World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- New Zealand
"The Army Corps Commander wishes all ranks of your Division to be now
informed of the operations that are about to take place, and a message
conveyed to them from him, to say that he deliberately takes them
into his confidence, trusting to their discretion and high soldierly
qualities to carry out a task, the success of which will largely
depend on their individual efforts.
If every man makes up his mind that he will leave the trenches quietly
when his turn comes, and sees that everybody else does the same, and
that up to that time he will carry on as usual, there will be no
difficulty of any kind, and the Army Corps Commander relies on the
good sense and proved trustworthiness of every man of the Corps to
ensure that this is done.
In case by any chance we are attacked on either days, the Army Corps
Commander is confident that the men who have to their credit such
deeds as the original landing at Anzac, the repulse of the big Turkish
attack on May 18, the capture of Lone Pine, the Apex and Hill 60,
will hold their ground with the same valour and steadfastness as
heretofore, however small in numbers they may be; and he wishes all
men to understand that it is impossible for the Turk to know or tell
what our numbers are, even up to the last portion of "C" party on the
last night, as long as we stand our ground."
Officers who knew the state of affairs were greatly relieved at the
decision, but sick at heart now that the blow had fallen. To give up
Anzac and all that it meant! To leave the place where our brothers and
friends were lying! Out there in No Man's Land graves were marked where
men had fallen, but no cross had been erected, and now the chance was
slipping away. Men crept out at night to pay their last visits to those
lonely graves. One soldier writing home voiced the undisguised emotion
of many:
"My goodness, Mother, how it did go to our hearts--after all we
had gone through--how we had slaved and fought--fought and slaved
again--and then to think that we had been sizzled in the heat,
tortured by flies and thirst, and later nearly frozen to death. It was
hard to be told we must give it up. But it was not our wasted energy
and sweat that really grieved us. In our hearts it was to know we were
leaving our dead comrades behind. That was what every man had in his
mind. We thought, too, of you people in New Zealand and what you might
think of us. Believe me, it is far harder to screw one's courage up
for running away than it is to screw it up for an attack!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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