August 6, 2025 • 28 mins
18 - October 11-31, 1915.
Gallipoli Diary, by John Graham Gillam.
Even during the horrors of the brutalizing industrialised slaughter of the First World War the Gallipoli campaign stands as a benchmark for the awful conditions and savage fighting that occurred. The narrow strips of land that the British, Australian, New Zealand and other Dominion troops tried to wrest from the dogged Turkish defenders was under constant shellfire and every item had to be dragged to the frontline under this hellish barrage. Captain (as at the time) Gillam was part of the supply service who risked their lives to get, food, clothing and ammunition up to the troops in the front-line. Gillam gives a clear, concise account not only of the dangers that he faced, but also the men that he served so ably in the front-line.
Gallipoli Diary, by John Graham Gillam.
Even during the horrors of the brutalizing industrialised slaughter of the First World War the Gallipoli campaign stands as a benchmark for the awful conditions and savage fighting that occurred. The narrow strips of land that the British, Australian, New Zealand and other Dominion troops tried to wrest from the dogged Turkish defenders was under constant shellfire and every item had to be dragged to the frontline under this hellish barrage. Captain (as at the time) Gillam was part of the supply service who risked their lives to get, food, clothing and ammunition up to the troops in the front-line. Gillam gives a clear, concise account not only of the dangers that he faced, but also the men that he served so ably in the front-line.
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Section eighteen of Gallipoli Diary. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Sue Anderson. Gallipoli Diary by John Graham Gillum, Section
(00:21):
eighteen October eleventh to thirty first nineteen fifteen October eleventh,
Very cloudy Mulecore at end of promontory gets shelled at
ten o'clock for half an hour, starts to rain at
eleven thirty and looks as if it is going to
set in in earnest Salt Lake already under water in
(00:41):
some parts, and if we have a season of rain,
it will be a lake in the full sense of
the word, and it will be difficult getting supplies, et
cetera to the lines. Immediately in front of Chocolate Hill.
Walked up with Way again to Brigade headquarters. Beautiful, cool,
sunny afternoon after the rain, had tea with the General
(01:02):
at eighty eighth meeting. There Our friend of last night,
Colonel Eakin Morris, machine gun officer, also there in great form,
telling us all about his indirect gunfire stunts. Hides these
little batteries in a very clever way with gorse the
men wearing green masks. Colonel Fuller, going round the trenches
the other day, could not make out where the sound
(01:25):
of a machine gun popping off quite close to him
was coming from. He was ten yards away. Only it
was one of Morris's efforts. After the bit of a
bombardment the other day on the Pimple, during which the
Turks were driven out of a redoubt, Morris's men bagged
fifty Turks by indirect fire. He makes your flesh creep
(01:46):
by the cold blooded way in which he describes his stunts.
But if one thinks of turks as partridges, it is
not so bad. However, we can do with dozens more Morrises.
After go to see eighty six and have a rag
with a little reed signal officer to eighty sixth aged nineteen,
(02:06):
but looks only sixteen trenches dug through most beautiful country,
olive groves, fig trees and vineyards. Grape season over now,
but often Tommy climbed out of his trench and helped himself,
risking Turkish bullets fired at only eight hundred yards away.
The BlackBerry season is now on, and they are so
(02:28):
tempting that venturesome spirits little Reed himself, proving guilty, climb
out after these. Also, looking back from the eighty six
Brigade headquarters, one can see the gorse covered hills, the beautiful,
thickly wooded valleys, while through the trees are peeps of
Sioux la Bay, with the gray warships at anchor there.
(02:49):
Further out, beautiful Imbros stands out sharp against the setting sun,
backed by a sky of golden bronze with feathery purple
clouds trailing across the fimerment. The new moon, a delicate
crystal crescent swings above, dimly reflected in the dimpling waters.
A battleship flashes out, followed by a loud report, and
(03:12):
looking towards Anafarta just over the hills, one sees a
monster flash of fire followed by a muffled report. October twelfth,
Very busy with shelling this morning. Quite a lot of
five nine shrapnel coming over to our valley, and almost
every shell accounts for a casualty. About twenty casualties in
(03:35):
half an hour, Sir Randolph Baker being amongst the number,
but he was only wounded slightly, and a rather nice
naval landing officer had a peace taken out of his arm. Also,
we had a few four seven shells over and at
noon they started with their eight two, a terrifying shell.
Every one this morning very depressed at the news of
(03:57):
the advance of Germans on Serbia and Bulgaria's attitude. Greece
and Romania are disappointing factors. I hope for the sake
of this Gallipoli campaign that they come in on our side.
After lunch, I go up to the barrier on the
rise of ground on the west road leading to Lone
Tree Gully, just two hundred yards this side, to see
(04:20):
about some bombs which have to be removed on the
way back. The eighteen pounder battery, which is in position
on the right of the road looking seaward, is in
action and the report of the guns being so near
is ear splitting. I turned round to watch the shrapnel
beautifully placed on and about the Turkish second line. Evidently
(04:41):
the officer in the observation post has spotted some movement
of the troops up communication trench, probably a relief party.
