22nd._--About 1 p.m. there seemed to be a strange stir among our transports. I noticed no fewer than six make off in a body towards Lemnos, while Thomson remarked that a destroyer had been going backwards and forwards among the shipping off the point of the peninsula. We did not guess the reason of this till all at once I noticed a warship fire a shot towards Imbros. This was followed by others, and the splashes showed they were firing at something in the sea, no doubt an enemy submarine--which proved to be the case. About six shots in all were fired. Three destroyers were flying about in all directions, absolutely at full speed. Two turned and made for the spot where the submarine had been seen. It is a beautiful sight to see these boats turn in their own length when at full speed. From the rocks at Tekke Burnu I watched for two hours the manœuvres of these and four warships. An anxious night will be spent by our naval brethren. Several other transports have disappeared and gone to the safe anchorage of Lemnos. A large four-funnelled French steamer had just arrived with troops who had no time to disembark, and she has turned tail and gone after the others.

_May 23rd._--1.15 p.m. Am sitting near the top of "The Gully". This runs north and south on the west side of the peninsula. I am at a spot slightly north of Krithia, and in the very middle of our firing line. All the tops of The Gully, on both sides and along its ramifications, are lined with our men and all are blazing away at the hardest, while the Turks bullets keep up a constant whizz over our heads. The Worcesters have just gone into the trenches to relieve some other unit. One of the Hants men I have been sitting beside and talking to was in our hold on the "River Clyde" when we landed exactly four weeks ago. He tells me how gloomy his battalion was over the death of their C.O. that day--Colonel Smith-Carrington, "a grand fellow, the best man that ever lived," as he put it.

Wearying to death after twelve days of idleness I set off after church parade to visit the Hants Dressing Station where I knew Pirie was placed. I went along the Krithia road till I came to The Gully I once reached late one evening, when Thomson and I were sniped at. Here I chanced to meet my old cabin companion, Balfour, who directed me to the very top of The Gully where I came across a battery which again directed me further to the left. Here three bullets flew past me, a gunner saying these stray bullets were doing a great deal of damage. Balfour also told me that they had lost two men yesterday from the same cause.

At last I reached The Gully which is several miles long--over three--and averages 100 yards in width at the top. All the slopes are one solid mass of shrubbery--laurel, juniper, dwarf conifers, holly oak, and brilliant flowers innumerable. I brought back a bunch of Cytisus whose individual flowers might have been our broom (_C. Scoparius_).

A road has been made the whole length of The Gully, and the whole way is occupied by our troops, especially Indians, many of whom were engaged in their ablutions as I passed. The sides of The Gully would average 100 feet in height, many parts being higher. The sides slope steeply in parts, in many places are quite perpendicular or over-hanging, the walls being the usual hard, marly clay, while I noticed broad layers of conglomerate and sandstone also occur. I was charmed with the whole place, and when describing it at the mess I was thought to be romancing. The heat in the depths of The Gully was very intense and without a breath of wind.

_May 24th._--A little rain fell in the morning, and it was more or less cloudy during the day. We watched a fierce thunderstorm, which came round the south side of Imbros, up its east side, then it turned west towards Samothrace. Much shelling to-day, but mostly short and some way from our camp. I hear of no damage.

_May 25th._--Had another walk to-day to the top of The Gully with Kellas, Agassiz, and Thomson. Plenty of shells over our heads. Twenty-six shells were fired this morning at several aeroplanes that had landed on our aerodrome. Two were more or less damaged, one with a hole through its petrol tank.

As we were returning from The Gully and were ascending the high bank of Gully Beach I saw something was wrong out at sea, three or four ships being apparently huddled together in one mass. Through my glasses I saw the stern of a ship in the air, preparing for its final plunge to the bottom of the sea. In three minutes or so she had entirely gone. Strange to say what we had been watching was the last of the "Triumph" which had been torpedoed by the submarine that caused the excitement the other day. She is said to have sunk in twenty minutes. We have not yet heard how many perished in this most regrettable disaster, but if it is true that her magazine blew up, as we hear, the loss will likely be heavy. H.M.S. "Triumph" did much useful work out here. This is the second warship we have lost since we arrived in Gallipoli.

