IN THE TRENCHES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2618, 13 November 1915, Page 9

IN THE TRENCHES

DAILY ROUTINE OF OUR MEN AT GALLIPOLI

WOUNDED SOLDIER'S DIARY

THE MATTER-OF-FACT NEW ZEALANDER

[Of all the records of the . Dardanelles campaign, none is more striking in its way that the accompanying simple statement of the daily Tontine in the trenches at Gallipoli from a young New Zealander, son of Mrs. Dickson, of Awahuri Eoad, Feilding. Without any attempt at fine writing;, young Dickson tells the story of the.life our men in the firing ' lines in a plain, matter-of-fact fashion, that grows on one as ho reads, and wins our admiration for its calm acceptance—bordering on indifference—of the risks and hardships endured. The joy of mail day, the delight over an unexpected dish of .cocoa added to the day's rations; tho "lovely" cake his Australian mate shared with him—these are the sidelights that illumine tho pioture. ■ 'When ite realise how big these pathetic littio joy a appear to the men'at the front, it enables us to belter appreciate what their lot must be, and how 6plendidly they are facing it.] ' ' .

15th General Hospital, • . ■ Alexandria., - ■ ' September 9/1915. ■"This is a diary from the time".we left Lomnos till I got my "lucky 'packet" (wound) on August 8. . April 25.—Woke up early this morning, and the first thing that struck us was that we were moving out of the land-locked harbour of Lemnos, also the booming of the guns at' the Dardanelles. Wo knew- at .once ■ what' was in, the wind, because at about. 12.30 p.m. we were passing Capo Holies, the southernmost point of the Peninsula, where tho English were fighting as they liave never fought before. . Thoy were landing, but at a great cost of lives. They landed, and that was everything. At 2 p.m. we 'arrived at Anzac, and as' soon as the anchor was dropped a destroyer came lip for some 'of our troops, and took them-ashore. I was among the-first of our regiment, and I might state there was a little shrapnel flying about.' Did not move from the beach' that day,, nevertheless, one had to take shelter'on account of tho shrapnel.

April 26.—Terrible heavy fighting going, oil in the high hills above us. • One section of our,, gunshad to help them up above, for ftliey wanted them. To see the (.wounded 'taming, down; is hard to bear, but you "soon' get used to that. - April 27—To-day wo had the order to stand-by, and at'lO a.m. we got-the .word advance.. We'went to a 'place that was about .a mile'.from. Headquarters, and climbed; a .'Kill', that 'yott, would think was almost^impossible.", .'.Our hoys cot there, but 'at "a'loss/of a great number of lives. One gun''section did great work, but, as you know, Lieutenant Wilson, our /skipper; was; Irilled, but we cotypn._fampii3ly,;flnd ; our boys stuck to them like.'glu'ef !-At. ni|ht our gunwas spotted by the Turks;'they threw three bombs,but • missed. Under .tho cover of darkness the bays dug trenches which are hard to beat.

April 28. —Still heavy fighting, but the casualties for tho day numbered 6ix, which was exceptionally light. We are, still expecting an attack" from . the enemy. It did not come off. Heavy firo was kept ud by the enemy all night. April'2B.—We are losing a few each day, hut-, a very few. Quiet day. Shot ten Turks this morning with machinegun. They were something, which; I suppose, was ammunition; WeS night and no coat;

April 30.—A'complete . circle or trenches round our hill or position, but the Turk had just as good as we Iml. for they- worked hard and had fine trenches: All night the enemy kept up a hot fire, for' evidentlv they feaml an attack from, us, but there was nothing doing., ■

_ May 3 .—Fixing up . the communication t<v the firing line to-morrow, when wo will be able to get to. tho firing line without lieini hit. Also our mm section-were building a posey, or du<r T out. This made w pretty safe .when we came out of the firing line for a rest. It is our homo for'the present, and not a had ono, considering the circumstances. Settling Down to Trenoh' Warfare. May 2. —Very little, doing to-day, ! as the Turks are. settling down to - what is known as trench warfare. ' Anyhow, we are going to shake'them along some to-night, for we have to mak« a- sure line of communication between Walker's Jiidge and Pooe's Post. There is a deep gully which divides us from our Australian cobbers over the way.' It was left to tho Ofcago Infantry' Regiment to do 'this, and the Canterbury Infantry Regiment were to attack on the left, and take up some ground and draw the attention of the Turkish troops to the left. It succeeded, for when morning broke we could'we the troops in a thin lino across to Pope's. Our coroornl was killed next to me in a trench. It was a mystery how the bullet came ipto the trench.