I turned to my left and tripped down the rocky
hillock leading to the commander Royal Engineer's Camp in the
place where division headquarters was to be after the Chocolate
Hill battle, and where the bombs from the barrier have
(05:02):
to go. I come back along the lower road which
leads to our division headquarters, and which is now called
the Gibraltar Road, as it leads to the small hill
we have called Gibraltar, which lies between our first line
and eighty sixth headquarters. On the way back I meet
the eighty eighth Chaplain and we walk back together. Behind
(05:23):
us we hear three tremendous explosions over to the left
of Chocolate Hill, and looking back see columns of smoke
and dust. They are caused by Turkish aerial torpedoes bursting
in our front line, equivalent to a hundred pound shell
and terribly effective. Fortunately they appear to have very few
(05:45):
of them, but we have none at all. There have
been sixty three casualties on the beach to day through
Turkish gunfire and shrapnel. At night, a great gale springs
up and we have heavy rain, many men being washed
out of their dugouts, having to spend the night in
their wet clothes on the hills. A Navy's battalion has
(06:07):
arrived October eighteenth, a fine day, but a very strong
cold wind blowing down the peninsula. Arthur MacDougall has now
rejoined his regiment in the trenches. We have now a
black cat in our establishment. It walked in and we
do not know where it came from, probably off one
of the boats. We were shelled with five nine at
(06:30):
eight this morning and had six casualties in this valley.
They were, however, very quiet for the rest of the morning.
Just as way Cocks, Baxter and I were leaving for brigade,
they started to shell and we were glad to get
off the open space of the beaches. Now they have
three guns firing five nine shrapnel at us, and they
(06:52):
come over in threes, usually bagging somebody. The Turk seemed
to be getting very cocky lately. They actually cleared away
all the barbed wire that one of our battalions in
the eighty eighth had put in front of our trenches,
only fifteen yards in front. Also, their bombing parties are
getting very daring, creeping up each night to within throwing
(07:15):
distance of our trenches. Barbed wire lines and trenches are
now being constructed further back towards the coast in case,
as we are up at Brigade headquarters, we noticed one
of our aeroplanes swooped down onto the salt lake, obviously
having to make a forced landing. A short pause during
(07:36):
which we noticed the pilot and observer climb out, when
suddenly shrapnel bursts over the machine, and very near it
is quickly followed by another, and another, and later high
explosive shells. When the pilot and the observer scurry away
pretty quickly, they are wise, for the Turkish artillery are
(07:56):
now well onto the machine, which has rapidly become a
helpless wreck. I should think they put a hundred shells
on that machine before they stopped. October fourteenth, Last night
they tried to disturb our rest by putting one shell
over to us every hour. One seemed to come very
near our dugout, but we were too sleepy to bother.
(08:19):
What's the good? At eight this morning they get very
busy again with their shelling, and at nine three of
the big deadly shrapnel come over at once, followed a
few minutes after by three more, and then later still
another three. It is evident that they cannot spare very
many of these every day, but After each bout, the
(08:40):
cry of stretcher bearers is shouted down the valley. Shortly
after the wounded are carried away to the hospital, and
this scene has now become a painfully familiar one. It
is very cold to day, and the gale still continues,
hampering the navy's work of landing stores. The afternoon was quiet,
(09:02):
a great gale sprang up at dark and blue hard
all night. It is now very cold. One consolation flies
are dying off. October fifteenth. To day has been cold
and cloudy, with a strong wind. Artillery duels all day,
with ships joining in. We were shelled this afternoon, but
(09:23):
fortunately to day had no five nine shrapnel. Cox and
Gennison came to Tea and Walker and myself walked back
with them. Called in at Brigade headquarters here that now
we are at war with Bulgaria. October sixteenth, At five
this morning dawn, the Turks began a general bombardment, chiefly
(09:46):
on our right Chocolate Hill and at Anzac, but the
subsequent attack on their parts seemed to die away quickly,
no news as to results. At eleven a m an
enemy airplane sails over our two two anti aircraft guns
on shore start firing, and makes such good practice that
the machine quickly gets out of range and sails over
(10:07):
towards Anzac, disappearing suddenly into the clouds. Many thought she
had been brought down, and a great cheer goes up
and clapping of hands. Shortly after, however, she is seen
coming back over the bay once more, flying low h m. S.
Glory and Canopus fire with their anti aircraft guns, but
(10:28):
wide of the mark, she turns and sails up inland,
once more, perilously close to our shore anti aircraft guns,
which make excellent practice. One shell bursts dangerously near the machine,
whereupon she dives, swings to the right, and climbing again,
sails over Chocolate Hill. When over our trenches, heavy rifle
(10:50):
and machine gun fire break out at her, but she
sails calmly on over Serrie Bear to her base beyond
in safety. Result honors with the enemy pilot, a damned
cool customer, but a very nasty trip for him. It
lasts under ten minutes, so that he has not much
(11:11):
time for observing, but no doubt enough for his purpose.
The rest of the day we have the usual artillery duels,
rather heavier than usual, and at three twenty p m.
And again at five we have our usual shelling by
our old friend whistling rufous. October seventeenth, At nine this morning,
(11:33):
the Turks very heavily bombarded our reserve lines and our
batteries on our left. They were very prodigal of ammunition,
showing that their supply had been replenished, probably from Bulgaria.
They put in some very large stuff nine inch at
least and at very long range. Our batteries and ships
(11:53):
were active in reply. It is cold and windy and raining.
Went up to brigade with Whey and lay to eighty
sixth where the Podre was holding Sunday service. Beach shelled
a little while we were away. Tomorrow is the Great
Mohammedan feast day and we expect a general attack on
the part of the Turks. October eighteenth, rainy morning. Bit
(12:17):
of shelling in morning and early afternoon, but not very
damaging shells. At four they started dropping large shells about
eleven inch, which whistled over with a tremendous shriek and
burst with a thunderous crack. They must have come a
long way, as we could not hear the report of
the gun They were bursting too near for our liking,
(12:38):
and we were glad when they stopped. Some say they
came from the Gobin. They finished up their bout with
five nine shrapnel. So far no attack by the Turks.
News that Sir Ian Hamilton is going and that General
Monroe is taking his place reaches us. October nineteenth, A
quiet morning, but at four we were shelled as usual,
(13:00):
not much damage. October twentieth, two p m. Quiet so
far today, except for a bit of shelling this morning.
