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WITH THE ZIONI STS IN GALLIPOLI 
 LIEUT. COL. J. H. PATTERSON, D.S.O. 
 
CapeHelles 
 
 VBeach 
 
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 /Morl-oBay ^-^ 
 CamberBeach >C~ 
 Sedd-el-Bahr \T- 
 
 'ey/ottsBattery 
 
 S.Beach 
 
 Kum Kale 
 
 ASIA 
 
 THE llOLLOWKD HAND GIVES A VERY GOOD IDEA 
 OF THE AVPEAKANCE OF THE COUNTRY 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS 
 IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 BY 
 
 LIEUT. COL. J. H. Patterson' D.s.o. 
 
 Author of '*The Man-Eaters of Tsavo," 
 **In The Grip of the Nvika," etc 
 
 ^ ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 
 
^^f 
 
 
 Copyright, 1916, 
 By George H. Doran Company yj 
 
 y — 
 
 I' ' 
 
 PKINTED IV THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 JUN-6I9I6' 
 ©CI.A433275 ^ 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The narrative of the Zionists in Gallipoli has 
 been written during the enforced idleness of the 
 past month — a month which has been spent in 
 endeavouring to recover sufficient health and 
 strength to enable me to take a further, and, I 
 trust, a more useful, hand in the Great Drama 
 now approaching its climax. 
 
 In the following pages I have "set down nought 
 in malice," neither have I given a word of praise 
 where praise is not due — and more than due. My 
 relations with those with whom I came into con- 
 tact were excellent, and on the very rare occasions 
 when they were otherwise, it was not due to any 
 seeking of mine, but, unfortunately, my tempera- 
 ment is not such that I can suffer fools gladly. 
 
 My story is one of actual happenings, told just 
 as I saw them with some suggestions thrown in, 
 and if from these a hint is taken here and there 
 by those in the "Seats of the Mighty," then so 
 much the better for our Cause. 
 
 My chief object in writing this book is to in- 
 terest the Hebrew nation in the fortunes of the 
 Zionists and show them of what their Russian 
 
 [ V] 
 
PREFACE 
 
 brothers are capable, even under the command 
 of an alien in race and religion. Those who have 
 the patience to follow me through these pages 
 will, of coiu"se, see that I am not by any means an 
 alien in sympathy and admiration for the people 
 who have given to the world some of its greatest 
 men, not to mention The ^lan who has so pro- 
 foundly changed the world's outlook. 
 
 London, 1916. 
 
 [vi] 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CJIAPTER PAGE 
 
 I Inteoduction 17 
 
 II General Policy of the Dardanelles 
 
 Campaign 32 
 
 III Strategy and Tactics of the Darda- 
 
 nelles Campaign 37 
 
 IV Formation of the Zion Mule Corps 46 
 V Arrival at Lemnos 62 
 
 VI A Strenuous Night 72 
 
 VII Description of Southern Gallipoli 85 
 
 VIII A Homeric Conflict 89 
 
 IX The Zion Mule Corps Land in Gal- 
 lipoli 106 
 
 X A Night up the Gully Ravine . . 120 
 
 XI How Zion Mules Upset Turkish 
 
 Plans 127 
 
 XII Life in Our New Camp .... 136 
 
 XIII A May Battle 147 
 
 XIV General d'Amade and the Corps Ex- 
 
 PEDITIONNAIRE d'OrIENT . . . 154 
 
 XV Various Bombardments . . . .159 
 
 XVI The Coming of the German Subma- 
 rines .,. 166 
 
 XVII Trench Warfare in Gallipoli . . 170 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XVIII Guns and Staff 182 
 
 XIX Visits to the Trenches .... 188 
 
 XX Flies, Dust and Battle .... 195 
 
 XXI Work of the Zion Mule Corps . . 203 
 
 XXII The Australians and New Zealand- 
 
 ERS 210 
 
 XXIII Voyage to Egypt 222 
 
 XXIV Recruiting in Egypt 228 
 
 XXV Life in Egypt 234 
 
 XXVI Return to Gallipoli 244? 
 
 XXVII Beelzebub 252 
 
 XXVIII A Feat in Gunnery 259 
 
 XXIX The Finding of the Shield of David 269 
 
 XXX Back to England 277 
 
 XXXI The Evacuation 291 
 
 Appendix 297 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The Hollowed Hand Gives a Very Good Idea of 
 
 THE Appearance of the Country Frontispiece 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Dardanelles, Sea of Marmora and Bos- 
 
 PHORUS 17 
 
 Badge of the Zion Mule Corps (the Shield 
 
 OF David) 270 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOH 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS 
 IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INITtrjDUCTION 
 
 I PROPOSE in the following pages to have some- 
 thing to say on the general policy of the Gallipoli 
 campaign, and also upon the operations of war 
 in execution of that policy. Xow, in the discus- 
 sion of these questions, I shall have some criti- 
 cisms to make, so it may not be altogether inap- 
 propriate to give the reader some little idea of a 
 i'tw at least of my qualifications for such a role; 
 otherwise he might well be tempted to say: "A 
 fig for this fellow and his criticisms. WTiat is 
 he but a mere muleteer?" 
 
 Perhaps I may remark, to begin with, that 
 when I took over the command of the Zion Mule 
 Corps, I knew a great deal about soldiering and 
 the art of war, but very little about the muleteer 
 or the artful mule. But that's just "a way we 
 have in the Army I" 
 
 [17] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 From my boyhood I have either been a soldier 
 or taken the keenest interest in soldiering, not 
 only in England but in all parts of the world. 
 My military experiences extend through home, 
 India and South Africa, and have been by no 
 means of a sketchy character. I spent the best 
 part of three years in South Africa, where I 
 conmianded a Yeomanry regiment, and at times 
 Regular troops of all arms, during the Boer 
 War. 
 
 Those were glorious days — days when one 
 could thoroughly enjoy warfare — a wild gallop 
 over the veldt, a good fight in the open, and the 
 day won by the best men. 
 
 In these days war is robbed of all its glory and 
 romance. It is now but a dyke-maker's job, and 
 a dirty one at that : but much as the soldier may 
 dislike this method of warfare, it has come to 
 stay, and we must make the best of a bad job, 
 adapt ourselves to the new conditions, and by 
 sticking it out, as we have always done, wear 
 down the foe. 
 
 In addition to practical experience of soldiers 
 and soldiering in England, India, and South 
 Africa, I have watched our troops at work and 
 play in many out-of-the-way parts of the Empire 
 — the Kmg's African Rifles in East Africa and 
 
 [18] 
 
INTRODUCTIOX 
 
 Uganda; the Cape Mounted Rifles in South Af- 
 rica; the "Waffs" in West Africa; the "Gip- 
 pies" in Egypt, and the Xorth-West mounted 
 men of Canada away in the wilds of the Klon- 
 dyke. 
 
 Nor have I confined my attention to the Em- 
 pire's soldiers only. 
 
 In my various visits to America, I looked very 
 keenly into the training and organisation of the 
 American Army. I was especially fortunate 
 in being able to do this, as I had the privilege 
 of being Colonel Theodore Roosevelt's guest at 
 the White House, while he was President, and 
 his letters of introduction made me a welcome 
 visitor everywhere. I saw something of the Cav- 
 alry and Artillery both East and West. I 
 watched their Infantry amidst the snows of 
 Alaska. I also noted what excellent game pre- 
 servers the Cavalry troopers made in the Yellow- 
 stone Park — that wonderful National Reserve, 
 crammed with nature's wonders and denizens of 
 the wild, where a half-tamed bear gave me the 
 run of my life! 
 
 Whenever I was with American soldiers, their 
 methods were so like our own that I never could 
 feel I was with strangers. 
 
 There is only one fault to find with America's 
 
 [19] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Army, and that is that there is not enough of 
 it; for its size, I should say that it is one of 
 the finest in the world. Never have I seen more 
 efficiency anywhere, more keenness among offi- 
 cers and N. C. O.'s; and certainly never in any 
 army have I eaten such delicious food as is 
 supplied to the American private soldier; the 
 soldiers' bread, such as I tasted at Fort Riley, 
 
 , baked in military ovens, camiot be surpassed at 
 
 I the "Ritz," "Savoy" or "Plaza." 
 
 It is incomprehensible to me why the average 
 American should have such a strong prejudice 
 against the Army. He seems to imagine that 
 it is some vague kind of monster which, if he 
 does not do everything in his power to strangle 
 and chain up, will one day turn and rend him, 
 and take all his liberties away. 
 
 To give some little idea of the feehng of 
 Americans towards soldiers or soldiering, I will 
 relate a little conversation which I overheard at 
 Davenport, a town away out m the State of 
 Iowa. I had had a very strenuous morning in 
 the hot sun, watching the 7th Cavalry at squad- 
 ron training and other work, and had got back 
 to the hotel, thoroughly tired out after my ar- 
 duous day. In the afternoon I was sitting on 
 the shady side of the hotel which was on the 
 
 [20] 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 main street; at a table near me were seated 
 three Americans whose remarks I could not help 
 overhearing; they were travellers in various 
 small articles, one of them being a specialist in 
 neckties; while they were talking two men of 
 the 7th Cavalry walked past; my friend, the 
 necktie man, looked after them, shook his head, 
 and in most contemptuous tones said: "I sup- 
 pose we must pay the lazy, useless brutes just 
 for the look of the thing." The speaker was a 
 pasty-faced, greasy, fat hybrid, about twenty- 
 eight years old. I am afraid he was a type of 
 which there are many in America; their God is 
 the almighty dollar, an idol the blind worship 
 of which will one day surely bring its own pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 Of course I do not, for a moment, wish it to 
 be thought that people of this type predominate 
 in America. I am happy to state that among 
 her citizens I have met some of the most charm- 
 ing, hospitable, intellectual, unselfish and noble 
 people to be found on the face of the globe. 
 
 America holds many interests for me, and I 
 never fail to pay our cousins a visit when the 
 opportunity occurs. Perhaps the chief of her 
 attractions, so far as I am concerned, centre in 
 and around the State of Virginia, that beautiful 
 
 [21] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 piece of country where most of the great battles 
 of the Civil War were fought. 
 
 All my life I have made a point of studying 
 military history and the campaigns of the great 
 Captains of the past. Indeed, I have tramped 
 over many battlefields in Europe, Asia, Africa 
 and America, not at all with the idea that the 
 knowledge would ever prove of value from a 
 military pomt of view, but solely because I was 
 deeply interested in soldierly matters. 
 
 In Spain and Flanders I have followed the 
 footsteps of both Napoleon and Wellington. 
 
 In Canada I have sailed up the stately St. 
 Lawrence, and with Wolfe in imagination again 
 stormed the Heights of Abraham. When I 
 stood on those heights some one hundi-ed and 
 fifty years after the great victory which added 
 Canada to the Empire, I was able to realise, 
 more fully than I had ever been able to do from 
 books, the magnitude of the task which General 
 Wolfe had before him when, on that fateful 
 night of the 13th September, 1759, he led his 
 troops up that precipitous road to victory. 
 
 In the United States I have, on horseback and 
 on foot, followed Stonewall Jackson up and 
 down the Shenandoah Valley, from Harper's 
 Ferry (over the Potomac) to the Wilderness, 
 
 [ '3'^ ] 
 
IXTRODUCTIOX 
 
 where he was seized with such strange inertia, 
 and on to that fatal Chancellorsville where an 
 unlucky bullet, fired from his own lines, put an 
 end to his life and all chances of victory for the 
 South. 
 
 When I was at Washington, General Woth- 
 erspoon, the Chief of the War College there, very 
 kindly supplied me with maps and notes which 
 he had himself made of the battlefield of Gettys- 
 burg, and I am convinced that, if General 
 Longstreet had arrived on the field in time, 
 victory would have rested with the South; 
 and I am equally convinced that, if Stone- 
 wall Jackson had been alive, Longstreet would 
 have been in his proper place at the right 
 time. 
 
 "WTiat a pity we have no Stonewall Jackson 
 with us in these days. How noble is the epi- 
 taph on the monument of this great soldier. I 
 only quote the words from memory, but they are 
 something like this: 
 
 "When the Almighty in His Omnipotence saw fit to 
 give victory to the North over the South, He found that 
 it was first necessary to take to Himself Stonewall Jack- 
 son." 
 
 It was a great pleasure to me to see his wife, 
 Mrs. Stonewall Jackson, when I was at Wash- 
 
 [23] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 ington, but unfortunately I did not have the 
 chance of speaking to her. 
 
 I was dehghted to meet Miss Mary Lee sev- 
 eral times, the daughter of the best loved Gen- 
 eral that ever led an Army — Robert E. Lee, the 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Confederate Forces. 
 Miss Lee gave me much pleasure by recounting 
 many anecdotes about her famous father. 
 Among other interesting reminiscences she told 
 me that when the war broke out her youngest 
 brother was a mere boy still at school, but the 
 stirring accounts of the great fights in which his 
 father commanded and his older brothers took 
 part, so fired his ardour that one day he disap- 
 peared from school, and was not heard of by any 
 of his family for the best part of a year. Dur- 
 ing this time he served as a soldier in a battery 
 of Artillery. One day, while a furious battle was 
 raging and the fortunes of war swayed first to 
 the South and then to the North, General Lee 
 observed some of his guns rapidly retiring from 
 a particularly hot position. He galloped up to 
 them himself and ordered them back into the 
 fight. The Commander-in-Chief was somewhat 
 surprised when a powder-blackened, mud- 
 grimed young soldier, in a blood-stained shirt, 
 said to him: "What, Dad, back into that hell 
 
 [24] 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 again?" — and back into that hell the General 
 sternly sent them at a gallop, and b^ so doing 
 won the day for the South. Luckily, his boy 
 came out of the battle unscathed and is alive to 
 this day. 
 
 A few years ago I received an invitation from 
 the German General Staff to visit Berlin. 
 What I saw then, and on subsequent visits, im- 
 pressed me very much with the thoroughness of 
 the German nation, not only from a military, but 
 also from a civil point of view. 
 
 A captain on the Staff was detailed to be my 
 "bear-leader," while I was in Berlin. As we 
 were strolling down Unter den Linden one day, 
 discussing the youthfulness of senior officers 
 of the British Army, as compared with those of 
 the German Army, he confided to me that when 
 he was ordered to conduct an English Colonel, 
 he fully expected to see an old and grizzled vet- 
 eran, whereas to his astonishment, he found me 
 younger than himself, who was only a Captain. 
 I shall never forget how, when I laughingly told 
 him that I had jumped from Lieutenant to Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel in about eight months during the 
 South African War, he stopped short in the mid- 
 dle of the pavement, saluted me gravely and 
 said: "You are Napoleon!" Of course, in 
 
 [25] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 these iiays, this meteoric lhi;ht is quite an every- 
 day oeeiiiTenee in our Ariuy ! 
 
 Among many other interesting things that the 
 Prussian Captain shmved me Mas their Hall of 
 Glory, the walls of which arc covered with pic- 
 tures of famous hattles and generals. \Vhilc 
 we were there I saw little parties of Prussian 
 recruits heing taken from picture to picture, 
 guiiled hy veterans. AVith straightened slioul- 
 ilers and glowing eye the old soldiers kindled the 
 enthusiasm of the coming warriors by recomit- 
 ing to them the glorious and daring deeds per- 
 formed by their forefathers on many a well- 
 fought field. 
 
 This, no doubt, is only one of the numerous 
 carefully thought out schemes of the General 
 Staff to instil into the German nation the spirit 
 of military pride and glory. 
 
 I paid another visit to Germany shortly be- 
 fore the present war broke out, and, soon after 
 my return, I happened to meet in London the 
 German INIilitary Attache, ]Major Renner, who 
 seemed most anxious to hear from me what my 
 impressions were. I suppose he wondered if I 
 had seen much of the vast preparations, which 
 were even then being made, for the great war 
 into which Germany has plunged the world. 
 ' [ -20 ] 
 
IXTRODUCTIOX 
 
 Of all my observations the only things I con- 
 fided to hin^i (which he noted down as if they 
 were of great importance !j were that I consid- 
 ered the abominable type used in German news- 
 pajjers and books responsible for the be-spec- 
 tacled German ; that although their railway sta- 
 tions were wonderfully clean, yet they were 
 without a decent platform, and my insular mod- 
 esty had been shocked on many occasions by the 
 amount of German leg I saw when the ladies 
 clambered into and out of the carriages; and 
 lastly, that I thought the long and handsome 
 cloak worn by the officers might be greatly im- 
 proved by making a slit at the side, so that the 
 hilt of the sword might be outside, instead of 
 inside the cloak, where not only did it make an 
 unsightly lump, but was hard to get at in case of 
 urgent need. 
 
 A day or two after war was declared, I hap- 
 pened to be dining in London with ]Mr. and ]\Irs. 
 Walrond. Among the other guests was a Staff 
 Officer from the War Office, Major R., who is 
 now a general. Hearing that I had been re- 
 cently in Germany, he asked me what I thought 
 of their chances. I told him that I felt sure that 
 Germany would have tremendous victories to 
 begin with, and that I believed her armies would 
 
 [27] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLirOIJ 
 
 ^"ct to the gates of Paris, but did not tliink they 
 would capture Paris this time; and that, al- 
 thougli it would take us time, we would beat 
 them eventually, for so long as we held com- 
 mand of the sea, we were bound to Avin in the 
 end. 
 
 Some of the guests at this dinner party have 
 since complimented me on the accuracy of the 
 lirst part of my prophecy, and I feel absolutely 
 convinced that the remainder of my forecast will, 
 in spite of all bungling, prove equally true, al- 
 ways ])rovided the Navy is given a free hand, 
 and allowed to do its work in its oami way. 
 
 In poor, brave little Belgiimi also I had every 
 opportunity given to me by the General Staff to 
 see their Cavalry at work; and while I was in 
 Brussels, Colonel Fourcault, conmianding the 
 2nd Guides, gave me the freedom of the bar- 
 racks, where I could come and go as I liked. I 
 became very good friends with the officers of the 
 regiment, and we had discussions about Cav- 
 alry, its equipment and lighting value. On 
 being asked for my opinion on the relative value 
 of the rifle as compared with the lance and sabre, 
 I unhesitatingly backed the rifle. I saw that 
 the Eelgian Cavalry were armed with a small, 
 toylike carbine and a hea\y sabre, and in the 
 
 [-8] * 
 
INTRODLCTIOX 
 
 discussions which we had, I toJd them that in 
 my humble opinion they would he well advised 
 to scrap both and adopt the infantry rifle and a 
 lighter thrusting sword — but above all I im- 
 pressed upon them to be sure about the rifle, as 
 the occasions for the use of the arrn.e blanche in 
 future would he rare, with all due deference to 
 General von Bernhardi. 
 
 I was, of course, looked upon as a Cavalry 
 leper for expressing such heretical Ofjinions in a 
 Cavalr\' mess, but I had my revenge later on, 
 when Captain Donnay de Casteau of the 2nd 
 Guides called on me at my club during his stay 
 in London after poor little Belgium had been 
 crushed. lie came especially to tell me that 
 those who were left of the regiment often 
 talked of the unorthodox views I had so strongly 
 expressed and he said: "We all had to agree 
 that every word you told us has proved abso- 
 lutely true." 
 
 While I was in Belgium I went down to the 
 now famous Mons, and was the guest of the 7th 
 Chasseurs a Cheval, where I got a thorough in- 
 sight into the interior economy of the regiment. 
 
 It has always been a profound mystery to 
 me that our Intelhgence did not give Field-Mar- 
 shal French earlier information while he was at 
 
 [29] 
 
WITH TIIK ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Mons of the fact that large Cernian forces were 
 marching upon him from the direction of 
 Tournai. Some strange aiul fatal inertia must 
 have fallen hoth on tlic Froncli Intelligence and 
 our own, otherwise it wouUl have heen impossihle 
 for a large (icrman army to have got into this 
 threatening position without information having 
 heen sent to the Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 AVhcn in Spain I was privileged, owing to 
 the courtesy of the ^ladrid War Office, to see 
 something of the Spanish ^Vrmy. I cannot say 
 that 1 Avas deeply impressed; there was too nmch 
 *'j\Ianaii(i" ahout it, or in other words, "Wait and 
 seel" From what I ohserved I was not at all 
 surprised to find it crumple up hefore the Amer- 
 icans in Cuha. It would, however, he a glorious 
 thing to he a colonel in the Spanish Army, as 
 they seemed to he able to do what was right in 
 their own eyes. 
 
 But this was some years ago, and I under- 
 stand that the Spanish Army, now that it has 
 got a brand-new General Staff, is to be com- 
 pletely reorganised and made into a really effi- 
 cient fighting force. 
 
 Of course I have many times seen the French 
 and Italian armies at work and play — so that 
 altogether my knowledge of soldiers and soldier- 
 
 [so ] 
 
IXTRODUCTION 
 
 m^ is somewhat catholic, and T may therefore 
 claim to have some little right to criticise the 
 policy, the strategy, and the tactics of the Gal- 
 lipoli campaign. 
 
 [SI] 
 
CTIAFTEH IT 
 
 OENEKAI. rOIJOY OF THE DAKDANELLES CAMPAIGN 
 
 jSLany leaders of tlunight in Knglaiul, >vhosc 
 convictions shonld certainly carry weight, are of 
 the opinion that the expedition to the Darda- 
 nelles was in itself unsound, and should never 
 have been undertaken. Now the views of well- 
 known practical coninion-scnse men should not 
 he lightly thrust aside, but perhaps as one who 
 has travelled and read nuieh, and knows the 
 Kast and the questions bound up with it fairly 
 well, I hope I may not appear too presumptuous 
 if I venture to disagree with those who condemn 
 the Dardanelles policy. 
 
 It nmst be remembered that although we de- 
 clared war on Turkey she had already com- 
 mitted several hostile acts on oiu* Russian ally, 
 and had flouted us most outrageously by allow- 
 ing the Gochrn and Ihrshui the freedom and 
 protection of her waters and the resoui*ces of her 
 arsenals. 
 
 Of course the escape of these two ships is one 
 of the most exti'aordinary bungles of the war, 
 
 [ ^"-^ *] 
 
GEXERAL POLICY 
 
 which it is to he hoped will he carefully gone into 
 at some future time, and the responsible culprit 
 brought to hook, for on his head prohahly rests 
 the hlood of the countless dead in Gallipoli. 
 
 I have reason to think that it is more than 
 doubtful whether the mischievous activity of 
 Krivcr Pasha and his satellites would have been 
 sufficient to induce the Turkish nation to com- 
 mit an act of war against either ourselves or 
 Russia, hut for the presence at the gates of Con- 
 stantinople of these powerful German warships. 
 
 Our ally having been attacked and we our- 
 selves flouted it became necessary for us, if we 
 meant to uphold our prestige in the East, to de- 
 clare war on Turkey. 
 
 A successful war agaiast the Ottoman Em- 
 pire had immease possibilities ia it; the way to 
 Russia would be opened, giaas and munitioas 
 would have streamed in to her through the Bos- 
 phorus, while wheat for ourselves and our allies 
 would have streamed out — hut there was a great 
 deal more than this at stake, as I shall point out. 
 
 It was well knowa to the Foreign Office that 
 unless we showed a strong hand ia the Near 
 East, some of the Balkaa States, who were evea 
 then treaihling in the halance, would in all prob- 
 ability link their fortunes with those of the 
 
 [ 8'^ ] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLirOLI 
 
 enemy. These wavering States wished to join 
 the Allies if they saw a reasonable chance of the 
 Allies' success. On the other hand Austria, 
 hacked up hy llie might of Germany, was at 
 their gates, and with Belgium as an object les- 
 son they feared for their country. What there- 
 fore could have been more calculated to gain 
 them to our side than a smashing blow which 
 would crumple up Turkey and give us direct 
 communication with Russia? Had we suc- 
 ceeded (and we ought to have succeeded) it is 
 certain that Greece and Rumania would now be 
 fighting on our side; the astute Ferdinand would 
 have seen on which side his bread was buttered, 
 and have either kept Bulgaria neutral, or made 
 common cause with the Allies; and tliose unfor- 
 tunate little States, Serbia and INIontenegro, 
 would not have been betrayed and ground to 
 dust. 
 
 The fall of Constantinople would once more 
 have been a great epoch-making event, which 
 would have changed the course of the world's 
 history, for with its fall our victorious army, 
 hand in hand with Russia, would have made a 
 triumphant march through the Balkans, where 
 every State would then have rallied to our side. 
 
 This allied flood would nmnber between two 
 
 [3i] 
 
genp:ral policy 
 
 and three millions of men, and with this irresist- 
 ible force we would have burst upon the plains 
 of Hungary and on to the heart of the Empire. 
 Such an advance is not new to history, as the 
 Turks themselves, when in the zenith of their 
 power, overran Austria-Hungary and were only 
 denied the domination of Europe under the very 
 walls of Vienna itself, where, as everybody 
 knows, they were defeated by John Sobiesky. 
 No modern Sobiesky would have been found 
 strong enough to deprive us of our prey, and 
 with the fall of Vienna Austria would have been 
 crushed, and the war would soon have come to a 
 victorious end. 
 
 Even if we did not penetrate quite so far, the 
 very fact of such a large army advancing from 
 the south and east would have drawn an im- 
 mense number of the enemy's troops from the 
 Eastern and Western fronts, which would have 
 given the Russians, the French and ourselves an 
 opportunity of smashing through on those 
 fronts and between us crushing Germany. 
 
 Yes, undoubtedly the fall of Constantinople 
 was of vital importance, and for once our poli- 
 ticians were right. 
 
 In addition to our material gains in Europe, 
 our prestige throughout the East would have 
 
 [35] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 reached a pinnacle such as it has never yet at- 
 tained, and there would have been no such nuts 
 for us to crack as the Egyptian, Persian, or 
 Mesopotamian questions. 
 
 Germany would be completely henmied in 
 and the strangling grip of our fleet would have 
 been irresistible when this last link with the outer 
 world had been severed. 
 
 Germany's wheat supply from Rumania, cop- 
 per from Serbia, cottons, fats and other vital 
 products from Turkey would be cut off, and 
 economic life in the Central Empires would in a 
 very short time have been made intolerable. 
 
 [36] 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 STRATEGY AND TACTICS OF THE DARDANELLES 
 CAMPAIGN 
 
 Now, having recognised the tremendous issues 
 which were involved in the fall of Constanti- 
 nople, it may be asked did the Government pro- 
 vide a weapon sufficiently strong to carry out 
 their policy? In my humble opinion they did, — 
 if only the weapon had been rightly handled. 
 
 Of course, whoever is to blame for the Bed- 
 lamite policy of the first disastrous attempts by 
 the Navy alone bears a heavy responsibihty. 
 Beyond knocking the entrance forts to pieces, all 
 that this premature attack by the Fleet effected 
 was to give the Turks ample warning of our in- 
 tentions, of which they took full advantage by 
 making the GaDipoli Peninsula an almost im- 
 pregnable fortress and the Dardanelles a net- 
 work of mines. 
 
 But even this grave initial blunder could have 
 been rectified, if only sound strategy had been 
 adopted in the combined naval and military at- 
 tack on the Dardanelles. 
 
 [37] 
 
WITH niK ZIONISTS IN GALLirOLl 
 
 The problem before the str:itci;ists was. oi' 
 couvsc, to i^vt throui^b to Ciinstnutinonle wilb 
 the Fleet, aiul tins eouUl only be clone by t'orelni;* 
 the Narrows, a strip o( tbe HarJanelles beavily 
 fortitied and only a mile wide. It was tberet'ore 
 neeossary to rednee tbe forts gnarding tbe Nar- 
 rows, and with an army to bold tbe beigbts on 
 Callipoli dominating tbe Danlanelles. so as to 
 ensnre tbe safety oi' tbe Fleet. 
 
 Having* command oi' tbe seas gave ns tbe 
 eboiee o( lannebing tbe attack at any point we 
 cbosc on tbe Tnrkisb coast : tberet'ore tbe Turks 
 were at tbe great disadvantage o( having to di- 
 vide their t'orces into several parts, so as to giiaril 
 such points as they thought might possibly be 
 attacked. 
 
 It was known that there was a Turkish army 
 on the Asiatic side, at tbe south of Chanak, the 
 principal Fort on the Asiatic shore oi' tbe Nar- 
 rows; also that tbe Bulair lines, some forty miles 
 from tbe extremity oi' the Peninsula, were 
 strongly fortitieil and held; that a strong force 
 was entrenched on tbe southern portion of the 
 Peninsula in tbe neighbourhood of Capo Ilelles: 
 and, in addition, that there was yet another 
 Turkish army holding tbe heights on tbe 3ilgean 
 at. or near, a point now known as Anzac. 
 
 [88] 
 
STRATEGY AXD TACTICS 
 
 Now, if any one will take the trouble to study 
 the map, which will be found at the end of this 
 book, he will see that the key to the Xarrows is 
 that portion of the Gallipoli Peniasula which 
 extends across from Anzac on the yJOgcan, 
 through the heights of Sari Bair, to the Darda- 
 nelles. 
 
 If, therefore, instead of dividing the Medi- 
 terranean Expeditionary Force (which unfortu- 
 nately was the plan adopted) and having it held 
 up or destroyed in detail, the whole force had 
 been thrown in its entirety at this point, and a 
 vigorous sledge-hammer blow delivered, I feel 
 absolutely confident that a crowning victory 
 would have been gained and the exjjedition 
 would have been a glorious success. 
 
 Of the four Turkish armies the only one that 
 could have opposed a sudden vigorous thrust at 
 the key position was the one at and near Anzac, 
 and this force we could have swept aside and 
 crumpled ujj before any of the others could pos- 
 sibly have come to its assistance. 
 
 That the Expedition ar\' Force could have been 
 landed here is proved by the fact that the two 
 Australian and Xew Zealand Divisions did land 
 here, and these dauntless men, by themselves, al- 
 most succeeded in taking Sari Bair and getting 
 
 [39] 
 
AVITII THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 astride the Peninsula. For eight months they 
 held their end up, and more than held it up, 
 against overwhehning odds. Had they been 
 haeked up at the time of the lirst landing on 
 April 25th, 1915, by the "incomparable 'JOth 
 Division," one of the best the British ^Vrmy has 
 ever seen, together with the two French Divi- 
 sions, witli their hundred celebrated .75 guns, 
 and the Royal Naval Division, no Turkish 
 troops at that time in the neighbourhood could 
 for a moment have stood up against them, and 
 with our grip once established on the Peninsula 
 nothing could have shaken us olf — not all the 
 soldiers in the Ottoman Empire. 
 
 Every Turk on the southern portion of Gal- 
 lipoli must inevitably have fallen into our hands 
 within a few days, for it was well known that 
 they were but ill supplied with ammunition and 
 food. There was no chance of escape for tluni, 
 for our Fleet commanded all the waters round 
 Gallipoli up to the very Narrows themselves, 
 and nothing could possibly have gained the Asi- 
 atic shore; while anything attempting to cross 
 at the Narrows would have been inevitably sunk 
 by the artillery which we would have mounted 
 on the dominating heights of the Peninsula. 
 No help could reach them from Constantinople, 
 
 [to] 
 
STUATEGY AND TACTICS 
 
 for the same reason, and it would have been in 
 vain for them to have endeavoured to break 
 through our lines, as was proved over and over 
 again in the many determined but futile assaults 
 they made on us in Gallipoli, when they were in- 
 variably hurled back with enormous losses. 
 
 Once astride the Peninsula, where our length 
 of front would be less than seven miles, with 
 over six men to the yard holding it, nothing 
 could have shaken off our strangling hold. It 
 would only then have been a question of direct- 
 ing the fire of the heavy naval guns on the Forts 
 in the Narrows, which would, of course, be done 
 by direct observation, and these strongholds 
 would have been pounded to dust by the Queen 
 Elizabeth and other battleships within a week, 
 thus leaving open the road to Constantinople. 
 Such might have been the glorious ending of the 
 Gallipoli campaign if only sound strategical and 
 tactical methods had been employed. 
 