_May 26th._--Yesterday we opened a dressing station one and a half miles up the Krithia road. It was the duty of Fiddes and Whyte to be posted there for twenty-four hours, beginning at 3 p.m., but the latter having been kicked by a horse yesterday I offered to take his place. I am there now sitting on the edge of a deep funk hole which I have strewn with a thick layer of thyme, meaning to have a pleasant night between "lavender sheets," but I am told by Stephen and Thomson that there is no sleep to be had out here owing to the terrible din that goes on. At present--7.30--there is a violent interchange of shells going on, the enemy's mostly flying high over our heads on the way to our Beach. The aerodrome beside it has been very furiously attacked during the last two days with considerable damage.

Beside us is the grave of a Turk who smells as all Turks do. Our men, I fancy, think they do not deserve much burial. This reminds me of a Turk on the top of whose grave I lunched with Pirie up in the firing line last Sunday. A man the day before was digging a funk hole, and coming on something soft he plunged his spade into it. The smell was so terrific that he threw his spade and bolted, and the Turk had to be covered up by sand thrown from a distance of several yards. Then the night before one of our men, when it was getting dark, saw a suspicious object slipping down the side of The Gully, as he thought, so he proceeded to stalk it through the dense shrubs that clothe all the slopes of The Gully, and, on getting close enough to get a view of it through the bushes he recognised the Turkish uniform and sprang on the man like a tiger driving his bayonet clean through him. The Turk had been dead for nearly a month, and his assailant, like the other man, had to make a hasty retreat.

We are to have a very lively night, that is evident. The Turks usually cease firing their big guns by this time of night, but their shells are still flying thick. The British guns are at present quiet, but the French 75's are barking furiously. It is a delight to hear their sharp, clean bark. The enemy's machine-guns have also been very active this afternoon, the crack, crack, crack, of the Turkish one being easily distinguishable from the noise made by ours. The day of our landing taught me this.

_May 27th._--I must have slept three or four hours last night, but not soundly. There was constant rifle fire beside us with one big fusillade before midnight. But what annoyed me was the smell of the thyme and other sweet-smelling herbs I had made a bed of, covering all over with a new rubber ground sheet which was very odoriferous. The mixture of odours was not pleasant. I had trampled the plants with my boots to produce as strong a smell as possible, and succeeded so well that it actually made my eyes smart all night. I rose early and was over near Gully Beach about 6 o'clock. Since then shells have been flying on our four sides and high in the air, and I hear of considerable damage.

We are much upset by the news which reached us at 7.45 that at 7 another of our ships had been torpedoed, lying just off our Beach in full view of all there. It is rumoured that it is the "Majestic," but her name we are not yet sure of. The men who brought this news out to us say they saw the men on board line up before she went down, and dive into the sea. Terrible news!

_May 28th._--Back at W. Beach. What we heard yesterday about the "Majestic" was only too true. She lies in front of our camp, about 300 yards from the edge of the cliff, a considerable part of her still above water. There is much discussion as to what part of her it is that is visible, but it appears to me to be the keel, certainly the ram is there. The killed and drowned are between fifty and sixty. Several I have spoken to distinctly saw the wake of the torpedo for many hundred yards. The "Majestic" was lying in the midst of other shipping--only supply boats of no great size, besides trawlers and destroyers, but a gap must have been left and through this the torpedo had found its way. The Admiral and Ashmead-Bartlett were both on board. The latter was on the "Triumph" when she went down two days before.

The "Majestic" was able to fire five shots at the submarine when she rose to find her bearings, which she did about a mile off, but whether struck or not she managed to discharge her deadly bolt, which went home right amidships, and in about eight to ten minutes the "Majestic" turned over and sank. Her torpedo nets were out, and as many were scrambling up the side of the hull, as she turned over, the nets on the starboard side swept right over, and must have accounted for many deaths.

It is said that the form of torpedo used is most efficient at ranges of 3000 yards or more, this long distance being necessary to get up full momentum. One of the camp sanitary men, who tells me the story, was on the beach as the men swam ashore, and one sailor was no sooner on his feet than he said: "It was time the damned b---- was down; she was twenty-five years old; any of you chaps got a clay pipe, I am dying for a clay pipe"--all said in one breath. The "Majestic" is said to have been built in 1902 and was an old boat, but her armament was quite serviceable.

An enemy aeroplane crossed over our heads at 7.15 this morning, and dropped a bomb, presumably at our C.C.S. and just missed it. Three men were standing near; all were knocked over, one dying soon after.