News reaches us that the tenth Division who were here
in August are at Salonica. Whether in turned or not,
we do not know. Turkish festivals still on, and I
believe it ends tomorrow. They make a row in their
(13:22):
trenches at odd times of the day by the shouting
of Allah and the ringing of bells. Sometimes our men,
for a joke throw jam tins full of jam into
the Turkish trenches. This happening today. The Turks thought that
we were throwing bombs instead of four harmless tins of jam,
and they promptly threw back two bombs, whereupon we have
(13:44):
to throw six bombs back. This quieted them. Later, however,
they threw the four jam tins back empty having eaten
their contents. October twenty first, a very heavy gale blowing
all day from the northwest, sky heavy with rain but
when too high to allow rain to fall. Heavy shelling
(14:06):
all morning for three hours without stopping, and again an
afternoon none near our patch. We get the shrapnel, however,
from whistling Rufus, which is more comprehensive. Enemy airplane, in
spite of gale, is over this morning. Anti aircraft guns
fire and miss. October twenty second, a great gale blew
(14:29):
all night and is still blowing, cold and cloudy. Artillery
duels going on as usual, not much shelling on this beach.
At four we have three of the five nine shrapnel
over our little corner. One could not hear them coming
because of the gale. October twenty third, beach is shelled
a bit this morning. Gale continues all day and it
(14:52):
is very cold. Soon after four we are shrapneled once more,
having about ten large ones over in a period of
half an hour, causing casualties. The gale prevents anybody hearing
them coming. Go up to brigade headquarters and it is
hard work walking against the wind country looking bleak and miserable.
(15:14):
Come back on motor ambulance. At night, I am up
to the Commander Royal Engineers, Nullah, forming a forward dump
of reservations. We have to work in a cold, driving rain.
October twenty fourth. Gale still continues. Flights of birds, which
had collected in great numbers some few days ago, now
(15:35):
seemed all to have left. Has been raining all morning,
very little shelling from Turks. Go up to brigade headquarters
and have tea. Gale dies down towards evening. Beautiful coloring
of sky over the sea, a background of gray rain clouds,
golden buff colored strips of sky, gray sea, against which
(15:55):
are silhouetted Sepia colored trees and gorse bushes in brose,
now gray as the sea is always in the picture,
the eternal picture, in which is painted our monotonous life
on Gallipoli. We are waiting, waiting with no news, and
some of us are saying with no hope. These latter, however,
(16:18):
suffer from tummy troubles. October twenty fifth, six months ago
to day I landed at hellas it seems like six
years to day. We are still an hour's walk from
the sea to the front trenches at all three landings.
This morning is a cool, beautiful summer morning. Flies seem
(16:40):
to come again from somewhere, but not so bad as before,
yet sufficient to be called a pest in England. Usual
artillery duels all day and we are shrapneled again in
the afternoon. At six p m. Go up to Commander
Royal Engineer's Dump about the reservations we are putting there.
Cloudy evening, October twenty sixth A cool, fine morning, rather cloudy,
(17:05):
birds again flying in large covees overhead, wild geese and crane,
et cetera. Men fire at them, though it is strictly
against orders. Hardly any artillery duels in mourning. Go up
to Commander Royal Engineers Dump with Major Fraser, and later
leaving him, go on to Brigade and have tea Adjutant
of Worcesters who was wounded in the landing in April
(17:28):
and who has been back in England. Was there we
who have been out here all the time look upon
those who have been back in England with great interest.
After Tea Morris, the machine gun officer takes me out
to see his machine gun in placements on gun Hill,
which is a little hill lying some two hundred yards
behind our front line trenches, the ground on its left
(17:51):
rising steeply to the high ridge overlooking the sea, and
on its right sloping gently down to the lowland. We
pass the Worster Regiment in the restive trenches, dug in
an open space on the left of Brigade headquarters looking
in shore. Then we pass down a communication trench, coming
out into an open space behind a small mound called
(18:12):
Gibraltar Round, which we pass down a slope leading to
a rocky ravine filled with large boulders, a few trees
and patches of thick gorse bush. There the Hampshire Regiment
are dug in. To the left of the ravine are
a few graves, and now and again a bullet kicks
up the dust close by them. Smith the Hampshire Quartermaster
(18:34):
jokingly informs me of a certain way of getting a
cushy blighty wound. If I want one, all I have
to do is stand by these graves after dark and
wait in under two hours. Most probably in five minutes
of waiting, I shall get one in the leg. The
bullets come from a Turkish trench high up on the
(18:55):
cliff side on our left front, to the right of
the ravine, one is safe, protected by a rise in
the ground. On the left of the ravine, one is
in constant danger of a smack from a bullet, and
more so at night. We continue our way, passing down
another trench, and shortly after come out into the open
(19:15):
in a lovely glade of grass and trees, situated in
dead ground, protected by a little hill in front called
gun Hill. On its slopes we once more enter a
trench which encircles the hill, very similar to the ramparts
of an ancient castle. It is a little fortress on
its own, standing aloof from the system of trenches, situated
(19:37):
behind our front line, but in front of our support line,
yet blending in with the uneven lie of the land,
thereby not making a conspicuous target. At intervals are machine
gun emplacements, with machine guns in position pointing through apertures
in the sand bag breastwork. At the first that we
come to we find the sentry, not the out. I
(20:01):
shall never forget the frightened look on his face as
it meets Morris's suddenly appearing around the corner of the
sand bagged wall a few inches from him. He gets
a stiff strafing. We continue our way and at the
next emplacement come upon a sentry who presents a unique object.
