Five Months at Anzac by Joseph Lievesley Beeston

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At daylight a barge was towed out and, after placing all our equipment
on board, we started for the beach. As soon as the barge grounded, we
jumped out into the water (which was about waist deep) and got to dry
land. Colonel Manders, the A.D.M.S. of our Division, was there, and
directed us up a gully where we were to stay in reserve for the time
being, meantime to take lightly-wounded cases. One tent was pitched
and dug-outs made for both men and patients, the Turks supplying
shrapnel pretty freely. Our position happened to be in rear of a
mountain battery, whose guns the Turks appeared very anxious to
silence, and any shells the battery did not want came over to us. As
soon as we were settled down I had time to look round. Down on the
beach the 1st Casualty Clearing Station (under Lieutenant-Colonel
Giblin) and the Ambulance of the Royal Marine Light Infantry were at
work. There were scores of casualties awaiting treatment, some of them
horribly knocked about. It was my first experience of such a number of
cases. In civil practice, if an accident took place in which three or
four men were injured, the occurrence would be deemed out of the
ordinary: but here there were almost as many hundreds, and all the
flower of Australia. It made one feel really that, in the words of
General Sherman, "War is hell," and it seemed damnable that it should
be in the power of one man, even if be he the German Emperor, to
decree that all these men should be mutilated or killed. The great
majority were just coming into manhood with all their life before
them. The stoicism and fortitude with which they bore their pain was
truly remarkable. Every one of them was cheery and optimistic; there
was not a murmur; the only requests were for a cigarette or a drink of
water. One felt very proud of these Australians, each waiting his turn
to be dressed without complaining. It really quite unnerved me for a
time. However, it was no time to allow the sentimental side of one's
nature to come uppermost.

I watched the pinnaces towing the barges in. Each pinnace belonged to
a warship and was in charge of a midshipman--dubbed by his shipmates a
"snotty." This name originates from the days of Trafalgar. The little
chaps appear to have suffered from chronic colds in the head, with the
usual accompaniment of a copious flow from the nasal organs. Before
addressing an officer the boys would clean their faces by drawing the
sleeve of their jacket across the nose; and, I understand that this
practice so incensed Lord Nelson that he ordered three brass buttons
to be sewn on the wristbands of the boys' jackets. However, this is by
the way. These boys, of all ages from 14 to 16, were steering their
pinnaces with supreme indifference to the shrapnel falling about,
disdaining any cover and as cool as if there was no such thing as war.
I spoke to one, remarking that they were having a great time. He was a
bright, chubby, sunny-faced little chap, and with a smile said: "Isn't
it beautiful, sir? When we started, there were sixteen of us, and now
there are only six!" This is the class of man they make officers out
of in Britain's navy, and while this is so there need be no fear of
the result of any encounter with the Germans.

Another boy, bringing a barge full of men ashore, directed them to lie
down and take all the cover they could, he meanwhile steering the
pinnace and standing quite unconcernedly with one foot on the boat's
rail.

AT WORK ON THE PENINSULA

Casualties began to come in pretty freely, so that our tent was soon
filled. We now commenced making dug-outs in the side of the gully and
placing the men in these. Meantime stores of all kinds were being
accumulated on the beach--stacks of biscuits, cheese and preserved
beef, all of the best. One particular kind of biscuit, known as the
"forty-niners," had forty-nine holes in it, was believed to take
forty-nine years to bake, and needed forty-nine chews to a bite. But
there were also beautiful hams and preserved vegetables, and with
these and a tube of Oxo a very palatable soup could be prepared. A
well-known firm in England puts up a tin which they term an Army
Ration, consisting of meat and vegetables, nicely seasoned and very
palatable. For a time this ration was eagerly looked for and
appreciated, but later on, when the men began to get stale, it did not
agree with them so well; it appeared to be too rich for many of us. We
had plenty of jam, of a kind--one kind. Oh! how we used to revile the
maker of "Damson and Apple'!" The damson coloured it, and whatever
they used for apple gave it body.

One thing was good all the time, and that was the tea. The brand never
wavered, and the flavour was always full. Maynard could always make a
good cup of it. It has been already mentioned that water was not at
first available on shore. This was soon overcome, thanks to the Navy.
They convoyed water barges from somewhere, which they placed along
shore; the water was then pumped into our water carts, and the men
filled their water-bottles from them. The water, however, never
appeared to quench our thirst. It was always better made up into tea,
or taken with lime juice when we could get it.