May 3—Turks kept -m> h hot fire all Jay. 'fearing another attack . would be mode! but wo disappointed them. Thev opened,fire on the boats in the bay, ard very nearlv got one. I mieht state that this was the only one -which .iras near Wne hit. The New Zealand. Infantry Division leive her to-day-to go into attack at Aolii-Baba. They were replaced by_ a division of Royal Marine 'Light Infantrv. One-half of our gun section staved to support the R.M.L.I. May 4. —Sniped a few. Turks to-day ■with the gun. ~ There has been'a lot of sniping lately, and -we did not by any lnewis get the worst of it.

Mav s.—Quiet day and a mock charge at night. That means kick up a. lot of noise "and shout like the mischief. The idea of this was to find out their strength, and we found out, for the lead just poured out over our heads. May 6.—Very quiet dny.

May 7.—Another quiet day. Some of the Marines that are here have been nut to France, and they reckon all the talk about tho German cruelties is qnito right. Some of these chaps • are fino men, but others are young and foolish. May 8. —Gun teams have been arranged, so that we .will have every other day'off; that is twdnty-fotir hours off and' twenty-four on.

May o.—Wo went to the beach to-day and had a glorious time. It was lovely to have a. wash. There was a heavy fir© opened by our men to-day. The Turks replied by shooting high in the air, placing their rifles on tho parapets and pulling; tho trigger—a, waste of good ammiinition. This died down in the night. A very quiet night; slept well. • May 10- —The Australians made a rush on the right of cur position, and took some trenches of great advantage. May. 11. lurks shelled our trenches to-day, but had to knock off when the warships in the bay replied. We did not suffer the loss of any lives. Also got the bad news that tho Lusitania was torpedoed. May 12.—Slight rain made tho trenches in a terrible moss; and we were glad when m were relieved. This even-

ing we had a sumptuous tea of -what is known as'Slaconoch'ie's , afrny ration. It is a stew, and' when heated up is hard to boat. 1

■ May 13.7-Nothing doing; things very quiet. Went for,a swim and had dinner with our cooks.-

• May .14.—Turks . are very much the same as yesterday. I sighted a Turkish battery_of four guns; told the skipper of the N.Z.F.A., but they could not get at them, so tho warships were warned. They opened fire, and looked as though they got home from where we. were.

May 15.—The heat is making life in the trenches pretty rotten, for the dead lying about here have brought the flios round,-and they are here in millions. One of the'boys here, by the name of Nikle, went over the trenches and brought in a few, Turkish rifles.

_ May 16.—Some of the boys took the rifles, down to the landing, where .they exchanged them for bread and cigarettes. Tho bread was a great sucoess, as wo haven't had any siuce April 25, and it all .went in one meal, so- that will 'give you an idea of tho.meal we.had.

' May 17.—Swimming and washing clothes. Stayed'down all day with the cooks, and was well fed on bully beef stew.

Cood Work By Mounted Men,

May 18.—Word received that 20,000 Turks have been reinforoed at Anzac. They (the Turks) opened firo at midnight, but they were kept well ,in hand. Our mounted had their first decent brush Avith the enemy, and-did their share in keeping them under. Our ma-chine-gun did.very well. The Turks charged our trenches; the mounteds jumped up and drove them back from their section in : fine style. They also attacked an Australian position, but very, few got near' the" 'tranches.;'-'-What did were bayoneted. . This" was tho greatest attack on their part to drive the Australian and New Zealand forces into the sea, but this was not a success, for they were' driven off with a loss or 3000 dead and wounded, our loss being 500. •

May 19.—More heavy fighting to-day, but they don't seem to feel as if they want another charge like the oue last night. ,' May 20;— Still heavy fighting, but they are not likely to charge again. May 21.—The Ihirks are shelling a battery of mountain guns, which is next to' our posey. ; It was bad for us as one of our best boys was founded. , The Turks wanted an armistice this evening, but they left it too late, so they had to wait till wo were ready to let them have an armistice.