For his head is covered by a sand bag through
(20:23):
which our holes made for his eyes and mouth. To
this headgear are fixed sprigs of gorse bush. And as
he stands stock still with his head and shoulders filling
the gap in the breastwork, it must be impossible for
an enemy observer to detect his presence from the background
of gorse and trees. Yet if he is detected, a
(20:45):
sniper has him for a dead certainty. It is so
far safe for such sentries, however, for up to now
no casualties have occurred amongst them from a sniper's rifle.
Morris asks, is everything okay? And the sentry, without looking round, replies,
all's well, sir. I stand beside the sentry and look
at the view in front of me, A beautiful view
(21:08):
of sloping hills up to the heights of the cliffs
which overlook the sea, and on their slopes I see
distinctly the irregular light brown lines of thrown up earth
denoting the Turk's front line, trenches and ours running opposite
each other to the summit of the cliffs, about three
hundred yards apart. We are six hundred yards from the
(21:30):
enemy line and can be certain victims for a Turkish
sniper should he be aware of our presence. From this
position at night. Sometimes the Turk receives the contents of
belt after belt of machine gun ammunition poured on to
his second and third line and communication trenches by indirect
(21:50):
fire ranged by day, causing him great inconvenience and to
wonder from where the bullets come. Our front line is
always warned when in such stunt is on, so that
they may not arrange for their working parties or patrols
to be out in front. Looking at the country in
front of me, I can see that here on these
(22:11):
rugged slopes the Turk would have but short shrift if
he attacked us, as of course would we if we attacked.
Result deadlock, like two cats spitting and sparring at each other.
Morris says he is always pleased to show people round
his pet hobby. I was immensely interested, and Morris might
(22:32):
have been showing me round a farm. We come back
in the gloaming Morris now and again, stopping to order
paper and litter to be picked up for General Delile
is around here frequently and has the eye of a hawk.
October twenty seventh, a fine morning, with a very warm
and strong wind, almost a gale blowing from the sea.
(22:54):
Smith of Hampshire's pays us a visit, and as we
sit in our dugout, we hear whistling roofs coming over
from Serrie Bear. One corner of the roof over our
dugout is only of tarpaulin, for corrugated iron is scarce.
Rumor says that a ship which set out from England
loaded with corrugated iron has been torpedoed and sunk. An
(23:16):
officer newly arrived, who is sitting with us, appears to
rather scorn my advice to move from where he is
sitting under the tarpaulin, which is of no protection to
him from shrapnel bullets. When crash from whistling rufous is
heard overhead, and the sound of bullets spattering on our
roof follows immediately after, just as if an unseen hand
(23:38):
with a bowl of pebbles had taken a handful and
thrown them with violence down on our abode. A shirt
hanging outside on a line to dry receives two bullets
through its tail, causing large rents. The new officer immediately
gets up from where he is sitting and comes round
to our side of the table, where we sit under
(23:58):
a roof of corrugated eyes iron with a layer of
sand bags on top, safe from everything but a direct hit.
This five nine shrapnel is followed by others, and in
the distance we hear the roar of Turkish artillery and
bursting shrapnel. Whistling rufus ceases worrying us after a while,
and we go up to behind our dugout to look
(24:19):
inland at the Turkish shelling. All along our line and
behind Turkish shrapnel is bursting thickly, being more concentrated over
Chocolate Hill and on Hill ten, which is situated on
the left of the Salt Lake and half a mile
from Bee Beach. About half an hour after we hear
rifle fire, which dies down quickly and all is quiet.
(24:44):
What it was all about, I do not know. Probably
the end of the Turkish festival, or probably Enver Pasha
has paid a visit, and sitting on top of Serrie Bear,
has asked for a show to be demonstrated to him.
I must say such a show viewed from the top
of Serrie Bear must appear a wonderful sight. October twenty eighth,
(25:11):
a hot, sultry day, and the flies a pest. A
very quiet morning, no news, hardly any shelling on the
part of the Turk, but our artillery and ship's guns
fairly active. I go up to brigade headquarters to tea,
and after, on the way back, call in at the
eighty eighth Field Ambulance, situated in a tent encampment on
(25:33):
a plateau lying between Karakol Dough and the Turkish positions.
Here the situation is most interesting. The white tents and
marquees are in full view of the Turks, and not
a shot comes near for John Turk plays the game.
It is almost like living in a garden city with
(25:54):
the open country all round, and the feeling one gets
is very odd, so near to war and yet so far.
Patients rest quite at their ease in their walls of canvas,
while over their heads singing their dread song. The Turkish
shells pass on their way to the beaches. October twenty ninth,
(26:16):
A hot day and flies very trying. Turk's busy with
artillery at Chocolate Hill and Anzac. Our artillery busily replied nothing.
Our way heard firing off coast of Bulgaria last night.
Our artillery have been very active all day and are
still firing although it is dark. We have now several
(26:37):
new batteries ashore, and for the past few days the
Turk has been very quiet. We had only two shells
over our way. To day our artillery seems to be
getting well on top. Monroe has arrived. All good luck
to him. Now perhaps we shall get a move on.
We feel now either move on or off. But Heaven
(27:01):
defend us from the inaction and waste of time of
the last six months. Stewart has gone off, suffering very
badly with dysentery. He was stubborn about it and would
not see the doctor until at last he had to
be carried off on a stretcher. I shall miss him
very much, as he was good company. October thirtieth, a
(27:23):
hot summer day and flies a plague. The division has
sustained a sad loss to day. Algie Wood of the
Essex has gone west. He had been through everything since
the landing, and at noon to day was shot in
the throat while in the support trench near his orderly room.
