The Incomparable 29th and the "River Clyde" Part 17

Next we sat down in front of what we thought was a school and made a sketch of it. It turned out to be the church of Sainte Varvara. The school is alongside, and the dominie had eyed us and came over and took us through the church. We thought he was a verger, and Stephen wished to purchase every holy relic in it. Then we tipped him a few coppers, and tapers were accordingly lit and planted in a basin of sand. All the Greek churches we have seen are very ornate and tawdry, with a mult.i.tude of pictures and tall candlesticks. The pulpit towered till it almost touched the low ceiling. The centre of the churches is always vacant, and round this s.p.a.ce there is always a row of high-backed seats. I fancy the difference between the Greek and Roman churches is not great. Both give much prominence to the Virgin and Child, but I am told that one of the differences is that the former does not regard the Virgin as a Saint. A number of saints were pictured here, including Sainte Varvara, to whom the building is dedicated.

We next looked into the school, a tumble down place, but clean and tidy, and with about forty bright, neatly dressed children. Stephen was delighted at the sight and beamed on them all, and yelled and laughed, gave a little chap a sum of multiplication on the blackboard which he did correctly, then he had to show him his new and more complicated way of getting the answer. This new method is very peculiar, but the two answers were identical, to the astonishment of the dominie, who was apparently able to follow the steps. "Now," says Stephen, "I want all the children to say 'Venezelos good' and to give him a cheer." This was done most heartily. "Now, say Gunariz bad."

This time, I think, they did not understand what was wanted of them; however, with a little persuasion from Stephen and the dominie they got through it in a mild way. There was something refres.h.i.+ng and homelike in our visit to the kiddies. They all jumped smartly to their feet as we were leaving. The dominie accompanied us up the street, where we admired the trees laden with cl.u.s.ters of beautiful red-cheeked pomegranates. I had never seen this fruit growing before, but here every garden was full of it.

We next stopped to watch a woman spinning inside a doorway, with an instrument like a fiddle bow--either that or she was carding the wool with it, this being in fluffy billows about her on the floor. She asked us to enter--all by signs of course. We had a look round her kitchen which was very clean, the fireplace and articles about being mostly not unlike what one could see at home. In a corner was a broad, low divan on which she threw some cus.h.i.+ons, on which we sat with our legs tucked under us, which we supposed was the correct fas.h.i.+on, and what was expected of us. She next got us two small gla.s.ses of brandy, a saucer with a few small biscuits and two tumblers of water, and placed all neatly on a small table with a cover. The brandy was strong and scented, and not much to my liking; however, I drank it and felt grateful to this good soul for her hospitality and showing us a little Grecian home life. At one side of the room there was a part shut off by a curtain which we concluded was a box-bed, but Stephen had a look in and found it full of shelves with blankets and articles of clothing. "But where do the devils sleep?" Stephen kept on saying, and by resting his head on his hands and snoring he tried to get the woman to understand that he was curious as to this point. Her demeanour at once changed, her temper was up, and we cleared off down the street.

_September 20th._--There has been nothing to take note of during the last few days. The Lancs. Fusiliers have occupied a good deal of my time, their Sick Parades varying from 215 to fifty-seven. We have had a few visits from Taubes, mostly after dark, one dropping two bombs yesterday, and the night before we had six. The hangar seems to be their objective. Two others we heard approaching last night but they never came over us, they could see we were on the alert by the amount of our fire, and some red rockets went off high in the air.

To-day should end our holiday to Imbros, but as it blows a gale we have been notified that this has been postponed. In the afternoon Aga.s.siz and I had a delightful walk up a valley that was new to us. It was a ma.s.s of huge rocks and boulders, with an attempt at a stream which would be a raging torrent in winter. We came on a curious geological formation, which we thought could be nothing but fossilised trees, but how a tree came to be in the middle of a lava rock was a puzzle. We soon found many others and saw that, however, this shape came about, trees were not the foundation. Each consisted of a large number of concentric circles exactly like the rings in a tree stump, some fully 3 feet in diameter.

