In Great Spirits

by Archie Barwick

  On the 22nd May the Turks hoisted the flag, & all firing ceased. General Walker went out with an interpreter to see what they wanted. They had come out to arrange an armistice, but they wanted 24 hours, & we would not listen to that of course, so they arranged that they should meet at a certain hour on the next day, which they did, & arranged an 8 hour armistice. We were to bury all men halfway between our lines & the Turks were to do the same with their half. All our biggest men were picked for the job, no doubt to impress the Turks with the physique of the Australians, & I suppose they done the same. In front of our Company’s lines they got no less than 167 rifle bolts off Turkish rifles. We took their bolts & handed the rest of the rifles back & they done the same with ours. I could never see the sense of that, but I suppose they would have a job to get other bolts to fit.

  Some of the German officers showed themselves, & the Turkish officers & ours exchanged cigarettes & the Turks done the same with our men. While the armistice was on a number of Turks rushed across the ground separating the trenches & gave themselves up. The Turkish officers then, so as to stop this sort of thing, ordered all men to keep their heads down & we never saw much more of them after that, excepting of course those who were helping to bury the dead. Our fellows wore a white bandage with a red cross, while they had the crescent on theirs. They won’t recognise a red cross.

  The first estimate of 4000 Turkish killed was found to be a long way below the [final] estimate: it was more like 7000, without their wounded. They were taught a lesson that day.

  On the 25th May our old friend the Triumph was sunk. We could see her quite plainly from where we were at that time (the Bluff). She overturned & her great red hull showed up so plainly. In about 10 minutes there was a swarm of destroyers & torpedo boats rushing all round her picking up the survivors. With a pair of glasses we could see the men quite plainly hanging on to her. We all felt very sorry at her going down, for many a time when we were getting a hot time from the Turkish guns she would quieten them for us. I don’t think they ever got the submarine that settled her.

  The following day my mate young Duke was killed stone dead. He was sniping at the time & Len was observing for him, & I was sitting down having my breakfast, when without any warning he fell at my feet, with half his head blown off. I got a terrible shock I can tell you, a bigger one than you have any idea of. I couldn’t touch him, & called someone else in to take him away. I was a good bit downhearted for some time after this. I got what things I could of his & sent them home to his people, as he asked me to do if ever he got knocked, & Len went round to the orderly room & got his revolver, which he promised him if ever he got knocked. Poor Wagga was buried down by the beach & this much I know, that a clergyman read the burial service over him, but try as I would I could never find his grave. He was as game a lad as ever looked through the sights of a rifle, & I shall never forget him.

  A few days after this I saw a little broad-daylight charge of about 30 Turks. They tried to rush the 16th Battalion, I think it was. We could see them quite distinctly for they were not more than 300 yards away. We put a crossfire on to them as they went across. Needless to say it was a failure & only 3 of them reached their trenches alive on the return run. Their bodies lay there for months afterwards just where they fell.

  Some little time before this I had a very narrow squeak. A piece of shrapnel hit my hat & went through & carried away a piece of the scalp right on top of my head. The place is quite bare yet & no hair grows on it.

  There was very little doing for a long time after this, beyond the ceaseless digging, which never stopped. Everyone was as lousy as a bandicoot — I had not changed my clothes for weeks, for the simple reason I had none, & nearly everyone was in the same street. Water was as precious as gold, & quite as scarce, so a wash was out of the question, for at that time men could not be spared from the trenches to go to the beach, there were such a few of us.

  On the evening of the 28th June the Turks rushed us suddenly, but they found us ready for them, & were beaten back easily. In this scrap they lost over 300 men in killed alone. The Light Horse bore the brunt of this attack, & things were very unhealthy between the trenches for a while.

