World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- New Zealand
The mule lines of the Indian Transport Corps ran along the beach in
front of Divisional Headquarters. Close by, the dressing station of the
New Zealand No. 1 Field Ambulance caught the streams of wounded that
flowed down Howitzer Gully and from Walker's Ridge. Out in front of the
hospital squatted an Indian mule driver, who spent most of his time
clipping mules. Between his bursts of singing in a minor key he would
cry, "Hair cut, sixpence!" The soldier, who by this time realized that
more than snipers took advantage of cover, would sit on the sandy bank
and have his hair cut short by the mule clippers.
[Illustration:
[_Lent by Col. Falla, C.M.G., D.S.O._
THE CEMETERY AT ARI BURNU.]
The northern extremity of Anzac Cove never received an English name,
but was always known as Ari Burnu. The beach north of this point was
unsafe for traffic in the daytime, as it was within easy range of
Turkish snipers. A few hundred yards along this stretch of white sand
were two or three stranded boats--boats that had run in there on the
day of the landing, but were stove in and their crews killed by hostile
fire. There they lay, a pitiful sight, out in the glare of the noonday
sun. To avoid this piece of dangerous beach by day, a communication
trench commenced in Anzac Cove along by the wireless station near Ari
Burnu. This trench doubled back across the point, running out towards
Mule Gully and Walker's Ridge, eventually becoming part of the "Big
Sap" that led towards the extreme left flank.
Land was valuable at Anzac, particularly land that was safe. The parts
that were exposed could not be used for dugouts or stores, so were set
apart as cemeteries. Here, on the point of Ari Burnu, between the Big
Sap and the sea, New Zealanders who were killed near Anzac Cove were
carefully carried after dark and buried by loving comrades.
The Tragic Lack of Hospital Ships.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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