_May 29th._--This forenoon I walked out to White House Farm, which is about 3 or 3-1/2 miles up the centre of the valley, and is within a few hundred yards of our firing trenches. It was rumoured in the evening that these front trenches had been taken by the Turks. At the White House there is the finest specimen of a fig tree I have yet seen, being large and spreading, and growing in a piece of good turf beside a well. In that part the whole ground is strewn with bullets.

_May 30th._--I have not been out of camp to-day. The men in our dressing station came in at 3 a.m. with a long tale of the fury of the shelling out there, many casualties occurring round it. Evidently there is no better place to be had, but the part devoted to the wounded runs in such a way that it can be directly enfiladed by gun and rifle fire from Achi Baba. Another trench at right angles to this could easily be broadened and deepened to hold all the wounded and a whole tent-subdivision.

Three shots were fired from our battery on Tekke Burnu about 6.30 p.m. and at once all the destroyers darted out to sea. Evidently a submarine had been sighted. It is now getting dark, and the sea is covered with our mosquito craft darting about in all directions.

We employ several hundred Greeks, mostly road making. They receive 2s. 6d. a day and their food. All those working at the Beach struck work to-day, demanding higher wages, and retired to their shelter holes in the cliff. A company of Dublin Fusiliers was called out, and fixing bayonets they kicked the mutineers out of their holes, and all were driven into a corner at the foot of the rocks, the open side shut in by a line of bayonets, and there they are to be kept, without food and water till they come to their senses. The Greek nation has always been greedy, always unreliable, and the most notorious liars on the face of the earth.

_May 31st._--This has been a very quiet day, the Turks and ourselves having fired comparatively few shots. Although there has been no hard fighting lately, really little more than sniping, we still have a casualty list of some size. Those leaving for treatment on the boats or at the base hospitals of Malta and Alexandria have a daily average of about 125. This includes sickness as well as wounds.

_June 1st._--There was much noise last night after all, there being much gun and rifle fire, especially on our centre, but with few casualties, as far as I can learn.

It has been known for two days that the Turks are to make a determined attack on us to-night, for which we are no doubt fully prepared. Since 5 this evening both sides have been very liberal with their shells. Krithia and its neighbourhood, as well as the right ridge of Achi Baba, has been reeking from the discharge of our and the French shells.

It is said that the Turks and Gurkha trenches are so near each other at the top of The Gully that the two are connected by a tunnel through which they hobnob, and that the Turks have asked the help of the Indians to murder their German officers, then they would hand over the Dardanelles to us without further trouble. A mere story of course, although one firmly believes that it is these savage officers who are forcing the Turks to fight, under threats that they will shoot them if they refuse to go forward.

A few shrapnel shells were fired half an hour ago at the top of our Beach, in resentment of our Ambulance men gathering on the sky line to watch the shells bursting on Achi Baba. This made them beat a hasty retreat. But on the whole the day has been very quiet.

_June 2nd._--It appeared in "Orders" to-day that we held an advanced dressing station 100 yards on this side of White Farm, and as no one understood what this referred to, the C.O. after consulting with the A.D.M.S. (Col. Yarr), who could throw no light on the subject, asked me to go out and investigate the ground to see if such a station might be established there. As a big engagement is anticipated within forty-eight hours such a place would be useful. I started at 2.30 with Kellas and Agassiz who were going out to our present dressing station, but on reaching that they proposed to go along with me, as they had never been in that part of the country. All went well on the way out, only an occasional stray bullet being heard. On reaching "Y Battery," about 100 yards from White Farm a gunner joined us and took us quickly over the remaining short distance, where stray bullets are apt to be too plentiful. But worse, a sniper several hundred yards off had the exact range. He took us into a vineyard behind the farm, and pointed out to us all our advanced trenches, warning us not to shake the vines as that might attract fire, and on no account to show ourselves. We returned to this man's battery, and as soon as I started off with Agassiz the sniper had a shot at us, his bullet landing in a tuft of grass a few feet to our right. I thought it was some animal and proceeded to stir it out of the grass, but Agassiz declared it was a shot. In a second or two another kicked up a dust beside us, which settled the question. We scattered at once, but three other shots came after us before we got out of sight behind some small trees. From these we watched Kellas sauntering along, hoping he would also have to take to his heels, but the sniper left him alone.

I had next to visit the 88th Brigade H.Q. where I explained to General Doran that the spot mentioned for our dressing station was much too dangerous. He agreed at once, and said even where he was, on the side of rising ground with its back to the enemy, was unsafe, and that one of his sergeants had just been shot through the knee lying in his dugout.