 It is a thousand pities that this plan of opera- 
 tions was not adopted, for with such proved 
 commanders as General d'Amade, General 
 Birdwood and General Ilunter-Weston — 
 thrusters all — and y/'ith such incomparable men, 
 there would have been no "fatal inertia" to 
 chronicle, 
 
 [41] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 It must be remembered that at the time of 
 this landing on April 2jth, the Turks had had 
 but little time to organise then* defences and it 
 would then have been a much easier task to have 
 seized the heights of Sari Bair than when the 
 attempt was made with raw troops later on in 
 August, an attempt which, even with all the 
 drawbacks chronicled against it, came within an 
 ace of being a success. 
 
 Another great advantage was that the weather, 
 when we landed in April, was much cooler; 
 there was also an ample rainfall, so that there 
 would have been no difficulty about drinking- 
 water, a lack of which in August proved fatal 
 to the attemj)t made in that hot, dry month. 
 We did not, of course, rely upon a chance rain- 
 fall at the time of our landmg, for, as I shall 
 show later on, ample provision had been made 
 for carrying and supplying water, at all events 
 for the 29th Division. 
 
 Unfortunately, such a plan of campaign as I 
 have outlined was not put into execution. In- 
 stead, the force was split up into no less than 
 nine parts, and practically destroyed in detail, 
 or brought to a standstill by the Turks. 
 
 The Australian and New Zealand Divisions 
 landed at Anzac, the key position; the 29th Di- 
 
 [42] 
 
STRATEGY AND TACTICS 
 
 vision beat themselves to death attacking six dif- 
 ferent and aknost impregnable positions on the 
 toe of the Peninsula, where, I dare to say, not a 
 single man ought ever to have been landed; in 
 addition to the opposition they met with in Gal- 
 lipoli they were subjected to a rain of shells 
 from Asia, not only at the time of landing but 
 throughout the whole time we wasted in occupy- 
 ing this utterly (from a military point of view) 
 useless end of the Peninsula. 
 
 The Royal Naval Division was sent some- 
 where in the direction of the Bulair Lines, where 
 it effected nothing, and the two French Divi- 
 sions made an onslaught on the Asiatic coast, 
 which, although well conceived and most gal- 
 lantly put into execution, helped the main cause 
 not at all. Of course, they were invaluable in 
 preventing the Asiatic guns from firing on the 
 29th Division at the time of the landing, but 
 then this Division should of course have been 
 landed at Anzac, where they would have been 
 out of range of those guns. Whatever Turkish 
 force opposed the French at Kum Kale could 
 never have got across the Dardanelles in time to 
 have opposed our landing at or near Anzac. 
 
 If it had been thought necessary to make dem- 
 onstrations on the Asiatic coast, at the toe of 
 
 [43] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 the Peninsula, and at the Bulair Lines, this could 
 have been done equally well by sending the 
 empty transports to those places, escorted by a 
 few gunboats, and thus have held the Turks in 
 position by making a pretence at throwing 
 troops ashore at those points. 
 
 Of course, it is easy to be wise after the event, 
 but I never did see, and never could see, the 
 point of dividing our force and landing on the 
 southern part of Gallipoli, for, once we had 
 got astride the Peninsula from Anzac to the 
 Narrows, all the Turks to the south of us must 
 have fallen into our mouths, like ripe plums. 
 
 Napoleon has placed it on record that it is 
 the besetting sin of British commanders to frit- 
 ter away their forces by dividing them and so 
 laying themselves open to be defeated in detail. 
 It would appear that we have not even yet taken 
 Napoleon's maxim to heart, for if ever there 
 was an occasion on which it was absolutely vital 
 to keep the whole force intact for a mighty blow, 
 it was on that fateful Sunday morning, April 
 25th, 1915, when one concentrated thrust from 
 Anzac to the Narrows would have undoubtedly 
 placed in our hands the key of the Ottoman 
 Empire. 
 
 The Dardanelles campaign will go down to 
 
 [44] 
 
STRATEGY AND TACTICS 
 
 history as the greatest failure sustained by Brit- 
 ish arms, and yet no more glorious deeds have 
 ever been performed by any army in the world. 
 
 [45] 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 FORINIATION OF THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 From the days of my youth I have always been 
 a keen student of the Jewish people, their his- 
 tory, laws and customs. Even as a boy I spent 
 the greater part of my leisure hours poring over 
 the Bible, especially that portion of the Old 
 Testament Avhicli chronicles battles, murders, 
 and sudden deaths, little thinking that this Bib- 
 lical knowledge would ever be of any practical 
 value in after life. 
 
 It was strange, therefore, that I, so imbued 
 with Jewish traditions, should have been drawn 
 to the land where the Pharaohs had kejit the 
 Children of Israel in bondage for over four hun- 
 dred years; and it was still more strange that I 
 should have arrived in Egypt just at the psy- 
 chological moment when General Sir John JNIax- 
 well, the Commander-in-Chief, was looking out 
 for a suitable officer to raise and command a 
 Jewish unit. 
 
 Now, such a thing as a Jewish unit had been 
 unknown in the annals of the world for some 
 
 [46] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 two thousand 5^ears — since the days of the ]\Iac- 
 cabees, those heroic Sons of Israel who fought 
 so vahantlj^ and for a time so successfully, to 
 wrest Jerusalem from the grasp of the Roman 
 legions. 
 
 It had happened that there had come down to 
 Egypt out of Palestine many hundreds of peo- 
 ple who had fled from thence to escape the wrath 
 of the Turks. These people were of Russian 
 nationality but of Jewish faith, and many of 
 them strongly desired to band themselves to- 
 gether into a fighting host and place their lives 
 at the disposal of England, whom the Jews have 
 recognised as their friend and protector from 
 time immemorial. Indeed, by many it is held 
 that the British people are none other than some 
 of the lost tribes; moreover, we have taken so 
 much of Jewish national life for our own, mainly 
 owing to our strong Biblical leanings, that the 
 Jews can never feel while with us that they are 
 among entire strangers. 
 
 Xow these people having made known their 
 wishes to the Commander-in-Chief, he, in a 
 happy moment of inspiration, saw how much it 
 would benefit England, morally and materially, 
 to have bound up with our fortunes a Jewish 
 fighting unit. 
 
 [47J 
 
AVITII THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 The next thing to be done was to lind a suit- 
 able British officer to conmmnd this unique 
 force, and at the time of my arrival in Cairo, 
 General JNIaxwell had already applied for "a 
 tactful thruster" to be chosen from among the 
 otlicers of the Indian Brigade then doing duty 
 on the Suez Canal. 
 
 ^ly opportune arrival, however, coupled with 
 a strong backing from an old friend, JNIajor- 
 General Sir Alexander Godley, decided him to 
 offer me the command. 
 
 It certainly was curious that the General's 
 choice shouUl have fallen upon me, for, of course, 
 he knew nothing of my knowledge of Jewish 
 history, or of my sympathy for the Jewish race. 
 When, as a boy, I eagerly devoured the records 
 of the glorious deeds of JcAvish niilitiny captains 
 such as Joshua, Joab, Giiloon and Judas jNlac- 
 cabanis, I little ilreamt that one day I, myself, 
 would, in a small way, be a captain of a host of 
 the Children of Israel! 
 
 On the 19th ^March, 1915, I was appointed to 
 my unique command, and on the same day I left 
 Cairo for Alexandria, where all the refugees 
 from Palestine were gathered together as the 
 guests of the British Govermnent. 
 
 On my arrival there, I lost no time in getting 
 [ -is ] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 into touch with the leading members of the Jew- 
 ish Community, arid I found the Grand liabbi 
 (Professor Raphael della Pergola), Mr. Ed- 
 gard Suares, Mr. Isaac Aghion, Mr. Piccioto 
 and others, all most sympathetic and eager to as- 
 sist me in every possible way. Nor must I for- 
 get that an imy)etus was given to the recruiting 
 by the reeei()t of a heartening cablegram from 
 Mr. Israel Zangwill, whose name is a household 
 word to all Zionists. 
 
 On the 23rd March, 1915, the young .Jewish 
 volunteers were paraded for the purpose of 
 being "sworn in" at the refugee camp at Gibbari. 
 
 It was a most imposing ceremony; the Grand 
 Rabbi, who officiated, stood in a commanding 
 position overlooking the long rows of serious and 
 intelligent-looking lads. He explained to them 
 the meaning of an oath, and the importance of 
 keeping it, and impressed upon them that the 
 honour of Israel rested in their hands. He then 
 asked them to repeat after him, word for word, 
 the oath of military obedience to myself* and 
 such officers as should be appointed over them, 
 and with great solemnity, and in perfect unison, 
 the men, with uplifted hands, repeated the 
 formula. 
 
 The Grand Rabbi then delivered a stirring 
 
 [ID] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLirOLI 
 
 address to the new soldiers, in which he compared 
 them to their forefathers who had been led out 
 of Egypt by jMoses, and at the end he turned to 
 me and presented me to them as their modern 
 leader. 
 
 This memorable and liistoric scene aroused 
 the greatest enthusiasm among the throng of 
 Jewish sympathisers wlio had come to witness 
 this interesting ceremony. 
 
 The sanctioned strength of the Corps in of- 
 iiccrs and men "was roughly 500, with 20 riding 
 horses for officers and the senior non-commis- 
 sioned officers, and 750 pack mules for trans- 
 port work. 
 
 To assist me in commanding the Corps, I had 
 live British and eight Jewish officers. 
 
 The Grand Kabbi of Alexandria, a most 
 pious, earnest and learned man, was appointed 
 our honourary chaplain. 
 
 I was extremely fortunate in my British of- 
 ficers, for although they had never served in the 
 Army, or knew an}i:hing about military routine, 
 yet they were all practical men, and, after all, 
 at least in war-time, everything depends upon 
 having officers with plenty of conmion sense. 
 
 I had ^Ir. D. Gye, who was lent to me from 
 the Egyptian ^linistry of Finance; ^Messrs. 
 
 [50] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 Carver and Maclaren, expert bankers and cot- 
 ton-brokers; and the two brothers, Messrs. C. 
 and I. llolo, whose business house is known not 
 only in Egypt, but also in the greater part of the 
 world. 
 
 I was, indeed, lucky in getting such good men 
 who loyally seconded me in everything and 
 quickly mastered the details necessary for the 
 running of the Corps; nor did they spare them- 
 selves during those four weeks of slavery which 
 we together put in while getting the men ready 
 for active service. 
 
 In addition to these British officers, I had, as 
 I have already stated, eight Jewish officers. 
 One of these. Captain Trump ledor, had already 
 been a soldier in the Russian Army, had been 
 through the siege of Port Arthur, where he had 
 lost his left arm, and had been given the Order 
 of St. George (in gold) by the Czar for his gal- 
 lantry and zeal during that celebrated siege. 
 
 Among the N. C. O.'s and men I had every 
 conceivable trade and calling; highly educated 
 men like Mr. Gorodisky, a Professor at the 
 Lycee in Alexandria, and afterwards promoted 
 to commissioned rank; students of Law, Medi- 
 cine, and Divinity; mechanics of all kinds, of 
 whom I found the tinsmith the most useful. 
 
 [51] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Even a Rabbi was to be found in the ranks, who 
 was able to administer consolation to the dying 
 and burial rites to those who were struck down 
 when death came amongst us before the enemy 
 in Gallipoli. I also discovered among the en- 
 listed soldiers a fully-qualified medical man, Dr. 
 Levontin, whom I appointed our sm'geon after 
 having obtained permission to form a medical 
 unit. 
 
 Through the kindness and practical sympathy 
 of Surgeon-General Ford, the Director of jMed- 
 ical Services in Egypt, I soon had a hospital in 
 being, with its tents, beds, orderlies and sani- 
 tary section. 
 
 Altogether we were a little family; unit com- 
 plete within ourselves. 
 
 I divided the Corps, for purposes of interior 
 economy, into four troops, each with a British 
 and Jewish officer in command; each troop was 
 again divided into four sections with a sergeant 
 in charge, and each section was again subdi- 
 vided into subsections with a corporal in charge ; 
 and so the chain of responsibility went down to 
 the lively mule himself — and, by the shades of 
 Jehoshaphat, couldn't some of those mules 
 kick!! Sons of Belial would be a very mild 
 name for them. 
 
 [52] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 One of the first things to be attended to was 
 to find a suitable place upon which to train the 
 men and mules. I eventually secured an excel- 
 lent site at Wardian from Brigadier-General 
 Stanton, then commanding at Alexandria. 
 Here we pitched our tents and went into camp 
 on April 2nd, 1915. 
 
 It was no light task to get uniforms, equip- 
 ment, arms, ammunition, etc., for such a body 
 of men at short notice, but in a very few days I 
 had my men all under canvas, my horses and 
 hundreds of mules pegged out in lines, and the 
 men marching up and down, drilling to Hebrew 
 words of command. 
 
 Never since the days of Judas Maccabseus had 
 such sights and sounds been seen and heard in a 
 military camp; indeed, had that redoubtable 
 General paid us a surprise visit, he might have 
 imagined himself with his own legions, because 
 here he would have found a great camp with the 
 tents of the Children of Israel pitched round 
 about; he would have heard the Hebrew tongue 
 spoken on all sides, and seen a little host of the 
 Sons of Judah drilling to the same words of 
 command that he himself used to those gallant 
 soldiers who so nobly fought against Rome 
 under his banner; he would even have heard the 
 
 [53] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 plaintive soul-stirring music of the ]Maccab«an 
 hymn chanted by the men as they marched 
 through the camp. 
 
 Although Hebrew was the language gener- 
 ally used, nevertheless I drilled the men in Eng- 
 lish also, as it was fitting that they should under- 
 stand English words of command. 
 
 The men were armed with excellent rifles, 
 bayonets and ammunition, all captured from the 
 Turks when they made their futile assault on 
 the Suez Canal. 
 
 For our badge we had the "]Magin David," an 
 exact reproduction of the Shield of David, such 
 as he perhaps used when, as the Champion of 
 Israel, he went out to fight Goliath of Gath. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be wondered why we were 
 equipped with rifles, bayonets and ammunition, 
 but this is one of the unique things about this 
 unique Corps that, although it was only a ]Mule 
 Corps, yet it was a fighting unit, and of this, of 
 course, the men were all very proud. 
 
 When we were getting our equipment from 
 Cairo, I left Lieutenant Carver there to draw 
 it from the Arsenal in the Citadel and bring it to 
 Alexandria, telling him that above all things he 
 must never lose sight of the gear, for if he did 
 
 [54] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 it would certainly be appropriated by somebody 
 else. 
 
 Among other things, he was drawing pack 
 saddlery for our mules, which I was anxious to 
 obtain quickly in order to go on with the train- 
 ing of the men. 
 
 Carver saw the pack saddles safely put into 
 the railway wagons at Cairo, saw the wagons 
 locked, sealed, and consigned to me at Alex- 
 andria, but the moment they arrived at Gibbari 
 a prowling marauder from the Royal Naval Di- 
 vision, happening to spot the wagons and see 
 what they contained by the ticket on the outside, 
 induced the "Gippy" station-master to deliver 
 them to him, and before I even knew that they 
 had arrived at the station, all my pack saddles 
 were safely on board ship and on their way to 
 Suez with the Naval Division! 
 
 I tracked down the culprit, who not only had 
 to disgorge but, I understand, to pay for the 
 transit of the saddlery back to Alexandria; al- 
 though this may have been a lesson for the buc- 
 caneer and might for the future make him 
 "tread lightly" like Agag, yet it did not com- 
 pensate me for the annoying delay caused by this 
 unblushing robbery. 
 
 [55] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 The work of training went on from dawn to 
 dark, as officers and men had to be taught every- 
 thing from the ground-floor up. Not a moment 
 coukl be wasted. Drilling and parades were the 
 order of the day ; horses and mules had to be ex- 
 ercised, fed and watered three times a day; the 
 men had to be taught how to saddle and un- 
 saddle them, load and unload packs; they had 
 also to be instructed in the use of the rifle and 
 bayonet. Camp kitchens had to be constructed. 
 Horse and mule lines had to be swept and 
 garnished, tents cleaned out, etc., and a thou- 
 sand and one things crammed into the day's 
 work. 
 
 Notwithstanding the zeal and energy which 
 we all put forth to get the Corps ready, yet had 
 it not been for the sympathy of General INIax- 
 well, and the active help of his Staff Officer, Cap- 
 tain Holdich, I fear it would have been impos- 
 sible for us to have made the rapid progress we 
 did in such a short space of time. I think it 
 must be, in its way, a record to form, equip and 
 train a unit of this description and have it actu- 
 ally in the firing line, and doing useful work 
 there, in a little over three weeks ! 
 
 It speaks volumes for the keenness of the men, 
 and for the intelligent way in which Wiey im- 
 
 [56] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 bibed the knowledge which was crammed into 
 them in such feverish haste. 
 
 After a couple of weeks' training we were spe- 
 cially favoured by a notification that the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Expedi- 
 tionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, 
 would inspect us. It was with mixed feelings 
 that I received this order, for, of course, it meant 
 a special parade, and also that the whole of the 
 routine of drills, etc., would have to be knocked 
 out for one afternoon, and as every moment was 
 precious this was no light matter. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief came and made his 
 inspection a few days before he sailed for Mud- 
 ros, and was most complimentary on the work- 
 manlike appearance which the Corps presented. 
 
 I was delighted to receive about this time a 
 notification that my Corps should be held in read- 
 iness to embark for the front at an early date. 
 
 A few daj^s before we embarked I had the 
 privilege of partaking of the Feast of the Pass- 
 over with the Grand Rabbi and his family at 
 Alexandria. It will readily be understood with 
 what feelings of deep interest I took part in the 
 various rites. I seemed to be living again in the 
 days of Moses when, in this very same land and 
 not very far distant, the Children of Israel 
 
 [57] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 sprinkled their doorposts with the blood of the 
 lamb, and partook of the Feast with their loins 
 girded, their staves in their hands, on the eve of 
 their departure from the land of bondage. I 
 had to ask myself if it were all a dream. It 
 seemed so strange that I should be partaking of 
 the same Feast fom* thousand years later on the 
 eve of m)^ departure, with a number of the Chil- 
 dren of Israel, to wander and suffer anew in an- 
 other wilderness. 
 
 Every bit of the ceremony was gone through, 
 the eating of unleavened bread and bitter herbs, 
 the di'inking of wine and vinegar, each sym- 
 bolical of the trials to be gone through by the 
 Israelites before reaching the Promised Land. 
 All had its charm for me, and when my hostess 
 came romid with a towel and ewer and basin, to 
 w^ash my hands at certain times during the Feast, 
 it visualised to me as nothing else could have 
 done those far away days when Pharaoh ruled 
 the land. 
 
 The Grand Rabbi had his tliree handsome 
 boys at his knees, the youngest a living image of 
 one of ^Murillo's cherubs. He recounted to 
 them in Hebrew the story of their forefathers' 
 sojourn in Egj^pt, and their subsequent wander- 
 ings in the wilderness, as no doubt the same story 
 
 [58] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 has been told by the Fathers of Israel to their 
 children for countless generations. "And thou 
 shalt show thy son in that day, saying: This is 
 done because of that which the Lord did unto 
 me when I came forth from Egypt." 
 
 During our training period in Alexandria, 
 we were the recipients of many acts of kindness 
 from the community there. The men were 
 given gifts by a committee of ladies, composed 
 of the Baronne Felix de Menasce, Madame 
 Rolo, Madame Israel, Mesdames E. and J. 
 Goar, and a host of others. 
 
 We had a last big parade, and marched from 
 Wardian Camp for some three miles through 
 the streets of Alexandria to the Synagogue, to 
 receive the final blessing of the Grand Rabbi. 
 The spacious Temple, in the street of the 
 Prophet Daniel, was on this occasion filled to its 
 utmost capacity. The Grand Rabbi exhorted 
 the men to bear themselves like good soldiers and 
 in times of difficulty and danger to call upon the 
 Name of the Lord who would deliver them out 
 of their adversity. His final benediction was 
 most solemn and impressive, and will never be 
 forgotten by those who were privileged to be 
 present. 
 
 A couple of days later we received orders to 
 
 [59] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 embark for Gallipoli with all possible speed. 
 We therefore strained every nerve to get aboard 
 in good time and in ship-shape order. 
 
 The Corps was divided into two parts, the 
 Headquarters and two troops going on H. M. 
 Transport Hymettus, and two troops on H. JM. 
 Transport A nglo-Egyptian. 
 
 It was no easy task in so short a time to get 
 men, mules, horses, forage, equipment, etc., 
 from Wardian Camp to the docks, a distance of 
 two or three miles, and we worked practically 
 all day and all night slinging horses and mules 
 on board, tying them up in their stalls, and 
 storing baggage and equipment, etc., in the 
 holds. Thirty days' forage for the animals and 
 rations for the men were also put under the 
 hatches. 
 
 As one of our duties in Gallipoli would be to 
 supply the troops in the trenches with water, an 
 Alexandi'ian firm had been ordered to make 
 some thousands of kerosene oil tins, the manu- 
 facture of which is a local industiy. Wooden 
 frames had also been ordered to fit on to the pack 
 saddles, so as to enable the mules to carry the 
 tins. Each mule was to carry four of these full 
 of water, equal to sixteen gallons. The tins ar- 
 rived in good time, but the wooden frames were 
 
 [60] 
 
THE ZIOX MULE CORPS 
 
 late in delivery, and held us up over a day and a 
 half beyond our time in Alexandria Docks. 
 
 At last, having obtained delivery of the indis- 
 pensable wooden crates, we joyfully steamed out 
 of harbour en route for Gallipoli on the 17th 
 April, 1915, 
 
 [61] 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ARRIVAL AT LEMNOS 
 
 We were not the only troops on board the 
 llymettus. There were some gunner officers of 
 siege batteries, and some officers and men of the 
 Koyal xVi-my 3Iedical Corps; a stationary hos- 
 pital with the necessary staff of the K. A. !M. C. 
 men, as well as some other odds and ends for 
 various units of the Expeditionary Force abeady 
 at Lenmos. I happened to be the Senior Officer 
 on board, so was Officer Commanding the troops 
 duriiii>' the vova^e. 
 
 I would like to mention here that the captain, 
 chief officer, and chief engineer, of the Hij- 
 meitus were most helpful in every possible way, 
 and I am glad to be able to pay this little tribute 
 to them for all their kindness to us while we were 
 aboard. 
 
 One of the most interesting of our fellow voy- 
 agers was Captain Edmunds, R. A. M. C, one 
 of the medical officers in charge of the Austra- 
 han Hospital stores. He had been taken pris- 
 oner by the Germans while attending to the 
 
ARRIVAL AT LEMNOS 
 
 wounded during the retreat from Mons, and he 
 told us many tales of his bad treatment at their 
 hands. lie was kept a prisoner for a consider- 
 able time, but finally was released owing to some 
 interchange of medical officers between England 
 and Germany. 
 
 The voyage to Lemnos was quite uneventful. 
 We, fortunately, missed the Turkish torpedo- 
 boat that tried to sink the Manitou, a transport 
 just ahead of us. This troopship had quite an 
 adventurous time. The torpedo-boat stopped 
 her and the Turkish commander, with rare hu- 
 manity, called out that he would give them ten 
 minutes to save themselves. I am told that 
 there was a German officer on the bridge who 
 M^as heard quarrelling with the Turkish com- 
 mander for being so lenient. 
 
 The Manitou lowered her boats in a very great 
 hurry, and unluckily a couple of them tilted up, 
 with the result that some fifty or sixty men were 
 drowned. At the end of the time limit the Turks 
 discharged a torpedo. Now when this missile is 
 first fired it takes a dive before it steadies itself 
 on its course, and as the two vessels were close to- 
 gether, luckily for the Manitou, the dive took the 
 torpedo well under her keel; the same thing hap- 
 pened when the second and third torpedoes were 
 
 [63] 
 
WVVU rilK ZIONISTS IN CAI.LIVOM 
 
 laum'luHl; (inally. ;is [\\c 'Vuvk >v:is alunil to o\H'n 
 tiro Miul sink llio troopship >vith his liiiiis, ti Hrit- 
 ish dostri>vor vacoil up at I'lill spood and chasod 
 the marauilor on to tho riK'ks ot' a C^rooian islo. 
 whore tlio Turkish vossol hooanio a total >vrook. 
 
 The training- of tho Zionists wont stoadily t'or- 
 MarJ cMi bivn-il ship, t'or many ot" tho niou >voro 
 still quito raw -in t'aot, I rooruitod sovoral on 
 tlio shi[> a t'ow hmu's bot'oro wo sailod. Tlio 
 niulos and hcn*sos took up a throat lioal of tinio 
 ovory day. but wo novor had cm\o siok or sorry; 
 and I may say horo that wo novor lost o!io from 
 siokness all the time wo >voro in Ciallipoli. whioh 
 must, I think, bo a rooord. 
 
 On April llOth wo arrived at TA^nnos and 
 anohored just inside tho entranoo o( Muilros 
 harbour in a blinding >vind and rain stcn-m. It 
 will be remembered that when the gods quar- 
 relled, dove hurled \'uloan out o( C)lympus on 
 to l.onmos. whore he established a forgo imdor- 
 groimd. The morning following our arrival, 
 one o( the transports to windward o( us began 
 to drag her anehor, so our eaptain weighed ini- 
 motliatoly, fearing a eollision. and we sailed right 
 through the tleet to the opposite end oi' the 
 great land-looked harbour. Never in all my 
 life had I seen sueh a mighty armada of battle- 
 
 [tu] 
 
ARRIVAL AT LEMNOS 
 
 ships, cruisers, destroyers, transports, etc. The 
 Queen Elizabeth was there, looking for all the 
 world like a floating fortress. There were some 
 quaint French battleships, while the Russian 
 cruiser Askold caused universal attention, owing 
 to her five slim funnels. With the soldier's cus- 
 tomary knack of giving appropriate names, the 
 Askold was known throughout the Fleet as "the 
 packet of Woodbines." Our Zionists, as we 
 sailed by, astonished her crew by bandying 
 words with them in Russian. 
 
 Our trip up the harbour was not to end with- 
 out adventure, for, on turning round to cast 
 anchor, our ship ran aground on a mud bank. 
 Here we stuck fast and all the King's horses and 
 all the King's men failed to tug us off again. 
 Time after time naval officers came along with 
 tug-boats and vessels of various kinds which 
 strained to release us, but each attempt was a 
 hopeless failure. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 23rd, I got somewhat 
 of a shock on being informed that the Zion Mule 
 Corps was to be divided. The half on the Hy~ 
 mettus was to go with the 29th Division, and the 
 other half, those already on board the Anglo- 
 Egyptian, were to be sent with the Australians 
 and New Zealanders. Of course, this arrange- 
 
 [65] 
 
\\ I rii n\v .'lOMsrs i\ i.;Ai i uhm i 
 
 m<^it \vv>uU hiive Iveu aU ri^ht if th<\^ thivt^ Di- 
 Ykk>iX!!i hail Ihvu lj«\d<Hl At Iht' $<»M\e plHv\\ but 
 as they wt^iv X\> iW^tnxh^xk $\x(\x<^ i\\Mtn miX^ 
 A)\ivt it >vv>ulv] be uw^Hv^^ibW t\xv \\\e tv> kcx^i^ tux 
 eye on K^th hHlvt\s ot* the Cov^vi* «uU I ^^ivj^tly 
 fe^AVvl that the halt* away t\\uu uiy own )>er$vvual 
 KsiwpejrYkk>i» wouUl not pixne a sxkw^^^, t\>r (vf* 
 tiwrss, \. v>\ O/s and u\en >veiv eutii-elN uvw tv> 
 5ivxldierin^4i» and it was tvx^ uwieh tv^ exptvt that 
 they wuKl g\> straight into the tiring hne. after 
 oixly sv>n\e thitv wtvks' training, and iwnte 
 thivngh the orvteal triuu\phantly without an ex- 
 l^rienetxi i\unn\aniier. 
 
 I. theivfoiv, after nianv vain endoawnns tv^ 
 get away» hailal a pajtsing lavineh^ which, asS a 
 great favvnn\ put me on K^rvl the statY sliip, the 
 AfWidian, where I ha J an interview with the 
 Deputy Quarterniaster-C general, anvl beggwl of 
 him not to divide the Corjx^ as 1 feaird tt\at 
 thi\<e awav fnnw nw cvixtn^l wvmUl pivni- but a 
 hn^Ven ivevi. \\c {Ad uw, however, tluit it was 
 impossible tv> alter niiitters, and that the Aus- 
 tralians and New Zealnudors had had praotieidly 
 no transpvM't, exwpt w hat my C\>rps w vnild sup- 
 ph% and that in any ease we wouUl not bo scpn 
 ratal for more than fiun* days, Invause it" wt« 
 wuld not crush the Txnks in that time, between 
 
ARRIVAL AT LEMXOS 
 
 the two forces, we were going to give up the at- 
 tempt and return to our ships. 
 
 Well, we did not crush the Turks in the four 
 days, and, having failed, it was not so easy to get 
 away, and the result was that, owing to lack 
 of experience, and mismanagement in the han- 
 dling of them, the two troops with the Austra- 
 lians, after a couple of weeks' service with that 
 force, were sent hack to Alexandria, without any 
 reference to me, and there dishanded. 
 
 As there were no boats available, I had the 
 greatest difficulty in getting away from the 
 Arcadian, and it was only after wasting many 
 valuable hours and meeting with many rebuffs, 
 that I eventually got a kind-hearted sailor to 
 give me a lift Ijack to the Ilymettus. A few 
 steam launches were badly needed to enable com- 
 manding officers to go aboard the staff ship to 
 discuss with the chiefs of the various depart- 
 ments such items as can only be settled satisfac- 
 torily at a personal interview. 
 
 I must say that I was not at all pleased with 
 our position on the mudbank, where, in spite of 
 all efforts to move us, we still remained stuck. 
 In the first place, I feared that we would be 
 unable to get away with the rest of the trans- 
 ports on the morning of the 25th, the date fixed 
 
 [67] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 for the great attack, and even if by chance an- 
 other vessel could be found for us, it would mean 
 transhipping all the men, horses, mules, bag- 
 gage, forage and equipment, which would be an 
 immense labour in an open harbour like JNIudros, 
 where it is often blowing half a gale. It is no 
 wonder that, as each attempt at hauling off the 
 Hymettus failed, I grew more and more anxious 
 as to our ultimate chance of getting away in 
 time to see the start of the great fight in Gal- 
 lipoli. 
 
 At last, on the 24th, the naval officers en- 
 gaged on the work gave up all further attempts 
 to haul us off, and reported the task as hope- 
 less — at any rate until everything was removed 
 from the ship. In the course of an hour I re- 
 ceived a signal from the Deputy Quartermaster- 
 General to tranship all my corps, stores, etc., 
 from the Hymettus to the DundreJinon, a trans- 
 port tying half a mile or more away. On receipt 
 of this message I signalled back and asked for 
 tugs and lighters to enable us to effect the 
 transfer, but, although my signallers endeav- 
 oured for hours to attract the attention of those 
 on the staff ship, I entirely failed to get any 
 reply. I finally tried to extort a response of 
 some sort by sending an ire-raising message to 
 
 [68] 
 
ARRIVAL AT LEMNOS 
 
 the effect that on investigation, I found that 
 many of the men and mules could not swim! 
 But my sarcasm was wasted, for the Arcadian 
 remained dumb. 
 
 This failure in the signalling arrangements 
 was very marked all through the two or three 
 days we spent at Lemnos. It was practically 
 impossible to get any message through, and one 
 felt completely cut off from all communication 
 with the staff ship. There were no arrange- 
 ments for getting about in the harbour. The 
 ship's small boats would have been swamped in 
 the heavy sea, and it was practically impossible 
 to secure a launch. 
 
