World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula
Saw Laird for a few minutes and had a chat with him.
Not much time for writing to-day. Go up to Laird’s “bivvy” and have a
long talk with him over old times. He landed on that first Sunday on
“S” Beach, and though in the Engineers, had the experience of taking
part in three bayonet charges. He was in a neat little dugout when I
went up, and was busy looking for a scorpion. I helped him look for
it, and it seemed so strange that after all these years we should meet
on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and before sitting down to talk of old
times should be looking for a scorpion that had got into his dugout.
Scorpions and snakes about three feet long are becoming more numerous
here, but I believe they are harmless, except in self-defence.
_May 15th._
All was quiet on the front last night, but to-day there has been one
long artillery duel.
I go up to Brigade H.Q. this afternoon, and go round by the road
through Sed-el-Bahr this time, because “I don’t like them shells; run
as you may, you can’t get away from them.” On the way I passed Ashmead
Bartlett riding with a Naval officer. The latter came and had tea with
us later, and said he was on the _Implacable_, and Ashmead Bartlett was
“bivvying” there as well. He is a correspondent for several papers.
Several battleships which were moored at the entrance move off at
nightfall now, after that feat by the Turkish destroyer which sank the
_Goliath_.
There is to be a general attack to-morrow night, Sunday. Some of the
Tommies do not like attacking at night; they say, “Let us get them in
the open, by day.”
The knocking out of a sniper by some of the South Wales Borderers was
described to me to-day by one of their officers. Two officers were
standing up in their trench by a machine gun, one holding a periscope,
when a bullet went through the sleeve of his coat, wounding the officer
to whom he was talking. The first officer spotted a sniper bob down
immediately after. He then got down in the trench beside the man
working the machine gun, and pointed out to him the bush behind which
the sniper had crouched. The machine gun was laid on to it. Then the
man on the machine gun and the officer took cover, the man holding
his hand up to the machine gun ready to pop off. The officer then
cautiously raised the periscope over the trench and looked carefully
at the lower mirror. He saw in the mirror a head slowly appear above
the bush eight hundred yards away, then a rifle lifted. He said to the
machine gun man “Fire.” Pop-pop, and the sniper rolled over dead on his
side beside the bush.
_5.30._
Two Taubes have just come overhead flying at a great height.
Anti-aircraft guns are firing and there is some good shooting, but the
Taubes have turned and are going back to the Turkish lines. One of our
aeroplanes has gone up.
A beautiful clear day, and one can see in detail the Asiatic side and
the Isle of Imbros. No heavy shells to-day so far on this beach.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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