_June 4th._--To all appearances this is to be a great day. At 11 a.m. to the minute about 150 field guns and howitzers opened on the Turkish trenches, and now at 11.20 all is one great roar. Eight aeroplanes are circling about, two big battleships with seven destroyers appeared out of the haze, coming from Imbros. These are on the constant move, for submarines will be about for certain, and we must not give them more fixed targets, they have already had too many. Pandemonium will reign in a few minutes. We have waited long for this, and all are overjoyed.

I have been round the C.C.S. and Ordnance Stores collecting all the stretchers I can lay my hands on. Apparently we do not expect the Turks to be the only sufferers to-day.

12.10.--Achi Baba and the whole Gallipoli point reek as they have not reeked since April 25. The battleships keep moving and belching out their deadly hail, encircled always by the destroyers, while an aeroplane hovers, at a low height, over and around them, peering into the depths of the Aegean in case a submarine should come sneaking up. The French guns are very busy.

6.30 p.m.--Dressing St. Krithia Road. I came out here about two hours ago, with six squads of stretcher-bearers. We cannot advance yet, things are too hot, rifle fire being still a constant rattle, especially on our left. When I arrived the French were very active on our right, but judging from their comparative quietness now I think they may have seized at least part of a great gully which had been immediately in front of them all this time, and which has contained one or more Turkish batteries. These have annoyed the French for long--and us. The front of the hill is now fairly quiet, but we are firing huge shells into Krithia and that end of Achi Baba. We know from the wounded, who have been coming in for some hours in a steady stream, that our line is greatly advanced, some of our battalions having taken as many as five trenches.

About 8.15 I set off with thirteen stretcher squads to the dressing station of the 88th Field Ambulance, which we found two miles up The Gully. It was getting dark when we started, and was pitch dark, there being no moon, when we reached that point. The order we had got was to send up thirteen stretchers at once, and we interpreted this to mean the full complement of bearers as well, but these were not required. The great battle was still raging, and bullets were flying across The Gully in thousands. During the day there had been numerous casualties from these in the depths of The Gully. On the way back the whole place was packed tight with wagons of every description, and pack animals taking up ammunition and stores for next day, and it was often with the greatest difficulty we got through the blocks. Having to cross a level piece of ground from Gully Beach to our station, and this being swept by bullets, which were passing among us, we had many narrow escapes, but no one was hit. At our station, which was now in the line of fire for stray shot, we heard bullets pass all night long. A bullet went "phut" into the ground at my feet as I lay on a stretcher. I merely drew up my feet and tried to sleep, but being saturated with perspiration and generally uncomfortable I never even felt drowsy. Then about 3 in the morning a more resounding shot landed in the same spot as the last--both certainly within 2 feet of me. I now got up and sat till 6 in a corner more protected from the N.E. which appeared to be the direction of the bullets.

On the way to The Gully I had walked with a sergeant of the Worcester's as guide. He tells me the French did not do well to-day, having as usual advanced and retired, thus leaving our Naval Division, on our extreme right, exposed. The Turks opened fire on them and the K.O.S.B.'s and mowed them down with their machine-guns. At H.Q. they are reported to have used very strong language about this. My guide also tells me of the bravery displayed by the Sikhs and Gurkhas, also by the Territorials who are drafted through the Regulars, many of them mere boys, but they are said to have shown great pluck.

_June 5th._--I believe according to programme we should have started a big gun bombardment at 11 a.m. to-day, but we have only had occasional shots--so far at any rate, and it is now 5.45, too late to do much before night comes on.

I mentioned yesterday that we had 150 field guns and howitzers, but I find the numbers were 180 French and 150 British guns. An aeroplane crossed us at 7 p.m. flying at a great height. No bombs were dropped.

"Asiatic Annie," as a famous gun across the Dardanelles is called, has thrown a number of ugly shells this way to-day, but all were short of W. Beach.

The "Majestic" is sinking gradually, her ram, which must have been 15 feet out of the water, is now nearly submerged.

