Part 13

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".