 This failure, together with the wretched sig- 
 nalling arrangements, gave me serious qualms, 
 and I could not help wondering if the muddle 
 ceased here, or did it extend to other and more 
 grave matters which would imperil the success 
 of the expedition? 
 
 All day long I was anxiously on the look-out 
 for a tug and lighters to enable me to tranship 
 to the Dundrennon, and at last, at about 6 p. m., 
 I saw a little trawler, towing a string of half a 
 dozen lighters, making her way up the harbour 
 towards us. In a few minutes they were along- 
 side and made fast to the Hymettus, but, alas! 
 
 [69] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 I soon discovered that, altliougli the lighters 
 were for us, the tug was about to sail away 
 again. The only order the commander had re- 
 ceived was to bring the lighters alongside and 
 make them fast to the Ili/mctius, and there his 
 task ended. This was a blow to me, for I felt 
 that, if the little Jcsme went off, I and my Corps 
 would be left high and dry on the Lemnos mud, 
 while the rest of the Expedition sailed off next 
 morning on the great adventure! Luckily, the 
 commander of the Jessie was a friend of the Cap- 
 tain's and came on board for a yarn. After a 
 few moments I followed him to the Captain's 
 cabin and, on being introduced, fomid that he 
 was ]\Ir. A. R. jNIurley. I soon discovered that 
 he was a most exceptional man in every way, 
 and a sailor to his linger tips. He had been 
 Chief Officer on board a large liner, but had re- 
 signed his post to volunteer his services to the 
 Admiralty for the war, and, although the posi- 
 tion he now held as skipper of the Jessie was a 
 very small one compared with his last charge, 
 yet, as he sportingly said, what did it matter so 
 long as he was usefully doing his bit? — and I be- 
 lieve he was as proud of the Jessie as if she had 
 been a liner or a battleship. 
 
 I used all my eloquence on ]Mr. Murley, 
 [:o] 
 
ARRIVAL AT LEMXOS 
 
 pointed out what a desperate position I was in, 
 and said that if he did not conne to my aid we 
 would, indeed, be hopelessly stranded. The 
 Captain of the Ilymettus, who, by the way, was 
 naturally very much upset at having struck this 
 uncharted mudbank, ably seconded my appeal, 
 and although Murley had been working from 
 dawn and had intended to return to his depot 
 to lay in stores of coal, water and oil, to enable 
 him to start with the expedition at five o'clock 
 in the morning, he agreed to work for me 
 throughout the night. 
 
 [71] 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 A STRENUOUS NIGHT 
 
 Having once obtained INIurley's consent I flew 
 off and got officers and men told off in reliefs, 
 some to work on the loading up of the lighters, 
 others to go with the mules to the Dundren- 
 non and remain there to ship and stow away- 
 each load as it came over during the night. 
 
 There were six lighters, and as soon as three 
 were filled, IMurley got the httle Jessie hitched 
 on and towed them off to the Dimdrennon. 
 It was a joy to watch the masterly way in 
 which he handled his tug and manoeuvred the 
 tow of lighters into the exact position where 
 they were required alongside the Dundrennon. 
 Never did I see an error of judgment made, and 
 everything that JNIurley had to do went hke 
 clockwork. He had a clear and pleasant word 
 of command, which rang out like a bell, and al- 
 though he was "a hustler" his men never re- 
 sented it; first of all, because they knew he was 
 top-hole at his job and, secondly, because he 
 was extraordinarily tactful. Tow after tow 
 
 [72] 
 
A STRENUOUS NIGHT 
 
 went back and forth throughout the night — 
 three full lighters to the Dundrennon and three 
 empty ones back to the Hymettus — and didn't 
 we just hustle those mules into the boats, and 
 didn't they kick and bite as they felt the slings 
 go round them to hoist them aloft! It would 
 have taken us too long had we only slung 
 one mule at a time, so we hoisted them in cou- 
 ples! The comical sight the brace of mules 
 presented, as they were whipped off their legs 
 and swung up into the gloom, can well be imag- 
 ined. They kicked and plunged as they were 
 passed over the side and lowered down into the 
 inky murkiness of the lighters, where they were 
 caught and secured at much risk by men wait- 
 ing there for the purpose. Heaven only knows 
 how they escaped injury, for they had a very 
 rough time of it before they were comfortably 
 stowed away in their new quarters on the 
 Dundrennon. I was quite prepared to hear of 
 several casualties among both men and mules, 
 but the mule is a hardy beast, and the Zionist 
 can stand a lot of knocking about, and we had 
 not a single man or animal injured. 
 
 We were exceptionally fortunate in finding 
 on board the Dundrennon part of an Indian 
 Mule Corps for service with the New Zealanders, 
 
 [73] 
 
WITH THE ZIOXISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 conmiandcd by Captain Alexander, and I can- 
 not be sufficiently grateful to him for the way 
 in which he set his men to work and helped us to 
 put away and tie up our equipment and mules. 
 
 I cannot say so nmch for the help given me by 
 the Captain of the Dunihrnuon, who was rather 
 a rough customer, and curtly informed me that 
 he had orders to sail at five o'clock a. m. sharp, 
 and that, whether I was aboard or not, he meant 
 to weigh anchor at that hour. 
 
 xVll night long we worked feverishly, slinging 
 and unslinging with all possible haste, and while 
 I was using everybody up to breaking point in 
 my efforts to get through in time. Captain Ed- 
 munds, who was in charge of the medical stores 
 for the Australians and New Zealanders, came 
 up to me and told me of the hopeless plight in 
 which he was placed. The Director of INIedical 
 Services had ordered him to get himself, his men 
 and his stores as quickly as possible on board the 
 Anglo-Egyptian, but here again no means were 
 supplied to enable the order to be carried out. 
 'T can hardly dare appeal to you," he continued, 
 "to get me out of my difficulties, for I can see 
 that you will hardly get yom* own lot transferred 
 before five o'clock." I asked him if it was very 
 necessary that he should be put aboard, and he 
 
A STRENUOUS NIGHT 
 
 told me that, so far as he knew, his were the only 
 hospital stores available for the Australians and 
 New Zealanders. 
 
 This was a very grave matter, and although 
 I was very loth to give up all chance of complet- 
 ing the transfer of my own Corps within the 
 time limit, yet I felt that this was a case which, 
 at all hazards to my own fortunes, must be seen 
 through, so that our gallant comrades from 
 Australia and New Zealand might not lack the 
 medical necessities which I knew would be re- 
 quired the moment they got into action. 
 
 I, therefore, turned my men on to loading up 
 the hospital stores, and, when all was ready, 
 Murley towed us across to the Anglo-Egyptian, 
 where I eventually saw Captain Edmunds, his 
 staff of R. A. M. C. men and his stores safely 
 on board. 
 
 Some months afterwards Gye received a let- 
 ter from Captain Edmunds, written from 
 Anzac, in which he stated: "Remember me to 
 Colonel Patterson and tell him from me that 
 being able to get those stores on to the Anglo- 
 Egyptian averted what would have been an ap- 
 palling calamity from a medical point of view, 
 as I do not know what this place would have 
 done without my stores the first two days." 
 
 [75] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GAIJ.irOIJ 
 
 So I think that AustniHji anil New Zoalaiul 
 owe 1110 Olio tor the holp I i^avo thoiii on that 
 strenuous night of April 'JUh, Avhon 1 was bur- 
 ioil up to the nook in work of my own. It was 
 a groat strain on my footings of duty to risk 
 being ki*t stuok on tlie mud. but I realised at tlie 
 time tliat I was doing not only what was right, 
 but what was essential from a military point of 
 view: and when I road that letter from Kd- 
 iiiunds. 1 felt very glad that I had risen to the 
 oooasion aiul had put the needs o^ the Austra- 
 lians and New Zealandors before my own. 
 
 By the time that the transfer was eompleted 
 it was 8.30 a. yi., and I then knew that I eould 
 not possibly get the remainder of my Zionists, 
 mules, equipment ami stores transferred to the 
 Dundrcnnon by the time she was sehodulod to 
 sail. I, therefore, went to the Captain and laid 
 my ease before him, pointing out that it was im- 
 possible to got everything transferred in time 
 and asking him would he delay sailing until >ve 
 were aboard. I have saiil that he was rather a 
 rough type of man. Having been for many 
 years master of a tramp steamer, ho had spent 
 his life dealing with rough men and doing rough 
 work. I have, tlioroforo. no doubt that he 
 thought he was answering me in quite a oivil and 
 
A STIiKXrjOUS NIGHT 
 
 polite way when lie told rue he wfmJd sec me 
 damned before he delayed his ship five minutes. 
 
 J then asked my ^ood friend the skipper of 
 the Jennie if he would ruw me down to the staff 
 ship, as I hoped to he able to get a written order 
 from somebody there, to the Captain of the Dun- 
 drennon, cancelling the sailing at 5 a, m. until 
 such time as I would have my unit complete on 
 board. 
 
 Off we sailed, threading our way in the dark 
 through such of the few warships and transport 
 vessels as had not yet sailed, and just before four 
 o'clock I found myself knocking at the cabin 
 door of a Naval Officer. After rapping for 
 some time, he called out "Come in," but the door 
 was locked, so he was obliged to get up to let me 
 in, and I am not surprised that his greeting to 
 me was not exactly one of brotherly love. 
 When I told him of my position and asked him 
 to give me an order delaying the departure of 
 the Dundrennon, he flatly refused to do it, and 
 said that the hours of departure of the ships were 
 fixed and that he was not the man to change the 
 order: I would have to go to the Captain of H. 
 M. S. Hussar, who was the man actually re- 
 sponsible for the sailings. I pointed out to him 
 that by the time I reached the Hussar, which was 
 
 [77] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 still further off, and got at the Captahi, and then 
 made my way back to the Dundrennon, it would 
 be long after five o'clock, and there would be no 
 Diindrcnnon there, for the ship would have 
 sailed! I urged that in a special case of this 
 kind I hoped he would over-rule the Time-table. 
 He was, however, most obdurate, and told me it 
 was useless for me to argue with him any longer. 
 When I pointed out to him that I had only re- 
 ceived means of transferring my Corps late the 
 previous evening, and that we had been working 
 all through the night, he snapped at me and said, 
 "Why do you make such a fuss about having 
 worked all through the night? That is noth- 
 ing." I quietl}'^ told him that I had once or 
 twice in my life worked all night without making 
 any fuss about it, and that I had merely wished 
 to impress upon him that it was not through any 
 fault or slackness on my part that the transfer 
 could not be completed in time. He was not 
 mollified, however, and practically marched me 
 off to the gangway, where he turned about and 
 made for his cabin. But I was not to be so 
 easily shaken off, so I promptly turned about 
 also and pursued him. I pointed out to him 
 emphatically that, unless he gave me this order, 
 on him would rest the entire responsibility of 
 
 [78] 
 
A STRENUOUS NIGHT 
 
 leaving the 29th Division in the lurch, as I 
 remarked that my Corps was the only one to 
 take them up food and water, and that if they 
 died of thirst he would be entirely to blame. 
 "What is the good of sending off the Dundren- 
 non," I asked, "unless she has on board the Corps 
 upon which so much depends? What will be 
 said hereafter if you let the 29th Division die of 
 thirst?" 
 
 This last appeal moved the naval man's 
 bowels of compassion; so without more ado he 
 had the office opened up, and wrote out an of- 
 ficial order delaying the sailing of the Dundren- 
 non until 8 o'clock. When I told him also that 
 the master of the Dundrennon was not very 
 helpful he at once wrote a curt note to him as 
 follows : 
 
 "I hear that you are not aiding Colonel Pat- 
 terson in his embarkation as much as you might. 
 You had better do so." 
 
 I kept this note for emergency, in case the 
 master of the Dundrennon might prove obstrep- 
 erous, but I had no occasion to use it. 
 
 I was delighted with my success, and so was 
 Murley, who was with me all the time I was en- 
 deavouring to persuade the naval man to order 
 this very necessary delay. It was of course no 
 
 [79] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 light thing to take upon himself the responsi- 
 hihty of altering the Time-table. I can only 
 say to him "Well done." We got back to the 
 Dundrennon at a quarter to five and were 
 greeted by the wrathful skipper, who was up and 
 preparing his ship for a punctual start. I 
 shouted up to him: "I have an order cancelling 
 your saihng until eight o'clock. Do you want 
 to see it?" "I do," was the gruff response. 
 "Pass it up on this rope," throwing a line aboard 
 the Jessie, I stuck the order between the 
 strands of the rope and the skipper hauled it up, 
 and as he read it he uttered highly flavoured 
 maledictions on all naval and army men, without 
 showing any undue partiality for either! 
 
 Now I was very glad that things had turned 
 out so happily, but even if I had not obtained the 
 order for the delay of the Dundrennon, I still 
 had a trump card up my sleeve, which I had 
 only intended to play in the last resort, namely, 
 to have seized the anchor winch and, at all costs, 
 have prevented any sailor from approaching it 
 until I gave orders that they might do so. I had 
 put fifty armed men on board ship, whom I was 
 prepared to use for this purpose in case of ne- 
 cessity, as I was determined that I should go to 
 GalHpoU complete, e\en at the risk of seizing 
 
 [80] 
 
A STRENUOUS NIGHT 
 
 the ship and being, later on, tried for piracy on 
 the high seas ! 
 
 This reminds me of an incident which hap- 
 pened in the South African War when I had to 
 resort to ahnost similar methods. I was given 
 orders to entrain my squadron instantly at 
 Bloemfontein, but instead of being sent north 
 we were merely shunted into the Station siding, 
 where we had to remain for the best part of 
 twenty-four hours without any chance of water- 
 ing our horses. We started some time in the 
 night, and at daybreak the train was halted at a 
 siding where there was a stream running close 
 by. I looked at my horses and found many of 
 them down, owing to fatigue and want of water, 
 so I ordered the men to unbox them and take 
 them to water at the stream. When the guard 
 saw this he strongly objected, saying that the 
 train that was coming down might pass through 
 at any moment, and that, as soon as it had 
 passed, he would proceed on his way to Johan- 
 nesburg, whether the horses were back in the 
 boxes or not. I said: ''Will you?" and he re- 
 plied: "Yes, I will. I am in charge of this 
 train and I am going to push on." 
 
 I thereupon called up the Sergeant-Major, 
 whispered an order to him, and in two seconds 
 
 [81] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 that guard found himself a prisoner on the plat- 
 form with a soldier on each side of him, with 
 orders to hold him fast in case he made any at- 
 tempt to get away. The watering was quietly 
 and expeditiously proceeded with, and mean- 
 while the down train passed through. 
 
 Our engine driver came along the platform to 
 see what was the matter and I overheard the 
 guard telling him to proceed at once, even if he, 
 the guard, were left hehind. I asked the di-iver 
 if he meant to carry out the guard's instructions 
 and he replied: "Yes." I then said: "Ser- 
 geant-3Iajor, two more men! make this driver a 
 prisoner." 
 
 When the waterhig of the horses was over I 
 released my prisoners and told them they could 
 now go on. The driver refused. I said: ''All 
 right, then. I will drive myself." The look of 
 astonishment that came over the driver's face 
 when he saw me mount the footplate, contidently 
 put my hand on the lever and start the train, was 
 something to be remembered. He immediately 
 caved in, jumped up and resmned his duties, 
 without more ado. Some time afterwards I 
 heard that the guard made a bitter complaint 
 of my high-handedness, which eventually came 
 before (reneral Tucker, then conmianding at 
 
 [ S'3 ] 
 
A STRENUOUS NIGHT 
 
 Bloemfontein, and it was a satisfaction to me 
 to learn that the General emphasised his ap- 
 proval of what I had done in one of his choicest 
 expressions. 
 
 Even with the extension of the time limit, I 
 felt that it would be a close thing if we were to 
 get everything on board the Dundrennon by 
 eight o'clock, so we all worked with feverish 
 energy, and it was only by a great spurt on the 
 part of the Jessie that we finally got our last 
 three lighters, loaded to their utmost capacity, 
 made fast to the Dundrenno7i just before eight 
 o'clock. I knew that it would still take a good 
 hour to get everything aboard, so, drawing ^lur- 
 ley aside, I suggested to him that he must be in 
 need of a little refreshment after his strenuous 
 night, and that if he were to go to the skipper's 
 cabin he could, I felt sure, comit on him to pro- 
 duce a bottle — and I added: "Make sure that 
 he does not come out until I give you the signal." 
 
 Murlej' laughingly undertook this congenial 
 task, and when, after everything had been 
 stowed away, I eventually joined them at 9:10 
 A. M., I found the skipper thoroughly enjoying 
 himself and laughing heartily at one of JNIurley's 
 impromptu yams. Bravo, INIurley! If I am 
 ever ruler of the "King's Navee" — and stranger 
 
 [83] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 things have happened — you may be sure that 
 you will be appointed an Admiral of the Fleet I 
 
 I don't know how to find you, but if these 
 lines ever come under your eye, remember that 
 dinner that you are to have with me in London, 
 and it shall be of the best, JNIurley, of the very 
 best. 
 
 I found, after all, that the old skipper's bark 
 was worse than his bite. He thawed towards 
 me to such an extent that, when I parted from 
 him at Gallipoli, he sped me on my way with a 
 present of two precious bottles of his best 
 whisky! — sign manual of his having taken me 
 to his rugged but withal kindly old heart. 
 
 [84] 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF SOUTHERN GALLIPOLI 
 
 As I shall have to mention several places in 
 Gallipoli, it may be well before proceeding 
 further to give the reader some idea of the geog- 
 raphy of the place. 
 
 Gallipoli is a narrow, hilly peninsula, varying 
 from three to twelve miles wide, running south- 
 westward into the JEgean Sea, with the Darda- 
 nelles, from one to four miles wide, separating it 
 from the Asiatic coast throughout its length of 
 some forty miles. 
 
 As I am going to speak more particularly of 
 the southern end of the Peninsula, I will only 
 describe that portion of it, as it was here that 
 the 29th Division landed, and the Zion Mule 
 Corps worked. 
 
 The dominating feature is the hill of Achi 
 Baba, some seven hundred feet high, which, with 
 its shoulders sloping down on the one side to the 
 '^gean and on the other to the Dardanelles, 
 shuts out all further view of the Peninsula to the 
 northward. There are only two villages in this 
 
 [85] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 area, Sedd-el-Balir at the entrance to the Darda- 
 nelles, and Krithia, with its quaint windmills, to 
 the southwest of Achi Baba, somewhat pictm*- 
 esquely situated on the slope of a spur, some five 
 miles northwest of Sedd-el-Bahr — Achi Baba it- 
 self being between six and seven miles from 
 Cape Ilelles, which is the most southerly pohit 
 of the Peninsula. 
 
 A line through Achi Baba from the ^Egean 
 to the Dardanelles would be a little over five 
 miles, while the width at Ilclles is only about one 
 and a half miles. 
 
 A fairly good representation of this tract of 
 country will be obtained by holding the right- 
 hand pahii upward and slightly hollowed, the 
 thumb pressed a little over the forefinger. 
 Imagine the Dardanelles running along by the 
 little finger up the arm, and the /Egean Sea on 
 the tlnmib side. ^lorto Bay, an inlet of the 
 Dardanelles, would then be at about the tip of a 
 short little finger; Sedd-el-Bahr Castle at the 
 tip of the third finger; V Beach between 
 the third finger and the middle finger; Cape 
 Helles the tip of the middle finger ; W Beach be- 
 tween the middle finger and the fore-finger; X 
 Beach at the base of the nail of the forefinger; 
 Gully Beach between the tip of the thimib and 
 
 [86] 
 
SOUTHERN GALLIPOLI 
 
 the forefinger; Gully Ravine running up be- 
 tween the thumb and forefinger towards Krithia 
 village, which is situated half-way up to the 
 thumb socket; Y Beach at the first joint of the 
 thumb; and Achi Baba in the centre of the heel 
 of the hand where it joins the wrist. 
 
 Anzac, where the Australians and New Zea- 
 landers landed, would be some distance above the 
 wrist on the thumb side of the forearm; and 
 the Narrows of the Dardanelles would be on the 
 inner or little finger side of the forearm op- 
 posite Anzac. 
 
 Imagine the sea itself lapping the lower part 
 of the hand on a level with the finger-nails, and 
 then the cliffs will be represented by the rise 
 from the finger-nails to the balls of the fingers. 
 
 The hollowed hand gives a very good idea of 
 the appearance of the country, which gradually 
 slopes down to a valley represented by the palm 
 of the hand. The lines on the hand represent 
 the many ravines and watercourses which inter- 
 sect the ground. 
 
 Practically the whole of this basin drains into 
 Morto Bay or the Dardanelles, with the excep- 
 tion of Gully Ravine and the ravine running 
 down to Y Beach, which drain into the ^Egean 
 Sea. 
 
 [87] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 A glance at the "handy" sketch will make 
 everything clear, but it does not pretend to strict 
 accuracy. 
 
 [88] 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A HOMERIC CONFLICT 
 
 MuDEOS Harbour was deserted as we sailed 
 through it on our way out, for all the warships 
 and transports had already left. Just beyond 
 the harbour entrance we passed the Anglo- 
 Egyptian, on the decks of which the other half 
 of the Zionists were crowded. We wondered 
 what had happened to detain her, for she was 
 lying at anchor; but we saw nothing amiss, and 
 lusty cheers were given and received as we 
 steamed past. 
 
 When we had rounded the land which guards 
 the entrance to the harbour, the Dundrennon 
 turned her bows northeastward and we steamed 
 off towards the land of our hopes and fears, 
 through a calm sea, which sparkled gaily in the 
 sunshine. The soft zephyr which followed us 
 from the south, changed suddenly and came 
 from the northeast, bringing with it the sound 
 of battle from afar. The dull boom of the guns 
 could now be plainly heard and told us that the 
 great adventure had already begun. How we 
 
 [89] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 all wished that the Dundrcnnon were a grey- 
 hound of the seas and could rush us speedily to 
 the scene of such epoch-making events! But, 
 alas! she was only a slow old tramp, and going 
 "all out" she could do no more than twelve knots 
 an hour; and it seemed an eternity before we 
 actually came close enough to see anything of 
 the great drama which was being enacted. 
 
 As we ploughed along the calm sea, to the 
 slow beat of the engines, each hour seemed a cen- 
 tury, but at last we were able to distinguish the 
 misty outline of the Asiatic shore and, a little 
 later on, we saw, coming to meet us like an out- 
 stretched arm and hand, a land fringed and half- 
 hidden by the fire and smoke which enveloped it 
 as if some great magician had summoned the 
 powers of darkness to aid in its defence. 
 
 Soon battleships, cruisers and destroyers be- 
 gan to outline themselves, and every few min- 
 utes we could see them enveloped in a sheet of 
 flame and smoke, as they poured their broadsides 
 into the Turkish positions. The roar of the 
 Queen Elizabeth's heavj guns dwarfed all other 
 sounds, as this leviathan launched her huge pro- 
 jectiles — surely mightier thunderbolts than Jove 
 ever hurled — against the foe. Every now and 
 again one of her shells would strike and burst on 
 
 [90] 
 
A HOMERIC COXFLICT 
 
 the very crest of Achi Baba, which then, as it 
 belched forth flame, smoke and great chunks of 
 the hill itself, vividly recalled to my mind Ve- 
 suvius in a rage. 
 
 The whole scene was a sight for the gods, and 
 those of us mortals who witnessed it and sur- 
 vived the day have forever stamped on our 
 minds the most wonderful spectacle that the 
 world has ever seen. Half the nations of the 
 earth were gathered there in a titanic struggle. 
 England, with her children from Australia and 
 New Zealand, and fellow subjects from India; 
 sons of France, with their fellow citizens from 
 Algeria and Senegal; Russian sailors and Rus- 
 sian soldiers; Turks and Germans — all fighting 
 within our vision, some in Europe and some in 
 Asia. 
 
 Nor did the wonders end here, for, circling the 
 heavens like soaring eagles, were French and 
 British aeroplanes, while, under the sea, lurked 
 the deadly submarine. 
 
 It was altogether in the fitness of things that 
 this Homeric conflict should have its setting 
 within sight of the classic Plains of Troy. 
 
 Who will be the modern Homer to immortal- 
 ise the deeds done this day — deeds beside which 
 those performed by Achilles, Hector and the 
 
 [91] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 other heroes of Greece and Troy pale into utter 
 msigniticance ? Certainly a far greater feat of 
 arms was enacted in Gallipoli on this 25th of 
 April, 1915, than was ever performed by those 
 ancient heroes on the Plains of Ilium, which lay 
 calm, green and smiHng just across the sparkling 
 Hellespont. 
 
 Up the Dardanelles, as far as the Narrows, 
 we could see our ships of war, principally de- 
 stroyers, blazing away merrily and indiscrmii- 
 nately at the guns, both on the European and 
 Asiatic shores. The sea was as calm as a mill- 
 pond round Cape Helles — the most southerly 
 point of the Peninsula ; the only ripple to be seen 
 was that made by the strong cm*rent shot out 
 through the Straits. All romid the men-of-war 
 Turkish shells were dropping, sending up veri- 
 table waterspouts as they struck the sea, for, 
 luckily, very few of them hit the ships. It was 
 altogether the most imposing and awe-inspiring 
 sight that I have ever seen or am likely to see 
 again. 
 
 We were under orders to disembark, when 
 our turn came, at V Beach, a little cove to the 
 east of Cape Helles. As we approached near to 
 our landing-place, we could see through the haze, 
 smoke and dust, the gleam of bayonets, as men 
 
 [92] 
 
A HOMERIC CONFLICT 
 
 swayed and moved hither and thither in the 
 course of the fight, while the roar of cannon and 
 the rattle of the machine-guns and rifles were 
 absolutely deafening. We could well imagine 
 what a veritable hell our brave fellows who were 
 attacking this formidable position must be fac- 
 ing, for, in addition to rifle and machine-gun fire 
 from the surrounding cliffs, they were also at 
 times under a deadly cannonade from the Turk- 
 ish batteries established on the Asiatic shore. 
 
 The warships were slowly moving up and 
 down the coast blazing away fiercely at the 
 Turkish strongholds, battering such of them as 
 were left into unrecognisable ruins. 
 
 We in the transports lay off the shore in four 
 parallel lines, each successive line going forward 
 methodically and disembarking the units on 
 board as the ground was made good by the land- 
 ing parties. 
 
 We watched the fight from our position in the 
 line for the whole of that day, and never was ex- 
 citement so intense and long-sustained as during 
 those hours; nor was it lessened when night fell 
 upon us, for the roll of battle still continued — 
 made all the grander by the vivid flashes from 
 the guns which, every few moments, shot forth 
 great spurts of flame, brilliantly illuminating 
 
 [93] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 the ink}^ darkness. Sedd-el-Bahr Castle and 
 the village nestling behind it were fiercely ablaze, 
 and cast a ruddy glare on the sky. 
 
 The next day, from a position much closer 
 inshore, we watched again the terrible struggle 
 of the landing-parties to obtain a grip on the 
 coast. We were one and all feverish with 
 anxiety to land and do something — no matter 
 how little — to help the gallant fellows who were 
 strivhig so heroically to drive the Turk from the 
 strong positions which he had carefully fortified 
 and strengthened in every possible way. 
 
 A most bloody battle was taking place, staged 
 in a perfect natural amphitheatre, but never had 
 Imperial Rome, even in the days of Nero him- 
 self, gazed upon such a corpse-strewn, blood- 
 drenched arena. 
 
 This arena was formed partly by the sea, 
 which has here taken a semicircular bite out of 
 the rocky coast, and partly by a narrow strip of 
 beach which extended back for about a dozen 
 yards to a low rampart formed of sand, some 
 three or four feet high, which ran round the bay. 
 Behind this rampart the ground rose steeply up- 
 wards, in tier after tier of grassy slopes, to a 
 height of about 100 feet, where it was crowned 
 by some ruined Turkish barracks. On the right, 
 
 [9-i] 
 
A HOMERIC CONFLICT 
 
 this natural theatre was flanked by the old castle 
 of Sedd-el-Bahr, whose battlements and towers 
 were even then crumbling down from the effects 
 of the recent bombardment by the Fleet. To 
 the left of the arena, high cliffs rose sheer from 
 the sea, crowned by a modern redoubt. Barbed 
 wire zig-zagged and criss-crossed through arena 
 and amphitheatre — and such barbed wire! It 
 was twice as thick, strong and formidable as any 
 I had ever seen. 
 
 The cliffs and galleries were trenched and full 
 of riflemen, as were also the barracks, the ruined 
 fort, and Sedd-el-Behr Castle. Machine-guns 
 and pom-poms were everywhere, all ready to 
 pour a withering fire on any one approaching or 
 attempting to land on the beach. 
 
 It is small wonder, therefore, that so few 
 escaped from that terrible arena of death. In- 
 deed, the wonder is that any one survived that 
 awful ordeal. 
 
 The little cove was peaceable enough on the 
 morning of the 25th, when the Transport River 
 Clyde steamed in. It was part of the scheme to 
 run her ashore at this beach and, as it was known 
 that the venture would be a desperate one, what 
 was more fitting than that she should be filled 
 with Irish soldiers (the Dublins and Munsters) 
 
 [95] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 — regiments with great fighting records? With 
 them was also half a hattalion of the Hampshire 
 Regiment. Special preparations had been made 
 to disembark the troops as qnickly as possible. 
 Great holes had been cut in the iron sides of the 
 Ixivcr Cli/ih\ and from these gangways made of 
 j)lanking, which were of course lashed to the 
 ship, sloped down in tiers to the water's edge. 
 From tlie ends of these gangways a string of 
 lighters stretched to the shore to enable the men 
 to rush quickly to land. 
 
 In addition to those on the liivcr CJi/dc, three 
 companies of the Dublin Fusiliers were towed 
 to the beach in open boats and barges bj'^ little 
 steam pinnaces. It had been intended that 
 these should steal in during the dark hours just 
 before dawn, but, owing to miscalculations of 
 the speed of the current, or some other cause, 
 the boats did not arrive in time and only reached 
 the shore at the same moment that Conmiander 
 Unwin, R. N., of the Eivcj- Clyde, according to 
 the prearranged plan, coolly ran his vessel 
 aground. This mananivre must have greatly as- 
 tonished the Turks, but not a sound or move did 
 they make, and it seemed at first as if the land- 
 ing would not be opposed. As soon, however, 
 as the ]\Imisters began to pour from her sides, 
 
 [96] 
 
A HOMERIC CONFLICT 
 
 a perfect hail of lead ojjened on the unfortunate 
 soldiers, who were shot down in scores as they; 
 raced down the gangway. Some who were 
 struck in the leg stumbled and fell into the water, 
 where, owing to the weight of their packs and 
 ammunition, they went to the bottom and were 
 drowned. For days afterwards these unfor- 
 tunate men could be seen through the clear 
 water, many of them still grasjjing their rifles. 
 
 The men in the boats suffered equally heavily 
 and had even less chance of escape. Many were 
 mown down by rifle fire and sometimes a shell 
 cut a boat in two and the unfortunate soldiers 
 went to the bottom, carried down by the weight 
 of their equipment. 
 
 The sailors who were detailed to assist in the 
 landing performed some heroic deeds. Theirs 
 was the task of fixing the lighters from the gang- 
 ways of the River Clyde to the shore. Even in 
 ordinary times it would be a very difficult task, 
 owing to the strong current which sweeps round 
 from the Dardanelles, but to do it practically at 
 the muzzle of the enemy's rifles demanded men 
 with the hearts of lions. Scores were shot down 
 as they tugged and hauled to get the lighters 
 into position. Scores more were ready to jump 
 into their places. More than once the lighters 
 
 [97] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLirOLl 
 
 broke loose and the whole perilous Avork had to 
 be done over again, but our gallant seamen 
 never failed. They just "carried on." 
 