_June 6th._--Sunday--6.40 a.m.--The day by preference for a big fight. Last night--about 8--the Turks appear to have made a feint attack on the French, this going on for hours, the rifle fire very heavy. Then in the small hours of this morning they had concentrated on our left--the other end of the line--where they were in great force. My informants are three wounded from the Essex Regiment who have walked in to hospital. They say the Turks were ten to our one, and they came on with great dash, fighting being very fierce at a distance of only 20 yards. Then they got mixed up with the Essex and Royals, who must have been badly cut up and were the last to retire. The Turks used a large quantity of hand grenades. These are very deadly, and have been making ghastly wounds as we know. We too use these freely, all the empty 1 lb. tins of the camp having been collected for some time back, and charged with gun-cotton. For missiles they have chopped up Turkish barbed wire into inch lengths.

The howitzer fire was terrific between 4 and 5 when I woke up and came to the top of the ridge to see what was doing. Plainly something unusually desperate was on the move. "Asiatic Annie" was also busy and several shells came this way, one falling in the C.C.S. where no harm was done. Luckily it had chosen a clear spot in front of the store tent to pitch into. I had gone down to examine this when the wounded men I have referred to arrived. They say that all the trenches we took two days ago, after so much hard fighting, are lost. Now at 7.15 firing has become much more desultory, and judging from where our shells are bursting the distance we have been driven back is not serious--and so to breakfast.

10 a.m.--Firing is too hot for us to collect in groups, therefore, there is to be no church parade this morning. The walking wounded still come straggling in, singly or in groups, all greatly depressed at having such bad news to relate. Another constant stream flows from the C.C.S. to the little cemetery at the top of the Beach, each unit of this stream consisting of two bearers carrying a dead comrade on a stretcher. The cemetery may be small but it already contains many graves, and inside its barbed wire fence there is still room for many of our gallant men, who fondly fancy that the shell or bullet that could lay them low is not yet cast. This very comforting feeling I hope we all possess--more or less. One of the graves has a cross of great taste and is over a "Driver Page," a New Zealand Artillery man, and after the inscription is the word "Ake--Ake".

No one knows the extent of our casualties, but they must be heavy. The Indian contingent alone is said to have lost 1000 yesterday. The Royals, Essex, and K.O.S.B.'s are said to have suffered most in the morning's attack.

_Later._--I heard in the evening that yesterday's casualties amounted to at least 1800, but some think that an under-estimate.

We hear to-night that General Wolley-Dod has been appointed to command our 86th Brigade. He is said to be a very able soldier.

In the afternoon there was an occasional interchange of shots, but on the whole it was quiet till 8 p.m., the hour darkness sets in, when the usual fusillade began. The Turks are nearly always responsible for this, and our men rarely reply.

_June 7th._--I notice in yesterday's Routine Orders issued by General de Lisle, commanding the 29th Division, that the old Etonians are to have a dinner at Lancashire Landing, and those attending are requested to bring knife, fork, plate, and cup--their mugs in short. This request seems quite natural out here. Then follows a notice that some unit has lost a bay horse and two mules, finder to return them to such and such a place. This again is a curiosity, horses and mules are always straying. The correct way to do if you lose a horse is to seize the first stray one you come across, and swear you brought him out from England.

Last night about 10.30 the Turks disturbed our peace by firing fifty or sixty shells about our Beach, some being very near our camp, near enough to bespatter our tents and dugouts with lumps of earth. One of the men of the 88th Field Ambulance, just in front of us, got wounded. They began again with heavier shells--Jack Johnsons--about 5 a.m. to-day, seven falling near us, and as we lay underground we could feel the earth shake with every detonation. Last night was the first time they ever gave us such a visit. They are chary of using their big guns after dark in case they should give away their positions.

2.15 p.m.--I spent sometime on a ridge overlooking the sea and watched the Turks shelling the ships close by. Their firing from Kum Kale was wild, but there was one ship they were determined to have, shell after shell falling near and throwing up splashes mast high. At last she was hit and a loud report was followed by dense smoke from her fore part. Flames quickly followed, and several minesweepers and destroyers soon came to her aid, and unloaded part of her cargo. She was finally anchored close inshore to await events. By 2 o'clock the flames seemed to be pretty well under control.

While watching this a young officer came up and spoke to me. He had arrived with us on the "River Clyde" and since then has had very trying experiences. He said his birthday was to-morrow, and I should say it might be his twenty-first. He is in the Anson Battalion, and had come through the Antwerp retreat. His battalion left England 1000 strong with thirty-three officers. They are now 198 men, while he is the only officer remaining. He thinks we must beat a retreat from Gallipoli one of these days, to take it would mean too great a withdrawal of troops from France, but, as he says, a retreat means a greater loss of honour than Britain can bear. He told me about the Collingwood Battalion which left England on May 9, and went into the fight fresh and at full strength. They lost twenty-three officers and nearly six hundred men. In spite of all opinions and rumours we must bring this campaign to a victorious end, be the cost what it may.