On our way back we had a good view of Achi Baba--of unpleasant memory.

We had two padres to tea, Beardmore being one of them. They told us how Turkish snipers were paid--20 piastres for a lieutenant, 40 for a captain, 80 for a lieutenant-colonel, but if a Staff officer was shot the sniper got shot himself--not very flattering to our Staff.

If you meet a Greek on a fine day his usual greeting sounds like "kalumaera". It was only to-day that I discovered this was the modern p.r.o.nunciation of kale hemera, and on greeting a man in the ancient form he stood up and wondered what I meant, then said, "No, no". He explained that all aspirates are dropped in modern Greek. They use the word "su" for water, but they also understand the ancient word hudor.

Many of the accents also seem to have changed.

_September 22nd._--We reached our old camp at Suvla about 9 p.m.

yesterday, after a pleasant crossing, and a good meal of tea and coffee, ham and eggs before disembarking. We watched the usual Turkish "evening hate" from our place of safety on board, the sh.e.l.ls bursting in places we could recognise. One fell in the sea not far from us as we marched from the Beach in the dark. To-day we had a large number of sh.e.l.ls just round us.

I had an order early this morning to join the Lancs. Fusiliers, and after breakfast set off in search of their lines. I was directed to various places where the North, South, and Royal Lancas.h.i.+re Regiments lay, but it cost me a whole hour to find our Fusiliers. They are in reserve, with the supports and firing lines just in front of them, all on the steep slope of Hizlar Dagh. During Sick Parade we had to keep ducking from sh.e.l.ls, the Turks evidently having discovered that the 86th Brigade was once more among them. As I was pa.s.sing through the Dublin lines on my return to our base two sh.e.l.ls fell just beyond them when de Boer shouted to me to take shelter under a projecting rock where all their officers had retired for safety, but before I got in another sh.e.l.l landed almost in the centre of their line, among some very thick scrub, which had prevented pieces from flying far. As I pa.s.sed this spot when things had got a bit quieter I asked one of the men if none of them were hit. "No," said Paddy, "but we smelt the pouther."

_September 23rd._--As it was getting dark last night the A.D.M.S.

ordered me to join the Lancas.h.i.+re Fusiliers at once, and to remain with them, they having no Regimental M.O. I hurriedly put everything necessary into my pack, and with Conroy, as servant, set off to the slopes of Hizlar Dagh. I reached my post in half an hour, and was a.s.signed as my quarters a sc.r.a.ping in the earth not a foot deep. Here I spent a most wretched night, an icy cold wind blowing down the depression in the hill where the Battalion is encamped. I simply s.h.i.+vered and shook till the sun rose at 6 o'clock, when I felt too cold to wash and shave, but so did every one. I breakfasted with Lt-Col. Pearson and his Adjutant, Captain Johnson (killed three months afterwards), and at 10 held Sick Parade. The Turks can fire straight along our hollow, and General de Lisle made a wise proposal yesterday to run a long series of terraces crossways, each with a back about 7 feet high and a trench 7 feet wide in front. If this is continued to the foot there should then be room for 5000 troops. The Turks have not yet found us out, although they gave us a few sh.e.l.ls yesterday, otherwise they could have made it too hot for us to continue operations. All have been busy to-day digging, picking, and quarrying stones, and already we have fairly safe trenches for one company. The Lancs., who have a large number of miners in their ranks, have been selected to do this, job, otherwise they would have taken up a position half a mile further back as was first intended.

In the afternoon I strolled down to our Advanced Dressing Station which is only half a mile off, at the foot of the hill. Stephen had walked out as far as this with me last night, and to-day I find the place in charge of Sergt.-Major Shaw. Aga.s.siz had paid them a flying visit very early this morning on his way to the C.C.S., he too being sick. All our original officers are now away or at present ailing except Q.-M. d.i.c.kie and myself, and it looks as if he and I were to be left alone in a few days.

