World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula
On March 20th, 1915, I embarked on the S.S. _Arcadian_ for the seat
of war. My destination, I learned, was to be the Dardanelles, and the
campaign, I surmised, was likely to be more romantic than any other
military undertaking of modern times. Our ship carried, besides various
small units, part of the General Staff of the Expedition. The voyage
was not to be as monotonous as I first thought, for I found many old
friends on board. After the usual orderly panic consequent on the
loading of a troopship we glided from the quay, our only send-off being
supplied by a musical Tommy on shore, who performed with great delicacy
and feeling “The Girl I left Behind Me” on a tin whistle. The night
was calm and beautiful, and the new crescent moon swung above in the
velvet sky—a symbol, as I thought, of the land we were bound for. As we
passed the last point a voice sang out, “Are we downhearted?” and the
usual “No!” bawled by enthusiastic soldiers on board, vibrated through
the ship, and so with our escort of six destroyers we left the coast of
Old England behind us. Nothing of interest happened during the passage
across the Bay. On arrival at Gibraltar searchlights at once picked us
up, and a small boat from a gunboat near by came alongside—we dropped
two bags of mails into her and in return received our orders. As we
sailed through the Mediterranean, hugging the African coast, the view
of the purple mountains cut sharp against the emerald sky was very
beautiful.
Our next stop was Malta, which struck me as very picturesque. The
island showed up buff colour against the blue sky, and the creamy
colour of the flat-roofed houses made a curious colour scheme. As we
went slowly up the fair way of Valetta Harbour, we passed several
French warships, on one of which the band played “God Save the King,”
followed by “Tipperary,” our men cheering by way of answering the
compliment. The grand harbour was very interesting, swarming with
shipping of all kinds, the small native boats darting over the blue
water interesting me greatly. The buff background of the hills, dotted
with the creamy-coloured buildings and a few forts, the pale-blue sky
and deeper tint of the water, the wheeling gulls, all went to make up
a charming picture. We went ashore for a short time and found the town
full of interest. We visited the Club, a fine old building, once one of
the _auberges_ of the Knights of Malta, where we were made guests for
the day. Afterwards we strolled round the town; the flat-roofed houses
made the view quite Eastern, and the curious mixture of fashionable
and native clothing at once struck me. The women wore a head-dress not
unlike that of a nun—black, and kept away from the face by a stiffening
of wire. We passed many fine buildings, for Malta is full of them, and
one particularly we noticed, namely the Governor’s Palace, with its
charming gardens. As to the country itself, what I saw of it was all
arranged in stone terraces, no hedges, except a few clumps of cactus
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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