[236] The 11th Division (Major-General Fanshawe) now held the Xeros shore and the Kiretch Tepe Sirt. On the broad and deeply ravined undercliff below Jephson’s Post, and even beyond it, the 32nd Brigade (9th West Yorks, 6th Yorkshire, 8th West Riding, and 6th York and Lancaster) had elaborately entrenched and fortified positions which they called the “Green Knoll” and “The Boot.” Brigadier-General Dallas was justifiably proud of the work and of his Yorkshire Brigade. After going round the complicated trenches with me on December 11, he whispered sorrowfully, “Pity to leave them! Pity to leave them!” And to the last he went from man to man, adjuring one to shave, another to wash his shirt, and all to keep smart whatever happened. To such temper the difficult operation owed its success. [237] The management of their mules by the Indians was remarkable. They controlled those incalculable animals as though they were trained dogs. It was pathetic that the Indians mistook the name of their destination (Mudros) for Madras. “Do you want to go to India so much, then?” an officer asked. “Does a man want to go to heaven?” was the reply. [238] Beside my personal observation during visits from Suvla in the final days, my chief authorities upon the Anzac evacuation are Phillip Schuler’s _Australia in Arms_, an officer’s diary in the _“Manchester Guardian’s” History of the War_, Part 43, p. 187; Sir Charles Monro’s dispatch; and conversation with men who were present. A German correspondent with the Turks on the night of the evacuation wrote in the _Vossische Zeitung_ of January 21, 1916: “So long as wars exist, the British evacuation of the Ari Burnu and Anafarta fronts will stand before the eyes of all strategists of retreat as a hitherto quite unattained masterpiece.” [239] A dilatory and whispering 6-inch shell, thrown from a black-powder battery north of Troy, was called “Creeping Caroline” by our men. Similarly the French called one particular shell “Marie pressée”--no doubt a “high velocity.” [240] On December 30 Sir Charles Monro handed over his command to General Sir Archibald Murray and left Mudros for Alexandria on his way back to France. [241] Shortly before it left, a deed of singular heroism added honour to the 42nd Division. On December 22, in front of Krithia, Second Lieut. Alfred Victor Smith (5th East Lancashire, 126th Brigade), only son of the Chief Constable of Burnley, was throwing a grenade when it slipped from his hand and fell to the bottom of the trench, close to several officers and men. He shouted a warning, and jumped clear into safety. But seeing that the others were unable to get into cover, and knowing the grenade was due to explode, he returned without hesitation and flung himself down on it. He was instantly killed by the explosion. See the _London Gazette_ announcing that the Victoria Cross had been conferred on him after death. INDEX