He became a friend of mine, as he became a
(27:43):
friend of all he met, and I have often referred
to him in my diary. He just had time to
say to his sergeant major, who went to him, I'm finished,
Sergeant Major, and then died, a name that will never
be forgotten by the survivors of the twenty ninth Division.
Nearly all the best have gone now. Lord Howard de
(28:05):
Walden comes into our dugout in the evening and has
a chat. He is our deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General,
and very popular. Monroe is a shorter day with staff
for a power at ninth Core Headquarters. No news from Salonica.
October thirty first, another summer day, hardly any shelling on
(28:26):
our part, and absolutely none on the part of the Turk.
And so ends October a monotonous, dreary month. Phew, how
many more such months? End of Section eighteen.
Section eighteen of Gallipoli Diary. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Sue Anderson. Gallipoli Diary by John Graham Gillum, Section
(00:21):
eighteen October eleventh to thirty first nineteen fifteen October eleventh,
Very cloudy Mulecore at end of promontory gets shelled at
ten o'clock for half an hour, starts to rain at
eleven thirty and looks as if it is going to
set in in earnest Salt Lake already under water in
(00:41):
some parts, and if we have a season of rain,
it will be a lake in the full sense of
the word, and it will be difficult getting supplies, et
cetera to the lines. Immediately in front of Chocolate Hill.
Walked up with Way again to Brigade headquarters. Beautiful, cool,
sunny afternoon after the rain, had tea with the General
(01:02):
at eighty eighth meeting. There Our friend of last night,
Colonel Eakin Morris, machine gun officer, also there in great form,
telling us all about his indirect gunfire stunts. Hides these
little batteries in a very clever way with gorse the
men wearing green masks. Colonel Fuller, going round the trenches
the other day, could not make out where the sound
(01:25):
of a machine gun popping off quite close to him
was coming from. He was ten yards away. Only it
was one of Morris's efforts. After the bit of a
bombardment the other day on the Pimple, during which the
Turks were driven out of a redoubt, Morris's men bagged
fifty Turks by indirect fire. He makes your flesh creep
(01:46):
by the cold blooded way in which he describes his stunts.
But if one thinks of turks as partridges, it is
not so bad. However, we can do with dozens more Morrises.
After go to see eighty six and have a rag
with a little reed signal officer to eighty sixth aged nineteen,
(02:06):
but looks only sixteen trenches dug through most beautiful country,
olive groves, fig trees and vineyards. Grape season over now,
but often Tommy climbed out of his trench and helped himself,
risking Turkish bullets fired at only eight hundred yards away.
The BlackBerry season is now on, and they are so
(02:28):
tempting that venturesome spirits little Reed himself, proving guilty, climb
out after these. Also, looking back from the eighty six
Brigade headquarters, one can see the gorse covered hills, the beautiful,
thickly wooded valleys, while through the trees are peeps of
Sioux la Bay, with the gray warships at anchor there.
(02:49):
Further out, beautiful Imbros stands out sharp against the setting sun,
backed by a sky of golden bronze with feathery purple
clouds trailing across the fimerment. The new moon, a delicate
crystal crescent swings above, dimly reflected in the dimpling waters.
A battleship flashes out, followed by a loud report, and
(03:12):
looking towards Anafarta just over the hills, one sees a
monster flash of fire followed by a muffled report. October twelfth,
Very busy with shelling this morning. Quite a lot of
five nine shrapnel coming over to our valley, and almost
every shell accounts for a casualty. About twenty casualties in
(03:35):
half an hour, Sir Randolph Baker being amongst the number,
but he was only wounded slightly, and a rather nice
naval landing officer had a peace taken out of his arm. Also,
we had a few four seven shells over and at
noon they started with their eight two, a terrifying shell.
Every one this morning very depressed at the news of
(03:57):
the advance of Germans on Serbia and Bulgaria's attitude. Greece
and Romania are disappointing factors. I hope for the sake
of this Gallipoli campaign that they come in on our side.
After lunch, I go up to the barrier on the
rise of ground on the west road leading to Lone
Tree Gully, just two hundred yards this side, to see
(04:20):
about some bombs which have to be removed on the
way back. The eighteen pounder battery, which is in position
on the right of the road looking seaward, is in
action and the report of the guns being so near
is ear splitting. I turned round to watch the shrapnel
beautifully placed on and about the Turkish second line. Evidently
(04:41):
the officer in the observation post has spotted some movement
of the troops up communication trench, probably a relief party.
I turned to my left and tripped down the rocky
hillock leading to the commander Royal Engineer's Camp in the
place where division headquarters was to be after the Chocolate
Hill battle, and where the bombs from the barrier have
(05:02):
to go. I come back along the lower road which
leads to our division headquarters, and which is now called
the Gibraltar Road, as it leads to the small hill
we have called Gibraltar, which lies between our first line
and eighty sixth headquarters. On the way back I meet
the eighty eighth Chaplain and we walk back together. Behind
(05:23):
us we hear three tremendous explosions over to the left
of Chocolate Hill, and looking back see columns of smoke
and dust. They are caused by Turkish aerial torpedoes bursting
in our front line, equivalent to a hundred pound shell
and terribly effective. Fortunately they appear to have very few
(05:45):
of them, but we have none at all. There have
been sixty three casualties on the beach to day through
Turkish gunfire and shrapnel. At night, a great gale springs
up and we have heavy rain, many men being washed
out of their dugouts, having to spend the night in
their wet clothes on the hills. A Navy's battalion has
(06:07):
arrived October eighteenth, a fine day, but a very strong
cold wind blowing down the peninsula. Arthur MacDougall has now
rejoined his regiment in the trenches. We have now a
black cat in our establishment. It walked in and we
do not know where it came from, probably off one
of the boats. We were shelled with five nine at
(06:30):
eight this morning and had six casualties in this valley.