_June 8th._--A day of wind, one big cloud of dust, and swarms of flies. These last have become a terrible curse lately, and as time goes on they will get no less.

About a week ago Col. Yarr proposed that I should join him at Head-quarters, and this morning I was ordered to present myself at Corps H.Q. at 3 p.m. I had given the necessary undertaking to divulge no secrets, and as the hour approached I rigged myself out in my best boots and tunic, and had chosen a smart orderly to look after me--Melrose, from Kincardine O'Neil. Then the A.D.M.S. appeared, to say that their staff was broken up, most of them having gone to Gully Beach, and as there were only twelve all told remaining there was no excuse for my joining just yet. They have interesting personalities at H.Q. and I feel disappointed. Sir Ian Hamilton, for example, dined there last night.

_June 9th._--We had a visit from Pirie, M.O. to the Lancs. He is terribly depressed over the fight of the 6th when they lost 450 men. They were held up by barbed wire in a charge and were shot down. I have heard of three battalions that were left with only one officer after that fight.

We are now erecting at the "two-gun fort" two naval guns of 4.7 calibre to reply to our Asiatic friends. It is supposed there are three guns on the other side of the Dardanelles of 6-inch calibre. These were carefully watched last night, and it was observed that the flashes always came from different points, as if they were placed on rails and were run sideways. This has long been suspected. These "Asiatic Annies" have accounted for 120 Frenchmen within the last few days.

Stephen and Thomson are out at the dressing station to-night. I have been watching Jack Johnsons bursting in their neighbourhood.

We received four motor ambulances to-day to reinforce our mule-drawn wagons.

_June 10th._--The dust storm continues, and some one has been comforting enough to say that these storms often last for twenty-one days. They are about as bad as the flies.

_June 11th._--Wind stronger than ever but the dust has been largely blown into the sea. Towards evening it fell somewhat. The sea has been too rough to get patients away from the C.C.S. to the hospital ships, and we have had to relieve it by taking fifty walking cases into our tents. All are very cheery, and I fancy most are looking forward to a short holiday after their recent experiences. Some have not yet been in a fight, some of the naval men who landed two days ago were only on their way to the trenches when they were wounded by shrapnel, which was showered on them plentifully from several points.

Stephen and Thomson had such a hot time at the dressing station that they were forced to return to the Beach. There were eighty-eight shells in their vicinity within an hour. About 2 p.m. when I went out the Krithia road with several squads of bearers in answer to an urgent but vain message, we were held up half a mile on this side of the dressing station by a perfect tornado of shrapnel just in front of us. I heard afterwards that the road in that part was entirely ploughed up.

_June 12th._--A quiet day but full of rumours. Late last night we had five Jack Johnsons with their terrific crashes, and in the distance rifle fire went on all night. About 5 a.m. to-day a number of shells landed among the shipping off our Beach. Due north about the same time, at the distance of a good many miles, what sounded like repeated broadsides from warships. Probably the Australians are having a big fight. Then at 7 a.m. ten or twelve rifle shots on the aerodrome behind us took me up in a hurry, this being unusual. I half thought they might be shooting a spy, but found some one had been blazing away at some huge bird, either a vulture or an eagle. I watched its large dark form as it flew towards X. Beach. Shrapnel and Jack Johnsons were flying about in other parts during the day, but none near us.

Now for rumours--(1) the 29th Division is to be withdrawn for certain, having done its bit out here. This is an old rumour which we still doubt. I for one would be sorry were we withdrawn before seeing this part of the campaign through. (2) The Russians are landing an army north of Constantinople. (3) The Italians have landed at Rhodes, and are to make a descent on Smyrna--the last two cheer us up.

Kellas and Agassiz had a quieter time at the dressing station than yesterday's two. The latter returned about 8 and said "Arthur" was too busy playing with a spider and he left him behind.

