Norman Wilkinson

“ Any excursions to sea must always be done at high speed with an advance guard of destroyers and other light craft, though there is consolation in the fact that the fleet of the enemy have chosen to remain in more or less land-locked harbours with elaborate boomed defences. At the same time it is certain that the war at sea cannot be brought to a final end by the submarine, but must eventually be settled by the Capital ship. ”

“ Firing had been in progress for some time, and a few shells of the enemy had pitched near the ship while a game of bridge was in full swing. Suddenly a terrific crash on the starboard side, followed by a big explosion, denoted the arrival of a shell in their immediate vicinity. It had penetrated the side exactly opposite the gun-room, and, bursting, fortunately in a store-room (thus to some extent localising the damage) , hurled several large fragments through the open door into the midst of the players without actually touching one of them. ”

“ A naval captain, as beach master, one or two lieutenants and midshipmen to run the picket-boats, and a number of seamen ratings comprised these parties. It was their duty to see to the handling of the transports, landing of stores, and the various other jobs which come natural to a sailor where sea and shore meet. The bluejacket takes a different view of life from the soldier. This is not surprising, for his mode of life and training is peculiar to the Navy. Certainly the sailors on the beaches were generally regarded with considerable interest by their military companions. ”

“ Tenedos, one of the most flourishing of the islands in the vicinity of the Dardanelles, is used by us and the French as an aeroplane base. The picturesque harbour is surrounded by quaint buildings, with an ancient fort dominating the whole. A short stay here completed our business. The return journey to Helles and Kephalo was uneventful. True, our reception at Helles was disturbed somewhat by a 6-inch shell, which fell immediately astern of us as we were approaching our anchorage. ”

“ An instinctive knowledge seemed to be possessed by the owners of the heads where a shell in flight was likely to pitch. The moment the explosion had taken place a number of men carrying spades would emerge from the dug-outs, race across the sand and scrub to the spot and begin a furious digging competition for fragments.
Sailors have been trained from youth up to regard anything and everything, from a piece of string to a traction engine, as likely to be of use at some time or other. ”

“ Two batteries of Turkish field-guns opened fire with shrapnel and high explosives on the landing-parties and on the three lighters which were firmly fixed on the sand reef. The lighters specially claimed the attention of the enemy's guns, doubtless under the impression that they still contained troops. Beyond the lighters large numbers of men could be seen filing along the beach, or forming up, and amongst these, large columns of sand and dust showed where the shells pitched, causing many casualties. ”

“ By this time we were close into Anzac beach, and had anchored preparatory to a picket-boat coming off to take our mails, etc. Four other trawlers lay close to us engaged on various duties. The Turks being baulked of their first quarry, now turned their attention to us, and it must be said that nothing is much [37] more unpleasant than to be confined in a very small vessel at anchor with no protection but the thinnest sheet-iron. Their first shot at us was shrapnel, and the range not bad. Shrapnel is, I think, the most spiteful sounding of all shells. ”

“ TRAWLERS IN THE DARDANELLES
The work of the trawlers in the Dardanelles demands special mention. The men running these vessels are in the majority of cases elderly, and the ships themselves were never intended to come under fire; yet these men have constantly been in very hot places, and have gone there knowing what was in store for them.
The ships have been used for every conceivable kind of work. They have carried stores, troops, mails and munitions. They have been engaged in mine-sweeping, patrolling and towing nets. They have tackled the elusive submarine ”

“ If there are still people [52] at home who ask what the Navy is doing, one can point to these vessels as an example of what the whole Navy would do had they any scope in which to exercise their activities.
But we are dealing with an enemy who feels that he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by seeking an engagement. The impossibility of forcing his stronghold must be obvious to the least enlightened. ”

“ Here again a large concourse of ships was gathered, mostly transports, though two vessels, the balloon-spotting ship Hector and the plane-carrying and repair ship Ark Royal, were of unusual interest. The flagship Exmouth, with a large collier made fast on either [8] beam, was evidently determined not to allow the marauding submarine any opportunity of repeating her Majestic and Triumph successes.
Nothing has been left undone to make Kephalo a safe anchorage. A complete net-guard stretched across the harbour has up to the present been effective in preventing submarine attack. ”

“ The Turkish prisoners taken by us were few in number. Many were farmers whose one wish appeared to be to see the end of the war. After all, when one remembers that the Turk has always been friendly to the British, it is not surprising that in fighting against us he should still retain a good deal of his old feeling. At the same time he is fighting in defence of his own country, and is regarded by all who know him as never so effective as when on the defensive. ”

“ This particular submarine fouled the net at a depth of over one hundred feet, and was actually hung up by stout wire for upwards of fifteen minutes. It is impossible to imagine anything more likely to unnerve [54] men than to be caught like herrings in a net below the surface, and actually to hear, as they did, hydrostatic bombs exploding around them. The Turks would know, of course, by the agitation of the net above, that a submarine was caught; however, by going astern and then ahead, and allowing her whole weight to come on the net, the vessel broke through and returned in safety. ”

“ I think it may be said that the Turks have ceased to regard the sea route as a means of supplying their troops with any degree of safety, the number of transports sunk being very large, including war vessels. One of the most successful pieces of work accomplished at the time of the Suvla Bay landing was the sinking of the Kaiserin Barbarossa by a British submarine. This ship had formerly belonged to Germany, but was purchased from them by Turkey. ”