They were, however, very quiet for the rest of the morning.
Just as way Cocks, Baxter and I were leaving for brigade,
they started to shell and we were glad to get
off the open space of the beaches. Now they have
three guns firing five nine shrapnel at us, and they
(06:52):
come over in threes, usually bagging somebody. The Turk seemed
to be getting very cocky lately. They actually cleared away
all the barbed wire that one of our battalions in
the eighty eighth had put in front of our trenches,
only fifteen yards in front. Also, their bombing parties are
getting very daring, creeping up each night to within throwing
(07:15):
distance of our trenches. Barbed wire lines and trenches are
now being constructed further back towards the coast in case,
as we are up at Brigade headquarters, we noticed one
of our aeroplanes swooped down onto the salt lake, obviously
having to make a forced landing. A short pause during
(07:36):
which we noticed the pilot and observer climb out, when
suddenly shrapnel bursts over the machine, and very near it
is quickly followed by another, and another, and later high
explosive shells. When the pilot and the observer scurry away
pretty quickly, they are wise, for the Turkish artillery are
(07:56):
now well onto the machine, which has rapidly become a
helpless wreck. I should think they put a hundred shells
on that machine before they stopped. October fourteenth, Last night
they tried to disturb our rest by putting one shell
over to us every hour. One seemed to come very
near our dugout, but we were too sleepy to bother.
(08:19):
What's the good? At eight this morning they get very
busy again with their shelling, and at nine three of
the big deadly shrapnel come over at once, followed a
few minutes after by three more, and then later still
another three. It is evident that they cannot spare very
many of these every day, but After each bout, the
(08:40):
cry of stretcher bearers is shouted down the valley. Shortly
after the wounded are carried away to the hospital, and
this scene has now become a painfully familiar one. It
is very cold to day, and the gale still continues,
hampering the navy's work of landing stores. The afternoon was quiet,
(09:02):
a great gale sprang up at dark and blue hard
all night. It is now very cold. One consolation flies
are dying off. October fifteenth. To day has been cold
and cloudy, with a strong wind. Artillery duels all day,
with ships joining in. We were shelled this afternoon, but
(09:23):
fortunately to day had no five nine shrapnel. Cox and
Gennison came to Tea and Walker and myself walked back
with them. Called in at Brigade headquarters here that now
we are at war with Bulgaria. October sixteenth, At five
this morning dawn, the Turks began a general bombardment, chiefly
(09:46):
on our right Chocolate Hill and at Anzac, but the
subsequent attack on their parts seemed to die away quickly,
no news as to results. At eleven a m an
enemy airplane sails over our two two anti aircraft guns
on shore start firing, and makes such good practice that
the machine quickly gets out of range and sails over
(10:07):
towards Anzac, disappearing suddenly into the clouds. Many thought she
had been brought down, and a great cheer goes up
and clapping of hands. Shortly after, however, she is seen
coming back over the bay once more, flying low h m. S.
Glory and Canopus fire with their anti aircraft guns, but
(10:28):
wide of the mark, she turns and sails up inland,
once more, perilously close to our shore anti aircraft guns,
which make excellent practice. One shell bursts dangerously near the machine,
whereupon she dives, swings to the right, and climbing again,
sails over Chocolate Hill. When over our trenches, heavy rifle
(10:50):
and machine gun fire break out at her, but she
sails calmly on over Serrie Bear to her base beyond
in safety. Result honors with the enemy pilot, a damned
cool customer, but a very nasty trip for him. It
lasts under ten minutes, so that he has not much
(11:11):
time for observing, but no doubt enough for his purpose.
The rest of the day we have the usual artillery duels,
rather heavier than usual, and at three twenty p m.
And again at five we have our usual shelling by
our old friend whistling rufous. October seventeenth, At nine this morning,
(11:33):
the Turks very heavily bombarded our reserve lines and our
batteries on our left. They were very prodigal of ammunition,
showing that their supply had been replenished, probably from Bulgaria.
They put in some very large stuff nine inch at
least and at very long range. Our batteries and ships
(11:53):
were active in reply. It is cold and windy and raining.
Went up to brigade with Whey and lay to eighty
sixth where the Podre was holding Sunday service. Beach shelled
a little while we were away. Tomorrow is the Great
Mohammedan feast day and we expect a general attack on
the part of the Turks. October eighteenth, rainy morning. Bit
(12:17):
of shelling in morning and early afternoon, but not very
damaging shells. At four they started dropping large shells about
eleven inch, which whistled over with a tremendous shriek and
burst with a thunderous crack. They must have come a
long way, as we could not hear the report of
the gun They were bursting too near for our liking,
(12:38):
and we were glad when they stopped. Some say they
came from the Gobin. They finished up their bout with
five nine shrapnel. So far no attack by the Turks.
News that Sir Ian Hamilton is going and that General
Monroe is taking his place reaches us. October nineteenth, A
quiet morning, but at four we were shelled as usual,
(13:00):
not much damage. October twentieth, two p m. Quiet so
far today, except for a bit of shelling this morning.