_June 13th._--Had a walk with the C.O. to the top of The Gully to find a site for a new dressing station. We breakfasted at 7 as we wished to cross the exposed piece of ground between this and Gully Beach. For sometime back this has been a favourite mark for the Turkish guns, and we thought the morning the most likely time to be allowed to pass unnoticed. We were in the foot of The Gully before 8 o'clock. The whole valley between this and Achi Baba was so quiet in the brilliant sunshine that we remarked that it might have been a Sunday at home. Near the top of The Gully we found Taylor of the 87th Field Ambulance at breakfast and had a cup of tea with him. He came along with us to find a suitable place, and one was fixed on, but I do not like it. In my opinion it will be terribly exposed to a dropping fire, the surroundings are not high enough to give much protection. The ground is also much soiled--I preferred a small side gully but the C.O. thought it unfeasible.

We called on Major Ward of the 88th F.A. who was also in the neighbourhood. After much labour he has got an ideal spot, very safe, and plainly made by a man of artistic tastes. He is as happy as a lark up there with his camera, and is studying the birds and their nests.

Col. O'Hagan and Major Bell were next called on at Gully Beach, and we reached our camp about 1 o'clock.

We hear that Gen. de Lisle estimates that the European war will be ended by September--absolutely without fail.

_June 14th._--I marched a number of our men up The Gully to work at our new dressing station. I had a look at the place chosen but liked it worse than ever, and proceeded to tear down the sides of the little gully I preferred. By night we had converted it into a most romantic and safe retreat for the wounded and ourselves. The dry bed of a stream, for about 100 yards, we levelled down into a beautiful path, with several twists and high towering walls, and in the extreme end we levelled the floor of a water-worn amphitheatre making room for about twenty stretcher cases. A little water drips over the centre of the 40 feet high overhanging wall, which in wet weather would be a raging torrent. (This was afterwards known, and figured in our maps, as Aberdeen Gully. It was most suitable for our work, very safe, and much admired by every one.)

_June 15th._--Been working all day in our Gully, and am now prepared for the night, and am sitting in my new dugout, which is merely an excavation on a slope with a projecting cliff overhead. At the present moment a long string of Gurkhas are filing up a twisting and high path on the north side of our little gully, on their way to the trenches for the night. We have watched all sorts on this path, but mostly Sikhs and Gurkhas on their way to the firing line, and Indian water carriers with their great skin bags which look as if they would hold about six gallons. Much water has gone up in tanks, slung on mules.

One of our big guns is immediately above us on the top of the cliff, and is making a terrific din, with long rolling echoes. All our guns have been very busy to-day and the Turks still more so, and I am afraid from their long range, which I observed in the morning, these have got new guns with very high explosive shells. It is now 7.45 and they may soon stop, as it is dark by 8, but for the last few nights they have fired at all hours.

_June 16th._--Still at our new place, and all of us busy with pick and spade all day. Had a good night's sleep in spite of a continuous rifle fire very near us. We had a visit in the afternoon from the C.O., Agassiz, and Dickie. With the two last I walked over to Y. Beach, and at the Artillery Observation Post there, under the guidance of the officer in charge, we had a capital view of all our trenches on the left flank, including one that has been a bone of contention for some time, and was the cause of an attack by the Turks last night. This trench was formerly Turkish, but half of it is now in our possession and between us is a pile of sandbags. Over this barrier each takes it into his head to throw a few bombs at his enemy. We are trying to rectify our position by cutting a new sap. The whole of the Turkish trenches from Achi Baba to the sea are visible from Y. Beach O.P. For a long way in front of where we were the distance between the two of us is not many yards, and in one part the trenches look as if they were mixed up in an extraordinary way.

I spent the evening making a table for our new quarters, and retired to bed about 9 in the midst of big gun, machine and rifle fire, all very near.

_June 17th._--Aberdeen Gully. We opened our new station to-day and relieved the 87th F.A. We had but a few patients. Agassiz visited us in the afternoon with Fiddes and Dickie. The first and I walked over to the O.P. at Y. Beach. On the way back along the sunk mule track we had to pass a string of mule water carriers. Each Indian leads three mules in Indian file. One brute took it into his head to rub the sharp edge of his tank into my ribs, and with his feet well to the side he stood up and jammed me as hard as he could against the wall of the trench. Agassiz, as transport officer, had to dilate on the amount of intelligence he has noticed in the Indian mules, while I could only use strong language over the wickedness of this particular brute.

We had a number of visitors to-day from neighbouring units--M.O.'s and others. Padres Creighton and Komlosy and Major Lindsay dined with us.