May 22.—Things have quietened down considerably. A little sniping. Shifted to a new:position, and we are now only sixty yards from the Turks, but this is not the At Quinn's l'ost the •Turks are only fifteen yards away from our • trenches. No 1 section returned to-day from Achi-Baba.

May 23.-—Relieved by No. 1 section for a week's rest. Left the trench and went down to my dugout, and with my mate made our way down to the beach, where'we got a fine posey. It - was a great thing for us to find such a home.

May 24.—This is the day of the.armistice. I went, up,.but did not stay, for there were some terrible sights. The Turks were allowed to take their wounded off the field of _ battle. Some of our men marked missing were found dead to-day. _ May '25.—Rained heavy all day, and most of the boys got .flooded out. We had . the laugh at them all, for we did not get a drop. One boy went to his poscy and found all his goods floating about in the water, which was kneedeep. Between the showers they were out trying to drain the water out- of their posev. 11, M.5. Triumph was torpedoed, and some of the boys' saw her go down.

' May-26.—Fine day. 1 Sport swimming and washing clothes. The Majestic haß also gone to tho bottom. '

May 27.—Swimming, and having a good timo in general.

May 28.—A1l the boys received letters from homo, and we were in great luck. ■ May 29.—Swimming 'all day. Just got out of the water to have a little grub, and, off back wo go into tho water. The Turkf are shelling' our aeroplane, but they can't got within a coo-ee of it; this is ail everyday occurrence. .

May 30. —Our section went, into the trenches to-day, • and the others went out. It camo out that the team to go on duty was the ono I am in.

• May' 31.—Relieved at 5 p.m. Tho mouuteds, 6th Wellington Mounted Rifles, were in a pretty stiff corner at ■ No. 3 post, and they came out with pretty stiff casualties..

Juno I.—Wept swimming this morninpr. Things are very' quiet.' June 2.—Playing cards. The Turks are exceptionally quiet. Juno 3. —A gunboat or light cruiser opened lire on fclic Turks who were trying to get a big gun into position, but I am afraid it was not a success. After slio lia<l finished she went away, and a Turkish 15-pounder opened fire on lier, all the shots dropping about thirty yards behind her. Juiie 4.—Canterbury Infantry attacked the Turkish position atQuinn'c Post, and tlioy drove theni out, or rather dug theni out. Had a few casualties. Captain Wallingford's Close Call. June o.—Captain Wallingford had a close call. , A bullet hit the brass of our gun. a few of the pieoos getting into his, hand, but ho was able to carry on the good work. Juno 6.—Went for a swim. Very lazy day. .Tune 7.—Same as yesterday. Juno B.—Swimming in the morning, and in tho-afternoon went- round and Gaw N. Cameron and IC. Paridsnn. June o.—Could see tho British at Cape Tlelles were bombarding the Turks. Jt was started by the artillery, and the

Navy gave a helping hand. There was evidently something doing down there, i June 10.—Our artillery fired a few star shells to see how they worked. It was the best display of fireworks wo had seen for some time. The Turks thought that this was an indication of a charge, and they opened up a murderous firo. It quietened down in about half an hour. Juno 11. —Turks shelled our position to-day for about two hours. I don't know what their object was unless to give us work in shovelling out the dirt they knocked in—which was about .a few tons—while they wero rocking them home.

Juno 12.—Swimming and a good time in general. June 13. —A day of hard work. We wero building a now gun platform and making things as pleasant as possible. One or our boys sent to hospital to-day.

Juno 14. —Went swimming in tho morning; in the afternoon went and had a look over Quian's Post. They are as safe as the bank. All tho Turks in creation could not shift them from there. Also saw Karl and Norman. Norman is with the 2nd Field Engineers.

Juno 15.—Another quiot day. Played cards, then the boys started talking about what they would do if they were home for dinner. When I come home a meat pudding will do for mo.

: June 16.—Off duty to-day. Acted as cook, and nearly killed all the hoys; iriado the stew too salty. One of the boys returned from hospital.