  The next day we left for a week’s well-earned rest at Imbros. I spent one of the most enjoyable weeks there as ever I did in my life. I had £1 or 2, at the time, & we bought plenty of milk, nuts, fruit & etc, & if ever we enjoyed those few articles well it was here, we had been without them so long, & it was a much needed change of food. It was summer time, & the weather was delightful. Every morning we used to walk a quarter of a mile to a lovely little ice-cold spring & have a good wash, while the rest of the day would be spent in the sea. We were all sorry when our time was up.

  We were back again in the trenches on the 8th July, & facing Lone Pine. The weather was now frightfully hot, & the flies were in millions. It was almost impossible to eat your meals in the daytime; the pests would swarm all over it, & even go into your mouth after it. They used to nearly drive me silly for I was always so particular about the flies. I had my meals early in the morning, & then again at night — I never touched anything during the day.

  13th July. The Turks shelled us pretty heavily today, & killed a few, & knocked our parapets about a good deal.

  On the next day I had the closest call of my life, & I have had a few. It had been a scorching day & in the evening I went down for a swim. There were thousands in bathing, & the water was lovely. I was drying myself along with 4 others on an old barge when without any warning I heard a terrific bang & the next thing I knew was that I was lying on my back in the water, & I could hear someone singing out. I scrambled out pretty fast you bet, & saw what had happened: a shell had burst fair on the barge, & 2 of the chaps were killed, one of them — a Dr in the 7th Light Horse — had both legs blown off. There were also 4 others badly wounded. It was a terrible sight to see the legs & arms lying about, & as hard as I was it quite sickened me for a while. How on earth I escaped is a mystery to me for I was right among them. You may laugh at me, but I declare I felt the pieces of shell as they shot past me. That scared me for a while as I had seen so many accidents on the beach.

  The 15th July saw another pretty solid bombardment, & it took me all my time to dodge them, for they fell pretty thick on our trenches. This evening there were no less than 5 aeroplanes up. The first couple of months we were here, our airmen used to drop a lot of bombs on the Turks.

  17th July. Had a visit from a Turkish aeroplane this evening. She dropped 2 bombs: one fell in the sea, & the other done no damage. You can hear & see a bomb coming down quite plainly, but you have no idea where it is going to land. They dropped a few bombs at different times containing darts. They are nasty things, & it doesn’t pay to get hit with them. We also had a few 11 inchers over, but they done no damage beyond blowing up the signalling stores.

  18th July. Things are coming to a head fast. We had another terrific bombardment from the Turkish howitzers — it is wonderful what a small amount of damage they have done. They put 40 × 6 inch shells within an area of 100 yards on our trenches this morning. 3 batteries of R.F.A. landed here with 5 in. howitzers.

  19th July. We had some walloping shells shot at us today, & one of them tried to assassinate me in my dugout so I lost no time in getting out of it.

  On the 22nd July we had a 3 day “stand to”, which meant that we had no sleep for that time. We were expecting an attack from the Turks as it was the date of the feast of Ramadan, but nothing came of it.

  On the 1st August the 3rd Brigade attacked & captured a Turkish trench. They had 70 casualties, very light considering the distance they had to cover. All the talk now was of our coming charge & everyone was looking forward to it.

  3rd August. Had another pretty heavy bombardment this afternoon, which knocked a few more of our fellows out. We christened a few of the Turkish guns, some of the names ran like this: Beachy Bill of course takes pride of place, the most destructive gun on the peninsula; Percy Jones, a fairl
y silent fellow; Harry Lauder, a shell which used to sing as it come along; Asiatic Annie from the Chanak forts, a big shell which never done any harm, because it always landed very thoughtfully where there happened to be no one; Wheelbarrow Jack, a big shell which used to be shot from a mortar — it was round like a football, & used to make a creaking noise on its way to the trenches. They done a fair bit of damage, at times.

  And now I come to the morning we were relieved by the 5th Batt so as to allow us to rest a few hours before the charge came off. We were all moved out into Gun Lane & Brown’s Dip & positions allotted to us. Everyone was as confident as could be.

  The Light Horse started the ball rolling by an attack at 5 o’clock in the morning on a Turkish trench, which they took, but failed to hold. They were driven out by bombs, & lost a good few men.

