Five Months at Anzac Part 3

SANITARY ARRANGEMENTS

In order to keep the health of the troops good it was necessary to be exceedingly careful in the matter of sanitation. Lieutenant-Colonel Millard was the Sanitary Officer for our Division, and Lieutenant- Colonel Stokes for the 1st Australian Division.

The garbage at first was collected in casks, placed in a barge and conveyed out into the bay; it was found, however, that a lot of it drifted back. It reminded one so much of Newcastle and Stockton. The same complaints were made by the men on the right as are put forth by Stockton residents regarding the Newcastle garbage. We, of course, occupied the position of the Newcastle Council, and were just as vehement in our denial of what was a most obvious fact. The situation was exactly the same--only that, instead of dead horses, there were dead mules. Three incinerators were started, enclosures built up with stone, and a fire lighted. This was effective, but gave rise to a very unpleasant smell along the beach. The only time I was shot was from an incinerator; a cartridge had been included in the rubbish and exploded just as I was pa.s.sing. The bullet gave me a nasty knock on the s.h.i.+n.

It was a fairly common practice among men just arrived to put a cartridge in their fire just to hear the noise. Of course down on the beach it was not usual to hear a rifle fired at close range, and the sound would make everybody look up to "see where the ---- that came from." The discovery of the culprit would bring out a chorus from the working parties: "Give him a popgun, give him a popgun!" "Popgun" was preceded by the usual Australian expletive.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mules in a Gully.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Graves of Major Ellis and Lieut.-Col. Braund.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Wounded being placed on Hospital s.h.i.+p.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Stretcher Bearers carrying Col. c.o.x.]

The water found on the Peninsula was always subjected to careful examination, and, before the troops were allowed to use it notices were placed on each well stating whether the water was to be boiled or if only to be used for was.h.i.+ng.

SIMPSON

Everyone knows of Simpson and his donkey. This man belonged to one of the other Ambulances, but he made quite frequent trips backwards and forwards to the trenches, the donkey always carrying a wounded man.

Simpson was frequently warned of the danger he ran, for he never stopped, no matter how heavy the firing was. His invariable reply was "My troubles!" The brave chap was killed in the end. His donkey was afterwards taken over by Johnstone, one of our men, who improvised stirrups out of the stretcher-slings, and conveyed many wounded in this manner.

CHURCH SERVICES

No account of the war would be complete without some mention of the good work of the chaplains. They did their work n.o.bly, and gave the greatest a.s.sistance to the bearers in getting the wounded down. I came into contact chiefly with those belonging to our own Brigade. Colonel Green, Colonel Wray, and Captain Gillitson; the latter was killed while trying to get one of our men who had been wounded. Services were held whenever possible, and sometimes under very peculiar circ.u.mstances. Once service was being conducted in the gully when a platoon was observed coming down the opposite hill in a position exposed to rifle fire. The thoughts of the audience were at once distracted from what the Padre was expounding by the risk the platoon was running; and members of the congregation pointed out the folly of such conduct, emphasizing their remarks by all the adjectives in the Australian vocabulary. Suddenly a sh.e.l.l burst over the platoon and killed a few men. After the wounded had been cared for, the Padre regained the attention of his congregation and gave out the last verse of "Praise G.o.d from Whom all blessings flow." There was one man for whom I had a great admiration--a clergyman in civil life but a stretcher-bearer on the Peninsula--Private Greig McGregor. He belonged to the 1st Field Ambulance, and I frequently saw him. He always had a stretcher, either carrying a man or going for one, and in his odd moments he cared for the graves of those who were buried on h.e.l.l Spit.

The neatness of many of them was due to his kindly thought. He gained the D.C.M., and richly deserved it.

All the graves were looked after by the departed one's chums. Each was adorned with the Corps' emblems: thus the Artillery used sh.e.l.l caps, the Army Medical Corps a Red Cross in stone, etc.

