World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula
A heavy bombardment on our part has started. We have again begun
to hammer at the doors of the Dardanelles. The sound is not unlike
thousands of men beating big drums, with thousands of trains running
through tunnels. The bombardment is heavier than anything previous,
and is concentrated on our left centre in front of Krithia. A few
French batteries are joining in, and all the British and two Monitors,
the _Raglan_ and the _Abercrombie_, and a light cruiser, with several
destroyers, open fire as well.
The 14-inch guns of the Monitors make an ear-splitting row when they
fire, and the bursting shell throws up a column of smoke and dust quite
300 feet into the air. One was plumping them in and about Krithia, and
the other on the west ridge of Achi Baba.
A field battery of the Turks opens fire on one of the Monitors just
off where we are sitting, and we are rather amused at their efforts;
yet imagine our surprise when one of their shells actually hits the
Monitor, the _Raglan_, without doing any more damage than denting her a
little, at least as far as we can see. We hear the sound of the shell
hitting her armour.
An accident which might have proved serious occurs shortly after. The
Monitor fired one of her guns, and almost simultaneously the other
gun, which is depressed, fires, and the shell strikes the water,
then ricochets off on to Gully Beach, exploding, killing one man and
wounding six.
The bombardment died down somewhat at four, and increased its range,
and then there burst out the undertone of rifle fire, sounding like
hundreds of carts rolling over cobbled stones, with the spasmodic
pop-pops of the machine guns. Later we catch glimpses of little khaki
figures charging towards Turkish trenches in front of Krithia. All this
time Krithia is getting fair hell from our guns. At six, firing dies
down to spasmodic gun and rifle fire.
At the time of writing I hear that my Brigade, the 88th, have
distinguished themselves, especially the Essex, and that two lines of
trenches have been captured.
At dusk the destroyers, Monitors and the cruisers have gone home, and
the aeroplanes to roost.
During the fight I notice lots of shrapnel shells bursting behind
Anzac, so no doubt the Australians and New Zealanders are fighting as
well. And in the distance, though it is difficult to see, I saw several
white puffs of shrapnel bursting.
It is now a cool evening, with a bit of a wind, and spasmodic firing is
going on inland.
Saw Finlay in evening and then turned in.
_August 7th._
Up at six a.m. and ride out towards Brigade H.Q., but the Turks have
started to heavily bombard our lines, and we are replying, so I
postpone my visit, for Pink Farm and the Krithia road are getting it
badly.
At 9 a.m., Monitors, destroyers, and cruisers come and join in the
bombardment, which continues all the morning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account