  The warships had not been idle, & along with our batteries were making the Olive Grove one of the warmest spots on the peninsula — it was a regular sea of fire & smoke. Their idea was to put as many of the Turkish guns out of action as they could before our charge came off, for the Olive Grove was swarming with guns of all calibres, & completely dominated the Pine & all our positions.

  About 4 o’clock that afternoon (6th August) we were all in readiness, & a fair ration of rum was served out in the tea. This was a fairly regular thing, & I believe it done a lot of good, especially when we first landed, for the nights were very cold.

  At 5 o’clock to the minute the whole of the batteries & warships were turned on to Lone Pine. They started off at a steady pace & increased as they went along til 5.15, when the bombardment reached the climax. The noise was deafening, & the shells were bursting that fast that it was impossible to hear single shells burst — it was one continuous roar.

  While this was going on we were crouched in dugouts & old trenches, waiting for our turn to come. The Turks were shelling us like mad, field guns & howitzers were going their hardest, & shrapnel without a word of a lie was falling like a hailstorm. I will never forget our dugout: there were about 20 men in it, & every 2 or 3 minutes a monster shell would just miss us by about 20 yards or so. If one had just dropped a little short, it would have been the end of us. As it was we used to hold our breath when we heard it come roaring through the air, & everyone would sort of grip themselves, in readiness for the shock of the concussion. I have always found it a good plan to open your mouth & stand on your toes when you are expecting a high explosive to land near you; funny as it may seem, it takes a lot of the pressure off you. I had one very severe shock at the Pimple — my stomach seemed to fly out of my mouth & eyes were pushed right back in my head, which seemed as if it were split open. I had a job to keep myself from fainting; talk about a headache well I had one that day. There were 3 of us working at the time, & we were all thrown heavily to the ground. It was a close shave, & we could hardly move for 24 hours after it.

  Len remarked to me while this shelling was going on that it was his birthday, a rather stormy one I should think & I would not like to witness many more like it. The Turks fairly drenched the little hollow where we were with shell fire, for they knew well enough that that was where the reserves would be (Brown’s Dip). To give you an idea of the severity of the shrapnel fire this ought to do: we had a lot of telephone wires stretched across from one side of the Dip to the other, & as fast as they were repaired the shrapnel cut them down again. There were a few men killed while repairing these wires; it was certain death to go out but these men never hesitated, but rushed out in their turn. Brave men if you like.

  About 5.25 our fire slackened a bit & the Turks started to increase theirs. Just then I got a terrible shock or fright, whichever you like to call it, for I distinctly saw, for the fraction of a second, an 18 pounder shell coming straight for me, but by the greatest piece of luck it fell about a yard short & buried itself in the earth in front of us, & failed to explode. I did not know what to do, for to get out of the dugout seemed certain death & to stay in it seemed the same, for the gun was pointed straight at us; however I decided to stop & take my chance. They fired 3 more, & luckily none of them burst — if they had done, I should not be alive today, for the furthest shell did not lob more than 3 yards away. It’s a test of nerves I can assure you to sit there helpless & let a gun shoot at you. Besides you have no hope of dodging these small shells for they travel a lot faster than the big ones.

  At 5.30 to the sec all our guns stopped & there was a lull for a moment, & then Hell seemed let loose, but above the frightful din of bursting shrapnel & rifle & machine gun fire, we heard a shout, & knew that the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Battalions were over, & as it turned out afterwards half our Batt with them. It was a race against death to reach the other side, & men fell like hailstones. You could see little white patches wherever you looked, for just before the charge everyone was issued with 3 pieces of white calico, one for each arm & the third for the back. The idea of this was so as we could tell our own men from Turks but it cut both ways, for the Turks were not slow to notice this, & tacked it on themselves. When we found this out, we were ordered to take ours off, & we had the advantage of them for a while, & they paid pretty dear for it.

