World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula
To-day we are bombarding Turkish positions heavily and the village of
Krithia preparatory to advancing our lines to the slopes of Achi Baba
in the hope of my Brigade taking the hill. In the morning I issue at my
dump, and after lunch ride with Carver and Sergeant Evans to find our
respective Brigades. We ride up the west coast across grass and gorse,
and arriving at a gully, encounter shell fire, which is now getting
more frequent. We leave our horses with an orderly at this gully and
proceed on foot, skirting the edge of the coast. Shells are bursting
furiously over Krithia, which is again on fire. We reach a very deep
and beautiful gully, which appears to run inland some long way, and
we climb down its slopes to the shore. There we find an advanced
dressing station, to which wounded are continually being brought by
stretcher-bearers, or helped along by R.A.M.C. men. Several of the
wounded are R.A.M.C. also.
I inquire at a tent, which is a signal station, of the Signal Officer
in charge, as to the location of 88th Brigade H.Q., and learn that
they are inland. We chat awhile to this officer, who appears strangely
familiar to me, and at last I place him. I find that I dined with him
four years ago in Edgbaston, and his name is Mowatt, a Birmingham
Territorial in business on his own, which through the war has gone to
the winds. He tells me he has been here for four days and is often
troubled by snipers. They had caught one four days previously in a
dugout which, facing the gully, allowed his head and shoulders to
appear, giving sufficient room for him to take aim through a screen
made by a bush growing in front. The entrance to his dugout was from
the cliff side facing the sea, along a passage ten yards in length. He
gave himself up, though he had food and water for some days more. As
we talk, two wounded limp down the gully through the water, for the
bottom of the gully is in parts a foot deep in water, and I question
them as to how they were wounded. They reply, “Either spent bullets or
snipers,” and that they were hit about a mile further up the gully.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account