I June 17. —Captain Wallingford has received the Military Cross for, bravery, on the field, and ho deserves everything ho got. Hearing very little from the Turks of late. . ' ■ June 18.—Swimming, eating, and resting. i . Juno 19. —Quiet day. Ono would think Ithat there was no war on, but show then you know there is some;thing doing. The Joy of New Zealand Malls. June 20.—Received a. mail from New Zealand, and everyone is happy; It is marvellous how a little mail rises one's spirit. .-You feel fit for all the Turks on the Peninsula. ' Juno 21 to 24.—Very quiet. : June 25, —We went swimming ; but the Turks put a stop to it for awhile. They shot one'of . the boys from Otago who was' in sivimming. Ho died' the same day.

June 26.—Another mail ami more letters.. We are all feeling in fine trim. Have not had a day's illness since I have been on the Peninsula,

. June 27.—Turks bombarded with 6inch howitzer, French 75 c.m.; and the Krupp 77cm'. guns. _ It was more 'than lively. They blew in the trenches in some places, but they were built up with sandbags in .the. night. June 28.—They bombarded again with the same guns? The casualties wero ten.

June 29.—Another bombardment, but it _ did not come till three hours before midnight. . Wo knew" there was something doing, for we could hear them jabbering, and at twelve the bombardment ceased and over they came. Tlicy; did not;'know . that wo had concealed trenches, and of course, they. suffered heavily. They lost 300 killed and 14 captured. We have, no idea of the number of wounded. .We had some very close calls that night. They b'lew down our sandbags that were protecting us from' their fire. We were very lucky indeed to be out of it alive.-

I Juiie"3o.—Went down, had breakfast, and went to bed, for we had no sleep last night. Made up for lost time, as I did not wake until tea time.

■ July I.—Tho Turks are again quiet. The affair, of the 29th was an attempt of; the Turks to drive us into the sea. Enver Pasha was there when it was made.

■ -Jnly .?-~More swimming,. but the Turkish snipers got on to .us arid' made tilings unpleasant, so we got out, no one hit.

July 3.—-Nothing but. hard work. We have to dig a- bomb-proof shelter, ami it is no joke packing hard clap. AVe did the best part of it, and .what was left .was fixed by the next shift. July 4.—Captain Palmer; of W.M.R. machine-gun section, has been in charge of the gun section on Walker's Ridge. He has been invalided to Alexandria. We have a 2nd lieutenant in chargo now. _ The fortune of war. Fancy a 2nd lieutenant in charge of 16 guns. July s.—Nothing doing in the' fighting line,-so we have gone cards mad. .

July 6.—Swimming and a decent time on tile whole. Have made friends with an Australian, and lie is a fine chap.

July 7. —Another charge is being mado. One of .our gnus'is"being withdrawn 1 from-the trenches, so iiistenrl of doing 24 hours on and 24 hour's, off we will do_ 24 .hours on and 48 hours off, which is a great, success, but I don't think it last long. .

July 8. —Mail again to-day; more letters from home The Turks are trenching a hill which lies 9800 yards to our direct front, but I think it will bo a waste" of good energy. A Quiet Spell. July 9. —Very quiet day. - Wo wont for a swim, and one of the boys was hit in the thigh, but he could walk away to a dressing tent. He is now doing well. July 10.—Spotted'a camel train going in the direction of Achi-Baba, but they. were well out of range of our artillery. Things seem to be moving in the direction of Achi-Baba. This is the sixth train of camels that has passed to-day.

July 11. —Swimming to-day. we were not disturbed by the snipers, and it was (the water) lovely. Quiet day.

July 12.—One of our boys found asleep at- his post. .He is .going to have a district court-martial;' The sniping is very hot to-day, but I . dow'.t know what they are. . Ono of our wounded returned to-day. July 13.—Another awfully quiet day. July 14.—Tho 48-hour rest has been hit on the head. Our shift played cards all day,- and have had a dish of cocoa. It was lovely.

■ July 15.—Went for a- swim after stand-to in the evening. You can. swim with.greater safety at night, and when you climb the hill in tho evening you don't- ;i3vspire. July 16.—Captain Rose, our late captain, came over to inspect all the positions_ on Walker's Ridge, otherwise nothing doing. July 17.—Played'cards, nothing olse. July 18.—Swimming iii tho evening. July 10.—More cards.

