The Dardanelles: Colour Sketches From GallipoliWilkinson, Norman
History
The Dardanelles: Colour Sketches From Gallipoli
Wilkinson, Norman
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- Pictorial works
Many of our submarines after penetrating to the Sea of Marmora have
made protracted stays of twenty-eight to thirty days, which is the
more astonishing when one realises the cramped conditions and general
discomfort when living on one of these boats for any length of time.
I think it may be said that the Turks have ceased to regard the sea
route as a means of supplying their troops with any degree of safety,
the number of transports sunk being very large, including war vessels.
One of the most successful pieces of work accomplished at the time of
the Suvla Bay landing was the sinking of the _Kaiserin Barbarossa_ by a
British submarine. This ship had formerly belonged to Germany, but was
purchased from them by Turkey. She was sent down from Constantinople to
take position off Gallipoli or thereabouts with a view to indirect fire
over the land with her 11-inch guns, of which she possessed eight. She
was also reported to be carrying large quantities of ammunition for
the land forces. One can well imagine, therefore, the enthusiasm with
which the signal of her sinking was received. Undoubtedly our ships and
land-force thus escaped what might have been a severe menace, while the
effect on the enemy was evidently salutary, as no further attempt was
made to dispatch a war vessel with guns of heavy calibre to co-operate
with their army.
Possibly at some future time a fuller description may be written when
all the facts become known of the adventures of our submarines in this
inland sea. These should certainly supply the historian with some of
the most romantic episodes of the war.
CHAPTER VII
WOUNDED
The handling of wounded in the Dardanelles has been a difficult
proposition, which the nature of the country has not tended to lessen.
The injured men have to be taken off the shore by small boats and then
transferred to hospital ships.
These ships are obliged to lie off some distance clear of rifle-bullets
and shell-fire. Even then, several cases have occurred of men already
wounded receiving further injury through stray shots reaching the ships.
A patient was sitting on his cot preparatory to turning in, when a
bullet entered the open port and passing through two thicknesses of
his pyjamas, buried itself in the deck. A nursing sister standing
near at the time was relieved to see the man laughing and holding
out his coat for her to examine. These occasional missiles were not
fired intentionally at the hospital ships, but came over from trenches
running parallel to the shore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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