 Connnander (now Captain") f^nwin was 
 awarded the Victoria Cross l\n* fearlessly risking 
 his life on more than one occasion in endeavoin-- 
 ing to keep the lighters in position under the 
 pitiless hail of lead. 
 
 Those naval men whose duty it was to bring 
 the Dublins ashore in small boats were shot down 
 to a man, for there was no escape for them from 
 that terrible iire. Both boats and crew were de- 
 stroyed, either on the beach, or before they 
 reached it. 
 
 In spite of the rain of death some of the Dub- 
 lins and ^lunsters succeeded in elfecting a land- 
 ing and making a dash for shelter from the tor- 
 nado of tire under the little ridge of sand which, 
 as I have already mentioned, ran round the 
 beach. Had the Turks taken the precaution of 
 levelling this bank of sand, not a stud could have 
 lived in that lire-swept zone. ]More than half 
 of the landing-party were killed before they 
 coidd reach its friendly shelter and many others 
 were left writhing in agony on that narrow strip 
 of beach. Brigadier-General Napier and his 
 Brigade jNIajor, Captain Costeker, were killed, 
 
 [ 9S ] 
 
A HOMERIC COXFLICT 
 
 as was also Lieut. -Colonel Carririgton Smith, 
 commanding the Ilampshires; the Adjutants of 
 the Ilampshires and of the Munsters were 
 wounded and, indeed, the great majority of the 
 senior officers were either wounded or killed. 
 
 Many anxious eyes were peering out over the 
 protected bulwarks of the River Clyde, and 
 among them was Father Finn, the Roman Cath- 
 olic Chaplain of the Dublins. The sight of 
 some five hundred of his brave boys lying dead 
 or dying on that terrible strip of beach was too 
 much for him, so, heedless of all risk, he plunged 
 down the gangway and made for the shore. On 
 the way, his wrist was shattered by a bullet, but 
 he went on, and although lead was spattering all 
 round him like hailstones, he administered con- 
 solation to the wounded and dying, who, alas! 
 were so thickly strewn around. For a time he 
 seemed to Have had some miraculous form of 
 Divine protection, for he went from one to an- 
 other through shot and shell without receiving 
 any further injurj'. At last a bullet struck him 
 near the hip, and, on seeing this, some of the 
 Dublins rushed out from the protection of the 
 sandbank and brought him into its shelter. 
 When, however, he had somewhat recovered 
 from his wound, nothing would induce him to 
 
 [99] 
 
remain in safety while his poor boys were being 
 done to death in the open, so out he crawled 
 again to administer comfort to a poor fellow 
 who was moaning piteously a little way off; and 
 as he was in the act of giving consolation to the 
 stricken man, this heroic Chaplain was struck 
 dead by a merciful bullet. 
 
 Father Finn has, so far, been granted no V. 
 C, but if there is such a thing in heaven, I am 
 sure he is wearing it, and His Holiness Benedict 
 XV might do worse than canonise this heroic 
 priest, for sm'ely no saint ever died more nobly: 
 *' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 
 lay down his life for his friends." 
 
 The Turkish position was so strong and they 
 were able to pour down such a concentrated fire 
 from pit, box, di-ess-circle, and gallery of their 
 natural theatre, that every man of these gallant 
 Irish regiments who showed himself in the open 
 was instantly struck down. So hot and accurate 
 was this close range Turkish fire that the dis- 
 embarkation from the River Clyde had to be dis- 
 continued. 
 
 The little body of men who had escaped death 
 and ensconced themselves under the sandbank 
 kept up a lively fire on the Turks as long as their 
 ammunition lasted, but there they had to remain 
 
 [100] 
 
A HOMERIC CONFLICT 
 
 for the best part of thirty-six hours, more or 
 less at the mercy of the enemy. An attempt 
 to dislodge them was, however, easily repelled by 
 jSre from the warships, as well as from the 
 machine-guns on the decks of the River Clyde. 
 
 It was not until after nightfall that the re- 
 mainder of the Irishmen could disembark, and 
 then all the units had to be reorganised to enable 
 them to make an attack on the formidable Turk- 
 ish trenches on the following morning. 
 
 Practically every officer of the Dublins and 
 Munsters was either killed or wounded, very few 
 escaped scot free. The Dublins were particu- 
 larly unfortunate, for at another landing-place. 
 Camber Beach, close by Sedd-el-Bahr village, 
 out of 125 men landed, only 25 were left at mid- 
 day. Nevertheless, the fragments of the two 
 battalions were pulled together by Lieut.-Colo- 
 nel Doughty- Wylie and Lieut.-Colonel Wil- 
 liams, assisted by Captain Walford, R. A., Bri- 
 gade Major. It will be readily understood what 
 an arduous task it was to reorganise men who for 
 over twenty-four hours had been subjected to 
 the most murderous and incessant fire that ever 
 troops had had to face ; but nothing is impossible 
 when really determined men make up their 
 minds that it must be done, and early morning 
 
 [101] 
 
of the 20th April found the Dubhiis and Mun- 
 sters and some of the Ilampshires, led by 
 Doughty-Wylie and Walford, dashing at the 
 Turkish trenches, which they carried at the point 
 of the bayonet. They rushed position after posi- 
 tion, and by noon Sedd-el-Bahr village was in 
 our hands, and here the gallant AValford was 
 killed. Sedd-el-Bahr Castle yet remained to be 
 taken, and it was while leading the linal attack 
 on the keep of this stronghold that the heroic 
 Colonel Doughty-Wylie fell, mortally wounded, 
 at the moment of victory. The posthumous 
 honour of the Victoria Cross was granted to these 
 two officers to commemorate their glorious deeds. 
 At the other landing-places the fighting had 
 also been very lierce. At W Beach the Lan- 
 cashire Fusiliers had a terribly difficult task in 
 storming an abnost impregnable position, which 
 had been carefully prepared beforehand by the 
 Turks. The high ground overlooking the beach 
 had been strongly fortified with trenches; land 
 mines and sea mines had been laid; wire en- 
 tanglements extended round the shore and a 
 barbed network had also been placed in the shal- 
 low water. Like V Beach it was a veritable 
 death trap, but the brave Lancashires, after suf- 
 fering terrible losses, succeeded in making good 
 
 [102] 
 
A HOMERIC CONFLICT 
 
 the landing and drove the Turks out of their 
 trenches. In commemoration of their gallantry 
 this Beach was afterwards known as Lancashire 
 Landing. 
 
 The 2nd Battalion South Wales Borderers 
 under Colonel Casson were able to land at S 
 Beach, Morto Bay, and seize the high ground 
 near De Tott's Battery, to which they tena- 
 ciously held on until the main body had driven 
 the Turks back, when they joined hands with 
 the troops from V Beach and continued the ad- 
 vance. 
 
 X Beach was stormed by the 1st Battalion 
 Royal Fusiliers and part of the Anson Battalion 
 Royal Naval Division, who drove before them 
 such Turks as they found on the cliffs. They 
 were reinforced by two more Battalions of the 
 87th Brigade, and after some heavy slogging 
 they eventually got into touch with the Lanca- 
 shire Fusiliers and Worcesters and so eased the 
 pressure on V Beach by threatening the Turkish 
 flank. 
 
 The landing on Y Beach was effected by the 
 King's Own Scottish Borderers and the Ply- 
 mouth Battalion of the Royal Marines. These 
 splendid fellows forced their way into Krithia 
 village, but want of ammunition and reinforce- 
 
 [103] 
 
ments obliged thcni to fall back to the beach, 
 -where they were almost overwhebiied by the 
 enemy and lost more than half their numbers; 
 eventually they were compelled to re-embark, but 
 not before thev had done inmiense damage to the 
 Turks and considerably helped the troops who 
 were forcing the other landings. 
 
 ^leanwhile the two Australian-New Zealand 
 Divisions were engaged in the perilous enter- 
 prise of forcing a landing in the face of a large 
 Turkish force at a place now known as Anzac 
 (this word being formed from the initial letters 
 of Australian-New Zealand Army Corps). In 
 the dark hour before the dawn some four thou- 
 sand of these splendid lighters were towed in 
 silence towards the shore, and here again it 
 seemed as if they would meet with no opposition ; 
 but not so — the Turk was not to be caught nap- 
 ping, and, while the boats were still some way 
 from land, thousands of Turkish soldiers rushed 
 along the strip of beach to intercept the boats, 
 and the heavy tire which they opened caused 
 very severe casualties in the ranks ; nothing, how- 
 ever, could daunt Colonel ]Maclagan and the men 
 of the 3rd Australian Brigade; the moment the 
 boats touched the shore these dare-devils leaped 
 into the water and with irresistible fury drove 
 
 [104] 
 
A HOMERIC COXFLICT 
 
 the Turks htfort them at the [joint of the bay- 
 onet. Xothing could stand up agaiast their on- 
 slaught, and by noon, having been reinforced, 
 they had "hacked" their way some miles inland, 
 put several Krupp guns out of action, and if 
 they had been supported by even one more Divi- 
 sion, the road to the Narrows would undrAibt- 
 edly have been won. As it was, owing to lack 
 of sufficient mc^n to hold what they had rriade 
 good, they were compelled to retire to the ridges 
 overlooking the sea, and there for eight months 
 they held the Turks at bay and hurled back, with 
 frightful losses, every assault made on their 
 position. Oh, if only the 29th Division had also 
 been landed here, what a sweex^ing victory we 
 would have won! 
 
 [105] 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE ZION MULE COEPS LANDS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 The beach, cliffs and Castle were now in our 
 hands, and disembarkation for the remainder of 
 the army was possible. While the great battle 
 for the landing was going on, we had been fret- 
 ting and fuming at being left so long idle spec- 
 tators. Thinking that it was high time we 
 should disembark, and finding that no orders 
 came along for us, I felt that in order to get a 
 move on I must make a personal effort. I there- 
 fore hailed a trawler which happened to be pass- 
 ing, and got it to take me over to the Cornwallis, 
 on which I knew General Hunter- Weston, the 
 Commander of the 29th Division, had his tem- 
 porary headquarters. 
 
 The General was glad to see me, and said I 
 had turned up just in the very nick of time, for 
 my Zion men were urgently required ashore to 
 take ammunition, food and water to the men 
 in the firing line. He appealed to Admiral 
 Wemyss, who was close by, to detail trawlers 
 and lighters to get my Corps ashore as quickly 
 
 [106] 
 
±±1J1( ZilUlM lViUJL(Jl< L/UHl'O JUi^lMJO 
 
 as possible. The Admiral very kindly told off 
 a naval officer to come with me, and he in his 
 turn found a trawler and some horse boats which 
 were soon alongside the Dundrennon. 
 
 From two to six o'clock p. m. we were busily 
 employed loading up and sending mules and 
 equipment ashore. I noticed that the officer in 
 charge of our trawler was a bit of a bungler at 
 his job; time after time he would fail in his judg- 
 ment ; when getting the barges alongside he had 
 repeatedly to sail round and round the Dundren- 
 non with his tow before he got near enough for 
 a rope to be cast; he was not a regular naval 
 man — just a "dug-out." How I longed then 
 for my friend Murley! 
 
 I must say here that in my humble opinion 
 the Navy failed us badly in the matter of tugs, 
 lighters and horse boats; there were not nearly 
 enough of these, and we could have done with 
 three times the number. My Corps, which was 
 most urgently wanted by the General, took 
 three days to disembark, in spite of our most 
 strenuous efforts to get ashore as quickly as pos- 
 sible. The delay was entirely due to the lack 
 of tugs, for it was only now and then that a 
 trawler could be spared to haul us inshore. We 
 were sadly held up and kept waiting for hours 
 
 [107] 
 
ft JL A AJ. JL AA J-J ^^J-V^XH JLkJ J. kJ JLXH VJTXl. J_JX-iX X V/X-/X 
 
 after our boats had been loaded up, ready to be 
 towed ashore. 
 
 Who was responsible for this shortage I do 
 not know. It is, of course, quite possible that 
 the Navy provided all the trawlers requisitioned 
 for by the Army. 
 
 I had taken the precaution while on the ship 
 to fill all my tins with fresh drinking water, and 
 these had to be unloaded by hand from the 
 lighters. To do this I arranged my men in a 
 long line, stretching the whole length of the 
 temporary pier from the lighters to the beach, 
 and in this manner the cans of water were rap- 
 idly passed ashore from hand to hand. 
 
 While we were engaged on this work the guns 
 from Asia were making very good shooting, 
 shells striking the water within a few yards of 
 us, just going over our heads, a little to the right 
 or a little to the left, but always just missing. 
 I watched my men very carefully to see how they 
 would stand their baptism of fire, and I am 
 happy to be able to say that, with one solitary 
 exception, all appeared quite unconcerned and 
 took not the slightest heed of the dangerous 
 position they were in. The one exception was a 
 youth from the Yemen, who trembled and chat- 
 tered with nervousness; but when I went up to 
 
 [108] 
 
±xxji( Zixwi\ iMUi^rj ^^KJl\Jr:^ i^i\±slj::^ 
 
 him, shook him somewhat ungently, and asked 
 him what was the matter, he bent to his work 
 and the cans passed merrily along. In fact, 
 everybody there, especially the naval men who 
 helped us to catch our mules as they jumped 
 from the horse boats into the sea, treated the 
 cannonade from Asia as a joke, and every time 
 a shell missed a hearty laugh went up at the bad 
 shooting of the Turkish gunners. It was only a 
 mere fluke, however, that the shells did not hit 
 the target aimed at, because, as a matter of fact, 
 the shooting was particularly good and only 
 missed doing a considerable amoimt of damage 
 by a few yards each time. We were exceedingly 
 fortunate in not losing a single man during the 
 whole period of disembarkation. 
 
 Practically the fii'st officer I met as I stepped 
 ashore was Colonel Moorehouse, whom I had not 
 seen for years, and he was most helpful in the 
 present emergency. I found that he was in 
 charge of the landing operations on the beach, 
 and I believe he had given up a Governorship, 
 or some such billet, in West Africa to do his bit 
 in the Dardanelles. 
 
 While we were disembarking, General 
 d'Amade, who was commanding the French 
 Corps Expeditionnaire, stepped ashore and soon 
 
 [109] 
 
afterwards the French troops began to pour on 
 to the beach. 
 
 During the great battle which took place on 
 the 25th and 26th for the possession of V Beach, 
 the French battleships and gainboats, together 
 with the Russian cruiser Ashold, had been bat- 
 tering down the fortress of Kum Kale on the 
 Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, some two and a 
 half miles in a direct line from Sedd-el-Bahr. 
 
 In the face of much opposition the French 
 troops forced a landing, and after some hea\y 
 fighting defeated the Turks and captured many 
 hundi'cds of prisoners. There is no doubt that 
 this diversion averted much of the shell fire 
 which would otherwise have been concentrated 
 on those of us landing at \ Beach. Having 
 driven the Tm'ks out and effectively destroyed 
 Kum Kale, the French troops were re-embarked 
 hurriedly, brought across the Dardanelles, 
 landed at V Beach in feverish haste, and flung 
 into the thick of the fight which was still raging 
 just north of the village of Sedd-el-Bahr. 
 
 I watched them disembark, and it was mag- 
 nificent to see the verve and dash which the 
 French gunners displayed in getting their be- 
 loved .75s into action. 
 
 Our naval men helped to bring the guns 
 
 [110] 
 
THE ZIOX MULE CORPS LANDS 
 
 ashore, but the moment the Frenchmen got them 
 there they had them away and in action on the 
 ridge to the north of the amphitheatre in an in- 
 credibly short space of time. 
 
 As soon as we had got a couple of hundred 
 mules ashore, I was ordered to march them off 
 to W Beach, which was on the western side of 
 Cape Helles. Having had some experience of 
 the ways of soldiers on active service, I knew that 
 we should have to keep a very sharp eye on our 
 gear as it came ashore, otherwise it would be 
 appropriated by the first comer. I therefore 
 left Lieutenant Claude Rolo on the beach to look 
 after the mules, horses and stores as they were 
 disembarked, and incidentally to dodge the shells 
 which more than once covered him with sand but 
 did no further damage. I had left Lieutenant 
 Gye on board the Dundrennon to see to the work 
 of loading up the barges. 
 
 On the way to W Beach we were fired on by 
 Turkish riflemen who had not as yet been driven 
 very far away from the shore, but fortunately 
 we sustained no damage. 
 
 The Lancashire Fusilers, as I have already de- 
 scribed, had a terribly difficult task in forcing 
 their way on to W Beach, and the moment I 
 saw it I could well realise what an arduous 
 
 [111] 
 
WITH TMl^ ZiUiMiSTS IJN l:^Al^i^l±^UJLi 
 
 undertaking it must have been. It looked, like 
 V Beach, an impossibility, but the Lancashire 
 lads could not be denied, and all honour to them 
 for ha^•ing• stormed such a fearsome strong- 
 hold. By tlie time I got there there was already 
 a huge stock of ammunition and supplies piled 
 up on the shore, and these ^ye at once began to 
 load up on the mules to take out to the men in 
 the firing line, who were constantly driving the 
 Turks before them further and further from the 
 beach. 
 
 I shall never forget my first night in Gallipoli. 
 We loaded up a couple of hundred mules, 
 each mule carrying about two thousand car- 
 tridges, and with ^lajor O'llara (now Lieut.- 
 Colonel O'Hara), who was the D. A. Q. M. G., 
 as guide, we marched off into the darkness to dis- 
 tribute ammunition along thp front. 
 
 IMajor O'Hara came with me, partly because 
 he knew the way, and partly because he wanted 
 to make sin*e what were the most urgent needs 
 of the men in the trenches. We trudged to- 
 gether all through that trying night, so it is not 
 much to be wondered at that we almost quar- 
 relled once or twice — but I will say here that of 
 all the men I met in Gallipoli there was not one 
 who was so capable at his job, or worked so hard 
 
 [112] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS LANDS 
 
 to see that everything for which he was responsi- 
 ble ran smoothly. Oh, if only our Army could 
 be staffed with O 'Haras, what a wonderfully ef- 
 ficient machine our Army would be! 
 
 Soon after we left W Beach in the dark it 
 began to pour, and it poured and poured solidly 
 for about five hours. 
 
 On we squelched through the mud over un- 
 known tracks with the water streaming down 
 our bodies and running in rivulets out of our 
 boots. As soon as the rain ceased a biting cold 
 wind set in, which froze us to the marrow. 
 However, the vigorous walking, helping up a 
 fallen mule, readjusting the loads, getting out 
 of holes into which we had tumbled, etc., kept 
 our circulation going, and when we arrived at a 
 place known as Pink Farm, the furthest point 
 to which we had yet advanced, there was a sud- 
 den alarm that the Turks were approaching. 
 Nobody knew then where our front line was, or 
 whether it linked up across the Peninsula. 
 There were many gaps in it through which the 
 Turks, if they had had initiative enough, might 
 have forced their way and inflicted a consider- 
 able amount of damage upon us before we could 
 have organised adequate resistance. 
 
 On the first alarm of the approaching Turks 
 
 [113] 
 
I sent a man out to reconnoitre, formed my lit- 
 tle escort in open order, prone on the grass, and 
 asked ^lajor ^Nloore, D. S. O. of the General 
 Stalt', now Brigadier-General INIoore, to hring 
 some men from the trenches, if he could tint! 
 them, as quickly as possihle, for 1 had no desire 
 to lose my convoy at such an early stage of the 
 proceedings. 
 
 Gongs could plainly he heard sounding, ap- 
 parently close hy, as though it was some prear- 
 ranged signal of the enemy, hut whatever the 
 reason we sa^v nothing of the Turks, and no at- 
 tack was made, so we unloaded our amnumition 
 and were then sent hack for more hy CoUmicI B. 
 to liancashire Landing. Now Colonel B. of the 
 Headquarters Statf told me personally on no 
 account to hring hack supplies, hut only amnm- 
 nition, as no supplies were needed at this place 
 for the present. Unluckily O'PIara was not on 
 the spot when Colonel B. gave me these explicit 
 and reiterated instructions, so when we got hack 
 to the heach he wished to load up supplies, hut 
 this I refused to do owing to the specific orders 
 I had received. O'Hara was furious but I was 
 ohdurate, so, of course, we loaded up with am- 
 munition. 
 
 Back again we trudged steadily through rain 
 
 [114] 
 
TIIK ZiOX MULE COJiPS LANDS 
 
 arifJ slush towards Uie i^rjk i'a/vrj. VV'hf;n wc 
 had got ahout half-way, we were irjet by a Staff 
 Officer who told us, — to Cj'JIara's great satis- 
 faction, — that it was not ammunition which was 
 now wanted at the J^ink ]''arm hut supplies. J 
 am not at all sure that I did not overhear (J'llara 
 call me "an ohstinate damn fool," hut it is as 
 well to he hard fjf hearing as it is to possess a 
 blind eye on occasions. 
 
 The upshot was that we had to return to the 
 beach, unload the ammunition, load up boxes of 
 tinned beef, cheese, biscuits and jam, and then 
 back again along the "sludgy squdgy" road we 
 trudged once more towards that never-to-be-for- 
 gotten Pink I'arm. Again we got ahout half- 
 way there, when yet another Staff Officer met 
 us, who told us that the supplies wcrt not wanted 
 by the brigade holding the line at the Pink 
 Farm, but by the brigade holding the line on 
 the extreme right, where they were urgently re- 
 quired, and he ordered us to take tljem there 
 without delay. It was now my turn to chuckle, 
 and I observed to O'llara that there "really 
 must be a damn fool somewhere about after all." 
 
 Without a murmur we turned back once more, 
 for, not knowing the country, nor wljere we 
 might bump into the enemy, we could rjot take 
 
 [UG] 
 
Willi TIIJj: ZIUMSTS li\ LrAl^l^irOi^l 
 
 a short cut across, so were forced to return to W 
 Beacli. From thence we went along the track 
 by the Helles chff which took us to the top of V 
 Beach; our route then kxi us through Sedd-el- 
 Bahr viUage, where we were warned by a French 
 soldier that we would be sniped by Turks as 
 there were many still lurking there. 
 
 When we got safely clear of this jimipy place, 
 we found ourselves wending our way through 
 some Tm-kish cemeteries, the tall, white, thin 
 headstones, with their carved headlike top knobs, 
 looking exactly like ghosts in the gloomy light. 
 We passed through cypress groves, along sandy 
 lanes, and rugged paths, fell into and scrambled 
 out of dug-outs, ditches and dongas, where 
 mules and loads tumbled about indiscriminately 
 to the accompaniment of much profanity. 
 
 At one spot on this adventurous journey we 
 came upon a Battalion of Zouaves crouching 
 down for rest and shelter in the lee of a hedge. 
 The sergeant in charge of my escort took them 
 for Turks, and only that I was happily on the 
 spot when he made this startling discovery, he 
 would undoubtedly have opened fire on the 
 Frenchmen. I must say that they looked ex- 
 actly like Turks, owing to their semi-barbaric 
 uniform. 
 
 [116] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS LANDS 
 
 When we got the convoy to where we thought 
 the front Hne ought to he, we failed to find it, 
 and as we were very hazy as to whether we would 
 run into our own men or the Turks, we left the 
 convoy under the cover of some trees, and 
 OTIara and I went off to reconnoitre. I be- 
 lieve we must have passed through a gap in our 
 own line. At all events we wandered for some 
 time, making many jjauses to listen for any 
 sound that might guide us, but the weird thing 
 about it was, that the whole place was now still 
 as death, though we must have been quite close 
 to both armies. No doubt they were dead beat 
 after the recent terrific fighting they had come 
 through. 
 
 At last we luckily struck our own men, lining 
 a shallow trench which had apparently been 
 very hastily thrown up, for it scarcely afforded 
 enough cover to shelter a decent-sized terrier. 
 The men were so exhausted with the continued 
 strain and stress of the battle, which had been 
 continuous since the morning of the 2oth, that 
 they slept as if they were dead. The sentries, 
 of course, were on the alert, looking out grim 
 and watchful at the Turkish line, which we could 
 just make out in the struggling moonlight, ap- 
 parently not more than two hundred yards away. 
 
 [117] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Telling the sentinel in a low voice, so as not 
 to draw the Tui'kish fii'e, that we had brought up 
 a convoy of supplies, and that we were about to 
 unload them among some trees a couple of hun- 
 di'ed yards further back, we ordered him to pass 
 this information on to the Brigade Headquar- 
 ters, so that arrangements might be made for the 
 distribution of the food before daybreak. 
 
 We then tm*ned back, and taking the nmles 
 out of the shelter of the trees where we had left 
 them, we brought the supplies as close as pos- 
 sible to the firing line, where we stacked them 
 mider cover. 
 
 Here again O'Hara's thoroughness and read- 
 iness to help in all things came out, for he was 
 one of the busiest men in the convoy, helping to 
 unload, putting the boxes in order, and remov- 
 ing our pack-ropes from the cases, for, of course, 
 these always had to be untied and taken back 
 with the mules. 
 
 We saw some pathetic sights on our way back 
 to W Beach ; we were obliged to stop every now 
 and again so as not to bump into the wounded 
 men who were being carried down on stretchers 
 to the ships all night long by the devoted R. A. 
 M. C. orderlies. 
 
 When we topped the crest overlooking W 
 
 [118] 
 
THE ZION MULE CORPS LANDS 
 
 Beach, a gleam of light was coming up out of 
 Asia, telling us of the approach of dawn, and 
 we felt, as we wearily strode down the slope to 
 the beach, that we had done a hard and useful 
 night's work. 
 
 Now, when I had disembarked from the Dun- 
 drennon soon after midday, I had no idea that I 
 would be hustled off to the trenches at an in- 
 stant's notice. I had expected to go back to the 
 ship again for at least one more load of mules, 
 and I had therefore nothing with me except 
 what I stood up in — no food or equipment of 
 any kind, and beyond a dry biscuit and some 
 cheese, I had had nothing to eat since lunch- 
 time, so that it can be well imagined I was fairly 
 ravenous when I had finished that night's trek. 
 There was no food to be had just yet, however, 
 and in any case I had to see to the watering and 
 feeding of my mules, for they, like myself, had 
 been without food or drink since the previous 
 midday. 
 
 This job was finished by about 7 A. m. and 
 soon after that I joined O'Hara at an excellent 
 breakfast, after which I felt ready for another 
 strenuous day. 
 
 [119] 
 
ciiArrKK X 
 
 A Nunir IT vwv. lUii.v kavinv. 
 
 Feeling greatly ret'resluxl after my breakfast 
 with O'lTara, 1 went to seleet a suitable plaee 
 for our camp, or rather bivouac, for, of course, 
 "Nve had no tents. Fimling a snug little valley 
 which stood back a couple o( hundred yards 
 from W Beach and which ran up under the pro- 
 tection o( a rise in the ground, which gave us 
 some slight cover from the Turks, I put all 
 hands on to prepare and level the gnnmd for the 
 horse and mule lines. 
 
 AVe had been rushed to the trenches in such 
 haste with the ammunition and supplies that we 
 had been unable to bring any rope with which to 
 tether the mules, so, seeing some ship's rope lying 
 on the beach, I asked the naval othcer m charge 
 to let me have it for my lines. lie not only did 
 this, but lent me some of his men as well to carry 
 it up to my little camp, where they helped me to 
 tix it in the ground. I am sorry to say I forg-et 
 this officer's name, as he was most helpful to me 
 in many ways, and I never had to appeal in vain 
 
 [uo] 
 
THE gt;jj.v kavixk 
 
 to him, or, as a umW-.r of fad, to any other navaJ 
 oiVicjj' for ahslstarice. 
 
 Throughout the day there was more than 
 enough to fjo. 'J'he ground had to he ievelJed 
 off, so as to make eorrjfortahJe the mule 'itkI horse 
 lines. liopcH had to he pegged down and the 
 ends of them })\in(:(\ in tfie ground, tied round 
 sacks filled with clay, drains trenched out, and 
 the ]'dr!j;<:r stones throwrj out of the way. 'ihen 
 the mules had to })<: \'<A and watered, and I 
 i'cartc] the latter was going to Ik* a difficult and 
 dangerous husiness, for the only water discov- 
 ered so far came under ^J'urkish fire. J^uckily 
 for me, however, one of my men, Schouh, my 
 farrier sergearjt, rliscovered a deep well care- 
 fully hidden at the comer of a demolished build- 
 ing, standing at the head of the little valley 
 where we were camped. I feared that it might 
 have been poisoned, so to solve my doubts 1 
 werjt to the i^rrnost Marshal, and borrowed from 
 him one of the captured Turkish prisoners. I 
 felt sure that a 'J'urk coming from these jjarts 
 would know the natural taste of the water, so I 
 took him with me to the well and asked him to 
 drink. lie was rather loth to do this at first, 
 but at last, with a little persuasion, he took a 
 sip in his mouth, rolled it for a moment on his 
 
 [121] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 tongue, then, nodding approval, di'ank freely of 
 the water. As he survived the ordeal, I thought 
 it was all right to go ahead with the mules, and 
 later on we used the well oui'selves, for it was 
 excellent water. 
 
 x\ll day long parties were coming and going 
 between Y and W Beaches; forage, water tins, 
 supplies, etc. — everything had to be brought to 
 us on our pack mules, and the day was all too 
 short to do the many things that landing in a 
 new country in time of warfare makes neces- 
 sarj\ Not nmch tune was wasted over the 
 cooking of food; biscuits, jam, cheese, tinned 
 beef, required no fires; only a little tea was 
 boiled in our hastily-made camp kitchens. The 
 only fuel to be had was obtained by breaking up 
 some of our old packing-cases; the Turks had 
 cleared off everything — not a man, woman, 
 child or beast was left on the place — but this 
 did not worry us, as we were always able to rustle 
 for ourselves. 
 
 Before dark that night we began to load up 
 another big convoy of munitions and supplies 
 for the trenches. 
 
 This proved to be one of the most weird nights 
 of many that we have spent tramping up and 
 down the peninsula. 
 
 [122] 
 
THE GULLY RAVINE 
 
 Of course, we had to move off after dark, 
 otherwise the Turks would have concentrated 
 their artillery on us and we should all have been 
 destroyed. We went from W to X Beach, 
 along the ^Egean shore, falling into trenches 
 and dug-outs on the way, for the night was very 
 dark, while every now and again we were caught 
 up in Turkish wire entanglements. Then from 
 X Beach we slowly pioneered our way through 
 the trackless scrub and undergrowth until we 
 came to the cliff which overlooks Gully Beach, 
 at the mouth of a huge ravine which here opened 
 into the JEgean Sea, some miles northwest of W 
 Beach. 
 
 On the way we had to go through some of our 
 own guns, which were in action on this side of 
 the Peninsula, and I had to request the Battery 
 Commander to cease fire while we were filing 
 past, as I feared the roar and flash of the guns 
 might stampede the mules. He let us through 
 in silence, but we had scarcely got fifty yards 
 from the muzzles when out belched the guns 
 again, the roar of which at such close range, to 
 my surprise, did not in the least upset the mules. 
 I shall never forget our struggling down to the 
 sea from the cliffs above the Gully. Of course 
 there was no road then and we had to recon- 
 
 [123] 
 
noitre ahead iii the dark every yard of tlie "svay. 
 Often I had to turn back and call out to the men 
 to halt as I found myself dangling on the edge 
 of the cliff, holding on to the roots of the gorse, 
 which fortmiately grew there in profusion. 
 After many mishaps, mules and suppHes fall- 
 ing about among the ravines which scored the 
 face of the clitf, we eventually reached the 
 beach. 
 
 Then began our march up the bed of the 
 ravine, and although the Gully was very wide 
 and there was ample room to march either to 
 right or left of the stream, yet we knew nothing 
 of this, for the ground was new to us and every- 
 thing was pitch dark, so the only sure way of 
 getting up the ravine in safety was to walk in 
 the river bed. I led the way. expecting all the 
 time either to fall hito a waterhole or be shot by 
 an ambuscade of Tiu'ks. Cliffs loomed up on 
 either side of us to a height of a himdred or more 
 feet, and there was nothing to be seen but the 
 faint twinkle of the stars overhead. 
 