_Later._--Had a note from Stephen saying Fiddes has gone off sick along with Aga.s.siz, and that his own temperature is 101--this looks bright.

_September 25th._--After writing the above two days ago, and about 10 p.m. when I had retired to bed, the Adjutant announced to me that another M.O. had been found and that I was to be relieved. This had been arranged owing to the shortage of officers in our Ambulance. I therefore left the Lancs. yesterday morning, Touhy, an Irishman, taking my place. I was enjoying myself thoroughly with the Lancs., and regretted this change as we were going into the front line in a day or two. Colonel Pearson is very popular with every man in his Battalion and is a most charming man, and I regretted leaving him.

Stephen went off sick to-day. Hoskin joined us yesterday, being detached from hospital work at Imbros. He is a good fellow, and eager for work and still more for excitement.

This morning I went up to our Advanced Dressing Station at the foot of the hill. It has now to be run without a permanent medical man. I saw the sick and wounded who had come in; took the Sick Parade of the London R.E.'s who are at present without an M.O.; returned and had our own Sick Parade; attended the sick in our hospital; saw several relays of Royal, Dublin, and Munster Fusiliers; returned to the dressing station at 6 p.m. and saw some fresh cases of sick and wounded; besides other duties, and altogether had an unusually busy day.

Something of this sort will now go on daily until the D.M.S. sends us more officers.

There was fighting all along the line last night, especially about Anzac where we hear the Australians advanced half a mile.

The R.C. Padre who is attached to the Munsters, and has messed with us for the last week or so, leaves us to-morrow to our general regret. He is the most amusing man I have met in the army. Now that the hardiest of us, although we are still carrying on, are far from fit, and our spirits none of the best, we will miss him sorely.

_September 27th._--I have had a very busy day especially at the dressing station. A messenger came from there a few minutes after midnight, and I had to go up to see some Munsters who had been wounded two hours before in a sc.r.a.p with the Turks. As I tramped back alone in the dark (this is entirely against orders) the frequent ping of bullets was not too comforting, and as I neared our base several sh.e.l.ls came about, at no great distance, when I found myself pus.h.i.+ng my fingers inside my s.h.i.+rt to make sure that I had my ident.i.ty disc round my neck, a habit I have got into when alone and in a hot corner.

When I returned in the evening I found still another officer had been attached to us--Stott. The padre told us many amusing stones at dinner. He said he knew one of the Dewar family who always began his speeches with the remark that he was not a speaker but a "doer," and ended by saying, "I must now do as the lady of Coventry should have done, and make for my 'close'".

The Regimental M.O.'s are too lenient--that is my experience at any rate--and send too many away to the base hospitals, and to-day Hoskin and I returned ten of their cases to their lines, which we have the power to do. Probably 150 a day are leaving Suvla alone on sick leave, many with mere trifles, and a large number through sheer funk--I approve of getting rid of these, they are worse than useless, they cause panic very often. Last night we had two cases of acute insanity from this cause, both boys of nineteen, and to-day I sent off one of seventeen with the same trouble.

_September 28th._--Last night about 7 a furious attack was made by the Turks which lasted half an hour. A gun behind Sari Bair, which has bothered us before, threw about twenty sh.e.l.ls round our base, their objective being either the road in front of us, or the s.h.i.+ps behind.

Pieces were flying about in all directions. This was followed by a quiet night, only one sh.e.l.l going over us and out to sea about midnight.