THE ENGINEERS

The Engineers did wonderfully good work, and to a layman their ingenuity was most marked. Piers were made out of all sorts of things; for instance, a boat would be sunk and used as a b.u.t.tress, then planks put over it for a wharf. They built a very fine pier which was afterwards named Watson's. Again, the "monkey" of a pile driver they erected was formed out of an unexploded sh.e.l.l from the _Goeben_. This wars.h.i.+p, a German cruiser taken over by the Turks, was in the Sea of Marmora, and occasionally the Commander in a fit of German humour would fire a few sh.e.l.ls over Gallipoli neck into the bay--a distance of about eight or nine miles. As soon as the _Goeben_ began firing, one of our aeroplanes would go up, and shortly afterwards the _Queen Elizabeth_ could be seen taking up a position on our side of the Peninsula, and loosing off. Whether she hit the _Goeben_ or not we never heard. It was _Mafeesh_.

The Engineers also made miles upon miles of roads and, furthermore, created the nucleus of a water storage. A number of large tanks from Egypt were placed high up on "Pluggey's," whence the water was reticulated into the far distant gullies.

TURKS ATTACK

One night in May the Turks made a fierce attack on us, apparently determined to carry out their oft-repeated threat of driving us into the sea. The sh.e.l.ls just rained down over our gully, lighting up the dug-outs with each explosion. It was like h.e.l.l let loose. Word came up from the beach station that they were full of casualties and on getting down there one found that the situation had not been over-estimated. The whole beach was filled with stretchers, the only light being that from bursting sh.e.l.ls. We worked hard all night operating and dressing, and when one had time to think, one's thoughts generally took the shape of wondering how the men were keeping the Turks off. It was useless to be sentimental, although many of my friends were amongst those injured; the work just had to be done in the best way possible.

One night a strong wind got up, just like our "Southerly Busters," and in the middle of it all firing began on our left. I heard that the Turks nearly got into the trenches, but they were beaten off and rolled right round the position--pa.s.sed on, as it were, from battalion to battalion.

It was very interesting to watch the wars.h.i.+ps bombarding Turkish positions. One s.h.i.+p, attacking Achi Baba, used to fire her broadside, and on the skyline six clouds would appear at regular intervals, for all the world like windmills. On another occasion I watched two s.h.i.+ps bombarding the same hill a whole afternoon. One would think there was not a square yard left untouched, and each shot seemed to lift half the hill. Twenty minutes after they had ceased firing, a battery of guns came out from somewhere and fired in their turn. They must have been in a tunnel to have escaped that inferno. One day we were up on "Pluggey's" while our beach was being sh.e.l.led; at last the stack of ammunition caught fire and was blazing fiercely until some of the men got buckets and quenched the fire with sea water most courageously.

Later a sh.e.l.l landed among a lot of dug-outs. There was quietness for a bit; then one man began sc.r.a.ping at the disturbed earth, then another; finally about six of them were shovelling earth away; at last a man appeared with his birthday suit for his only attire. He ran like a hare for the next gully, amid the yells of laughter of all who witnessed the occurrence. I think he had been swimming, and being disturbed by "Beachy," had run for a dug-out only to be buried by the sh.e.l.l.

That was the extraordinary thing about our soldiers. Sh.e.l.ling might be severe and searching, but only if a man was. .h.i.t was it taken seriously. In that case a yell went up for stretcher-bearers; if it was a narrow squeak, then he was only laughed at.

That beach at times was the most unhealthy place in the Peninsula. Men frequently said they would sooner go back to the trenches. One day we had five killed and twenty-five wounded. Yet, had Johnny Turk been aware of it, he could have made the place quite untenable. I saw one sh.e.l.l get seven men who were standing in a group. The effect was remarkable. All screwed themselves up before falling. They were all lightly wounded.

RED CROSS

About the middle of July I sent a corporal and two men over to Heliopolis with a letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Barrett, asking for some Red Cross goods. I had already received issue vouchers for two lots, but these had been intercepted in transit, so the men were ordered to sit on the cases until they gave delivery to the Ambulance. Fifty cases came, filled with pyjamas, socks, s.h.i.+rts, soap and all sorts of things.