 Xow and agam I called a halt to reconnoitre 
 and listen for any suspicious movements ahead, 
 as it was a most likely spot in which to be am- 
 bushed by the enemy. So far as I knew the 
 Turks were in possession of the bank to my left, 
 
 [i-i] 
 
THE GULLY RAVINE 
 
 and all that part of the country right up to 
 Anzac, where the Australians had landed. For 
 a time everything was (juiet as we splashed our 
 way along, there hcing a lull just then in the 
 fiuhtin^;: all of a sudden it hroke out again with 
 feverish intensity. The Gully Ravine made a 
 t^irn at one part of its course which took us right 
 between the line of fire of the two opposing 
 forces. Shells from om* own guns screamed and 
 passed safely over the ravine, hut the shells from 
 the Turkish batteries often burst exactly over- 
 head, scattering shrapnel all round, at other 
 times plunking into the cliff on our right and 
 smothering us with clay and gravel. The rat- 
 tle of musketry was like the continuous roll of 
 kettledrums, and considering all our surround- 
 ings, and the tierce tight that was going on, it 
 was altogether a night to be remembered. 
 
 At last we reached the troops holding the 
 front line ; there were no supports or reserves, so 
 far as I could see; every man had been put into 
 the firing line, owing to the terrible losses that 
 had been sustained. 
 
 Here in the dark, with shot and shell flying all 
 romid, we unpacked our mules and handed over 
 the ammunition and food to the brigade. 
 
 I was right glad to be able to turn back and 
 
 [1-5] 
 
»> X X AX X XXXK ^-«XV-'^'% XksJJ X kj X^'« V.TJ.XXJXJXX \^JLU^ 
 
 get my convoy safely away from the gloomy 
 depths of this imcamiy rapine. 
 
 We had again to climb the cliffs when we got 
 back to the sea at the gully -mouth, and at the 
 top again to negotiate om* gmis, which were still 
 blazing away for all they were worth. However, 
 by dint of much shouting when I had crawled 
 close enough to be heard, the gmmers ceased fire 
 just long enough to enable us to slip through. 
 
 These two nights are fair examples of the work 
 done in those early days by the Zion ^lule Corps, 
 at that time the only transport corps on the Pen- 
 insula at Helles. 
 
 [126] 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 HOW ZION MULES UPSET TURKISH PLANS 
 
 It will be remembered that I left Claude Rolo 
 on V Beach to take charge of our gear as it came 
 off the Dundrennon, while Gye was left aboard 
 that vessel to hurry everything ashore ; but it was 
 not until the third day that we had disembarked 
 all our belongings, the delay being entirely due 
 to the shortage of steam tugs, on which I have 
 already commented. 
 
 During the time that our gear was stacked on 
 V Beach, with, of course, a guard in charge of it, 
 one of the sentries became the object of suspicion 
 to the French, who were now in entire control 
 of V Beach. After a few minutes, finding he 
 could speak no understandable language (for he 
 only spoke Russian or Hebrew, which, no doubt, 
 sounded Turkish to the French), and seeing that 
 he was armed with a Turkish rifle and bayonet 
 and had Turkish cartridges in his belt, he was 
 taken for a daring Turk who had invaded the 
 beach to spy out the land. Without more ado, 
 he was tried by drum-head court-martial and con- 
 
 [127] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 denined to be shot out of hand. He was actu- 
 ally up against the Avails o( Sedd-el-Balu" Castle, 
 and tlie Uriiig party in position to carry out the 
 execution, when the Sergeant hi charge of the 
 Zionist Guard luckily spied what was happen- 
 ing, and, as he spoke excellent French, he rapidly 
 explained the situation. The man was released, 
 but the shock was too much for hini, and when 
 he was unboimd he was found to be paralysed, 
 and it was two months before he was tit for duty 
 again. After this, I allowed none of my men 
 to leave camp mdess they could speak Enghsh 
 or were accompanied by some one who could act 
 as interpreter. 
 
 Gye and Rolo worked hard to move the pile 
 of equipment — water this, forage, etc., etc., to the 
 little valley where the rest of the Corps were al- 
 ready snugly encamped, overlooking W Beach. 
 I was extremely glad to have these two olHcers 
 with me agahi, because, dm-mg these three days 
 aiid nights since the landing, while Me were 
 separated, I had had a very strenuous tune. 
 
 I remember when Gye saw me for the tirst 
 time after coming ashore, he got quite a shock, 
 and I believe he must have imagined that I had 
 been indulguig in some frightful orgy, because 
 he observed that the wliites of my eyes were as 
 
 [i-s] 
 
MULES UPSET TURKISH PLANS 
 
 red as burning coals; but it was only an orgy 
 of work and want of sleep. 
 
 I may say tliat when I did sleep I slept very 
 soundly indeed, for a high explosive shell dropped 
 within seven or eight feet of my head, exploded, 
 blew a great hole in the ground, yet I never even 
 heard it I 
 
 This feat was outdone by a man who, on be- 
 ing roused in the morning, found himself lame, 
 and then discovered that he Iiad been sliot througli 
 the foot some time in the night, while asleep! 
 
 The work, owing to Gye and Uolo being with 
 me, was now considerably lightened, as we each 
 took a convoy out to different parts of the front, 
 and so got the distribution of supplies through 
 much more quickly. I was unable at that time 
 to make use of my Jewish officers, with the ex- 
 ception of Captain Trumpledor, for they were 
 without experience and could not speak English. 
 Later on they were able to take charge of con- 
 voys and did the work very well. 
 
 Gye, Rolo and I made a cheery little party 
 and never found the time hang heavy on our 
 hands, nor were we ever dull for a moment, even 
 when we returned from convoy work at two 
 o'clock in the morning. We would then have 
 dinner together, and Gye was such a wonderful 
 
 [129] 
 
story-teller, and Claude Rolo was such a good 
 second, and he also possessed such an infectious 
 laugh, that I have often literally fallen from the 
 box on which I was sitting, con\'ulsed with mer- 
 riment. I am sure the men of L Battery, R. H. 
 A., who were camped close by, must have won- 
 dered what all this unseemly racket was about at 
 such miearthlv hours of the morning:. 
 
 Gye's knowledge of colloquial Arabic was 
 profound. It is related of him in Egypt that a 
 Cairo street loafer on one occasion maliciously 
 amioyed liim, whereupon Gye turned upon him 
 and let loose such a flood of Arabic slang, mi- 
 nutely vituperating the fellow himself and his 
 ancestors for fom'teen generations back, that, 
 despau'ing of ever reaching such heights of elo- 
 quence, the loafer, out of sheer en\y, went 
 straight away and hanged himself! 
 
 In this first httle bivouac of om's I spread my 
 gromid sheet and blanket in the corner of what 
 had been a house. The gmis of the Fleet had 
 evidenth' o'ot on to it and now nothino; was left 
 standmg but some of the walls, which in places 
 were about three or fom* feet high. 
 
 A day or two after settling in here I happened 
 to jimip down from one of these walls and the 
 ground gave way somewhat under me. We 
 
 [ISO] 
 
MULES UPSET TURKISH PLANS 
 
 made an excavation into it and discovered, hidden 
 away in an underground chamber, an old green 
 silk flag, so ancient that a touch rent it, an an- 
 tiquated battle-axe dating, I should say, from 
 the time of the Crusaders, and also some antique 
 brass candlesticks — a curious and rare find in 
 such a place. 
 
 It must not be supposed that the Turks left 
 us in peace during the day. They constantly 
 dropped shells into our little valley, tearing holes 
 in the gromid all round us, but by great good 
 fortune while we were in this place we suffered 
 no casualty of any kind, either man or mule. 
 
 On May 1st, after nightfall, I sent Claude 
 Rolo out in the direction of the Gully Ravine, 
 with ammunition and supplies for one of the 
 Brigades of the 29th Division. He got to his 
 destination safely, but while he was unloading the 
 convoy, at about ten o'clock, whether by chance 
 or design I know not, a tremendous hail of 
 shrapnel was poured upon them from the Turk- 
 ish guns a couple of miles away. Some forty of 
 the mules had already been relieved of their loads 
 and many of these broke away and galloped off 
 into the darkness. 
 
 This turned out to be a providential diversion, 
 for they helped to save the British Army that 
 
 [131] 
 
night, in much the same waj^ as the cackhng geese 
 once saved Rome, for, all unknown to us, masses 
 of Turks were at that very moment creeping up 
 in the dark just before the rise of the moon. 
 They were in tlu*ee lines, the first line being with- 
 out ammunition, as it was their particular busi- 
 ness, when they got near enough to our trenches, 
 to rush them with the bayonet. The Turkish 
 General Staff, however, had not calculated on 
 Zion mules! The terrified mmials, scared and 
 wounded by the shrapnel, careered over our 
 trenches and clattered down with clanking chains 
 on the stealthy foe. The Turks undoubtedly 
 took them for charging cavalry, for they poured 
 a volley into them and thus gave away their posi- 
 tion. 
 
 Our men instantly lined the trenches and 
 opened such an intense fii'e that the Turks were 
 utterly routed, and those of them that were left 
 alive fled back to the cover of their own trenches. 
 The battle was taken up all along the line, and, 
 if volume of musketry comits for anything, it was 
 the hottest night fight we had during all the time 
 we were on the Peninsula. 
 
 Claude Rolo had a most arduous and perilous 
 time collecting his men and mules in the midst of 
 all this turmoil, but he eventually got them to- 
 
 [132] 
 
gether and took them down a side track to the 
 Gully, into which they all scrambled helter-skel- 
 ter, for safety. 
 
 One of the men, Private Groushkousky, dis- 
 tinguished himself greatly in this fight, for when 
 the hail of shrapnel descended on the convoy and 
 stampeded many of the mules, this plucky boy 
 — for he was a mere youth — although shot 
 through both arms, held on to his plunging ani- 
 mals and safely delivered his loads of ammuni- 
 tion to the men in the firing line. I promoted 
 Private Groushkousky to the rank of Corporal, 
 for his pluck and devotion to duty, and, in ad- 
 dition, recommended him for the D. C. M., which 
 I am glad to say he obtained. 
 
 While Rolo and his men were having such a 
 strenuous time on the left of the line, I took a 
 convoy to the Brigade holding the centre. At 
 about two o'clock in the morning, soon after we 
 had returned, we were all having a much-needed 
 sleep, for we were worn out with constant com- 
 ing and going day and night. I was roused from 
 a deep slumber into which I had fallen by a mes- 
 senger to say ammunition was urgently required 
 by the Anson Battalion of the Royal Naval Divi- 
 sion and other units on the right flank of our line. 
 I remember what a difficult task it was to rouse 
 
 [133] 
 
the men, who lay about on the ground, like 
 roUed-up balls, in front of their mules. I found 
 a very effective plan was to shout loudly in tlieir 
 ear: '"Turks!" That, coupled with the roar of 
 the gims and the crackling of the rifles, quickly 
 brought them back to realities, and ahnost in the 
 twinkling of an eye the Zion men were loaihng up 
 cartridges with feverish speed at the Ordnance 
 Depot, which was situated not many yards below 
 our lines. I always kept our mules saddled 
 throughout the day and night, in relays, for I 
 knew that in those strenuous times I would be 
 likely to get a call at any moment to supply the 
 liring line with anmiunition. 
 
 Xo matter at what hour of the day or night 
 we went to the ammmiition stack, ^lajor Howell 
 Jones, the Chief Ordnance Officer of the 29th 
 Division, was always on the spot to issue it; and 
 not only was he there, but if there was any 
 "push" on, he turned to and helped to load up 
 the mules with his own hands. He was one of 
 the hardest-worked men on the Peninsula, and 
 I smcerely hope that the 29th Division realises 
 all it owes to his energy and foresight. 
 
 In those early days after the first landing, when 
 we were pressing the Turks so steadily before 
 us, and we all expected that one tinal push would 
 
 [134] 
 
drive them over Achi IJaba, the Zionists peti- 
 tioned (General Hunter- Weston to })e permitted 
 to take part in the assault. After some consider- 
 ation, the (General rel'used to let us go, saying 
 that we were performing invaluable services in 
 keeping the men in the trenches supphed with 
 amnmnition and food. Although we were de- 
 nied officially the privilege of actually taking part 
 in the attack, yet unofficially some of the Coi-ps, 
 at least, had the gratification of joining battle 
 with the Turks. 
 
 It must be remembered that our troops had 
 suffered terrible losses in those early battles, and 
 the Inniskilling Fusiliers had fared no better than 
 the rest, and they had very few men indeed with 
 which to man their trenches in the event of an 
 attack. Now it so happened that the Turks 
 made a determined onslaught upon them on one 
 occasion, when a party of the Zion Mule Corps 
 was close by, unloading a convoy; and these 
 Zionists, having the lust of battle strong in them, 
 and seeing how weak the Inniskillings were, left 
 their mules to take care of themselves and, under 
 the leadership of Corporal Hildersheim, leaped 
 into the trenches and materially assisted in re- 
 pelling the Turks. 
 
 [135] 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 LIFE IN OUR NEW CAMP 
 
 More and more troops kept on disembarking and 
 within fourteen days we found ourselves being 
 crowded out of our little vallej^ that ran up from 
 the sea, and it became a pressing necessity to look 
 out for fresh quarters further inland. Nor were 
 we sorry to move, for a road had been made close 
 to our lines, which, owing to the great traffic 
 upon it, was now several inches deep, in fine 
 white dust, which blew over us in choking clouds. 
 At this time, the whole of the Peninsula, from 
 Cape Helles to Achi Baba, was one expanse of 
 green pastures and cultivation, and the country 
 looked exceeding^ pretty. Quantities of beau- 
 tiful flowers grew everywhere, so much so that 
 some fields were a regular blaze of colour, the 
 western slopes of Achi Baba itself being beau- 
 tified by gorgeous stretches of blood-red poppies. 
 Groves of trees of various kinds were dotted 
 about, while the olive and the almond flourished 
 everywhere. Here and there were to be seen 
 round, masonry-topped wells, just like those pic- 
 
 [136] 
 
tured in illustrated Bibles, showing Rebecca 
 drawing water for Abraham's servant — but, alas, 
 here there was no Rebecca ! 
 
 Before we left it, this smiling land became the 
 most desolate, God-forsaken place that it is pos- 
 sible to imagine — nothing but row upon row of 
 unsightly trenches, and not a single blade of grass 
 anywhere to meet the eye. 
 
 For our new encampment I chose a level green 
 field, some two miles inland, and into this we 
 moved on May 11th. 
 
 A beautiful olive tree grew and threw a grate- 
 ful shade by the edge of our encampment, and 
 here, practically under its roots, we excavated a 
 shallow dug-out and erected over it a shelter of 
 canvas. Gye, Rolo and I settled ourselves in 
 as comfortably as possible, and although we 
 thought it merely a temporary halting-place on 
 the way to Constantinople, we never moved 
 camp again, and, indeed, for over seven months 
 it was our home. 
 
 I had occasion to ride back to W Beach within 
 a couple of hours after quitting our first encamp- 
 ment, and I heartily congratulated myself that 
 we had cleared out of it just in the nick of time, 
 for the Turks had concentrated their guns on the 
 place immediately after we had left. I counted 
 
 [137] 
 
no less than thirty holes through a piece of canvas 
 that was stretched over the place where we had 
 slept the night before. Had we still been there 
 we must all inevitably have been blown to smith- 
 ereens I 
 
 At our new encampment we found, burrowed 
 into the ground about us, the wagon lines of B, 
 L and Y Batteries, R. H. A., together with the 
 ammunition column — in fact, our lines joined up 
 with L Battery, which, it will be remembered, 
 earned such fame, and won so many V C's dur- 
 ing the retreat from Mons. Lieutenant David- 
 son of this Battery was in charge of the wagon 
 lines, and, as it was Gallipoli, and he was all 
 alone, the haughty horse gunner did not disdain 
 to join the lowly Muleteers' Mess! We were 
 very glad to have him, as he was good, cheery, 
 sensible company, and he also made a fourth at 
 Bridge, which was our relaxation when nothing 
 else had to be done. It is odd, when one thinks 
 of it now, that we were far more interested at 
 times, when the game got exciting, as to who 
 should make the odd trick than in the Turkish 
 shells, which flew screaming by a few feet over 
 our heads, especially when one remembers that 
 the deflection of the guns by a hair's-breadth by 
 those tiresome fellows who were peppering us 
 
 [138] 
 
from Aclii Baba and the plains of Ilium would 
 have meant that, in our peaceful little dug-out, 
 spades would have been trumps! 
 
 During the course of our stay here we gradu- 
 ally excavated and enlarged our dwelling and 
 burrowed down into the ground, making a cellar 
 into which we could retire in case the shelling be- 
 came too hot, but, as a matter of fact, though the 
 bombardment at times was hot enough to satisfy 
 the most desperate fire-eater, we used our bomb 
 proof entirely as a pantry, for which we found it 
 most useful. 
 
 No sooner had we settled down to life in our 
 new bivouac than the Turks began to annoy us by 
 dropping shells into it and disturbing our peace 
 of mind and body. On the morning following 
 our arrival, while we were having breakfast under 
 the spreading branches of our olive tree, a shrap- 
 nel burst, sending its bullets unpleasantly near. 
 I remarked jocularly to the others that if the 
 next shell came any closer we should have to 
 move. Scarcely had I spoken when one went 
 bang just over us, and a bullet whizzed between 
 our heads and smashed through the arm of my 
 Orderly Room Sergeant, Abulafia, who at that 
 moment was standing by my side taking some 
 orders. It is a marvel how it missed hitting a 
 
 [139] 
 
member of our little mess, for we were all sitting 
 very close together round an upturned box which 
 we were using as a breakfast table. 
 
 The same shell wounded two other men, be- 
 sides killing and wounding half a dozen mules. 
 AVe decided that the place was too hot for us, so, 
 after helping our jNIedical Officer to di-ess the 
 wounded, we finished our breakfast on the other 
 side of a bank which ran along bj" our olive 
 tree. 
 
 I must mention here that Sergeant Abulafia 
 refused to have his wound dressed until the 
 others who were more seriously mjured had iii'st 
 received attention. 
 
 Dr. Levontin was very good in attending to 
 wounded men under fire, and he gave first aid to 
 these men and many others, often at great per- 
 sonal risk; but at last the continual battering of 
 high explosive shells so close to his dug-out was 
 too much for him, and his nerves went, as did the 
 nerves of many others, and there was nothing for 
 it but to send hun back to Egypt. From the 
 time of his departure our sick and wounded were 
 ministered to by Captain Blandy, R. A. M. C, 
 who was the medical officer in charge of the bat- 
 teries camped round us, and the men, finding 
 Captaui Blandy most sympathetic and painstak- 
 
 [140] 
 
ing, did not fail to avail themselves to the full 
 of his able services. 
 
 The troublesome Turks did not allow us to 
 keep our animals in the pleasant field where we 
 had, after much trouble, laid down our ropes and 
 pegs and made our lines. 
 
 From Achi Baba and the slopes above Krithia 
 they could see us perfectly well, and they rained 
 such a tornado of shells round about us, plough- 
 ing up the ground in all directions, that I ordered 
 a hasty evacuation of the field and chose another 
 site close by, somewhat better concealed from 
 view by a plantation of olive trees. It was ex- 
 tremely difficult to hide from the Turks as Achi 
 Baba dominated the whole Peninsula. Even in 
 our new position we were not allowed to remain 
 undisturbed, for almost daily the Turks peppered 
 us with shrapnel and high explosives, both from 
 Achi Baba and the Asiatic coast. 
 
 I set the men to work to dig themselves and the 
 mules well into the bowels of the earth, and in a 
 very short time they had done this so effectually 
 that a stranger visiting the place would be as- 
 tonished if he were told that some hundreds of 
 men and mules were concealed right under his 
 very nose. 
 
 Soon after we had evacuated the field in which 
 
 [141] 
 
the Turks had shelled us so vigorously it was 
 taken possession of by the Collingwood Battalion 
 of the Royal Naval Division. The}^ arrived in 
 the dusk of the evening, and as they were ap- 
 parently unaware of their dangerous position, I 
 felt it to be my duty to go and warn the Com- 
 manding Officer, Captain Spearman, R. N., how 
 exposed the place was, and how they would prob- 
 ably be plastered by high explosives as soon as the 
 Turks discovered them on the following morning. 
 Captain Spearman was very glad to be given this 
 friendly warning and, in consequence, he made 
 his Battalion dig itself well in, and for several 
 hours into the night I could hear pick and spade 
 digging and delving. It was well they did so, 
 for on the following morning a brisk bombard- 
 ment opened on them, but, thanks to the precau- 
 tions which they had taken, thej^, on that day at 
 all events, suffered no casualties. 
 
 It was very funny to see the men sitting in rows 
 along the banks of earth thrown up out of their 
 "dug-outs" and watch them dive, like rabbits into 
 their burrows, at the sound of an approaching 
 shell ; then, after the explosion, every one popped 
 up again to see what damage had been done. 
 
 During the time they were camped there a shell 
 would now and again plump right into a dug-out 
 
 [142] 
 
and then, of course, the unfortunate occupants 
 would be blown about in little pieces all over the 
 place. A hand was once blown down to my horse 
 lines, some hundred and fifty yards away from 
 where the shell had burst, and shattered a man 
 to atoms. 
 
 A German Taube for a time flew over our lines 
 every morning long before sunrise, of course 
 catching all our airmen napping. These visits 
 were generally for observation purposes, but 
 sometimes the Taubes would liven us up by drop- 
 ping a few bombs. They made several shots at 
 the French guns, but always missed. I saw a 
 bomb land among a dozen French horses one 
 day, and all of the unfortunate animals were ter- 
 ribly wounded. I never saw such shambles, for 
 the horses were in a dug-out close together for 
 safety. The Zion lines had several close escapes, 
 as did the Royal Naval Division Hospital which 
 was close to us, and where Staff-Surgeon Flem- 
 ing cheerfully and skilfully attended to our sick 
 and wounded at all times of the day and night. 
 
 The Taube is a much more vicious looking 
 machine than ours. It has a certain air of ar- 
 rogance about it, entirely lacking in our type of 
 aeroplane. It is not in the least like a dove, as 
 the German name signifies, but appears to me 
 
 [143] 
 
very like a hawk, always ready to pounce on its 
 prey. 
 
 Day by day one kept missing friendly faces. 
 I remember sueh a niee boy, belonoing to one of 
 the Naval Battalions, who used to pass my camp 
 regularly with his platoon on his way to the 
 beach to bathe. I never knew^ the boy's name, 
 but he interested me as he was a bright, cheery, 
 handsome youngster, who seemed to be on the 
 best of terms with his men. One day there was 
 a vigorous bombardment of his lines, and when 
 next the platoon went by the young oilicer was 
 missing. He had been blown to pieces by a 
 shell. 
 
 The Royal Naval Division were a mixed crowd, 
 and their ways in Gallipoli were somewhat pecul- 
 iar. Their habits and customs were decidedly 
 "herumphroditish." They performed mihtary 
 duties as ordinary Infantry; then they jumped 
 back and were sailors again. They kept time by 
 the chiming of ships' bells; when they were 
 wanted out of their dug-outs the boatswain would 
 pipe "All hands on deck"; when a company was 
 mustered on parade, the Commander (when the 
 Commodore came along!) reported "All present 
 on the main deck, sir" — the main deck being 
 along a hne of dug-outs ; and if one hermnphro- 
 
 [114] 
 
dite wished to visit another herumphrodite in a 
 different Battalion, he had to apply for "shore 
 leave"! 
 
 The Collingwood Battalion met with a very sad 
 end soon after their arrival in my neighbourhood. 
 They were sent up to take part i'or the first time 
 in an attack on the Turkish trenches, and they 
 were placed on our extreme right, linking up 
 with the French. When the order came to 
 charge, they went forward most gallantly, captur- 
 ing, with little loss, two of the Turkish lines of 
 trenches, Captain Spearman, well to the fore, 
 leading his men. lie got shot in the foot, hut, 
 ignoring it, dashed along, waving his hat in the 
 air as he cheered his men to the assault. Un- 
 fortunately, owing to the conspicuous part he 
 and his officers played in the attack (and it was 
 necessary that they should do so, owing to the 
 rawness of the men), he and practically all the 
 other officers of the battalion were killed. Then 
 some one, possibly a German, for there were sev- 
 eral of them in the Turkish trenches round about, 
 shouted out the fatal word "Retire." This was 
 carried along the line and the men turned about 
 and made back, helter-skelter, for their own 
 trenches, but in trying to gain them they were 
 practically annihilated by machine-gun and rifle 
 
 [145] 
 
lire. I was particularly sorry for Captain 
 Spearman, who had come to our dug-out on many 
 occasions, and had drunk an early cup of coffee 
 with us only a few hours before he was killed. 
 
 In this disastrous retreat the CoUingwood Bat- 
 talion was practically wiped out. The survivors 
 were transferred to another unit of the Royal 
 Naval Division and the very name of this Bat- 
 talion went out of existence. 
 
 [146] 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A MAY BATTLE 
 
 During a big battle which took place early in 
 May, I sent Gye forward with a large convoy of 
 ammunition, and on riding out later on to see 
 Iiow things were going I passed over some of 
 the ground occupied })y tlie French, who were 
 to the right of the British, and extended from 
 thence across the Peninsula to the Dardanelles. 
 A couple of miles to the rear of the fighting line 
 extended the batteries of the famous .75s, cun- 
 ningly concealed among trees, branches specially 
 planted in the ground, reeds, etc. I watched 
 tlie gunners serve their guns, and my admira- 
 tion was aroused at witnessing the ease and 
 celerity with which they were loaded, their me- 
 chanical arrangement for setting the fuse, and, 
 above all, the beautifully smooth recoil of the bar- 
 rel. This was so nicely adjusted that I might 
 have placed my finger on the ground behind the 
 wheel of the gun and have received no damage. 
 The French Army can give us points on many 
 [147] 
 
things, but above all stands their .75 gun. They 
 are wonderfully accurate, marvellously quick, 
 and seem able to pour out from their muzzles 
 a continuous stream of projectiles. The French 
 certainly did not starve their gunners in ammuni- 
 tion, and only for those .75s our position in Gal- 
 lipoli would often have been somewhat precari- 
 ous. 
 
 After I had watched the guns in action for a 
 while I passed on, and going down the sandy 
 road which led from Sedd-el-Bahr village to 
 Krithia I came upon the first evidences of the 
 fight that was now raging. A handsome young 
 French artilleryman lay dead by the side of the 
 road; some friend had closed his eyes, and he 
 looked as if he merely slept, but it was the long 
 sleep of death. A little further on lay some 
 Zouaves, and yet a little further some Sene- 
 galese, all lying just as they fell, with their packs 
 on their backs and theu- rifles close by, facing the 
 foe — brave French soldiers all. 
 
 Tm-ning a corner I found myself riding into 
 General d'Amade and his staff, busily directing 
 the battle. Almost at the General's horse's feet 
 laj'- a Turk whose face was half blown away. 
 The poor fellow had wrapped the end of his pug- 
 aree round his ghastly wound. Within a yard 
 
 [148] 
 
or two lay another Turk, his shoulder smashed to 
 pulp by a shell. Both men bore up with the 
 greatest fortitude and never uttered a groan. A 
 first-aid di-essing station was close by, where 
 scores of wounded, French and Turks, were be- 
 ing doctored and bandaged. These sights of the 
 uglier and sadder side of war are not pleasing, 
 and any one who has seen the horrors of it can 
 never wish to view such scenes again. I would 
 put all Foreign Ministers, Diplomats and News- 
 paper Proprietors in the forefront of every bat- 
 tle for which they were in any way responsible. 
 However, duty has to be done, even in the midst 
 of horrors, so saluting the General, I pushed 
 further along to the front, where I could see Gye 
 with the mules in the distance. 
 
 By the time I had cantered up to him all the 
 ammunition had been unloaded, and at the spot 
 where I halted I found myself looking over a 
 bank into the midst of a Battalion of cheery ht- 
 tle Gurkhas (the 6th) and almost within hand- 
 shake of their Commander, Colonel C. Bruce, 
 who was an old acquaintance of mine. I had no 
 idea he was in Gallipoli, and it was curious to 
 come upon him, after some years, in the thick of 
 a battle. 
 
 I stayed for a time chatting with him while the 
 
 [149] 
 
bullets aiid shells whizzed round — in fact, until 
 an order came for his Battalion to go forward 
 into the fight. 
 
 I myself went and took up a position on a hill 
 close by, where I could see, as if from the gallery 
 of a theatre, the whole tight staged before me: 
 where I could note the move of practically every 
 man and gmi. 
 
 As I looked down from my post of observation, 
 a saucer-like green valley full of olive trees, vine- 
 yards and young corn spread out before me for 
 some five miles, right aw^ay up to Achi Baba. the 
 dominating hill, some six hundred or seven lum- 
 dred feet high. The French, as 1 have already 
 said, were away on the right, and I watched 
 their infantry mass in hollows and ravines, then 
 advance in wavy Imes under the pounding shel- 
 ter of their guns. The latter were served mag- 
 nificently, and the infantry as they advanced 
 fomid the gromid to then* mmiediate front swept 
 yard by yard by the gains tired by their comrades 
 a couple of miles to their rear. 
 
 It was a stirring sight to watch the ofiicers 
 dash out and give the men a lead when there was 
 any hesitation or waver of the line. In places 
 I could see the Turks rmi like hares, but on the 
 extreme left the French who were in touch with 
 
 [150] 
 
our right could be seen retiring precipitately over 
 the hill, budly slated by the Turks. 
 
 I was fascinated by the sight and wondered 
 how that broken line could be again reformed. 
 It was done, however, in the shelter of a bluff, 
 and once more they charged over the hill and 
 were then lost to my view. 
 
 The 29th Division extended from the French 
 left, near the right centre of the saucer, across 
 to the iEgean Sea. The front was towards Achi 
 Baba, and our men made headway towards it in 
 the face of fierce opposition. Our guns were 
 barking away at the Turks in their trenches, and 
 the great guns of the Fleet were hurling their 
 high explosives, which descended on the doomed 
 Turks with terrific effect. One could see great 
 spurts of flame, smoke, earth, timbers, rocks, 
 Turks, in fact, everything in the neighbourhood, 
 going up as though shot out of the crater of a 
 volcano. 
 
 To me it seemed as though nothing could pos- 
 sibly live under such a reign of death, which con- 
 tinued with ever-increasing intensity for an hour. 
 Nothing could be seen of Achi Baba, or any 
 other part of the Turkish position, owing to the 
 smoke and dust which the bombardment had 
 raised, and unfortunately the wind was blowing 
 
 [151] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 towards us, which brought everything into the 
 eyes of our men as they leaped out of the trenches 
 to the attack. 
 
 The moment the guns ceased one could dis- 
 cern, through the haze, the gleam of bayonets as 
 the Allies swept forward along the whole front 
 like a bristlmg wall of steel, right into the lead- 
 ing Turkish trenches. 
 
 Wherever the bombardment had done its work 
 and smashed down the wu-e entanglements, our 
 men found it easy to advance. Such Turks as 
 remained in the trenches were dazed and de- 
 morahsed by the shell fire, and were only too 
 willing to surrender. But in some parts, es- 
 pecially on the left of the line, the guns had failed 
 to cut down the barbed wire, and here our men 
 were crumpled up by the deadly fire of rifle and 
 machine-gun which was concentrated on them at 
 this point. 
 
 It was a soul-stirring sight to watch, on this 
 great stage, the alternate advance and retreat of 
 our men, and the scuttle of the Turks along their 
 communication trenches; the charge of the 
 Zouaves, the hurried retirement of the Senegalese 
 when they were met with a terrific fire from the 
 Turks; the reforming of the line behind the 
 friendly crest; the renewed pounding of the 
 
 [152] 
 
A MAY BATTLE 
 
 Turkish line by French and British guns; the 
 charge once more of the AUied infantry into and 
 through the Turkish curtain of fire until they 
 were swallowed up in the smoke. 
 