_June 18th._--The centenary of Waterloo. I hear the French are to make an attack to-day. I hope they will be more successful than they were this day one hundred years ago. This morning we have been annoyed by the Turks' shrapnel, the whole of the gully being peppered, and also by defective shells from our own battery above our heads. Several since we came up here have burst almost as soon as they left the gun.

After breakfast I walked to Y. Beach, and for the first time scrambled down to the foot. "The Dardanelles Driveller," whose one and only copy was most amusing, said about this spot, "Why call it a Beach, it is only a bloody cliff"? It was here the K.O.S.B.'s and S.W.B.'s landed on April 25 and met with no opposition at the landing, and had proceeded nearly two miles inland, when they were attacked by the Turks in overwhelming force, and lost a large number in their retreat to the Beach and then to their boats. This was afterwards retaken by the Gurkhas, who pushed through from W. Beach, and the high cliff on the north side is now known as Gurkha Bluff. The Indian Brigade have their H.Q. here, and this morning there were about 2000 Gurkhas and Sikhs about. I was toiling up the "bloody cliff" when some Gurkhas passed me, thinking nothing of the steep ascent; while I straightened my knees slowly at each step, I noticed they brought their legs straight with a jerk.

This day two years ago I was lying in bed in Brussels, reading Baedeker, when I discovered it was the 98th anniversary of Waterloo. I had given up all intention of visiting the battlefield, being pressed for time, but after such a discovery I felt compelled to pay it a visit. I was thankful I went, it proved one of the most enjoyable days I ever spent. At that time Holland and Belgium hated each other, but were outwardly kept friendly by their common enemy, Germany, of which they were very suspicious. What has now happened has surprised neither of these two States.

7 p.m.--Returned a few minutes ago from my favourite Observation Post at Y. Beach--Major Ward dragged me over to....

11 p.m.--The preliminary big gun bombardment was to commence at 7, and I had just made a start with my diary when the din began, and I had to stop short. We are in the very middle of four batteries--two mountain (Ross and Cromarty), one 64-pounder, and a fourth of four 6-inch howitzers. All blazed forth at once, and all drew fire. As far as we could make out this was the hottest corner of the whole front. Shells in hundreds burst about our ears, chunks of shell and four nose caps came into Aberdeen Gully. The noise of our guns and the bursting of Turkish shells was the worst I have heard since the day of our landing. Stones and earth we had flying about in plenty. In the midst of it all Captain Rowland, R.E., shouted from the mule track, asking if a M.O. would go and see Major Archibald in the front trench. I set off with two bearers and a stretcher, and found him in a side trench close to Gully Beach. He was mortally wounded. I dressed him and left him where he lay, in charge of an orderly. We now hurried back to the mule track, the whole length of which we had to traverse. It had been repeatedly and most thoroughly shelled from end to end during the day, and we expected the Turk to sweep along it again at any minute. We had just cleared it when this actually happened, and howls behind us took us back to find that some Indians had been caught in the fire. A Sikh had a leg almost entirely blown off. Though suffering badly he was most plucky.

From that time onwards we had a steady flow of wounded, which still goes on, but those now coming in are being dressed by the Regimental M.O.'s before they are carried in by our bearers.

As far as I can gather from the wounded the Turks made an attack on our extreme left at the very hour appointed for the attack by the French and us. They came on four deep protected by their artillery which blew in two of our front trenches, which were held by the S.W.B.'s and Inniskillings. These had to retreat, as many as possible through their communication trenches, but many had to get over the parapets and rush back over the open. There were 500 Turks in this part alone, and our men say only two ever returned, our men forming up and charging quickly retook what they had lost. We have had several K.O.S.B.'s from the centre where there was also an attack. These were more successful from the beginning, and within fifteen minutes had taken the Turks' first line.

_June 19th._--The above was not the end of last night's work. A little after midnight we were requested to send a M.O. and as many nursing orderlies as possible to the Inniskillings Aid Post, where they were said to be overwhelmed with work. This was at the very top of The Gully, three-quarters of a mile beyond our station. I jumped at the opportunity of a little excitement, and set off with five orderlies. We found the road dotted with dead mules and horses, but could not find the M.O. for some time. At last he was roused out of his hole half asleep. He said he had never sent for help, that they were quite able to cope with the work, his men being at the time occupied with cases, which seemed to be coming in fast. What cases he had we took back with us, an Inniskilling who had a bad wound in the foot from a grenade I helped back with his arm round my neck.