I Navy they will have the Turks thinking bard.

July 20. —Saw a few Turks walking about; but they are well out of' rango of tfur guns.

Jijly 21.—Went down and had a look at Karl and Norman. Karl made tea and I had the best meal I have had since I havo been on the Peninsula.

. July 22.—1 don't think the Turk? are awake to-day, for of la to we have not had as much as a shot fired at us.

July 23.—Karl came over for me to eomo_ over aJid have dinner with him, and it- was a- great success. After if was over a lot of-Tavmaranui hoys got together and had good talk-about things in general.

July 24.—My day on the gun. JCar! and Norman enmo over In have a look at tho Turkish position from our gun position, which is- used as an observing post, and it is a 'real good viow you get from here.'

July 25.—Swimming and sniped at again, but they did not get anyone. I supnoso they will get someone sooner or later.

July 2G.—On tho gun. Very quiet day.

July 27.—Shimming and sleeping. July 28.—Shifted our gun out for somo move that is coming off. We hnvo a roving commission now; no home, and in everyone's road.

July 23.—You can see tlioy are getting ready for a big move, as there are boxes and boxes of ammunition, and thev have landed more big guns, so with the suns wo have here and the.

July 30. —Eight men join the section. Karl was among them. It is very decent to liavo your best mate with you. Took the A.M.It. placc while their gun was getting fixed up; it got holed through the water-jacket. It was back in about an hour's time.

July 31.—Went down and saw my Australian friend. Had aftornoon tea with milk in it, also isomo cake which ho had received from home. It was lovely. A fow Ghurkas landed to-day. August I.—Very quiet time on 'the guns. They are making every detail absolutely correct, so when we advance nothing will be wanting. August 2. —Took things very quietly to-day; went for a swim and had a real day's fun. August 3. —Very quiet day, hut we opened up a mock charge at 8 p.m., fired up some parachute 6hell, which lit the place up like day, and j;ou should have heard tho Turks let us have it. But it shows you that they liavo some inkling of what ib going on. This showed you that they, were not going to take any liskfl. Two divisions of. Tommies landed last night and relieved tho New Zealand Division, who are to go- in the attack.

August 4.—Turks very quiet. The necessary preparations are just about correct; ind everything points to a great advance. We have all shifted to a valley, Happy Valley, from hero wo aro going to start our advance. Before a Big Attack. 'August 6. General Godley came round and wished us luck. He said, "Well, boys, you know your work! That hill has to be taken, or we will lie here over winter, and that would bo- rotten. Well, good luck, boys, and may God bo witli you. Had a good sleep. August 6.—Rested all day, and at 10.30 p.m. wo were advancing on the enemy, and they wore absolutely, unprepared. In fact, at their first outjiost tlie sentries were bayoneted, and t'he others -were asleep: Of course they were'taken prisoners. Thoy numbered about 80. Just- this.little incident was over, when wo heard the Maoris give tbeir way erp, and they also got the Turks before they could fix a shot, but at the next advance a few got hit. They advanced & bit further, and with the assistance of a few mounteds tliey captured 500 prisoners. _ , August 7.—At 2 a.m. we were within striking distance of our objective, and just about there, the men began .to fall. Our guns went into action under, a heavy fire, and we got there, but no one will know what it' is like. In the afternoon wo were simply getting the shrapnel poured iiito us, and the dead and wounded were falling all around us. Our gnn section lost pretty heavily. In tho evening wo came down and joined our regiment to assist them when thoy charged across to tako tho hUVhili.

August B.—Our men crept up the hill as far as thoy could and charged. They went over the trendies like a lot of dsers. We covered their right flank so ■they-, were all right from: that direction, and they bayoneted all tho Turks' that came at them from the. front. I got hit soinewhero about this time, and Karl Davidson fixed my feet up when I gotont of t'he way of the .guns. P.S.—I don't think there is anything in this to come up. to ■ some of the letters I have road. in New . Zealand papers. Some' of them .'are absolute bunkum, or, rather, the great majority aro.