Tobacco, cigarettes and matches were on issue, but the tobacco was of
too light a brand for me, so that Walkley used to trade off my share
of the pernicious weed for matches. The latter became a precious
commodity. I have seen three men light their pipes from one match.
Captain Welch was very independent; he had a burning glass, and
obtained his light from the sun. After a few days the R.M.L.I. were
ordered away, and we were directed to take up their position on the
beach. A place for operating was prepared by putting sandbags at
either end, the roof being formed by planks covered with sandbags and
loose earth. Stanchions of 4 x 4 in. timber were driven into the
ground, with crosspieces at a convenient height; the stretcher was
placed on these, and thus an operating table was formed. Shelves were
made to hold our instruments, trays and bottles; these were all in
charge of Staff-Sergeant Henderson, a most capable and willing
assistant. Close by a kitchen was made, and a cook kept constantly
employed keeping a supply of hot water, bovril, milk and biscuits
ready for the men when they came in wounded, for they had to be fed as
well as medically attended to.

INCIDENTS AND YARNS

One never ceased admiring our men, and their cheeriness under these
circumstances and their droll remarks caused us many a laugh. One man,
just blown up by a shell, informed us that it was a ---- of a
place--'no place to take a lady.' Another told of the mishap to his
"cobber," who picked up a bomb and blew on it to make it light; "all
at once it blew his ---- head off--Gorblime! you would have laughed!"
For lurid and perfervid language commend me to the Australian Tommy.
Profanity oozes from him like music from a barrel organ. At the same
time, he will give you his idea of the situation, almost without
exception in an optimistic strain, generally concluding his
observation with the intimation that "We gave them hell." I have seen
scores of them lying wounded and yet chatting one to another while
waiting their turn to be dressed. The stretcher-bearers were a fine
body of men. Prior to this campaign, the Army Medical Corps was always
looked upon as a soft job. In peacetime we had to submit to all sorts
of flippant remarks, and were called Linseed Lancers, Body-snatchers,
and other cheery and jovial names; but, thanks to Abdul and the
cordiality of his reception, the A.A.M.C. can hold up their heads with
any of the fighting troops. It was a common thing to hear men say:
"This beach is a hell of a place! The trenches are better than this."
The praises of the stretcher-bearers were in all the men's mouths;
enough could not be said in their favour. Owing to the impossibility
of landing the transport, all the wounded had to be carried; often for
a distance of a mile and a half, in a blazing sun, and through
shrapnel and machine-gun fire. But there was never a flinch; through
it all they went, and performed their duty. Of our Ambulance 185 men
and officers landed, and when I relinquished command, 43 remained. At
one time we were losing so many bearers, that carrying during the
day-time was abandoned, and orders were given that it should only be
undertaken after night-fall. On one occasion a man was being sent off
to the hospital ship from our tent in the gully. He was not very bad,
but he felt like being carried down. As the party went along the
beach, Beachy Bill became active; one of the bearers lost his leg, the
other was wounded, but the man who was being carried down got up and
ran! All the remarks I have made regarding the intrepidity and valour
of the stretcher-bearers apply also to the regimental bearers. These
are made up from the bandsmen. Very few people think, when they see
the band leading the battalion in parade through the streets, what
happens to them on active service. Here bands are not thought of; the
instruments are left at the base, and the men become bearers, and
carry the wounded out of the front line for the Ambulance men to care
for. Many a stretcher-bearer has deserved the V.C.

One of ours told me they had reached a man severely wounded in the
leg, in close proximity to his dug-out. After he had been placed on
the stretcher and made comfortable, he was asked whether there was
anything he would like to take with him. He pondered a bit, and then
said: "Oh! you might give me my diary--I would like to make a note of
this before I forget it!"

