ht or left.
Errors were corrected and the order to fire again given, the target
meanwhile being quite out of sight of the battery commander.
It was amusing to hear the heated arguments between the Artillery and
Infantry, in which the latter frequently and vehemently asseverated
that they "could have taken the sanguinary place only our own
Artillery fired on them." They invariably supported these arguments by
the production of pieces of shell which had "blanky near put their
Australian adjective lights out." Of course the denials of the
Artillery under these accusations were very emphatic; but the
production of the shell-fragments was awkward evidence, and it was
hard to prove an alibi.
The advent of the hospital ship _Maheno_ resulted in a pleasant
addition to our dietary, as the officers sent ashore some butter,
fresh bread and a case of apples. The butter was the first I had
tasted for four and a half months. The _Maheno_ belonged to the Union
Company, and had been fitted up as a hospital ship under the command
of Colonel Collins. He was the essence of hospitality, and a meal on
board there was a dream.
While we were away along the beach for a swim one afternoon, the Turks
began shelling our quarters. It had not happened previously, and
everyone thought we were out of range. The firing lasted for about an
hour and a half. I fully expected that the whole place would be
smashed. On the contrary, beyond a few mules and three men hit,
nothing had happened, and there was little in the ground to show the
effects of the firing. (I noticed the same with regard to the firing
of the naval guns. They appeared to lift tons of earth, but when one
traversed the position later very little alteration could be
detected.) The Turks, however started at night again, and one shot
almost buried me in my dug-out.
The number of transports that came in and out of Anzac while we were
there was marvellous, and a great tribute to the British Navy. There
is no question as to who is Mistress of the Sea. Occasionally we heard
of one being torpedoed, but considering the number constantly going to
and fro those lost were hardly noticeable. The _Southland_ was
torpedoed while we were in Gallipoli, and Major Millard (who was on
board) told me that there was not the slightest confusion, and only
one life was lost.
TURKS AS FIGHTERS
One cannot conclude these reminiscences without paying a tribute to
Abdul as a fighting man. All I k
|