8.15 p.m.--I have come out to our dressing station for the night, and am in a newly made dug-out, which has been deepened and heightened by myself since I arrived here three hours ago. Its back towards the enemy is 7 feet high, dug into a bank, with a high parapet of earth and a stone lined face. (It is never advisable to build with stone, a sh.e.l.l landing among stones can do a great deal of damage. In this case I could not do otherwise, sand bags were very scarce by this time, and it was with great difficulty we got any from the R.E.'s for the protection of our patients. A little after this date these stones of mine were sent flying.) It is of course open to the heavens where the stars are unusually bright to-night. It promises to be a warm night, the wind being S.W., very unlike what we have had of late when the winds were from the north and keen by night. Just as it was getting dark--before 7--I watched an aeroplane, evidently in difficulties from its low flight and with its engine knocking badly. It descended on a wide dusty road behind our base, when I expected the Turks to open fire on it, as they once did on a similar occasion at h.e.l.les, but they have left it in peace.

General Percival, our Brigadier, paid us a visit here a couple of hours ago, and I tried to get the date of our next stunt from him but failed. I admired his caution--if he knew. He tells me a special telegram came from Kitchener to-day announcing the capture of 23,000 Germans in France, and forty guns, and more coming in all the time.

One can do little here after dark--and so to bed. Between mother earth and myself is a ground sheet, near my feet my pick and spade, handy if I should feel cold and wish to do some digging during the night, as I may do when the moon rises about ten; beside me a miserable candle lamp and my revolver, and after getting into my heavy overcoat, with my pack for a pillow, hard though it is with mess-tin, jug and other such like material inside, and a blanket over my feet, I hope to get a few hours' sleep.

_October 1st._--During the last few days I have been very busy at our dressing station preparing for the big attack which we know is near and to be on a big scale. We are told that next time we must push through and seize the Turkish lines of communication. We did some heavy work, and as I had been the Engineer of the alterations and earth works I felt responsible and was more on the spot than I would have been otherwise. I thoroughly enjoyed it all the same, and all the while did my full share of navvy work. We had large numbers of sick and wounded to see to at the same time, Hoskin and I seeing about 100 a day between us. I was roused one night to see a case of snake bite, the first I had seen or heard of out here--and I had my doubts about this case, although the man declared he had none.

We had orders the other day to change our base to a site well up the side of Hizlar Dagh, well back towards Divisional H.Q. where we should be fairly safe from gun fire, although in full view of the Turk, but we now have faith in his respect of the Red Cross. The winter rains are probably not far distant now, and here there should be no danger of being washed away. I am there now, our men having pitched two tents yesterday as an experiment to see if the Turks would leave them alone.

Stott and I came up to it last night after dark. Everything is very simple--so much so that we had to forage to get some food. In my pack I luckily had a tin of cafe-au-lait and one of us had a mug so we stirred up a spoonful in cold water and both p.r.o.nounced it remarkably good--as everything is when you are almost dying of hunger and thirst.

Stott, a famous raconteur, contributed to our amus.e.m.e.nt with drawing-room stories till 11 o'clock when both fell asleep.

This morning I wandered out of our tent about 6.30 to find a very thick mist, the first time we had seen a trace of this. The tents were soaked and the ropes as tight as fiddle strings.

We had been here about ten minutes last night when a rifle shot went off behind some bushes beside us, followed by howls from some one in agony. A soldier lay on his back with his rifle beside him, his left foot merely held on by his puttee. We learned that at the end of the war he had to undergo some years of penal servitude for some offence, and his comrades, I see, are convinced that this was an intentionally inflicted wound. I have never before seen a man shoot off more than a finger or toe, carrying off a foot shows that the man has plenty of pluck of a sort.

_October 2nd._--A terrifically hot day.

Everything seems to be upset to-day. We have been slaving and preparing for a big stunt, and now it is said that no such thing is in contemplation. In my opinion this change of plan is due to the position Bulgaria has definitely taken, or seems certainly about to take, in the present troublous times.

For some strange reason she has taken the side of Germany and Turkey.