It can be readily understood that in dealing with large bodies of men,
such as ours, a considerable degree of organization is necessary, in
order to keep an account, not only of the man, but of the nature of
his injury (or illness, as the case may be) and of his destination.
Without method chaos would soon reign. As each casualty came in he was
examined, and dressed or operated upon as the necessity arose.
Sergeant Baxter then got orders from the officer as to where the case
was to be sent. A ticket was made out, containing the man's name, his
regimental number, the nature of his complaint, whether morphia had
been administered and the quantity, and finally his destination. All
this was also recorded in our books, and returns made weekly, both to
headquarters and to the base. Cases likely to recover in a fortnight's
time were sent by fleet-sweeper to Mudros; the others were embarked on
the hospital ship. They were placed in barges, and towed out by a
pinnace to a trawler, and by that to the hospital ship, where the
cases were sorted out. When once they had left the beach, our
knowledge of them ceased, and of course our responsibility. One man
arriving at the hospital ship was describing, with the usual
picturesque invective, how the bullet had got into his shoulder. One
of the officers, who apparently was unacquainted with the Australian
vocabulary, said: "What was that you said, my man?" The reply came, "A
blightah ovah theah put a bullet in heah."

At a later period a new gun had come into action on our left, which
the men christened "Windy Annie." Beachy Bill occupied the olive
grove, and was on our right. Annie was getting the range of our
dressing station pretty accurately, and requisition on the Engineers
evoked the information that sandbags were not available. However, the
Army Service came to our rescue with some old friends, the
"forty-niners." Three tiers of these in their boxes defied the shells
just as they defied our teeth.

As the sickness began to be more manifest, it became necessary to
enlarge the accommodation in our gully. The hill was dug out, and the
soil placed in bags with which a wall was built, the intervening
portion being filled up with the remainder of the hill. By this means
we were able to pitch a second tent and house more of those who were
slightly ill. It was in connection with this engineering scheme that I
found the value of W.O. Cosgrove. He was possessed of a good deal of
the _suaviter in modo_, and it was owing to his dextrous handling of
Ordnance that we got such a fine supply of bags. This necessitated a
redistribution of dug-outs, and a line of them was constructed
sufficient to take a section of bearers. The men christened this
"Shrapnel Avenue." They called my dug-out "The Nut," because it held
the "Kernel." I offer this with every apology. It's not my joke.

The new dug-outs were not too safe. Murphy was killed there one
afternoon, and Claude Grime badly wounded later on. Claude caused a
good deal of amusement. He had a rooted objection to putting on
clothes and wore only a hat, pants, boots and his smile. Consequently
his body became quite mahogany-coloured. When he was wounded he was
put under an anaesthetic so that I could search for the bullet. As the
anaesthetic began to take effect, Claude talked the usual
unintelligible gibberish. Now, we happened to have a Turkish prisoner
at the time, and in the midst of Claude's struggles and shouts in
rushed an interpreter. He looked round, and promptly came over to
Claude, uttering words which I suppose were calculated to soothe a
wounded Turk; and we had some difficulty in assuring him that the
other man, not Claude, was the Turk he was in quest of.

[Illustration: 4th Field Ambulance in Head Quarters Gully.]

[Illustration: 4th Field Ambulance Dressing Station on the beach.]

[Illustration: My Dug-out.]

[Illustration: Major Clayton and Captain Dawson.]

AIR FIGHTING

The German aeroplanes flew over our gully pretty regularly. As first
we were rather perturbed, as they had a nasty habit of dropping bombs,
but as far as I know they never did any damage. Almost all the bombs
dropped into the water. One of them sent some steel arrows down, about
six or eight inches in length, with a metal point something like a
carpenter's bit. In order to conceal our tents, we covered them with
holly-bushes, cut and placed over the canvas. Our aeroplanes were
constantly up, and were easily recognised by a red ring painted
underneath, while the Taube was adorned with a large black cross; but
after we had been there a little time we found it was not necessary to
use glasses in order to ascertain whose flying machine was over us; we
were able to tell by listening, as their engines had a different sound
from those belonging to us.

Our aeroplanes were the source of a good deal of annoyance to the
Turks. They continually fired at them, but, as far as I was able to
judge, never went within cooee of one. The bursts of shrapnel away in
the air made a pretty sight, puffs of white smoke like bits of
cotton-wool in succession, and the aeroplane sailing unconcernedly
along. It appears to be very difficult to judge distance away in the
air, and even more difficult to estimate the rate at which the object
is travelling. What became of the shell-cases of the shrapnel used to
puzzle us. One day Walkley remarked that it was peculiar that none
fell on us. I replied "surely there is plenty of room other than where
we are for them to fall." Scarcely were the words uttered than down
one came close by. We knew it was a case from above and not one fired
direct, because the noise was so different.