 The heart palpitated with emotion, and one*s 
 imagination was gripped by the sight of these 
 gallant fellows flinging themselves recklessly at 
 the Turks. 
 
 At length human nature could do no more, and 
 both British and French had to call a halt. 
 
 The result of the battle was that we gained 
 some few hundred yards practically along the 
 whole front except on the extreme left, but it 
 was at a considerable cost in killed and wounded. 
 
 [153] 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 GENERAL d'aMADE AND THE CORPS EXPEDITION- 
 NAIRE d'oRIENT 
 
 One end of our camp was in touch with the 
 French lines and, of course, I saw a great deal 
 of the French soldiers and a little of their gallant 
 Commander, General d'Amade. I know, there- 
 fore, with what feelings of regret his men heard 
 that he was about to return to France. He had 
 endeared himself by his unfailing courtesy and 
 goodwill, and had impressed with his fine, sol- 
 dierly qualities all those with whom he had in any 
 wa}^ come into contact. 
 
 During the tenure of his command, the French 
 troops had, at the point of the bayonet, wrested 
 seemingl}^ impregnable positions from the brave 
 foe. Their losses had been cruel, terrible, but 
 their deeds are imperishable. 
 
 The military records of France make glorious 
 reading, but even to these dazzling pages Gen- 
 eral d'Amade and his gallant troops have added 
 fresh lustre. 
 
 A sad blow had fallen upon the General while 
 
 [154] 
 
EXPfiDITIONNAIRE D'ORIENT 
 
 he was in Alexandria reorganising his Corps 
 Exp edit ionnaire d'Orient, prior to its departure 
 for Galhpoh. In the midst of his work a tele- 
 gram was handed to him announcing that his son 
 had fallen gloriously in France. The General, 
 having read the heart-breaking message, paused 
 for a moment and then remarked: "Well, our 
 work for France must go on." 
 
 It was my good fortune to see the order of the 
 day of the Journal Officiel du 11 Fevrier, 1915, 
 which recounted the death and gallant deeds of 
 General d'Amade's boy. He was only eighteen 
 and had just joined his regiment, the 131st In- 
 fantry, when he went on a perilous night mission 
 to obtain information which could only be got 
 by creeping up into the German trenches. With 
 just two men he accomplished this dangerous 
 duty successfully, but at that very moment he 
 was discovered and a volley from the enemy laid 
 him low. Although grievously wounded, his 
 first thought was for France, so, forbidding his 
 comrades to carry him off, he told them to fly 
 with all speed to the French lines with the valu- 
 able information which he had obtained. Young 
 Gerard d'Amade died where he had fallen, a 
 noble example of that spirit of self-sacrifice which 
 characterises all ranks of the French Army. 
 
 [155] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 A framed copy of this order of the day has 
 now a place of honour in the nursery of a little 
 boy I know of who, every night before he goes 
 to bed, stands in front of it at the salute and 
 says: *'I do this in memory of a brave French 
 officer who gave his life for his country. May 
 I so live that, if necessary, I may be ready to die 
 for England as nobly as Gerard d'Amade died 
 for France." 
 
 The British public is little aware of what it 
 owes to General d'Amade. During the terrible 
 retreat of our Expeditionary Force from JNIons, 
 when we were outnumbered by five to one, and 
 when the Germans were closing round our small 
 army in overwhelming numbers, General Sir 
 John French sent out urgent appeals for as- 
 sistance in this hour of dire peril to the Generals 
 conmianding the French armies on his right and 
 left. For some reason or other none of these 
 came to his aid, and for a time it looked as if our 
 gallant little army would be engulfed and anni- 
 hilated. 
 
 Fortunately, there was one French General to 
 whom the appeal was not made in vain. This 
 was General d'Amade, who, at that time, was 
 guarding the line in the northwest of France 
 from Dunkerque to Valenciennes. To hold this 
 
 [156] 
 
exp:6ditioxnaire dorient 
 
 very important eighty miles of front all the 
 troops he had were four divisions of somewhat 
 ill-equipped Territorials, with very few guns. 
 It must be remembered that the French Terri- 
 torial is past his prime and, as a rule, is the father 
 of a family, and considers his fighting days over. 
 It can well be imagined, therefore, what an 
 anxious time General d'Amade had during those 
 fateful days from the 19th to the 28th August, 
 1914, when at any moment the German avalanche 
 might burst upon him. On the 24th August his 
 force was strengthened by two Reserve Divisions 
 (the 61st and 62nd), which only arrived in the 
 nick of time, for with these he was able to 
 do something in answer to General French's de- 
 spairing appeal. General d'Amade manoeuvred 
 these two Reserve Divisions into a position which 
 seriously threatened von Kluck's flank. That 
 ^'hacking" General, not knowing the strength of 
 General d'Amade's menacing force, became anx- 
 ious for his right flank and communications, so 
 turned aside from his pursuit of the British and 
 proceeded to crush the French. These two di- 
 visions put up such an heroic fight and offered 
 such a stubborn resistance to the German horde 
 that it took the pressure off our sorely stricken 
 men, enabling them to extricate themselves and 
 
 [157] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 retire, broken, exhausted, tired, crushed, it is 
 true, but still to retire to safety, where they were 
 able to reorganise and take ample vengeance on 
 the Germans a few days later. 
 
 General d'Amade lost practically his entire 
 force, but he had gained something very pre- 
 cious; he had saved our army from destruction, 
 and what is more, he had saved the honour of 
 France — nay, even France itself, for if the 
 French generals had stood idly by and allowed 
 our Expeditionary Force to be wiped out of ex- 
 istence, I think it is more than likely that France 
 might have prayed in vain for any further as- 
 sistance, in troops at all events, from England. 
 
 All honour, therefore, to the General who, 
 without hesitation, with just two Reserve Divi- 
 sions, took the shock of the German legions and 
 sacrificed himself and his troops rather than see 
 the honom* of France go down in the dust. Poli- 
 ticians may reconmiend the bestowal of honour^s 
 and decorations on their favourite Generals, but 
 General d'Amade deserves more than this, he de- 
 serves a tribute from the British people. He 
 made a magnificent sacrifice in our cause, and if 
 ever in the history of the world a general de- 
 served a sword of honour from a nation. Gen- 
 eral d'Amade deserves one from England. 
 
 [158] 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 VARIOUS BOMBARDMENTS 
 
 Every morning regularly the Turks commenced 
 shelling us punctually at eight o'clock, presu- 
 mably after they had had breakfast, and again at 
 tea time. They generally continued for a couple 
 of hours, and these hours were always lively ones 
 for us, and it was a daily occurrence to lose men, 
 horses and mules. 
 
 On the 16th May, eleven Frenchmen, who hap- 
 pened to be close to our lines, were killed in- 
 stantly by one shell, on the 17th one of my horses 
 was wounded, and on the 19th the second was hit 
 in the ribs by shrapnel. 
 
 The Turks often switched off from us and 
 bombarded a section of the road used by wagons, 
 gun-teams and motor cyclists. The latter were, 
 to me, the chief wonder of Gallipoli. I ride a 
 motor cycle myself, and have had a few smashes, 
 so can fully realise its dangers. 
 
 I was introduced to this convenient form of 
 locomotion by Dr. liolleston after a breakdown 
 in health. It is the most wonderful tonic I have 
 
 [159] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GxVLLIPOLI 
 
 yet come across, because the moment one gets on 
 to the bicycle one's attention is so centred on 
 keeping it going, picking out the smoothest bits 
 of road, avoidhig colhsions, etc., that I veritably 
 believe the treachery of one's closest friend would, 
 for the moment, at least, fade from the memory. 
 I am perfectly certain that the Gallipoli motor 
 cyclists never gave a thought to absent friends; 
 they were much too busy avoiding pitfalls and 
 shells. They flew over the most uneven ground, 
 took small trenches as it were in their stride, and 
 were generally the most dare-devil set of boys I 
 have ever seen. ^lany a time we stood and 
 watched through our glasses this dangerous strip 
 of road which the Turks had got the range of to 
 a yard. xVs the wagons, gun-teams iuid cyclists 
 approached it, they would get up the pace, and 
 fly through it at top speed. The narrow squeaks 
 that we constantly witnessed on this bit of road 
 were enough to make one's hair stand on end! 
 Yet I am glad to say I only once saw a man 
 struck down. It looked so sad — the moment be- 
 fore so full of the joy of hfe, and then, just a 
 little, huddled heap, lying still and quiet on the 
 dusty roadw^ay. 
 
 On ]May 20th, the Turks bombarded us for sev- 
 eral hours; five of my men were womided, two 
 
 [160] 
 
VARIOUS BOMBARDMENTS 
 
 seriously, one of the poor fellows having his leg 
 smashed to atoms. The same day I had five 
 mules and one horse killed and ten mules 
 wounded. The Horse Artillery, camped round 
 ahout us, also suffered rather severely, for the 
 Turks every now and again switched their bat- 
 teries on to their lines and caused them heavy 
 losses. It was a busy time for Lieutenant Fisher, 
 the Veterinary Surgeon of the Horse Batteries, 
 who kindly came to our aid whenever the Zion 
 mules got "strafed." 
 
 When this bombardment broke upon us, every- 
 body made a rush to get his horse, mule or him- 
 self out of danger, and many were the curses 
 heaped on the Turkish gunners, who were uni- 
 versally consigned to the warmest place of which 
 we have ever heard. It makes me laugh even 
 now when I think of a little comedy that took 
 place between Rolo and his groom. The latter, 
 whose name was Dabani, was a most comical look- 
 ing little fellow, with bandy legs, a swarthy face, 
 and little black beard sprouting in patches here 
 and there. He was an Israelite from Arabia, 
 and although an excellent fellow in many ways, 
 he was more renowned for his piety than for his 
 courage. You could always tell the intensity of 
 a bombardment by the fervour of Dabani's 
 
 [161] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 prayers. On this occasion, when the shells be- 
 gan to burst and spatter the shrapnel all round 
 us, Rolo shouted to Dabani, whom he saw scut- 
 tling off for safety, to come back and look after 
 his horse. ""Wliat, look after your horse now?" 
 cried Dabani. "This is a time when I must look 
 after myself," and taking not the slightest notice 
 of Rolo's angry maledictions, he, with rabbit-like 
 agihty, dived for safety into his dug-out! 
 
 This bombardment badly shook some of my 
 men, and among them Schoub, my farrier, who, 
 the moment he felt it safe to emerge from the 
 nethermost depths of his dug-out, came in a state 
 of abject terror to Gye, beggmg piteously to be 
 sent back to the bosom of his family in Alexan- 
 dria, because, he remarked, "I am no use here 
 now. The shells have made me stone deaf, I 
 cannot hear a word." "What," said Gye, in a 
 low voice, "not a single word?" "Not a single 
 word," rephed Schoub! 
 
 It was many months before he returned in 
 safety to Alexandria, and by that time bombard- 
 ments had become so common that they had 
 ceased to terrify. 
 
 On the 2nd June, I was returning with Claude 
 Rolo from an expedition which we had made to 
 the Gurklia trenches on the extreme left of the 
 
 [162] 
 
VARIOUS BOMBARDMENTS 
 
 line. Before we had got very far on our way 
 heavy howitzers hegan to hombard the Turks, 
 and as we were just then passing an artillery ob- 
 servation post, hidden away in a cross trench, we 
 turned aside and went into it. From here we 
 could see our high explosive shells bursting with 
 terrific effect on the Turkish trench, which was 
 only about three hundred yards awa3^ The Ar- 
 tillery Observation Officer telephoned back to 
 the guns the result of each shot, and under his 
 guidance the shells soon battered down the earth- 
 works, pulverising everything where they fell. 
 Soon, however, some sharp-eyed Turkish gunner 
 spotted our observation post and began to plug 
 at us pretty rapidly. Shells hopped off the 
 parapet, shrapnel struck the steel shield, fuses 
 and fragments of all kinds thudded into the bank 
 behind our backs, and we seemed for the moment 
 to be living in a little tornado of lead and iron. 
 When this had continued for a few minutes, I 
 remarked to the gunner man: "What on earth 
 are the Turks trying to hit?" "Hit us, of 
 course," he somewhat shortly replied. 
 
 Now, so long as we remained here in the deep 
 trench we were comparatively safe, but as I 
 wanted to get back to camp, I thought I would 
 pull the gunner's leg before leaving him; he had 
 
 [163] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 no idea who we were, for we were in our shirt 
 sleeves as usual, so I pretended to be thorouglily 
 scared, and said: "Good heavens, this is no 
 place for me!" on which he smiled the smile of a 
 brave man who feels pity for a poltroon. There 
 were some twenty yards or so of open gromid to 
 be covered the moment we left the shelter of the 
 observation post, and, of com'se, this was a really 
 dangerous strip, because it was exposed to the 
 fire of the Turks, and had therefore to be covered 
 at top speed. The only way of accomplishing 
 this in safety was to do it in between the shells, 
 and as there was only a couple of seconds be- 
 tween each, the plmige out had to be made the 
 instant one burst, so as to be under cover before 
 the next arrived. Warning Rolo to follow me 
 after the next explosion, out we darted. We 
 had ahnost reached safety when I heard coming 
 after us the scream of an approaching shell. I 
 shouted out to Rolo, "Jump for yoiu* life!" and 
 at the same time tlirew myself down, and the last 
 thing I saw, amid the dust kicked up by the 
 shower of shrapnel bullets, was Rolo plmigmg 
 head foremost into a ditch, as if he were taking a 
 'dive! 
 
 We were neither of us hurt, but a stone thrown 
 up by the shell struck me on the hand and drew 
 
 [164] 
 
VARIOUS BOMBARDMENTS 
 
 a little blood. We both congratulated ourselves 
 on our lucky escape and got back to camp with 
 whole skins, none the worse for our close shave. 
 
 [165] 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE COMING OF THE GERMAN SUBMARINES 
 
 In our nightly journeys back from the trenches 
 we were always guided through the darkness to 
 our camp by the brilliant glare of the lights from 
 the warships, hospital ships and transports, which 
 lay thickly clustered round Cape Helles. It was 
 a most beautiful sight, like a veritable floating 
 Venice, but it was not practical and it was not 
 war. It showed an arrogance and utter con- 
 tempt of the enemy who was, at that very mo- 
 ment, stealthily stalking them under the seas with 
 the deadly submarine. 
 
 At all events, the submarines came, with the 
 result that the battleships Goliath and Trium'ph 
 were sunk with appalling swiftness and great loss 
 of life. 
 
 Then, and then only, did the Fleet awaken to 
 its danger; the battleships and cruisers vanished 
 into the unknown, while the transports disap- 
 peared in a night, and we felt, as it were, ma- 
 rooned on this inhospitable Peninsula, from 
 which the Turks had removed every living thing, 
 
 [166] 
 
THE GERMAN SUBJNIARINES 
 
 save only a few dogs, which were found to be so 
 dangerous that they had to be shot at sight. 
 
 It was, therefore, with feehngs of great pleas- 
 ure that, as I rode down to W Beach on the eve- 
 ning of the 26th May, I saw the stately battle- 
 ship, the Majestic^ lying at anchor out in the 
 roadstead, a few cable lengths from W Beach; 
 and as I looked my heart grew glad within me, 
 because there lay the ship in the open sea, ex- 
 posed to any attack, and I felt that it would be 
 impossible for the ship to lie thus unless the 
 German submarines which had sunk the other 
 battleships a few days previously were either dis- 
 posed of, or else some clever new defence had 
 been designed which made the Majestic immune 
 from the deadly torpedo. 
 
 It was a cheering thought, and it helped to en- 
 hance the beauty of the wondrous panorama 
 which lay spread before my eyes. 
 
 Away to my left stood the quaint old ruined 
 walls and towers of Sedd-el-Balii', thrown into 
 bold outline against the rippling waters of the 
 Dardanelles, while further on the eye was caught 
 by the green plains of Ilium, set in a tangle of 
 hills, on the picturesque Asiatic coast. Ahead of 
 me, to the south, glittered the soft sea, with Cape 
 Helles jutting into it, like a rough brown hand 
 
 [167] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 thxust into a basin of shimmering quicksilver. 
 Almost at my feet lay Lancashire Landing, busy 
 with its hundreds of men and animals going to 
 and fro, while away on my right sparkled the 
 ^gean, with the Isles of Greece jutting out of 
 it, like rugged giants rising from their ocean lair. 
 To crown aU, the sun was going down in a per- 
 fect blaze of colour, tipping the crests of Imbros 
 and Samothrace with a glint of gold, as it sank 
 behind them into the sea. I have seen sunsets 
 in many parts of the world, but never have I seen 
 anything to equal the glorious lights and shades 
 which at sundown are painted on the ^gean sky. 
 If I were an artist, my ambition would be to go 
 in the lovely autumn days on a pilgrimage to 
 these shores and humbly try to put on my canvas 
 the perfectly gorgeous but harmoniously blended 
 rose, pink, scarlet, red, yellow, purple, green, am- 
 ber and blue — a perfect intoxication of glorious 
 colours which the imagination would be unequal 
 to, unless they were absolutely thrown on the sky 
 before one's own eyes. The magnificence of the 
 sunsets seen from Gallipoli were the sum of what 
 an ordinary mortal could conceive as a fitting 
 setting for the splendour of God's Throne. 
 
 So it is to be hoped that the officers and crew of 
 the Majestic, which was moored so peacefully 
 
 [168] 
 
THE GERMAN SUBMARINES 
 
 amid such heavenly surroundings, took a soul- 
 satisfying view of the glory around them, be- 
 cause, alas, for many of the poor fellows it was 
 the last sunset that would ever gladden their eyes, 
 for on the morning of the 27th the ship was 
 marked down by a German submarine and sent 
 to its doom within four minutes of being struck. 
 
 I was attending to some routine work in my 
 camp when I heard the terrific explosion and, 
 looking up, saw a volume of smoke ascending to 
 the heavens from W Beach. I jumped on my 
 horse, which was ready saddled close by, and 
 galloped over to hear what had happened. 
 When I topped the rise, all of the Majestic that 
 I could see was a couple of dozen feet of its cop- 
 per keel which projected above the water, and 
 which still remains thus — a mute witness to the 
 fact that "some one had blundered." 
 
 Regrettable incidents hke these should be un- 
 known in a Navy renowned for the good practi- 
 cal commonsense and thoroughness of its cap- 
 tains. 
 
 [169] 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 TEEXCH WAKIARE IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 '"From aU forms of trench warfare, preserve us. 
 O Lord I" should l>e the humble prayer of every 
 soldier, for it is about the most unpleasant, tire- 
 some, humdrmn, disagreeable, dang-erous, death- 
 without-glory kind of warfare which the evil 
 genius of man a^uld devise. As. however, it has 
 ccmie to stay, it may perhaps be of interest to 
 describe what it was like in Gallipoh. 
 
 "\^^len, after the tirst battles, the Tiu-ks re- 
 fused any longer to meet us in the open, iuid took 
 to the trenches, which they had, with great 
 energy, dug right across the Peninsula, it be- 
 came necessary for us to adopt the s:mie mole- 
 like tactics, and our advance was brought prac- 
 tically to a stiuidstill. Instead of going ahead a 
 couple of miles m a day's light, it now beciune a 
 question of taking one trench at a time, and often 
 we did not gahi as much as that, even after the 
 most strenuous battles. 
 
 Long lines of trenches, from thi*ee to six or 
 [i:o] 
 
TRENCH WARFARE 
 
 more feet deep, and three or four feet wide, were 
 dug in zig-zags right across the Peninsuhi, more 
 or less parallel to the Turkish lines, and hchind 
 these were similar support and reserve trenches; 
 at the hack of these again were second and third 
 line defence trenches; while still further were 
 the so-called rest trenches, hut in Gallipoli these 
 were just as dangerous as the front trenches, 
 owing to the contined space in which the army 
 was cooped up, and also owing to the configura- 
 tion of the ground, which exposed them to fii*e 
 from ^Vchi Baha as well as from the gmis in x\sia. 
 Some of our trenches were so deep that hunckeds 
 of scaling ladders were always kept hi readiness 
 to enahle the men to swarm out quickly when an 
 assault was to he made. Long lines of com- 
 munication trenches ran up and down and to 
 and fro, comiecting the various hues of trenches, 
 and many of these were dug deep enough and 
 wide enough to give ample cover for mules and 
 horses. A'arious little hack alleys were also dug 
 in different directions, so that the whole face of 
 the country was transformed into a veritahle rah- 
 bit warren. These commimication trenches were 
 necessary so that reliefs, reinforcements, mimi- 
 tions, food and water could be taken up hi safety 
 to the tirmg line. 
 
 [ITI] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Where the ground was very hard and deep 
 trenches could not be dug, the necessary cover 
 was given by buildmg parapets made of sand- 
 bags, little canvas bags about two feet long and 
 ten inches across, which could easily be carried 
 by one man when filled with sand or clay. These 
 sandbags should be of different colours, because 
 otherwise when one is taken out to make a loop- 
 hole the blank space is seen at once and the 
 enemy's fire is concentrated on it. In Gallipoli 
 our sandbags were all of the same colour — 
 di'ab-coloured canvas. 
 
 When an attack was made and an enemy's 
 trench was captured, thousands of these sandbags 
 were carried forward, and by piling them up a 
 new protective trench was rapidly constructed, 
 for, of course, the original Tm'kish trench was 
 always battered to pieces (or should have been) 
 by high explosive shells before the attack was 
 launched. 
 
 Another great use of the sandbag was to 
 erect a barrier across an enemy communication 
 trench, otherwise, of course, he could pour his 
 troops down the communication alley and per- 
 haps effect a surprise. It was exceedingly odd 
 to see om' sentry on one side of such a barrier 
 and the Turkish sentry on the other side, appar- 
 
 [172] 
 
TRENCH WARFARE 
 
 ently quite friendly in the intervals of bombing 
 each other I 
 
 One day a man of the Inniskilling Fusiliers 
 played a trick on the Turkish sentry. Finding 
 life rather monotonous, and being somewhat fed 
 up with bully beef, he bored a hole in his tin, 
 stuck a cartridge into it, and hurled the novel 
 projectile over the sandbag barrier among the 
 Turks, who could be heard flying for their lives 
 away from it along the trench, evidently think- 
 ing it was some new form of diabohcal bomb we 
 had invented. Then one man, a little bolder 
 than the rest, could be heard cautiously stalking 
 it; he even threw stones at it, and when these 
 failed to cause an explosion, he plucked up 
 enough courage to hook it towards him with his 
 fixed bayonet. It was apparently sent off for 
 investigation to some German professor in the 
 rear, for some few hours later the Turkish sentry 
 shouted out loudly over the parapet: "Bully 
 beef, bully beef; throw us more," and this little 
 incident led to many friendly exchanges of bully 
 or cigarettes. 
 
 Life in the trenches when no "strafe" was on 
 was very monotonous — dull, weary watching 
 and waiting, with dust blowing into one's eyes 
 and mouth and nose all the time, and flies every- 
 
 [173] 
 
AVITII THE ZIONISTS IN GALLirOLI 
 
 where. While in the trenches food had to be 
 snatched when it was possible to get it. It was 
 cooked some considerable distance to the rear and 
 was then carried up to the trenches in great pots 
 and there distribnted, and in Gallipoli, of conrse, 
 that meant dividing it between men and flies — 
 the latter getting the lion's sliare during the 
 months of June, J ul}' and August. 
 
 Of course, work was always going on. The 
 trenches had to be carefully drained and sloped 
 so as to allow the rainfall to How otf. If this 
 were not properly done they would inevitably be 
 flooded out in the rains, and life in them would 
 be impossible. Even when every care was taken 
 they sometimes became raging torrents. jNIuch 
 ground was made good by digging out from the 
 trenches towards the Turkish lines and forming 
 a fresh line of trenches closer to the enemy and 
 in a better position. 
 
 Every yard in front of the trenches was 
 guarded b}- barbed wire, sometimes left unrolled 
 on the ground, where it naturally goes into coils 
 and traps for the unwary, and sometimes inter- 
 laced on stakes, like a regular wire fencing, 
 doubled many times. It was very dangerous 
 w^ork putting up this form of defence, and it was 
 generally done at night, but even then the enemy 
 
THKXCir VVAIiFAIiE 
 
 could see our men f>y the light of iJjc })riJJiant 
 flares wJiicIi wtt(^ constantly sent up, for these 
 remained in the air for several seconds, inaking 
 everything as hriglit as day. "J'lie only charice 
 of escape then was to lie flat down and remain 
 perfectly still until the flare went fjut. 
 
 'J'hen there was the constant arduous and dan- 
 gerous lahour of sapping, i. e., tunnelling under- 
 ground from our trenches underneath the 'J'urk- 
 ish trenches, making a huge cavity there, filling 
 it with explosives and blowing the trencli and 
 such Tuiks as wi:v(^ in it sky high. This was 
 generally done when an attack was made, so as 
 to throw the enemy into greater ccjnfusion. 
 
 At night it was usual to man the front trenches 
 fairly strongly, one-third of the force always be- 
 ing awake and on the look-out for the enemy. 
 
 Of course, it was almost certain death for a 
 man to stand up and show his head and shoulders 
 above the parapet line, so the watch on the enemy 
 was kept by men with periscopes, wlio could 
 see every move in perfect safety. Kven the 
 periscopes were often shattered to pieces by the 
 bullets of llie Turks, which shows that some of 
 them were gcxjf] marksmen. 
 
 Telephone wires were laid everywhere in the 
 trenches, and telephone operators and observing 
 
 [175] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 officers were scattered up and down the line. 
 On the first sign of an enemy attack these of- 
 ficers communicated with their Batteries in the 
 rear, and within two seconds a curtain of fire was 
 rained on the advancing foe, which, in most cases, 
 he found it quite impossible to get through. If 
 he ever succeeded, however, the Infantry weve by 
 this time lining the parapets, ready to mow down 
 the enemy with rifle and machine-gun fire, so the 
 onl}' marvel is that any of the assaulting force 
 ever got through. A very rare occurrence — and 
 those that did pierce the line never again got 
 back to their own trenches. 
 
 One day I went up to visit Lieutenant David- 
 son, who was Forward Observing Officer, and 
 he, having occasion to fire a gun, telephoned to 
 the Battery; it was a distinctly weird feeling to 
 hear the scream of the shell from the guns two 
 miles back flying close over our heads into the 
 Turkish trenches in front of us, ahnost before 
 Davidson had ceased speaking! iVt that same 
 observation post, on a previous day, another R. 
 II. A. officer, Lieutenant Perceval, who also was 
 a member of oin* little mess, had a very narrow 
 escape. A Turkish shell came through, slightly 
 bruised his shoulder, and killed his Bombardier, 
 who was, at the moment, holding the telephone. 
 
 [176] 
 
TRENCH WARFARE 
 
 In the side of the trench next the enemy httle 
 niches were excavated where men could he and 
 sit fairly well sheltered from wind and rain. 
 These recesses were often used by the Turks as 
 burial places for their dead. I remember on one 
 occasion I was walking along a jnece of the line 
 which we had just taken from the Turks when 
 a shell exploded close to the trench. The con- 
 cussion shook away some loose earth and out 
 from the side of the trench popped a dead hand 
 and arm! — just as if a policeman had put out 
 his hand to stop the traffic. The dead Turk 
 seemed to try, even in death, to bar the way to 
 an enemy's approach. 
 
 A very disagreeable feature of trench life is 
 the unpleasant odour of the dead, which pene- 
 trates everywhere, for, of course, when an attack 
 is made by one side or the other hundreds may be 
 killed close to the trenches, and as a rule it is 
 impossible either to rescue the wounded or to 
 bury the dead, because the enemy would inevi- 
 tably shoot down any one attempting such a 
 task. 
 
 One of the very worst trials of trench war- 
 fare is to see the dead body of a comrade lying 
 out in the open, gradually fading away before 
 one's eyes, a mummied hand still clutching the 
 
 [177] 
 
WiriT TTTK ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOIJ 
 
 rifle, tlic helmet n little way olV, Uioking ever so 
 weird in its gruesome surrouiulings. 
 
 AVhile in the trenehes one is, of eourse, suh- 
 jeet nt all times to shells, rifle Are, mine explo- 
 sions, poison gas, bombs, liquid lire, and other 
 diabolieal inventions. The Turks, however, did 
 not use eitlier poison gas or liquid tire, and, of 
 eourse, neither did the British. 
 
 Worst trial of all is the treneh mortar! This 
 venomous weapon sends a bomb weighing a hun- 
 dred pounds or more of the most deadly high ex- 
 j>losive plumb into the midst of a treneh w^th 
 marvellous aecuraey at any range up \o four 
 hundred yards. The vieious thing ean be seen 
 soaring high up into the air, until it reaehes a 
 }ioint direetly overhead, then it hovers for a mo- 
 ment, like a hawk over its prey, and Anally 
 swoi^ps down, pulverising everybody and every- 
 thing near whieh it explodes. 
 
 From my o>\n observation of trench warfare 
 I would say unhesitatingly that no assault should 
 be launehed against the enemy until his trenehes 
 had been thoroughly poundeil to pieces by high 
 explosive, his men demoralised by a constant 
 stream of shells, and all wire entanglements or 
 other barriers swept out of the way of the ad- 
 vance. Then, and then only, should the infantry 
 
 [ITS]* 
 
TRENCH WARFARE 
 
 attack be launched, but before doing so the sup- 
 ports and reserves should be brought up as close 
 as possible to the firing line, because, in these 
 days especially, the speed with which an assault 
 can be reinforced makes all the difference be- 
 tween victory and defeat. 
 
 During the assault the guns should be con- 
 stantly playing on the reserve trenches of the 
 enemy, the counter batteries (i. e., those batteries 
 told off to dominate enemy batteries) firing as 
 fast as they possibly can to keep down enemy 
 shrapnel fire and generally supporting the at- 
 tack in every possible way. Sjiccial groups 
 should always be told off (not single individ- 
 uals) with orders to signal back to the batteries 
 the position which the front line has reached In 
 the assault, otherwise — and I have seen it hap- 
 pen more than once — our own guns will be found 
 playing on our own men. 
 
 It is unwise to trust to telej^hone wires for 
 passing signals back to the batteries, for they are 
 often cut by shells or broken by passing troops. 
 Aeroplanes fitted with wireless are most useful. 
 Another good j^lan is to fasten some very con- 
 spicuous object, such as a large tin disc, to the 
 backs of the men, so that the gunners would al- 
 ways be able to tell at whom they were firing. 
 
 [179] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 The disc should be tied so that the men could 
 switch it round to the front if they were forced 
 to retire. This plan was adopted in Gallipoli 
 towards the end of July with excellent results, 
 for our men could alwaj^s be made out by the 
 flashing of the tin, which, of course, the enemy 
 could not see. 
 
 Bombs should always be carried with the as- 
 saulting colmmis, and the bomb tlu'owers should 
 not be hampered by a rifle, but should only be 
 armed with revolver and bayonet, for when their 
 stock of bombs is expended there are always 
 plenty of rifles lying around belonging to the 
 dead and badly wounded. 
 
 When all these arrangements have been com- 
 pleted, and a combined attack is made with shells, 
 machine-guns, rifle fire, trench mortars, poison 
 gas, liquid fire, etc., the attack is almost certain 
 to succeed at some point or other, and once the 
 defender's line is broken his whole line is threat- 
 ened, and if the reserves are brought up and 
 poured quickly enough into the breach, so as to 
 get a wedge in between the enemy's forces, his 
 army can then be smashed up in detail and a 
 great victory won. 
 