The day they arrived was very, very hot, and our hospital was full of men whose uniform had not been off since they landed. No time was lost in getting into the pyjamas, and the contented look on the men's faces would have gratified the ladies who worked so hard for the Red Cross.

Talk about peace and contentment--they simply lolled about in the scrub smoking cigarettes, and I don't believe they would have changed places with a Federal Senator.

Those Red Cross goods saved one man's life at least. All the unopened cases were placed outside the tent. One afternoon a sh.e.l.l came over into a case of jam, went through it, and then into another containing socks. A man was lying under the shelter of this box, but the socks persuaded the sh.e.l.l to stay with them, and thus his life was saved. It was on this day that my nephew, Staff-Sergeant Nickson, was wounded.

He had just left his dug-out to go to the dressing station on the beach when a shrapnel sh.e.l.l severely wounded him in the leg. The same sh.e.l.l killed Staff-Sergeant Gordon, a solicitor from Adelaide, and one of the finest characters I knew. He was shot through the spine and killed instantly. Two other men were wounded.

Our Ambulance was ordered to pitch a hospital up Canterbury Gully to provide for a possible outbreak of cholera, as almost every writer on the subject stated that, when European troops occupied trenches that had been previously held by Turks, an outbreak of cholera invariably followed. Major Clayton was detailed for the work, and soon had accommodation for a hundred men. As there was no cholera, the sick men were kept here. We had been so long in this place without a change, and so many troops were crowded into such a small area, without a possibility of real rest, that the men began to get very stale.

Sickness was prevalent, and this hospital seemed to help them a great deal. It was a picture to see them all lying in their pyjamas reading the _Bulletin_ and _Punch_, and swapping lies.

The New Zealanders held a concert here one night. Major Johnston, the O.C., filled the position of chairman, the chair being a cask. One man with a cornet proved a good performer; several others sang, while some gave recitations. We all sat round in various places in the gully, and joined in the choruses. It was very enjoyable while it lasted; but, as darkness came on, rifle-fire began on the tops of the surrounding hills--also, occasionally, sh.e.l.l fire. This completely drowned the sound of the performers' voices, and the concert had to be brought to a close; Abdul had counted us out.

PREPARING FOR THE ADVANCE

Towards the end of July great preparations were made for an offensive movement, the object being to take Hill 971 and so turn the Turk's right. Large platforms were dug out of the hillsides in Monash Gully, each capable of holding three to five hundred men; they were constructed well below the sky line, and were fairly secure from sh.e.l.l fire. On these the incoming battalions were placed. There was not much room for sleep, but the main object seemed to be to have as many men handy as possible. The Turks seemed to be aware of the influx of troops, as they sh.e.l.led the whole position almost all night. The beach, of course, was attended to most fervently, but considering the numbers of men landing few casualties occurred.

A 4.7 naval gun, which, I understand, had served in the relief of Ladysmith, was swathed in bags and landed on a barge, which conveyed it to a position alongside the pier. A party was put on to make a s.h.i.+eld on the pier of boxes of our faithful friends the "forty-niners," in case there were any Turks of an enquiring turn of mind along the beach towards Suvla.

The Engineers then constructed a landing place, and the gun was hauled ash.o.r.e, again covered up, and conveyed to its position on our right during the night. General Birdwood outwitted the Turks that time, as they did not fire a shot during the whole operation.

On the third of August we received orders to remove to the left flank, the right being held by the Australian Division which partic.i.p.ated in the operation known afterwards as Lone Pine. The last day on the beach proved to be pretty hot with sh.e.l.ling, chiefly from Beachy Bill. A number of pinnaces were busy all day towing in barges from the transports, and this could be easily seen from the olive grove where Bill had his lair. At one time the sh.e.l.ls came over like rain; two of the pinnaces were hit below the water-line, and were in imminent danger of sinking. Through all the sh.e.l.ling Commander Cater ran along the pier to give some direction regarding the pinnaces, but was killed before he got there. He was a brave man, and always very courteous and considerate.