The hydroplanes used by the Navy were interesting. Floating on the
water, they would gather way and soar upwards like a bird. Their
construction was different from that of the aeroplanes.

A captive balloon was used a good deal to give the ranges for the
warships. It was carried on the forepart of a steamer and was, I
believe, in connection with it by telephone or wireless.

THE OFFICERS' MESS

We kept up the custom of having an officers' mess right through the
campaign. When we first landed, while everything was in confusion,
each man catered for himself; but it was a lonely business, and not
conducive to health. When a man cooked his own rations he probably did
not eat much. So a dug-out was made close to the hospital tent, and we
all had our meals together. A rather pathetic incident occurred one
day. Just after we had finished lunch three of us were seated, talking
of the meals the "Australia" provided, when a fragment of shell came
through the roof on to the table and broke one of the enamel plates.
This may seem a trivial affair and not worth grousing about; but the
sorry part of it was that we only had one plate each, and this loss
entailed one man having to wait until the others had finished their
banquet.

I have elsewhere alluded to the stacks of food on the beach. Amongst
them bully beef was largely in evidence. Ford, our cook, was very good
in always endeavouring to disguise the fact that "Bully" was up again.
He used to fry it; occasionally he got curry powder from the Indians
and persuaded us that the resultant compound was curried goose; but it
was bully beef all the time. Then he made what he called
rissoles--onions entered largely into their framework, and when you
opened them you wanted to get out into the fresh air. Preserved
potatoes, too, were very handy. We had them with our meat, and what
remained over we put treacle on, and ate as pancakes. Walkley and
Betts obtained flour on several occasions, and made very presentable
pancakes. John Harris, too, was a great forager--he knew exactly where
to put his hand on decent biscuits, and the smile with which he landed
his booty made the goods toothsome in the extreme. Harris had a
gruesome experience. One day he was seated on a hill, talking to a
friend, when a shell took the friend's head off and scattered his
brains over Harris.

Before leaving the description of the officers' mess, I must not omit
to introduce our constant companions, the flies. As Australians we
rather prided ourselves on our judgment regarding these pests, and in
Gallipoli we had every opportunity of putting our faculties to the
test. There were flies, big horse flies, blue flies, green flies, and
flies. They turned up everywhere and with everything. While one was
eating one's food with the right hand, one had to keep the left going
with a wisp, and even then the flies beat us. Then we always had the
comforting reflection of those dead Turks not far away--the distance
being nothing to a fly. In order to get a little peace at one meal in
the day, our dinner hour was put back until dusk. Men wounded had a
horrible time. Fortunately we had a good supply of mosquito netting
purchased with the Red Cross money. It was cut up into large squares
and each bearer had a supply.

THE ARMISTICE

On the 23rd of May anyone looking down the coast could see a man on
Gaba Tepe waving a white flag. He was soon joined by another occupied
in a like manner. Some officers came into the Ambulance and asked for
the loan of some towels; we gave them two, which were pinned together
with safety pins. White flags don't form part of the equipment of
Australia's army.

Seven mounted men had been observed coming down Gaba Tepe, and they
were joined on the beach by our four. The upshot was that one was
brought in blindfolded to General Birdwood. Shortly after we heard it
announced that a truce had been arranged for the following day in
order to bury the dead.

The following morning Major Millard and I started from our right and
walked up and across the battle-field. It was a stretch of country
between our lines and those of the Turks, and was designated No Man's
Land. At the extreme right there was a small farm; the owner's house
occupied part of it, and was just as the man had left it. Our guns had
knocked it about a good deal. In close proximity was a field of wheat,
in which there were scores of dead Turks. As these had been dead
anything from a fortnight to three weeks their condition may be better
imagined than described. One body I saw was lying with the leg
shattered. He had crawled into a depression in the ground and lay with
his great-coat rolled up for a pillow; the stains on the ground showed
that he had bled to death, and it can only be conjectured how long he
lay there before death relieved him of his sufferings. Scores of the
bodies were simply riddled with bullets. Midway between the trenches a
line of Turkish sentries were posted. Each was in a natty blue uniform
with gold braid, and top boots, and all were done "up to the nines."
Each stood by a white flag on a pole stuck in the ground. We buried
all the dead on our side of this line and they performed a similar
office for those on their side. Stretchers were used to carry the
bodies, which were all placed in large trenches. The stench was awful,
and many of our men wore handkerchiefs over their mouths in their
endeavour to escape it. I counted two thousand dead Turks. One I
judged to be an officer of rank, for the bearers carried him
shoulder-high down a gully to the rear. The ground was absolutely
covered with rifles and equipment of all kinds, shell-cases and caps,
and ammunition clips. The rifles were all collected and the bolts
removed to prevent their being used again. Some of the Turks were
lying right on our trenches, almost in some of them. The Turkish
sentries were peaceable-looking men, stolid in type and of the peasant
class mostly. We fraternised with them and gave them cigarettes and
tobacco. Some Germans were there, but they viewed us with malignant
eyes. When I talked to Colonel Pope about it afterwards he said the
Germans were a mean lot of beggars: "Why," said he most indignantly,
"they came and had a look into my trenches." I asked "What did you do?"
He replied, "Well, I had a look at theirs."