  Some English officers who watched the charge said they never thought that men would face such a murderous fire as the Australians did on that memorable evening. General Walker watched the attack, & when the first line reached the Turkish trenches they were seen to falter for some unknown reason, & he grew very excited. “My God the boys have failed,” he said. “No, no, they haven’t, I told you so,” he almost shouted, as they were seen to be disappearing into the Turkish stronghold, & others could be seen struggling with great beams & logs.

  The reason for the apparent check of the first line was easily explained, for the whole of the Turkish position was made bomb proof, & even howitzer proof in places. It was a most formidable thing, & no one counted on the trenches being covered in. There were a few openings here & there where men used to crawl out of a night, & down these the boys had to drop one by one into almost certain death, for the Turks were waiting there for them, & shot & bayoneted as they jumped down. Many a V.C. was won here & never recognised. 40 mins after the first line we went over, & even then they were not all cleared out, & we helped round them up, & put the finishing touch on them.

  I saw several men sacrifice themselves here; they went to certain death. One chap in particular I remember, it came about in this way: we were chasing some Turks round a little sap & they reached the bend first. Everyone knew the first man round the corner was a dead one, but this chap never hesitated. He threw himself fair at them, & the 6 fired together, & fairly riddled him with bullets. That was our chance & we were into them, & it was all over in a few minutes.

  As we were getting over the parapet the man next to me was killed stone dead, & on the way across we lost a few more, for they were still playing their machine guns & shrapnel on the ground between the trenches. Some of us got tangled in the barb wire & got nasty cuts. When we jumped down into the trenches I lobbed on something soft & on looking closer found that it was a dead Turk — the trenches were absolutely packed with them. A little further on we had 47 of them imprisoned in a tunnel & Len was put guard over them. The mouth of the tunnel was sandbagged to prevent too many of them coming out at once; he had a rifle & revolver ready for them. Next morning, 7th August, they all gave themselves up.

  About 9 o’clock that night, while we were all busy getting our trenches in order for the expected counter-attack, volunteers were called for to go over & bring some sandbags & shovels back, for we did not have enough, & they were shelling us pretty heavily. I & 4 others volunteered, & I can tell you it’s a funny feeling you have as you pick your way across that no man’s land among the dead, dying & wounded, & the bullets whistling all round. We lost no time as you may guess getting across. We went to Bde Hqrs, & the Bde Major said we need not take any with us, for he would see that they were sent across at once, so back we went & reached the trenches safely.

  We worked h
ard all that night. At times we had to drop our tools, grab our guns, & fight like the devil for a while, for they were just about to start the counter-attacks. By 9 o’clock next morning the battle was in full swing; every inch of ground was being fought stubbornly for by both sides. The losses on both sides were awful but still it never slackened. Time after time they rushed us only to be beaten back at the very parapet you might say. Bomb fights were everywhere, & these accounted for most of the casualties on our side. The artillery fire was deafening, & combined with the salty acrid smell of the cordite, the rattle of machine guns & rifles, the bursting bombs, the heat & flies & dust, & the cries of the wounded men, made the blood run hot or cold in your veins, according to the way you looked at it.

  The battle raged furiously for 4 days. On the 9th August the 7th Batt were in a certain trench, & the Turks were attacking it furiously, with bombs, shells & all manner of things. A lot of our Coy were sent in to reinforce them, Len & I among them. Without a word of a lie the men were lying 4 deep dead in this awful trench; it was nothing more than a charnel house & I shall never forget it. No less than 3 V.C.s were won in this trench. In places the Turks were only 5 yards away & they had a much superior bomb to us at the time, but in spite of their furious charges we held it. At one time, there were only 3 of us left alive holding about 30 yards of trench. I thought the end had come, & was quite prepared to sell my life as dearly as I could, if the Turks had only known how easily they could have taken it. The 3 of us who were left in that trench are still alive: Holmes, a great mate of Len’s & as game as you make them, young Wise in the 53rd & myself. Reinforcements came just in the nick of time & the trench was held.