 Cavaby can then burst through and once more 
 come into their own by playing havoc with the 
 
 [180] 
 
TRENCH WARFARE 
 
 enemy's line of communication. Of course, in 
 Gallipoli we had no Cavalry; at least, such 
 mounted men as we had came as Infantry with- 
 out horses ! and I must say that they fought well, 
 those yeomen from Bucks and Kent — the only 
 pity is that we did not have more of them. 
 When we did make a breach in the enemy's line, 
 we never had enough troops to push tlirough and 
 so ensure a crushing victory. 
 
 [181] 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 GUNS AND STATF 
 
 The losses which we suffered in every attack on 
 the Turkish trenches were very severe, and it was 
 painful to see our men frittered away time after 
 time in these hopeless assaults on what had now 
 become an impregnable position — impregnable 
 at all events to such forces as we could launch to 
 the attack. Our casualties at the original land- 
 ing had reduced the 29th Division to a mere skele- 
 ton. 3Iany of the Battalions were not a com- 
 pany strong and had scarcely any officers left, 
 and it was fomid necessary to join the renmants 
 of two or three together to make one rather weak 
 Battalion. The Dublins and 3Iunsters were 
 thus linked up together and were officially known 
 as the "Dubsters." 
 
 Reinforcements only came in by driblets, and 
 as they came they were eaten up in futile attacks 
 on the strong' trenches which the Turks had mean- 
 Mhile, with great energy, dug right across the 
 Peninsula. 
 
 We were never really strong enough to under- 
 take a serious offensive, and our guns never had 
 
 [lS-2] 
 
GUNS AND STAFF 
 
 ammunition enough to prepare the way properly 
 by a devastating bombardment. Half an hour 
 or an hour was usually about all we were able to 
 do in the way of knocking the Turkish trenches 
 about with high explosive, whereas these same 
 trenches needed a steady rain of shells for several 
 days to crumple them up and destroy the scores 
 of machine-guns which bristled everywhere. 
 Trench warfare seemed to have taken us com- 
 pletely by surprise ; we were without trench mor- 
 tars, but luckily were able to borrow some from 
 the French; neither had we any bombs or hand 
 grenades, except such as we could manufacture 
 locally out of jam tins! 
 
 No battery commander was allowed to fire a 
 single round unless he had first obtained permis- 
 sion from his Brigadier, and even when a couple 
 of battalions of Turkish troops well within range 
 could be observed marching in column, the Briga- 
 dier was compelled to limit the battery to two 
 rounds only, for to such dire straits were we re- 
 duced owing to lack of ammunition! 
 
 Even with the slight support given by the guns 
 I have seen our gallant fellows time after time 
 leap out of their trenches and, in an irresistible 
 onslaught with the bayonet, sweep over trench 
 upon trench full of Turkish soldiers. Nowhere 
 
 [183] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX UAl llTOll 
 
 could the eiioiny stand up to our men in the open. 
 as '^rss proveii over and over again in the early 
 days of the llglit Wfore tlu y t<.vk to tronoh war- 
 fare. If only we had had enoug^li anmiunition 
 and one more Division, ei^ual to the *29th. we 
 would have retrieved the initial mistake of land- 
 ing at llelles, and have swept the Turks over 
 Aohi Baba from their positions nnmd the Xar- 
 n^ws, and Constantinople itself would have boon 
 in our grip within a month. 
 
 But, alas! we hadn't the ammunition and we 
 liadn't the men; and when the Turks t«.x^k to mole 
 tactics, and pro>teetod their fn^nt with those two 
 hiventions of the Evil One — barl>ed wire and 
 machine-gims — o>ur ease. c<.>nsidering the means 
 at our disposal, was a hopeless one. 
 
 During a lierce battle which toe<k place in June. 
 I was standing close to one of our batteries in 
 position, just south of the Pink Farm, and what 
 a c<.^ntrast it was to see these guns in action after 
 having repeatedly watched the French .7»>s! 
 Here was no smixtth barrel-recoil, but a clumsy 
 spade stuck in the gnnrnd to prevent the piece 
 fn^n kieking. Whenever the gun was tm\l it 
 jumped baek like a bueking broncho, necessitat- 
 ing tlie relaying of the gun after each shot. 
 
 AVe have better guns than that now, of course. 
 
 [1S41 
 
GUNS AND STAFF 
 
 but with all our niccliaulcjil sujjcriority and ine- 
 chttuic'ul resources we should years ago have had 
 a gun o(|ual, or superior, to the French .7^). Of 
 course there is no use in lun Ing a (|uiek-(iilng gnu 
 if you cannot have nionnlnins of aniniunitiou 
 alongside of it, and this ])oinl should never be 
 lost sight of by the Stall", whose duty it is to look 
 al'ter such matters. 
 
 As we were very short of high explosive shells 
 the battery av;is not doing a great deal of firing, 
 and in the lull a SlalT Oilieer rode up and told 
 the l^attery Connnander to lay his guns on to 
 some Turks whom he pointed out, saying they 
 were threatening our line. 
 
 Now I had been watching this part of the bat- 
 tlefield most carefully through my glasses, and I 
 had seen our own men advance and go into the 
 l)osition which the Staff Officer said was held by 
 the Turks. I overheard his instructions to the 
 gunner officer, so I called out: *'Those are our 
 men, not Turks 1" However, in spite of my 
 warning, a coui)le of roimds were loosed off, and 
 they Avcre only too well placed, for they cxplodeil 
 among our unfortunate troops, doing, no doubt, 
 a considerable amount of damage, because, in a 
 moment, a wrathful telephone message came to 
 the Battery Commander telling him to cease fire 
 
 [185] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 iiistantly, on which the discreet Staff Officer 
 made a hurried departure. 
 
 While we had some excellent Staff Officers, 
 there were others not exactly noted for their bril- 
 liancy, and no doubt the Turks saw that some of 
 our "regrettable incidents" were due to bad Staff 
 work, and the following story was vouched for 
 by the Peninsula wag. 
 
 It had been noted with some surprise that, 
 though the Turkish sniper exacted his toll from 
 all other ranks, the Staff appeared to be immune. 
 At last the mystery was solved when one of these 
 sharpshooters was captured, for on being asked 
 how it was that the Staff always escaped, he 
 replied: "Oh, well, you see, I get five shillings 
 for every private I shoot, ten shillings for every 
 sergeant, a pound for every officer, but if I were 
 to shoot a Staff' Officer I would be shot myself!" 
 
 I need hardly say that these merry quips made 
 at the expense of the Staff by our frolicsome wits 
 should be taken with a grain of salt. So far as 
 my own experience goes, the Staff Officers of the 
 29th Division, and, later, of the 8tli Army Corps, 
 were all that could be desired, and at them no such 
 gibe could be levelled. All those with whom I 
 came in contact were very much all there at then* 
 respective jobs. 
 
 [186] 
 
GUNS AND STAFF 
 
 There is no doubt, however, that there is some 
 reason for the general lack of confidence in the 
 Staff. Responsible positions are unfortunately 
 too often given to most unsuitable men, with re- 
 grettable results. 
 
 Glaring instances of jobbery and favouritism 
 are so universally known that it is unnecessary to 
 quote exami)les. Puck must be having the time 
 of his life. If only our responsible administra- 
 tors would for the future abjure nepotism (vain 
 wish!) and give proved talent a chance, we should, 
 I am convinced, have something better to show 
 than "strategic retreats" and "brilliant evacua- 
 tions." 
 
 I am reminded of an incident that occurred 
 when I was staying with Colonel Roosevelt 
 during the time he was President of the United 
 States. An influential and well-known Senator 
 came into the room while I was there, and urged 
 on the President the claims of a protege of his to 
 a post as Mining Inspector. President Roose- 
 velt's reply impressed me very much: "Well, 
 Senator, if your man is the best Mining Engi- 
 neer that can be found in the United States he 
 shall get the job, but not otherwise; he will have 
 the lives of men in his hands." 
 
 Mark this, ye jobbites of England! 
 [187] 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 VISITS TO THE TRENCHES 
 
 During one of the hot June days Gye and I 
 paid a visit to Colonel Bruce and his Gurkhas, 
 who were holding the left of the hne down by the 
 iEgean Sea. 
 
 The Gurkhas have done some splendid work 
 in the Peninsula. They are in their element 
 when out at night doing reconnoitring work. 
 Bruce told me of the valuable report brought in 
 by one of his X. C. O.'s, on the strength of which 
 he took his men up the side of a cliff and was able 
 to surprise and drive the Turks out of a very 
 strong position which it was of prime importance 
 we should hold. Other troops had several times 
 attempted this feat, but failed because they at- 
 tacked in the open, while the Gurkhas succeeded 
 owing to good reconnoitring work. 
 
 The night previous to our visit the Turks had 
 made a most determined attack on the Gurkhas, 
 and the Gurkhas asked for no better sport. 
 Flares, shot up by our officers, showed the Turks 
 advancing m regular parade formation in hne of 
 
 [iss] 
 
VISITS TO THE TRENCHES 
 
 columns. As soon as the Turks saw that they 
 had been observed, they charged, yelhng their 
 war cry: "Allah, Allah!" The Gurkhas waited 
 patiently, lining the trenches as thickly as they 
 could stand. They allowed the Turks to ap- 
 proach within about fifty yards of them and then 
 opened such a hurricane of rifle and machine-gun 
 fire that the Turks were absolutely crumpled up 
 in ranks as they stood. The fury of the Gurkhas 
 was now thoroughly aroused and, the reserves 
 having been brought up, the whole brigade made 
 such an onslaught that practically not a single 
 Turk out of that huge attacking force ever got 
 back to his own trench. 
 
 When Rolo and I viewed the battlefield within 
 a few hours of the fight, there were still some 
 wounded to be seen in the intervening ground be- 
 tween the two forces, while in regular battle array 
 lay line upon line of Turkish dead, silent wit- 
 nesses to the terribly accurate fire poured into 
 them by the Gurkhas. They are brave fellows, 
 those Turks, and it was a sad sight to see so many 
 gallant men laid low. 
 
 No doubt in revenge for the defeat they had 
 suffered the previous night, the Turks were bom- 
 barding the Gurkha lines vigorously, and while I 
 was there they landed a big "Black Maria" shell 
 
 [189] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLl 
 
 underneath a little fellow who was squatting on 
 his heels outside his dug-out. Tt was an extraor- 
 dinary sight to see him shoot down the hill in this 
 position and land some forty feet away in a 
 elump o^ bushes, from whieh he emerged not 
 mueh the worse for his involunt^iry flight. 
 
 The Gurkhas, in one o\' their pi*evious attacks 
 on the heights occupied hy the Turks, were held 
 up by some barbed wire and had to retire. A 
 private soldier, however, chose to remain behind, 
 ensconced under the scanty protection of a cou- 
 ple of knapsacks, which he pulled together from 
 those strewn round, thinking that he could hold 
 his own until another assault was delivered by 
 his comrades, when he would join them. Xo 
 comrades came, however, so he found himself 
 unable to move without beino- observed. He 
 therefore pretended to be dead and lay abso- 
 lutely still for hours, not even daring to move 
 his head, except, when his neck got very stitf, 
 and then only by pushing his hat up a fraction of 
 an inch, so that he might slowly twist his head in- 
 side it without showing any movement. At last 
 he could stand the strain no longer, so he leaped 
 up. raced in a zig-zag to his own trenches amid a 
 hail of bullets, and, carefully avoiding a low spot 
 where the Turks had concentrated their tire, ex- 
 
 [IPO] 
 
VISITS TO THE TRENCHES 
 
 pecting him to go in that way, he leaped over the 
 higliest part of the parajiet and eseaped scot-free. 
 
 I saw tliis httle fellow a few hours after his 
 exploit and he looked as though he had thoroughly 
 enjoyed the adventure. 
 
 A few days after the big Turkish assault I was 
 again on my way to this part of the line, when I 
 hajjpened to meet General de IJsle, and, on men- 
 tioning that I was going to see Colonel Bruee, he 
 told me I would not find him, for he had been 
 wounded on the jirevious night by a bomb, while 
 gallantly leading his men. 
 
 I had several friends in the Inniskilling Fusi- 
 liers and frequently I eame across them in my 
 journeys to and from the Gurkha lines. As a 
 rule, they held the trenches to the right of the lit- 
 tle brown men from Nepaul. 
 
 I always made a point, when I was anywhere 
 near, of looking up Captain Gordon Tillie. He 
 was now practically the only officer left of the 
 Inniskillings who had taken part in the original 
 landing and had, so far, escaped scot-free. I was 
 hopeful that his luck would see him through, be- 
 cause he had only been married a few days before 
 he left England for the front, and I knew his wife 
 very well, and had promised her to look him up 
 whenever I had an opportunity. 
 
 [191] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Just before the 29tli Division went to Suvla, 
 Gye and I paid him a visit, while he was holding 
 the front trenches, and, sad to say, this was the 
 last occasion on which I ever saw Gordon Tillie. 
 He took us along that portion of the trench for 
 which his company was responsible, and showed 
 us the various points of interest in the Turkish 
 hne, which, at this particular place, was some- 
 times parallel, and sometimes almost at right 
 angles to our trenches, and in places only a dozen 
 yards distant. l^Hien I was leaving him he cau- 
 tioned me to be careful of a certain part of the 
 trench we should have to pass through, as he said 
 it was exposed to the Turkish guns and they often 
 gave it a ''strafing." JNIy parting remark to him 
 was : "Take care they don't 'strafe' you." 
 
 Of course, shells were dropping here and there 
 all the time from the Turkish gims, and they were 
 paying some attention to the piece of dangerous 
 trench which Gye and I were bound to go 
 through, so, saying to him: "Let's make a bolt 
 for it," we started off at our best pace, but before 
 we got through we had to lie down in the bottom 
 of the trench to escape a couple of shells which 
 burst all round us and knocked to pieces the sand- 
 bag parapet protecting our heads. 
 
 Gordon Tillie's friendly warning may have 
 
 [192] 
 
VISITS TO THE TRENCHES 
 
 saved our lives, and it is a nice thought, for, soon 
 afterwards, the 29th Division were sent to Suvla, 
 and there Captain TiUie was killed while gal- 
 lantly leading his company up the slopes of Sari 
 Bair — a brave soldier, as Sir Ian Hamilton testi- 
 fies in his Suvla Bay Despatch. 
 
 I often made an expedition to visit a friend, 
 only to find, when I got there, that he had perhaps 
 been killed the day before, or else had been sent 
 off to hospital badly wounded, and it was sad to 
 see how one's friends gradually got thinned off. 
 Many of them lay buried all round. One would 
 suddenly be startled by coming across a freshly- 
 dug grave in some sheltered little nook by the 
 wayside and learn for the first time, from the rude 
 cross erected over it, that one's friend lay there. 
 But war is war, and as a shell or bullet may come 
 at any moment and bring sudden death with it to 
 one's self, one gets used to the idea, and somehow 
 it does not seem so dreadful. Many of us often 
 escaped by the merest chance. In my own case 
 the turning aside to pluck a flower, or straying a 
 little from the path to get a better view of a sun- 
 set, was the chance that prevented Death from 
 finding me, because more than once I have seen a 
 shell explode and excavate a huge hole on the 
 exact spot where, had I not turned aside, I would 
 
 [193] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 undoubtedly have been standing. Yes, indeed, 
 in those days, one often heard, sounding softly 
 in one's ears, the faint rustle of the wings of the 
 Angel of Death. 
 
 I do not know whether the Turks had any par- 
 ticular spite against my Zionists, but they cer- 
 tainh gave us more than our fair share of shells. 
 One afternoon they began a bombardment and 
 plumped a shell into a bank on which sat a Zion 
 man. Private Scorobogaty. The explosion sent 
 him some feet into the air, but, beyond the bruise 
 and shock, he suffered no damage. The next 
 shell dropped plump in the middle of our little 
 supply of stores, within six feet of the door of our 
 dugout, and sent everything flying through 
 space. A third shot plunged into the roots of a 
 tree which stood close to our lines, bj^ which the 
 trumpeter of L Battery, R. H. A., was standing. 
 He heard the shell coming, and, without any 
 particular reason, but luckity for him, he made a 
 dive to the right instead of to the left, and so 
 escaped for the moment. Next afternoon at 
 tea-time another shell came, cut the same tree 
 clean in two, wounding the trumpeter and two 
 other men of L Battery, who were having their 
 tea in its shade. 
 
 [194] 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 FLIES, DUST AND BATTLE 
 
 July was a scorching month, and to add to the 
 discomfort of heat there was a plague of flies; 
 flies, flies, flies everywhere, and I have no doubt 
 that they were responsible for the serious epi- 
 demics which broke out among the troops. 
 Doubtless it was the self -same pestilence which 
 Homer tells us attacked the Grecian Army 
 camped round Troy, and which they attributed to 
 the anger of Apollo, though none of our mules 
 suffered as did those of the Greeks. 
 
 These flies were disgusting, horrible pests, for 
 they would come straight from the rotting 
 corpses of the Turks, which lay in unburied hun- 
 dreds in front of our trenches, and blacken every 
 scrap of food on which they could obtain a foot- 
 hold. The only way to get a clean bite into one's 
 mouth, without taking the flies with it, was to 
 blow vigorously all the time until the lips had 
 actually closed on the morsel, and even then 
 these pests would hover round, waiting for a 
 chance opening to dart in and chase it down. 
 
 [195] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 The dust, too, in these days was very trying, for 
 the whole peninsula was now one vast dust heap, 
 which the slightest wind would swirl about in 
 blinding, choking clouds. I noticed that on sev- 
 eral occasions oiu* men had to do battle with this 
 dust storm blowing directly in their eyes, so that 
 it was impossible to see anything in front of them, 
 while the Tm*ks, with their backs to it, could see 
 our men coming along plainly enough and could 
 slate them at their leisure. I always found, as 
 was to be expected, that when we foolishly at- 
 tacked on such days as these we etfected nothing 
 bevond gettin^: oui'selves killed. The Tin-ks 
 must have marvelled at our blind folly. 
 
 I well remember that one of our most success- 
 ful battles was fought on a day when the wmd 
 carried the dust nito the faces of the Turks; to- 
 wards the close of this tight I saw a couple of 
 battahons go right through and over all the 
 Turkish trenches within sight, and then get en- 
 gulfed in a great ravine on the very slope of 
 Achi Baba itself, where they wei-e hidden from 
 view, and then I saw thousands of Turks stream 
 do\^^l tlu'ough conunmiication trenches on each 
 side of oiu* men, filling the trenches in their rear, 
 as could be plainly seen by the bristling bayonets 
 which showed above the parapets. 
 
 [196] 
 
FLIES, DUST AND BATTLE 
 
 I felt that these two hattalions were lost, as in- 
 deed they were for two or three days, but some- 
 how or other, after some extraordinary hide-and- 
 seek experiences among the Turkish trenches, 
 they fought their way back again, clearing the 
 Turks out of their path, in hand-to-hand fight- 
 ing, as they hacked their way back to our own 
 lines. 
 
 A friend of mine, Captain Braham of the 6th 
 Manchesters, had a narrow escape on one occasion 
 when he made an attempt to lead his men in an 
 assault. Being short of ammunition for the 
 guns, the Turkish trenches had not been properly 
 bombarded; Turkish machine-guns and riflemen 
 were still in position, ready to mow our men down 
 the moment they leaped from their trenches. 
 This was tlie fate which overtook the 6th Man- 
 chesters; they were practically cut to pieces before 
 they had advanced more than a dozen yards from 
 their lines, and the few survivors thought it 
 wiser to get back to cover as quickly as possible. 
 Captain Braham, however, tried to rally them out 
 of the trench again, and at that moment, while 
 standing on the parapet, a bullet struck his knap- 
 sack, cut through the buckle, a box of chocolate 
 and a tin-opener. The tin-opener diverted the 
 bullet out through the bottom of the haversack by 
 
 [197] 
 
WITH THE ZIOXISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 his heels, but the impact of it was so great that it 
 knocked him off the parapet into the trench, as if 
 he had been struck with a sledge hanmier. He 
 told me afterwards that he did not know at the 
 time what had knocked him over, and it was not 
 until he had removed his haversack that the mys- 
 tery was explained. 
 
 During one of these dog days Rolo and I went 
 as far forward as it was possible to go, so that we 
 might get a close view of a battle which was to 
 begin at 11 a. m. on the 12th of July. 
 
 Punctually to the minute our guns crashed out 
 along the line and pounded away steadily for an 
 hour. Then we watched the attack, and what im- 
 pressed me in this battle, as it did also in others, 
 was the inadequate force with which we attempted 
 to take the offensive. A line of our men would 
 dash forward, take two or three Turkish 
 trenches, losing perhaps half its effective 
 streng-th in so doing, and then find itself too weak 
 to do more than hold on, and very often they 
 could not even do tliat. There seemed to be no 
 regular system of sending line after hne at inter- 
 vals into the fight. I know that this was ar- 
 ranged for in orders, but it did not always come 
 off, and the men who had, with such gallantry and 
 at such a cost, taken the trenches, would be forced 
 
 [198] 
 
FIJKS, DUST AND JiA^I'l'I.K 
 
 out of them in a counter-attack by overwhelming 
 nurnhers of Turk.s, and, in getting hack to their 
 own h"ne.s, would again lose heavily. 
 
 'J'o ohtain a view of the hattlefield from a dif- 
 ferent point we made our way along a communi- 
 cation trench, and here our interest in the fight in 
 the front was abruptly switched oflp and centred 
 on ourselves, for the Turks had spotted a Bat- 
 talion of fianeashire J^'usilicrs corning along to 
 reinforce the firing line, and they tinned a most 
 deadly and accurate fire upon us from the Turk- 
 ish guns. Shells hopped from the parapets or 
 broke them in all round us, crashed over our 
 heads, and even plumped right into the trench 
 itself, sending men fiyirjg in all directions. 
 
 The Jianeashire Fusiliers had, therefore, to 
 halt and take cover under the lee of the parapet, 
 and during this time one of the men asked Claude 
 Rolo what his job was in these parts, for, being 
 in our shirt-sleeves, and pretty grimy with dust 
 and with climbing about the trenches, he could 
 not make out who or what we were. 
 
 When llolo replied: "Oh, I've only come to 
 see the show," *'0h, Hell," said the Ijancashire 
 man, "you must be mad to come to a show like 
 this on your own." 
 
 I felt very sorry for the poor lads when they 
 
 [199] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX G.VLLIPOLI 
 
 tinally marched off. The day was hot enough to 
 make one feel that the only way to keep cool was 
 to sit in one's bones under the shade of a tree, and 
 yet here were tliese Lancasliire men loaded down 
 with the whole weight of their packs — food, am- 
 munition, blanket, belts, bayonet and rrfle — 
 marching on through this infernal heat to a 
 bloody combat, where they would have to put 
 fortli all their efforts in getting rapidly across the 
 fire-swept ground, plunge into and out of deep 
 trenches, and, in addition, grapple hand to hand 
 with no mean foe. 
 
 Some things are more than hmnan nature can 
 stand. You cannot overload the soldier, and 
 then expect him to pull his full weight in battle 
 with the broiling sun burning out his throat. 
 
 The Lancashire lads were soon in the thick of 
 the fight, and a great many never again needed 
 the shelter of a friendly trench. 
 
 We lost a few prisoners to the Turks in this 
 battle owing to exhaustion, and it is a comfort to 
 know that our gallant enemies treat such men of 
 ours as fall into their hands with kinthiess. I 
 never heard anything but praise for the Turk and 
 tlie way he played the game. I only knew of one 
 case of a prisoner being mutilated, and this may 
 have been the work of a German, for the victim 
 
 [200] 
 
FLIES, DUST AND BATTLE 
 
 was a Sikh, and died before any evidence could 
 be taken. The Turk is a clean fighter, and more 
 than once they have pointed out to us that they 
 would be glad if wc would move a hospital ship a 
 little further from the transports, for they feared 
 that in firing at the latter they might hit the hos- 
 pital, and, so far as the records go, this is more 
 than would have been done by the Germans. 
 
 Among the prisoners taken in one of these bat- 
 tles were some German sailors from the Goehen, 
 who had been working the machine-guns. When 
 taken they had no more ammunition left, their 
 officer and many others had been killed, and their 
 position was quite hopeless, so they gladly sur- 
 rendered. They looked crestfallen and sullen 
 when I saw them as prisoners on their way to the 
 beach. 
 
 During these hot July days the Turkish shells 
 would often set fire to the dried-up gorse and 
 bracken near our lines, and, as the wind usually 
 came from the north, I have seen a raging line of 
 fire, hundreds of yards long, with flames forty 
 feet high, roaring and crackling down to our 
 trenches. 
 
 Our men, however, had taken the precaution of 
 cutting gorse down in front, so that the fire never 
 actually overwhelmed our lines. 
 
 [201] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 The Turks did not lack initiative; their sni- 
 pers gave us a considerable amount of trouble all 
 the time we were on the Peninsula. Two of 
 these men obtained some celebrity by their daring 
 and originality. They actually concealed them- 
 selves between some of our guns, and before they 
 were hmited down and shot they had killed and 
 wounded several of our officers and men. They 
 were painted green all over, face, hands, clothes, 
 and even their rifles, while little green bushes, 
 similar to the gorse around, were tied to their 
 heads. 
 
 Their sense of humour showed itself in some 
 rather quaint ways. Once, when a bomb was 
 thrown over a barricade by a French soldier, hit- 
 ting a Turk on the head without exploding, the 
 latter shouted back "Assassin, Assassin!" On 
 another occasion, on the completion of one of the 
 heaviest bombardments to which we had sub- 
 jected their trenches — a perfect storm of shells 
 from field guns, siege guns, howitzers and battle- 
 ships — as soon as the firing ceased and the dust 
 cleared awaj% a huge placard was slowly raised 
 from the front trench, on which was printed in 
 large letters "No Casualties." 
 
 [202] 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 WORK OF THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 During all these battles in May, June and July, 
 the Zion men and mules were kept steadily at 
 work, and wherever they went it was gratifying 
 to know that they performed their duties satisfac- 
 toril}^ Sometimes little parties of them would 
 be attached to different battalions, and when 
 their tour of a week or ten days' duty was over 
 they would invariably bring back a letter from 
 the Transport Officer to say how well the men 
 had worked, and how well they had behaved when 
 under fire. I have dozens of such letters, which 
 testify to their good work and how well they got 
 on with their British comrades, with whom they 
 were great favourites; the party commanded by 
 Corporal Nehemiah Yahuda was always in great 
 request, as this bright, cheery young N. C. O. had 
 a happy knack of inspiring his men with his own 
 zeal for work and devotion to duty, regardless of 
 all danger. 
 
 Sometimes while away from Headquarters on 
 
 [203] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 these detached duties a iiian would get killed. 
 His comrades always brought the body back to 
 canip, and then the whole Corps attended the 
 funeral, which was a very solemn ceremony. 
 Over the grave of each hero whom we buried in 
 Gallipoli was erected a little memorial, the Shield 
 of David, with his name and the date of his death 
 engraved underneath. Nothing brought the old 
 days of the Bible back more vividly to my mind 
 than to see, when one of my Zion men was 
 wounded, how his friends would literally fall on 
 his neck, weep, and embrace him most tenderly. 
 The outward expression of such emotion as I 
 have witnessed is of com'se impossible for us 
 Westerners, but I doubt if our feelings are not 
 harrowed all the more by the rigid restraint which 
 we perforce place on them. 
 
 The gallant Captain Trumpledor differed 
 from his compatriots in this respect, and I never 
 once saw him give way to any of these emotions. 
 On the contrary, he would remark to me over 
 the body of a badly wounded Zionist: "Ken, 
 ken! (Hebrew for "Yes, yes!") A la guerre 
 eommc a la guerre T And I must say that he 
 himself bore a bullet W'omid through his shoulder 
 w^itli the greatest fortitude, carrying out his 
 duties as if nothing had happened and absolutely 
 
 [201] 
 
WORK OF THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 refusing to go into hospital. I am glad to say 
 he made a speedy and good recovery. 
 
 A couple of my Zionists were not quite so brave 
 as the Captain, for I observed them one day, when 
 we were being somewhat heavily shelled, making 
 tracks for the beach for all they were worth. 
 
 Their flight reminded me of a story which I had 
 heard, of an Irish soldier at the Battle of the 
 Boyne, who, relating to a friend how his Captain, 
 before leading them to the charge, said: "Now, 
 boys, strike for your King, your country, and 
 your home." "Some of the fools," said the Irish- 
 man, "struck for their King and country, but I 
 struck for home!" 
 
 I am glad to say that the valour shown by some 
 of my men made up for the lack of it shown by 
 others. No one could be a braver or a better sol- 
 dier than Nissel Rosenberg, who, through shot 
 and shell, led his mules with their loads of ammu- 
 nition right into the firing line, when all others, 
 both Jewish and British — for both were there — 
 made a strategic and hurried movement to the 
 rear. I was watching this myself, and, as I con- 
 sidered it very plucky of him to go forward with 
 his much-needed loads of ammunition, while men 
 were being killed all round him, I recommended 
 him for the D. C. M., a distinction he well de- 
 
 [205] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 serves. He escaped all wounds that day, but a 
 fortnight later, when agam on his way to the 
 trenches, he was severely ^vounded by a piece of 
 shell; I am glad to say he made a good recov- 
 ery and is still going strong. In appreciation of 
 his gallant services, I promoted him to the rank 
 of sergeant. 
 
 It must not be supposed that we only came 
 under fire on specific occasions. It broke upon 
 us at all times, night and day, without warning. 
 In these '"strafes," as we used to call them, many 
 men and mules were killed and wounded. 
 
 During one such "strafe," I can even now see 
 Gye and myself running across a couple of hun- 
 dred yards of fire-swept ground to the rescue of 
 two stricken men, and I should not like to say the 
 number of times we both had to throw ourselves 
 down and grovel on the ground, while shells 
 plunged round us, making holes big enough for 
 our graves and covering us with dirt and gravel. 
 We luckily got through without a scratch and 
 helped to get the wounded men removed, as fast 
 as ever we could, out of danger. 
 
 Both were very badly injured, and I never 
 expected to see either of them alive again; one, 
 indeed, Corporal Frank Abraliam, died soon 
 
 [206] 
 
WORK OF THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 after we got him to the hospital; the other, who 
 seemed even more severely wounded, with two 
 bullets through his back, and his thigh smashed to 
 pulp, I was surprised to find in a fair way to re- 
 covery, when I visited my sick and wounded men 
 in hospital during a recruiting trip to Alexandria. 
 The poor fellow, when he saw me, seized my hand 
 and embarrassed me by covering it with kisses, 
 saying that but for my lifting him out of that dan- 
 gerous fire-zone he would certainly have been 
 killed. I was surprised to see that the man re- 
 membered that I had been there to help him, as 
 he was in such agony at the time that I did not 
 think he would have remembered or known what 
 was going on around him. I reminded him that 
 he owed quite as much gratitude to Lieutenant 
 Gye as to me, for we had both helped to get him 
 away. 
 
 I must mention here, however, that, as a rule, 
 Gye would take on much greater risks to rescue 
 a mule than a man, for which on one occasion he 
 was highly commended by General Hunter- Wes- 
 ton. 
 
 Many of the Zionists whom I had thought 
 somewhat lacking in courage showed themselves 
 fearless to a degree when under heavy fire, while 
 
 [207] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Captain Triinipledor actually revelled in it, and 
 the hotter it became the more he liked it, and 
 would remark: "All, it is now plus gai!'* 
 
 It must not be supposed that all the Zionists 
 were saints, or that I did not have my times of 
 trouble and difficulty with them, because some 
 would occasionally murmur and hanker after the 
 "flesh-pots of Egypt." They were, indeed, true 
 descendants of those forefathers of theirs who 
 wandered in the wilderness, and whom INIoses had 
 so often to chide severel}- for their stiff -necked- 
 ness. Xow jMoses, in his dealings with his trou- 
 blesome children, had a tremendous pull over me, 
 because, when my men grumbled about lack of 
 water, I could strike no rock and make it gush 
 forth for them, neither when the meat and food 
 were scarce could I call down manna or quails 
 from Heaven, nor was there any black cloud to 
 interpose and hide us from the devastating fire 
 of our enemy. Although JNIoses had these Divine 
 aids, yet his task in shepherding over half a mil- 
 lion of people through a barren wilderness was 
 truty gigantic and could only be compared to 
 mine as the ocean to a bucket of water ; with that 
 great example before me I felt it was up to me 
 not to fail in shepherding through our trials the 
 little host confided to my charge, so, like Father 
 
 [208] 
 
WORK OF THE ZION MULE CORPS 
 
 O'Flynn with his flock, I kept my children in 
 order by: 
 
 "Checkin' the crazy ones, 
 Coaxin' unaisy ones, 
 Liftin' the lazy ones on with the stick." 
 