We must reserve our strength, according to a statement made by Sir Edward Grey in the House of Commons, as we have promised to a.s.sist Servia with troops should this eventuality come about. We half expect some of us will be withdrawn from here and landed in Greece or wherever it is most suitable for a march on the Bulgars. Many of us would go right gladly, the monotony of living all these months on a small patch of ground gets more irksome as time goes on.

I am now at the dressing station, having come out for twenty-four hours' duty. We have a collecting station, where we keep a few stretcher squads, half a mile in front of this, and this is to be withdrawn to a site near our old station in Azmak Dere, but slightly further forward, between the Green Pool (a filthy hole full of frogs and tortoises) and the end of a communication trench. I had to inspect the situation this evening, and marked off the boundaries, and to-morrow our men start to dig themselves in. The position is very exposed and I reported that I did not like it. Three artillery officers who pa.s.sed said they were to plant a battery a few yards in front of us, and they thought the place anything but safe. However, the spot was chosen by General de Lisle and there is no getting away from it.

_October 3rd._--Dressing station. I was up to-day at 6.30 and at once set to work with pick and spade, not stopping till breakfast was announced at 8, when Morice, the cook, brought me three huge slices of bread, two chunks of very fat bacon, and a mug of black dixie tea that had boiled for a full hour, all on such a lavish scale that at ordinary times they would have taken away my appet.i.te; but not so to-day, I devoured the lot and never enjoyed a breakfast more in all my life. I next had a large Sick Parade drawn from twelve units, and returned to their duties several who were on their way to the C.C.S.

with very trifling ailments. This will put up the backs of the Regimental M.O.'s, but in such serious times, with our numbers getting more depleted every day, manners must not be considered. I mentioned this subject to the A.D.M.S. to-day, and he backs me up and is to see what can be done to check this wastage.

Padre Mayne held a short service under the tarpaulin-covered s.p.a.ce we reserve for patients, his congregation being twelve poor beggars on stretchers waiting to be sent down, and about twice that number of sick walking cases. The wounded tried to cheer up and suppress their groans, but these occasionally got the better of them. Then I returned to my spade and worked till 12.30.

I returned to our new base for lunch and am now sitting on the edge of a dug-out in the setting sun, which has annoyed us all day. It is a most glorious evening, not a breath of wind, and deep down below me the Aegean glistens without a ripple; all is at peace, except the big guns, and they are very busy, the s.h.i.+ps having fired incessantly for the last two or three hours at the Sari Bair ridge. The Anzac guns are also very active. But the Turks are at present lying low and not making a single reply.

I was explaining the position of our collecting station to the A.D.M.S. to-day, telling him about the proposed battery in front of us, and the preparations to build a bridge over the gully just beside us. He had not heard of either of these, and he now thinks our site will have to be given up for one further back. To-morrow the C.O. and I go over to inspect the ground on this side and report.

Our magnificent dressing station, over which I have taken no end of trouble, is to be given over to the 88th F.A. Their Colonel jokingly thanked me for all we have done preparing for him--we give it up with regret.

_October 4th._--The day opened with a violent bombardment about Anzac and the adjoining end of Sari Bair, this spreading gradually along the ridge to our right centre. The C.O. and I should have started for the centre of the line after breakfast but this journey had to be postponed till eleven, when there was again quietness, and before lunch we surveyed the ground already occupied by our men in digging, and other probable sites behind that in case we should have to retire further back. The position we do not consider good, but we can find nothing more suitable, and we examined the ground all the way back to Hill 10. The work must therefore go on as arranged. We pa.s.sed Azmak Dere, the warm spot we held so long, and Col. Fraser had a look at it for the first time.

Col. Riley, D.D.M.S., to-day says we are to retain our present dressing station, and being Divisional and not Brigade troops, it does not matter which Brigade we serve. Still we hope in our present position to be able to attend the sick and wounded of our 86th Brigade, and are willing to take all others who come our way. The 86th have moved from our extreme left--where we are--to our right centre, hence the re-arrangement of Ambulances.