News reaches us that the tenth Division who were here
in August are at Salonica. Whether in turned or not,
we do not know. Turkish festivals still on, and I
believe it ends tomorrow. They make a row in their
(13:22):
trenches at odd times of the day by the shouting
of Allah and the ringing of bells. Sometimes our men,
for a joke throw jam tins full of jam into
the Turkish trenches. This happening today. The Turks thought that
we were throwing bombs instead of four harmless tins of jam,
and they promptly threw back two bombs, whereupon we have
(13:44):
to throw six bombs back. This quieted them. Later, however,
they threw the four jam tins back empty having eaten
their contents. October twenty first, a very heavy gale blowing
all day from the northwest, sky heavy with rain but
when too high to allow rain to fall. Heavy shelling
(14:06):
all morning for three hours without stopping, and again an
afternoon none near our patch. We get the shrapnel, however,
from whistling Rufus, which is more comprehensive. Enemy airplane, in
spite of gale, is over this morning. Anti aircraft guns
fire and miss. October twenty second, a great gale blew
(14:29):
all night and is still blowing, cold and cloudy. Artillery
duels going on as usual, not much shelling on this beach.
At four we have three of the five nine shrapnel
over our little corner. One could not hear them coming
because of the gale. October twenty third, beach is shelled
a bit this morning. Gale continues all day and it
(14:52):
is very cold. Soon after four we are shrapneled once more,
having about ten large ones over in a period of
half an hour, causing casualties. The gale prevents anybody hearing
them coming. Go up to brigade headquarters and it is
hard work walking against the wind country looking bleak and miserable.
(15:14):
Come back on motor ambulance. At night, I am up
to the Commander Royal Engineers, Nullah, forming a forward dump
of reservations. We have to work in a cold, driving rain.
October twenty fourth. Gale still continues. Flights of birds, which
had collected in great numbers some few days ago, now
(15:35):
seemed all to have left. Has been raining all morning,
very little shelling from Turks. Go up to brigade headquarters
and have tea. Gale dies down towards evening. Beautiful coloring
of sky over the sea, a background of gray rain clouds,
golden buff colored strips of sky, gray sea, against which
(15:55):
are silhouetted Sepia colored trees and gorse bushes in brose,
now gray as the sea is always in the picture,
the eternal picture, in which is painted our monotonous life
on Gallipoli. We are waiting, waiting with no news, and
some of us are saying with no hope. These latter, however,
(16:18):
suffer from tummy troubles. October twenty fifth, six months ago
to day I landed at hellas it seems like six
years to day. We are still an hour's walk from
the sea to the front trenches at all three landings.
This morning is a cool, beautiful summer morning. Flies seem
(16:40):
to come again from somewhere, but not so bad as before,
yet sufficient to be called a pest in England. Usual
artillery duels all day and we are shrapneled again in
the afternoon. At six p m. Go up to Commander
Royal Engineer's Dump about the reservations we are putting there.
Cloudy evening, October twenty sixth A cool, fine morning, rather cloudy,
(17:05):
birds again flying in large covees overhead, wild geese and crane,
et cetera. Men fire at them, though it is strictly
against orders. Hardly any artillery duels in mourning. Go up
to Commander Royal Engineers Dump with Major Fraser, and later
leaving him, go on to Brigade and have tea Adjutant
of Worcesters who was wounded in the landing in April
(17:28):
and who has been back in England. Was there we
who have been out here all the time look upon
those who have been back in England with great interest.
After Tea Morris, the machine gun officer takes me out
to see his machine gun in placements on gun Hill,
which is a little hill lying some two hundred yards
behind our front line trenches, the ground on its left
(17:51):
rising steeply to the high ridge overlooking the sea, and
on its right sloping gently down to the lowland. We
pass the Worster Regiment in the restive trenches, dug in
an open space on the left of Brigade headquarters looking
in shore. Then we pass down a communication trench, coming
out into an open space behind a small mound called
(18:12):
Gibraltar Round, which we pass down a slope leading to
a rocky ravine filled with large boulders, a few trees
and patches of thick gorse bush. There the Hampshire Regiment
are dug in. To the left of the ravine are
a few graves, and now and again a bullet kicks
up the dust close by them. Smith the Hampshire Quartermaster
(18:34):
jokingly informs me of a certain way of getting a
cushy blighty wound. If I want one, all I have
to do is stand by these graves after dark and
wait in under two hours. Most probably in five minutes
of waiting, I shall get one in the leg. The
bullets come from a Turkish trench high up on the
(18:55):
cliff side on our left front, to the right of
the ravine, one is safe, protected by a rise in
the ground. On the left of the ravine, one is
in constant danger of a smack from a bullet, and
more so at night. We continue our way, passing down
another trench, and shortly after come out into the open
(19:15):
in a lovely glade of grass and trees, situated in
dead ground, protected by a little hill in front called
gun Hill. On its slopes we once more enter a
trench which encircles the hill, very similar to the ramparts
of an ancient castle. It is a little fortress on
its own, standing aloof from the system of trenches, situated
(19:37):
behind our front line, but in front of our support line,
yet blending in with the uneven lie of the land,
thereby not making a conspicuous target. At intervals are machine
gun emplacements, with machine guns in position pointing through apertures
in the sand bag breastwork. At the first that we
come to we find the sentry, not the out. I
(20:01):
shall never forget the frightened look on his face as
it meets Morris's suddenly appearing around the corner of the
sand bagged wall a few inches from him. He gets
a stiff strafing. We continue our way and at the
next emplacement come upon a sentry who presents a unique object.
For his head is covered by a sand bag through
(20:23):
which our holes made for his eyes and mouth. To
this headgear are fixed sprigs of gorse bush. And as
he stands stock still with his head and shoulders filling
the gap in the breastwork, it must be impossible for
an enemy observer to detect his presence from the background
of gorse and trees. Yet if he is detected, a
(20:45):
sniper has him for a dead certainty. It is so
far safe for such sentries, however, for up to now
no casualties have occurred amongst them from a sniper's rifle.