“ Those wounded among the first parties landed on an enemy's coast are, generally speaking, bound to undergo the greatest hardships. This specially applies to the Dardanelles. At Suvla Bay the suffering caused was added to by the shortage of water. The shore to which the wounded were brought was entirely devoid of shade, and the blazing sand was intensified by the heat of the sun. Operations on serious cases were performed with the greatest difficulty, and the shallow water close inshore made it impossible for the steam-cutters [58] to bring their tows of boats very near. ”

“ Lighters, boats with canvas tanks, and in fact anything that would hold water were requisitioned.
These were towed as close inshore as the depth would allow, and connected with the beach by pipes. Each lighter carried a portable fire-engine for pumping purposes. This supply greatly alleviated the sufferings of the wounded. A severely injured man may be deadened to a sense of bodily pain, but thirst, which is scarcely ever absent, is the hardest to bear.
[59]
The amount of sickness among the troops in the Dardanelles far exceeds in proportion that of any other theatre of war. ”

“ It is difficult to imagine the point of view of men leaving the trenches with regret.
I believe I am right in saying that at the original landing at Helles many blue-jackets in charge of the landing-parties, whose boats had been sunk by the terrible fire, though they themselves escaped uninjured, joined with the soldiers in the advance on bare feet and with boat-hooks for weapons. ”

“ We left Kephalo early in the morning, calling first at Anzac, then at Helles; from there to Rabbit [35] Island and Tenedos; back to Helles, and, if required, to Anzac again. Generally from Helles this trawler would go direct to Kephalo. The round is seventy odd miles. Every morning on starting, the skipper knew the ship would come under shell-fire at Anzac almost without fail, as the anchorage is commanded by the Turkish guns, and any sign of movement, or of ships arriving or leaving, invariably brought its accompaniment of shells. ”

“ One must also take into account the intermittent shell-fire on the bases. This, while it tries the strongest nerves, at the same time tends, through custom, to make men regardless of danger.
A large number of hospital ships are naturally required to carry the sick and wounded. As far as can possibly be arranged, one of them is always lying off each base, so that immediately a ship is filled and proceeds to her destination her place is taken by another.
The carrying capacity of each vessel varies, though the smaller ones can accommodate even between two and three hundred ”

“ Little was accomplished by the artillery fire, beyond the annoyance caused by shells falling amongst the stores and dug-outs at the bases. It was astonishing to see high explosive shells bursting in what appeared to be crowded areas and to learn afterwards from the soldiers that comparatively few casualties had resulted. Certainly, at times, a shell would cause considerable damage, especially if it fell on rock or hard earth: one of these killed and wounded upwards of 100 mules, and another, which I saw, killed 9 men and wounded 7 ”

“ This applies especially to the early days of the war, when, owing to the total unexpectedness of the [51] upheaval, before experience had taught us how to deal with these unseen craft, they failed entirely to achieve anything that caused us alarm from a military standpoint. A few ancient cruisers fell to them, three of which, the Aboukir, the Hogue, and the Cressy, were so destroyed while indulging in a perfectly human desire to save life. All the ships so sunk were easy targets owing to slow speed. So far not one really fast modern vessel has been sunk by this form of attack. ”

“ Every warship carries a blacksmith's forge, and scattered about in its vicinity are nearly always to be found a number of small pieces of iron of all shapes and sizes, many of them remarkably like shell-splinters. ”

“ During the night we passed a number of patrol boats keeping their ceaseless vigil. The patrol [4] service will, when the war is over, undoubtedly reap the full meed of praise to which they are entitled. It is utterly impossible for the landsman to grasp the soul-wearying work on patrol vessels. ”

“ On A beach things were not so successful. Here, a shallow ridge of sand, running parallel to the shore, held up three of the motor-lighters carrying some [12] 1500 men at a point where wading was impossible, owing to the deeper water inside the ridge. Here the men were subjected to considerable rifle-fire from bodies of Turkish troops and suffered a number of casualties. Picket-boats, however, succeeded in taking them off and landing them on the beach. ”

“ On C beach the troops had landed from the cruisers and destroyers in the darkness with practically no opposition. A beautiful sandy shore, sloping at sufficiently steep an angle to allow the motor-lighters to beach without difficulty, facilitated the landing. The troops, dashing forward, were able to penetrate inland and drive the small bodies of Turks out of their trenches. ”

“ Immediately afterwards three high explosive shells came inboard on the upper deck, and bursting there killed 7 men and wounded 16. Curiosity in this case had overcome a sense of prudence, for they had been watching the enemy's attempt to drive us out of the harbour.
The numerous picket-boats, lighters, etc., had now left us, so we were able to get weigh on the ship. We slowly steamed in a circle without going [19] outside the defence net, in case a submarine might be lying in wait as part of a preconceived plan. ”

“ It is, of course, a debatable point in this war, the first in which submarines have played a large part, to what extent they have justified their existence. Certain it is that as a moral force they are in a very strong position. Our own main battle-fleets have had to take very complete measures for protection against this form of attack. ”

“ It was found hopeless to try and enforce the rule. After all, in a case of this kind, and under the peculiar circumstances, it is perhaps better to indulge a man's fancy as long as it does not affect the work in hand and keeps him cheerful and happy. ”

“ SHELLS FALLING ON THE BASE CAMP AT HELLES.
These shells come from concealed guns on the slopes of Achi Baba, and from the Asiatic batteries. While causing much hindrance to the work on the beaches, at the same time the casualties are light, due to the wonderful system of dug-outs, the men taking shelter immediately firing begins. ”