TORPEDOING OF THE _TRIUMPH_

The day after the armistice, at fifteen minutes after noon, I was in
my dug-out when one of the men exclaimed that something was wrong with
the _Triumph_. I ran out and was in time to see the fall of the water
sent up by the explosive. It was a beautifully calm day, and the ship
was about a mile and a quarter from us; she had a decided list towards
us, and it was evident that something was radically wrong. With
glasses one could see the men lined up in two ranks as if on parade,
without the least confusion. Then two destroyers went over and put
their noses on each side of the big ship's bows; all hands from the
_Triumph_ marched aboard the destroyers. She was gradually heeling
over, and all movables were slipping into the sea. One of the
destroyers barked three or four shots at something which we took to be
the submarine. In fifteen minutes the _Triumph_ was keel up, the water
spurting from her different vent pipes as it was expelled by the
imprisoned air. She lay thus for seventeen minutes, gradually getting
lower and lower in the water, when quietly her stern rose and she
slipped underneath, not a ripple remaining to show where she had sunk.
I have often read of the vortex caused by a ship sinking, but as far
as I could see there was in this case not the slightest disturbance.
It was pathetic to see this beautiful ship torpedoed and in thirty-two
minutes at the bottom of the sea. I believe the only lives lost were
those of men injured by the explosion. Meanwhile five destroyers came
up from Helles at a terrific speed, the water curling from their bows;
they and all the other destroyers circled round and round the bay, but
the submarine lay low and got off. Her commander certainly did his job
well.

THE DESTROYERS

After the torpedoing of the _Triumph_ here, and the _Majestic_ in the
Straits all the big ships left and went to Mudros, as there was no
sense in leaving vessels costing over a million each to the mercy of
submarines. This gave the destroyers the chance of their lives. Up to
this they had not been allowed to speak, but now they took on much of
the bombardment required. They were constantly nosing about, and the
slightest movement on the part of the Turks brought forth a bang from
one of their guns. If a Turk so much as winked he received a rebuke
from the destroyer. The Naval men all appeared to have an unbounded
admiration for the Australians as soldiers, and boats rarely came
ashore without bringing some fresh bread or meat or other delicacy;
their tobacco, too, was much sought after. It is made up from the
leaf, and rolled up in spun yarn. The flavour is full, and after a
pipe of it--well, you feel that you have had a smoke.

THE INDIAN REGIMENTS

We had a good many Indian regiments in the Army Corps. The mountain
battery occupied a position on "Pluggey's Plateau" in the early stage
of the campaign, and they had a playful way of handing out the
shrapnel to the Turks. It was placed in boiling water to soften the
resin in which the bullets are held. By this means the bullets spread
more readily, much to the joy of the sender and the discomfiture of
Abdul. The Indians were always very solicitous about their wounded.
When one came in to be attended to, he was always followed by two of
his chums bearing, one a water bottle, the other some food, for their
caste prohibits their taking anything directly from our hands. When
medicine had to be administered, the man came in, knelt down, and
opened his mouth, and the medicine was poured into him without the
glass touching his lips. Food was given in the same way. I don't know
how they got on when they were put on the ship. When one was killed,
he was wrapped up in a sheet and his comrades carried him
shoulder-high to their cemetery, for they had a place set apart for
their own dead. They were constantly squatting on their haunches
making a sort of pancake. I tasted one; but it was too fatty and I
spat it out, much to the amusement of the Indians.

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