Morris asks, is everything okay? And the sentry, without looking round, replies,
all's well, sir. I stand beside the sentry and look
at the view in front of me, A beautiful view
(21:08):
of sloping hills up to the heights of the cliffs
which overlook the sea, and on their slopes I see
distinctly the irregular light brown lines of thrown up earth
denoting the Turk's front line, trenches and ours running opposite
each other to the summit of the cliffs, about three
hundred yards apart. We are six hundred yards from the
(21:30):
enemy line and can be certain victims for a Turkish
sniper should he be aware of our presence. From this
position at night. Sometimes the Turk receives the contents of
belt after belt of machine gun ammunition poured on to
his second and third line and communication trenches by indirect
(21:50):
fire ranged by day, causing him great inconvenience and to
wonder from where the bullets come. Our front line is
always warned when in such stunt is on, so that
they may not arrange for their working parties or patrols
to be out in front. Looking at the country in
front of me, I can see that here on these
(22:11):
rugged slopes the Turk would have but short shrift if
he attacked us, as of course would we if we attacked.
Result deadlock, like two cats spitting and sparring at each other.
Morris says he is always pleased to show people round
his pet hobby. I was immensely interested, and Morris might
(22:32):
have been showing me round a farm. We come back
in the gloaming Morris now and again, stopping to order
paper and litter to be picked up for General Delile
is around here frequently and has the eye of a hawk.
October twenty seventh, a fine morning, with a very warm
and strong wind, almost a gale blowing from the sea.
(22:54):
Smith of Hampshire's pays us a visit, and as we
sit in our dugout, we hear whistling roofs coming over
from Serrie Bear. One corner of the roof over our
dugout is only of tarpaulin, for corrugated iron is scarce.
Rumor says that a ship which set out from England
loaded with corrugated iron has been torpedoed and sunk. An
(23:16):
officer newly arrived, who is sitting with us, appears to
rather scorn my advice to move from where he is
sitting under the tarpaulin, which is of no protection to
him from shrapnel bullets. When crash from whistling rufous is
heard overhead, and the sound of bullets spattering on our
roof follows immediately after, just as if an unseen hand
(23:38):
with a bowl of pebbles had taken a handful and
thrown them with violence down on our abode. A shirt
hanging outside on a line to dry receives two bullets
through its tail, causing large rents. The new officer immediately
gets up from where he is sitting and comes round
to our side of the table, where we sit under
(23:58):
a roof of corrugated eyes iron with a layer of
sand bags on top, safe from everything but a direct hit.
This five nine shrapnel is followed by others, and in
the distance we hear the roar of Turkish artillery and
bursting shrapnel. Whistling rufus ceases worrying us after a while,
and we go up to behind our dugout to look
(24:19):
inland at the Turkish shelling. All along our line and
behind Turkish shrapnel is bursting thickly, being more concentrated over
Chocolate Hill and on Hill ten, which is situated on
the left of the Salt Lake and half a mile
from Bee Beach. About half an hour after we hear
rifle fire, which dies down quickly and all is quiet.
(24:44):
What it was all about, I do not know. Probably
the end of the Turkish festival, or probably Enver Pasha
has paid a visit, and sitting on top of Serrie Bear,
has asked for a show to be demonstrated to him.
I must say such a show viewed from the top
of Serrie Bear must appear a wonderful sight. October twenty eighth,
(25:11):
a hot, sultry day, and the flies a pest. A
very quiet morning, no news, hardly any shelling on the
part of the Turk, but our artillery and ship's guns
fairly active. I go up to brigade headquarters to tea,
and after, on the way back, call in at the
eighty eighth Field Ambulance, situated in a tent encampment on
(25:33):
a plateau lying between Karakol Dough and the Turkish positions.
Here the situation is most interesting. The white tents and
marquees are in full view of the Turks, and not
a shot comes near for John Turk plays the game.
It is almost like living in a garden city with
(25:54):
the open country all round, and the feeling one gets
is very odd, so near to war and yet so far.
Patients rest quite at their ease in their walls of canvas,
while over their heads singing their dread song. The Turkish
shells pass on their way to the beaches. October twenty ninth,
(26:16):
A hot day and flies very trying. Turk's busy with
artillery at Chocolate Hill and Anzac. Our artillery busily replied nothing.
Our way heard firing off coast of Bulgaria last night.
Our artillery have been very active all day and are
still firing although it is dark. We have now several
(26:37):
new batteries ashore, and for the past few days the
Turk has been very quiet. We had only two shells
over our way. To day our artillery seems to be
getting well on top. Monroe has arrived. All good luck
to him. Now perhaps we shall get a move on.
We feel now either move on or off. But Heaven
(27:01):
defend us from the inaction and waste of time of
the last six months. Stewart has gone off, suffering very
badly with dysentery. He was stubborn about it and would
not see the doctor until at last he had to
be carried off on a stretcher. I shall miss him
very much, as he was good company. October thirtieth, a
(27:23):
hot summer day and flies a plague. The division has
sustained a sad loss to day. Algie Wood of the
Essex has gone west. He had been through everything since
the landing, and at noon to day was shot in
the throat while in the support trench near his orderly room.
He became a friend of mine, as he became a
(27:43):
friend of all he met, and I have often referred
to him in my diary. He just had time to
say to his sergeant major, who went to him, I'm finished,
Sergeant Major, and then died, a name that will never
be forgotten by the survivors of the twenty ninth Division.
Nearly all the best have gone now. Lord Howard de
(28:05):
Walden comes into our dugout in the evening and has
a chat. He is our deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster General,
and very popular. Monroe is a shorter day with staff
for a power at ninth Core Headquarters. No news from Salonica.
October thirty first, another summer day, hardly any shelling on
(28:26):
our part, and absolutely none on the part of the Turk.
And so ends October a monotonous, dreary month. Phew, how
many more such months? End of Section eighteen.
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