 I found that the racial characteristic of the Is- 
 raelite made it necessary to hold him in with a 
 thread light as silk and yet strong as a steel cable, 
 and it required a tremendous amount of tact and 
 personal influence to weather the various little 
 storms which sometimes threatened to wreck our 
 family life. 
 
 There was great excitement amongst the Zion- 
 ists when I told them that the much coveted re- 
 ward for bravery, the Distinguished Conduct 
 Medal, had arrived from England for Corporal 
 Groushkousky, and had been forwarded to me by 
 the Commander-in-Chief. The Corps was pa- 
 raded in the afternoon and marched to the Head- 
 quarters Camp, where General Stopford, the 
 General Officer in Temporary Command of the 
 8th Army Corps, inspected the men, shook hands 
 with all the officers and finally had Corporal 
 Groushkousky out to the front, and, after con- 
 gratulating him warmly on his gallant action, 
 pinned the medal on his breast. 
 
 [209] 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE AUSTRALIANS AND NE^V ZEALANDEBS 
 
 Towards the end of July, owing to the numbers 
 killed, wounded and in hospital, the Corps was 
 reduced to less than half its strength, and as, at 
 that time, we had no depot in Egypt to send us 
 recruits, it was obvious that, in the course of an- 
 other couple of months, this interesting and useful 
 unit would cease to exist, if the present rate of 
 casualties continued. The reduced strength of 
 the Corps having come to the knowledge of Sir 
 Ian Hamilton, I was ordered to proceed to Im- 
 bros and report to General Headquarters there. 
 I had an interview with the Commander-in-Chief, 
 and the result was that I was commissioned to go 
 to Alexandria, and, if possible, recruit two fresH 
 troops of Israelites in Egypt, and there establish 
 a Recruiting and base depot for the Corps. 
 
 A considerable stir had been created through- 
 out the Jewish world when it became kno^^Tl that 
 there was, for the first time in British history, a 
 Jewish unit fighting side by side with British sol- 
 diers; and there is no doubt that the sympathy of 
 
 [210] 
 
AUSTRALIANS, NEW ZEALANDERS 
 
 Jews for the Allies was considerably fostered by 
 the presence of this unit fighting in their ranks. 
 
 In proof of this I received letters from Jews, 
 and, indeed, from Gentiles, too, from all parts of 
 the world, letters which showed a deep interest in, 
 and sympathy for, this Jewish fighting unit. 
 
 Perhaps the most prominent Gentile from 
 whom I heard was Colonel Roosevelt. I only 
 wish I could publish his heartening letter, but at 
 least I may mention that he was anxious to know 
 if my men made good soldiers, because a relative 
 of his was in command of a battery of artillery 
 in one of the Southern States, and he had reported 
 to the ex-President that, curiously enough, part of 
 it was entirely composed of Jews, who were 
 among the most efficient soldiers in the whole bat- 
 tery. 
 
 During my interview with Sir Ian Hamilton, 
 I brought these facts to his knowledge, but I 
 found that he was already well informed of the in- 
 terest and sympathy which the Zion Mule Corps 
 had aroused among the neutral Jews of the world, 
 as he himself had received letters from prominent 
 Israelites in America, and, among others, one 
 from the editor of the New York Jewish news- 
 paper. The Day, asking if such a unit really 
 existed. 
 
 [211] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Sir Ian Hamilton's reply, which appeared in 
 The Day, is as follows: 
 
 General Headquarters, 
 Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. 
 
 It may interest j^ou to know that I have here, fight- 
 ing under my orders, a purely Jewish unit. As far as 
 I know, this is the first time in the Christian era that 
 such a thing has happened. 
 
 The men who compose it were cruelly driven out of 
 Jerusalem hj the Turks, and arrived in Egypt, with 
 their families, absolutely destitute and starving. 
 
 A complete transport Corps was there raised from 
 them, for voluntary service with me against the Turks, 
 whom they naturally detest. 
 
 These troops were officially described as the *'Zion 
 Mule Corps," and the officers and rank and file have 
 shown great courage in taking water, supplies and am- 
 munition up to the fighting line under heav}' fire. One 
 of the private soldiers has been specially recommended 
 by me for gallantry and has duly received from the 
 King the Distinguished Conduct Medal. 
 
 It will therefore be seen that, in my endeavours 
 to keep the Corps alive, I had a powerful ally in 
 Sir Ian Hamilton. 
 
 I was the guest of the Headquarters Staff in 
 Imbros for a few days, so that I had an oppor- 
 tunity of studying its ways at close quarters. 
 There was certainly no slacking here. Work 
 seemed to go on da)^ and night, and the food and 
 
 [212] 
 
AUSTRALIANS, NEW ZEALANDERS 
 
 drink were almost spartan in their simplicity, 
 practically nothing but the rations which were 
 served out to the troojjs, officers and men ahke. 
 
 I have heard some criticism levelled at the Gen- 
 eral for being camped away from the Army, on a 
 secluded island, but, in my humble opinion, it was 
 by far the best position for the Headquarters 
 Staff and the Commander-in-Chief, because, ow- 
 ing to the unfortunate division of the Mediter- 
 ranean Expeditionary Force into two parts, he 
 was more in touch, from Imbros, with Anzac and 
 Ilelles than he could have been in any other 
 place. 
 
 Of course, had the Army been all together, I 
 think to be with it would be the right place for 
 the Commander-in-Chief. It may suit the tem- 
 perament of the Japanese soldier to have his chief 
 hidden miles away from the battlefield, but I do 
 not think that this plan fits in with the tempera- 
 ment of the British soldier. He likes to see his 
 General, and he likes to know that his General 
 sees him, and realises from personal contact the 
 nature of the task he is asking his men to per- 
 form. 
 
 While I was at Imbros, I made an expedition 
 across the island over hill and dale to the opposite 
 shore, and it was curious to see the old-world way 
 
 [213] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 in which the Greeks, who inhabit the island, hve 
 in these modern, hustling days. There I saw two 
 women grinding at the mill, and the oxen tread- 
 ing out the corn, just as they did thousands of 
 years ago throughout all the lands of the East. 
 I found the people hospitable and kindly, readj^ 
 to offer the stranger a cool draught of water from 
 a gushing spring (and this was really delicious 
 after Gallipoli) , or a jilatter of luscious mulber- 
 ries, which w^ere then in season. 
 
 But what, perhaps, interested me beyond all 
 else was the view which, on my return journey, I 
 obtained from the summit of a hill, of the position 
 of the Turkish guns at the back of Achi Baba. 
 With my glasses I could see them perfectly 
 plainly, and could actually make out the gunners 
 as they served the guns. With a powerful tele- 
 scope this w^ould have made a most excellent ob- 
 servation station, as all the Turkish movements at 
 the back of Achi Baba could be plainly seen from 
 this Imbros hill. 
 
 When I left Headquarters at Imbros I took 
 passage on a trawler w^hich called in at Anzac, 
 where the Australian-New Zealand Ai'my Corps 
 were dug into the ridges. 
 
 I had, of course, a good view of the position 
 they held on the precipitous cliffs and hills which 
 
AUSTRALIANS, NEW ZEALANDERS 
 
 rose in successive sierra-like ridges from the very 
 seashore, and I could then adequately realise the 
 tremendous feat they had performed in gaining a 
 footing on these heights against such a brave and 
 well-armed foe as the Turks. 
 
 I had met the Australians before in March, 
 when I had paid them a visit in their romantic 
 camping-ground under the shadow of the Pyra- 
 mids, and it was in the same month that I met, 
 on the verandah of Shepheard's Hotel, in Cairo, 
 the chief medical officer to the Australian iVrmy, 
 Surgeon-General Williams, whom I had met in 
 South Africa and London some fifteen years 
 previously. 
 
 Thinking that he would remember me, I sat 
 down beside him and opened the conversation by 
 saying: "Any chance of a billet with you, Gen- 
 eral?" 
 
 He looked rather blankly at me and said: 
 "Not a ghost of a chance unless you are an Aus- 
 tralian. Who are you anyhow?" 
 
 I then told him who I was, upon which his face 
 lit up with welcome, but he would not believe that 
 I could be the same man, and asked me to re- 
 move my headgear so that he might have a good 
 look at me, as he said I had grown ten years 
 younger, 
 
 [215] 
 
WITH TllK ZIONISTS IN r,ALLirOLl 
 
 "How do you manage to keep your youth T' 
 lie cieiiianded. 
 
 "Oh," I rephed, ''it is easily done. .Vu un- 
 eventful life and no worries." at whieh the Oen- 
 cral, knowing something ot' my travels and ail- 
 ventures, winked, ordered a eouple of whiskies 
 and sodas, and over these we had a long talk about 
 things past, present and to eome. 
 
 General Williams took me round the lu\spi- 
 tals and kitchens out at 3Iena Camp, where we in- 
 spected the tunbulances and i^ther things under 
 his eharg'e, and I was much impresseil with the 
 completeness with whieh Australia had ei|uipped 
 the magnitieent lighting foree whieh she had sent 
 to the aid of Kmrland. 
 
 It was a great pleasure to meet Colonel Kyan. 
 a senior member of the Australian Medical Staff, 
 who had served with the Turks as a surgemi in 
 their last war against Russia and was with them 
 all through the siege of Plevna. T had read his 
 most interesting book describing his experiences 
 in that war, and altog^ether I was delighteil to 
 have had the pleasure of meeting this most genial 
 Irish Australian. 
 
 Camp life at ]Mena, for the thirty odd thousand 
 men in training there, was very dull indeed. 
 There was not nnich to relieve the monotony once 
 
 [216] 
 
AUSTJIALJAXS, NKW ZKALAXDKJtS 
 
 IIjc J pyramids fiu(J hecn clirrihcfJ an<J iijc Aiislra- 
 Jian colours liarJ fjccri ];]arjt<:(J rjri Uif: sorurrjitK, save 
 an extra dose of .san(Jstonri. J I was no wontJer, 
 therefore, that every now and again tfie troops 
 wo(jld invade Cairo in force anrl paint tJie city 
 red; in fact, orjc ruVJit they painted it very red in- 
 deed, vvijcn tfiey IjcJd a corrahorce rouncJ the hhi/- 
 ing ruins of a Cairene Courtesan's Temple, which 
 they hatJ givcrj io tfie flames, hecause the Priestess 
 had, in some way or oUjcj-, rrialaciministered the 
 rites! 
 
 Tlic Staff of tlie Australian ancJ Xcw ZcalantJ 
 Kxpcflitionary J''orce, commanded f>y (jleneral 
 IJirdworjd, had their JleafJfpiarters at Shep- 
 heard's, and there I met again young Onslow, of 
 the Indian Cavalry, the General's A. D. C, and 
 one of the nicest and handsomest hoys that ever 
 }>uckled on a sahre. He was not only heloved 
 of men, hut tfic gods hjvcd him, too, and it was 
 a hlack (Jay for me wlien 1 heard fjc was killed 
 at Anzac. 
 
 I thouglit ()\' all these things as I approached 
 the little landing-stage on the Anzac shore, where, 
 as we dropped anchor ckjse to the heach, we got 
 vigorously shelled hy the I'urks, whose guns, 
 most artf(jlly concealed, dominated the landing. 
 
 In the course of the eight months' sojourn 
 
 [217] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 there, these guns were responsible for the deaths 
 of hundreds of tlie Austrahans and New Zealand- 
 ers, who were killed while they worked at loading 
 and unloading the stores and ammunition, which 
 were constantly poured into Anzac. In spite of 
 this shell-fii-e, all through the hot weather scores 
 of men might be seen swimming about and thor- 
 oughly enjoying themselves in the water. A 
 look-out man was kept and w^hen he reported a 
 shell coming all dived until the explosion was 
 over. 
 
 There are many good stories told of the Aus- 
 tralians and their want of reverence for the Staff 
 and their love for the General. 
 
 On one occasion, while a dignified and very 
 portly British Staff Officer, who had been hav- 
 ing a swim, was drying himself, an Australian 
 came by, and, giving him a hearty smack, said: 
 "Hallo, old sport, you look about ready for the 
 knife. Have you been getting into the biscuit- 
 tin?" 
 
 Whatever the Australians may have lacked in 
 what soldiers know as discipline and etiquette 
 they more than made up for by their fearlessness 
 and utter contempt of death in the fight. The 
 ver}^ fact that they had gained a footing on these 
 precipitous crags in the face of a desperate re- 
 
 [218] 
 
AUSTRALIANS, NEW ZEALANDERS 
 
 sistance showed that they were a race of super- 
 men. 
 
 In vain did the Turks, time after time, hurl 
 themselves at them in an attempt to drive them 
 into the sea. The Turks would charge, crying: 
 "Allah ! Allah I" The Australians would respond 
 by leaping on the parapets of their trenches, 
 shouting: "Come on, you blighters, and bring 
 him with you." They fear nothing — God, Man, 
 Death, or Devil! 
 
 When we eventually plant our flag trium- 
 phantly on Gallipoli, the flag of Australia and 
 New Zealand must float in the place of honour 
 upon the Anzac peaks, for here, in their shadows, 
 at peace forever, lie thousands of their bravest 
 sons. 
 
 After a few hours my trawler weighed anchor 
 and we steamed south for Helles, which we 
 reached in a couple of hours. 
 
 The skipper was a north of Ireland man, and 
 he told me much about the arduous life which the 
 men in the trawlers and mine-sweepers led. Dur- 
 ing the first attack upon the Dardanelles some of 
 these went through a perfect hell of shell-fire, in 
 fact, right through the Narrows. For eight 
 months, scores of them were constantly on the 
 perilous work of mine-sweeping round Helles and 
 
 [219] 
 
WITH THE ZIOXISTS IX GALLirOLI 
 
 the islands, or carrying troops to and fro: and all 
 this time thev were daily luider iire. or. during 
 the night, with all lights out, risking themselves 
 and their vessels. ]More than iMie sweeper, with 
 all its crew and living freight, came to a sad and 
 sudden end through collision in the dark. 
 
 As we neared the landing-stage I spied a new 
 kind of warship for the tirst time, and as we 
 passed close to her I saw her elevate the muzzles 
 o{ the t>\o great guns with which she was armed 
 and let tly a hrace of shells at the enemy's batter- 
 ies on Asia. This was the coming of the nnsink- 
 able ^lonitor, armed with her terrible fourtecn- 
 inch guns. I don't know how accurate her shots 
 were, but the Turkish gunner who replied was a 
 marvel, for, with his third shot, I saw him strike 
 the deck of the jNIonitor plump amidships. I 
 heard afterwards that this shell went through all 
 the decks and stuck in the keel plate. By a 
 great piece of good luck no diunage was done, 
 as it did not explode. 
 
 When I reached the camp of my Zion men I 
 held a parade and told them how interested Sir 
 Ian Hamilton was in the Corps, and how he 
 wished it to be kept up, and with that view had 
 ordered me to proceed to Alexandria to recruit 
 two new troops of their co-religionists. I asked 
 
 [220] 
 
AUSTRALIANS, NEW ZEAL ANDERS 
 
 them a]] to be good boys while I was away, and 
 to work as well for Lieutenant Gye, who would 
 command them in my absence, as they had al- 
 ways worked for me, and in this way keep up 
 the reputation of the Zion Corps. 
 
 [221] 
 
CHArXER XXIII 
 
 VOYAGE TO EGYPT 
 
 To assist ine in recruit ing-, I decided to take with 
 ine Claude Kolo, Captain Trumpledor, and Cor- 
 poral Groushkousky, D. C. ]M. At 2 p. m. on 
 the 2r)th July we steamed away from Cape 
 Ilelles in a little trawler and without adventure 
 arrived at Lenmos at about 7 p. m. We imme- 
 diately went on board the Staff Ship the Aragon 
 in order to get a warrant for our passages to 
 Alexandi'ia. 
 
 I must say that I was astonished to find such 
 a splendid Royal ^lail Line Steamer as the 
 Aragon anchored idly in ]Miidros harbour, 
 merely to provide quarters for the Lines of Com- 
 munication Staff. She must have been costing- 
 thousands of pomids per week and might have 
 been doing much more useful work on the high 
 seas, where there was a shortage of ships of all 
 kinds. 
 
 I have no doubt there were many good men 
 aboard who would prefer to have roughed it on 
 the island in tents, as did the members of Sir Ian 
 
VOYAGE JO KGYPT 
 
 Ilamilton's Headquarters Staff at Imbros, and 
 there was no reason, so far as J know, why they 
 should not liave earnped on Lernnos. 
 
 It was twenty-four ijours fjefore we could take 
 ship for Alexandria, so, durlnfj; tlje ifjterval, 1 
 went to call on a naval oflieer who held an im- 
 portant Staff appointment, and who happened 
 to he at the momerjt in Mudros harbour. 
 
 I found the same old dilfieulty of getting about 
 in the harbour from one ship to another, and it 
 was only due to the courtesy of the Captain com- 
 rnarjding the Ararjon, who kindly jjlaced his 
 boat, cox, and crew at my disjjosal, that I was 
 enabled to visit my friend. It was a lovely moon- 
 light night as we skimmed across the shimmer- 
 ing water and it was not long until I found my- 
 self on the quarter deck of the " ." 
 
 My naval friend had j ust finished dinner when 
 I got aboard, and was most sympathetic and 
 helpful when I told him some of the things which 
 were troubling my mind, and which I had spe- 
 cially come to lay before him. 1 was anxious to 
 get him to use his influence to send more lighters 
 and more tugs to assist in the disembarkation of 
 stores at Ilelles. The landing officer there, just 
 before my dejjai-ture, had begged of me to do 
 what I could in this respect with somebody in 
 
 [223] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLirOLI 
 
 authority, as he said he had made repeated req- 
 uisitions for more tugs and hgiiters, but all in 
 vain. I was anxious, too, because the pier which 
 had been built by the sappers was of a very flimsy 
 nature, and I knew that the first storm that arose 
 would wash the whole thing away, and then, un- 
 less there was a good store of provisions, am- 
 numition, forage, etc., on shore, it would be a 
 ver}' bad look-out for those of us on the Penin- 
 sula. As a matter of fact the pier was washed 
 away later on, and for some time the horses and 
 mules were on half rations, and we ourselves were 
 threatened with a shortage of food, but, mainly 
 owing to the excellent arrangements made by 
 Brigadier-General Coe, the head of the Supply 
 and Transport Department, Colonel Striedinger, 
 and other members of his efficient Staff, no 
 breakdown ever occurred. 
 
 ]\Iy naval friend was not over pleased when I 
 told him about this shortage of boats and tugs, 
 and led me to understand that the Xa\y had 
 supplied ever}i:hing Avhich the Aimy had de- 
 manded. 
 
 It is of vital importance, when our Army and 
 'NsLYY work together, as so often happens, that 
 the Staffs of both should pull together. I think 
 this could be ensured if a capable naval officer, 
 
 [224] 
 
VOYAGE TO EGYPT 
 
 having the entire confidence of the Admiral on 
 the spot, were attached to the General's Head- 
 quarters, and a capable military officer, in whom 
 the General placed implicit reliance, were put on 
 the Admiral's Staff; these two officers working 
 together for the common good would obviate all 
 friction. Of course, I am aware that naval and 
 mihtary officers are interchanged on the Staff, 
 but juniors are not good enough for this; they 
 should be senior men who could speak with 
 authority, and whose opinions would cany 
 weight. 
 
 The position of the island of Lemnos, some 
 forty miles southwest of the Dardanelles, makes 
 it an important strategic point, more esjjecially 
 as it possesses a magnificent harbour which, with 
 very little trouble and expense, could be made 
 practically impregnable. I sincerely hope that 
 we will retain possession of this island for, with 
 it as a naval base, the Dardanelles can be bottled 
 up at any moment, and the whole of the adjacent 
 seas dominated. 
 
 Turkey at present still claims the island. It 
 should therefore be annexed by us as some small 
 compensation for the Gallipoli failure. 
 
 On the following day at 7 P. m. we got on 
 board a transport bound for Australia, via Port 
 
 [225] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Said. I found mj^self the Senior Officer on 
 board, and therefore had to take command of the 
 troops, and among my other charges were some 
 fifty nursing sisters, who had been brought to 
 Lemnos direct from England, and were now 
 being transferred for duty to the mihtary hos- 
 pitals in Egypt. 
 
 Soon after I got aboard we weighed anchor, 
 and I then put the ship's adjutant to the task of 
 detailing to their boats every individual on the 
 ship for whom I was responsible, as I knew there 
 were hostile submarines six or seven hours out 
 from Lemnos, and I wished to be as ready as 
 possible in case of an attack. 
 
 At nine o'clock I got the Captain to sound the 
 alarm, when everybody rushed and stood by their 
 own particular boat; I then made a minute in- 
 spection, looked over the list of names boat by 
 boat, and by ten o'clock all knew their proper 
 places. 
 
 The night was hot, so laying a blanket on the 
 deck, I slept on it there. I was awakened out of 
 a deep sleep by a loud explosion. I leaped up 
 instantty, not yet quite wide awake, saying to 
 myself, what a funny time for an aeroplane to 
 drop a bomb. The next instant I realised that 
 I was at sea, and it flashed through my mind that 
 
 [226] 
 
VOYAGE TO EGYPT 
 
 we had been torpedoed. As I looked over the 
 side, I saw a shell explode a mile or so away, 
 over and beyond a submarine which, in the bright 
 moonshine, could just be made out. The re- 
 port which had roused me was a shot which had 
 been fired from our own 4.7-inch gun fixed on 
 the stern of the ship. The vessel was instantly 
 swung round so as to present as small a surface 
 as possible to the submarine, and we made off as 
 fast as the ship could steam. A British war- 
 vessel of some kind came up in a few minutes, 
 and we saw and heard nothing more of the sub- 
 marine, but during the few minutes while the 
 alarm lasted, things were pretty lively on board 
 our transport, and many of the nurses rushed to 
 the side to see what had happened, but there was 
 no sign of alarm or panic among them ; they took 
 it all as a matter of course, and seemed quite dis- 
 appointed when we reached Port Said without 
 further adventure. 
 
 [227] 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 RECRUITING IN EGYPT 
 
 We were detained one night in Port Said, and 
 the following morning made our way by rail to 
 Alexandria. It was an interesting journey be- 
 cause it took us along the Suez Canal as far as 
 Ismalia, where we saw all the defences and the 
 troops guarding it, and also the precautions 
 taken by the householders along the bank, who 
 had turned their homes into little sand-bagged 
 forts. It was on this journey that I saw, for the 
 first time, the celebrated battlefield of Tel-el- 
 Kebir where General Wolseley crushed Arabi 
 Pasha and his army, and there the graves of 
 British and Egyptian soldiers who fell in the 
 battle may be seen from the railway carriages. 
 This journey to Alexandria is rather a round- 
 about one, for it is necessary to go almost to 
 Cairo before reaching the Cairo to Alexandi'ia 
 line. However, we eventually reached Alexan- 
 dria in the afternoon, and Claude Rolo took me 
 to the house of his mother, Mrs. J. Rolo, one of 
 the kindest and best ladies it has ever been my 
 
 [228] 
 
RECRUITING IN EGYPT 
 
 good fortune to meet. Here, in this most com- 
 fortable and luxurious house, I was made to feel 
 thoroughly at home. While there, I, unfortu- 
 nately, had a rather severe attack of fever, but 
 thanks to Mrs. Rolo and her nieces, especially 
 "the angel Gabrielle," I was soon restored to 
 health. 
 
 My first duty was to see General Sir John 
 Maxwell at Cairo and get his consent and help 
 in raising new recruits for the Zion Mule Corps. 
 
 When I arrived in Cairo, however, in the after- 
 noon, I found that I could not see the General 
 until the next morning, so I determined to go 
 and see a friend in hospital, but in which hospi- 
 tal? That was my difficulty. 
 
 As I was standing in the verandah of Shep- 
 heard's Hotel, wondering to whom I could apply 
 for information, up the steps from the street 
 tripped a charming young lady in nurse's cos- 
 tume. "The very thing for me," I said to my- 
 self, and without more ado I walked up to her 
 and explained my difficulty and asked her if she 
 could help. She was kindness itself, and took 
 a great deal of trouble to put me in touch with 
 my friend, and through taking her advice I suc- 
 ceeded in my quest. 
 
 I saw Miss again on several occasions in 
 
 [229] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 the hotel, but not being of a forward nature, I 
 kept out of her way. General Williams told 
 me that she was an Australian lady devoting her- 
 self to nursing the sick and womided. I have 
 heard since that she has added beauty to the 
 British Peerage. 
 
 While I was in Cairo, I visited the Turkish 
 wounded in the Red Crescent Hospital there, 
 where they were well looked after and seemed 
 most comfortable. I met a very interesting- 
 young Turkish officer, the son of Djemel Pasha, 
 with whom I had a long conversation. He had 
 been captured by the Indian Lancers when he 
 was reconnoitring for the attack on the Suez 
 Canal. He told me that he was the only sur- 
 vivor of a party of twelve, and that he himself 
 had received fourteen lance wounds. He was 
 an extremely good type of Turkish officer, and 
 during the short time we were together we be- 
 came great friends, and on leaving him he took 
 my hand in both his and shook it warmly, saying 
 he hoped we would always be good friends no 
 matter what the politicians might do for our re- 
 spective countries. 
 
 When I saw General JNIaxwell he did every- 
 thing necessary to ensure my success in this new 
 endeavour to raise recruits; he summoned the 
 
 [230] 
 
RECRUITING IN EGYPT 
 
 leading Israelitish notables of Cairo to meet me 
 in his office, where he put my needs before them, 
 and requested them to do what was possible in 
 the way of getting suitable men from their com- 
 munity. Two members of this committee took 
 an interest in raising recruits for the corps, 
 Moise Cattaui Pasha and ]\Ir. Jack Mosseri, the 
 latter a well-known Zionist and a great Hebrew 
 scholar, thoroughly imbued with all the best 
 ideals of the Hebrew race. He was a tower of 
 strength to me, and organised meetings in vari- 
 ous synagogues throughout Cairo. One such 
 meeting which took place in the beautiful temple 
 in the Mousky I shall never forget. We walked 
 through this celebrated and picturesque part of 
 Cairo to the meeting — and what a walk! the 
 colours, the lights, the sights, and the sounds, 
 were all redolent of the very heart of the East; 
 even Rahab might be seen there looking out of a 
 window ; but of all the charms of the IMousky, and 
 it has many, commend me to its smells! There 
 you will find the full fragrance of the East in all 
 its pristine power and glory ! Threading our way 
 carefully through the narrow alley-ways, dexter- 
 ously avoiding babies, donkeys, mules and camels, 
 we at last reached the Temple. We found it 
 packed with people, and on the platform stood 
 
 [231] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 the Grand Rabbi of Cairo, a most imposing and 
 eastern-looking personage, and other notables of 
 the city. 
 
 Cattaui Pasha and others, whom Mr. JMosseri 
 had interested in the movement, made stirring ad- 
 dresses to the Jewish youths among the congrega- 
 tion. The result of Mr. Mosseri's efforts was 
 that, in the course of a few weeks, some one hmi- 
 dred and fifty Jewish recruits had been obtained 
 from Cairo alone, and these I designated the 
 "Cairo Troop" of the Zion ]Mule Corps. 
 
 I am sure that Mr. Jack ^losseri will be glad 
 to know that the great majority of these men 
 whom he took so much trouble to imbue with the 
 old Hebrew fighthig spirit of the heroes of the 
 past, proved courageous and useful soldiers, 
 when, after a brief training, they found them- 
 selves before the enemy in Gallipoli. 
 
 While I was at Alexandria I was unluckj^ 
 enough to get my hand crushed under a motor, 
 and as it required a great deal of attention, I 
 used to go to the Greek Hospital every day be- 
 cause it was close to the office where I worked. 
 This hospital was full of our sick and wounded, 
 where they were carefully attended and nursed 
 by an efficient staff of Greek doctors and Greek 
 nurses. I used to go round the wards talking to 
 
 [232] 
 
RECRUITING IN EGYPT 
 
 the men, and they were all perfectly happy and 
 contented, expressing gratitude for the care 
 lavished on tliem by the Greek ladies of Alexan- 
 dria. Dr. Petredes attended to my wounded 
 hand, and nobody could have been more kind. 
 One of the Greek sisters told me rather a pathetic 
 story about an Australian. He was a young fel- 
 low badly wounded in the leg; the wound got 
 worse and worse, and it was seen that he must 
 die. He was told by the clergyman who came 
 to visit him that his case was hopeless, but he was 
 not in the least bit upset about himself, he only 
 grieved at the sorrow it would give his mother. 
 Knowing that a photograph would be a comfort 
 to her, he asked if a photographer could be 
 brought. When the latter had arrived, the brave 
 lad insisted on being propped up in bed, and then 
 requested the photographer not to snap him until 
 he could get a nice smile on his face, "For," he 
 said, "I would like my mother to know that I am 
 dying quite happy." In a few hours the boy had 
 passed away, but there remained a photograph 
 with a bright, cheery smile as some small consola- 
 tion for the bereaved mother. 
 
 [233] 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 While I was in Egypt a few things struck me 
 with particular force : one was the inefficiency of 
 the Police of Alexandria ; another the appalling 
 callousness of the average Egyptian in his treat- 
 ment of animals. 
 
 It was an amusing sight in Alexandria to watch 
 the police trying to regulate the traffic. The 
 di'ivers would take absolutely no notice of the 
 policeman's raised hand, and would dash reck- 
 lessly over the crossing, quite regardless of what 
 might be coming do^Mi the cross street. After 
 being flouted in this way, the policeman would 
 leave his beat, run after the driver and, on catch- 
 ing him up, engage in a wordy warfare for five 
 minutes. The same performance would be re- 
 peated over and over again as each successive 
 Jehu came furiously along at his best pace. 
 
 I also had some experience of the lax methods 
 prevailing in the Passport Department — a most 
 important office in war-time, especially in a coun- 
 
 [234] 
 
LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 try like Egypt, which was simply teeming with 
 spies. 
 
 A couple of my men who had been sent from 
 Gallipoli to the Base Hospital at Alexandria, 
 owing to wounds or illness, wished to resign from 
 the Corps and go to America, as they had no de- 
 sire to return to the Dardanelles. I, of course, 
 could not grant their request, so by some means 
 or other (bribery, no doubt) they obtained a false 
 passport, got on board ship and gave instructions 
 to some friends of theirs to inform me, three days 
 after they had left, that they were on their way 
 to America and hoped I did not mind ! To make 
 sure that these rascals were not merely hiding in 
 Alexandria, I carefully investigated the matter 
 and found that one, at all events, had really 
 sailed. 
 
 I hav6 referred to the cruelty which the average 
 Egyptian shows in his treatment of animals. To 
 give one glaring example : there is a steep incline 
 over the railway bridge near Gibbari, a suburb of 
 Alexandria. Over this bridge, the slopes of 
 which are paved with smooth stones, rolls a great 
 part of the immense traffic which goes to and 
 from the docks. Almost at any hour of the day 
 one may see half-a-dozen wretched horses hauling 
 overladen carts up this slippery slope, being un- 
 
 [235] 
 
WITH THE ZIOXISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 mercifully beaten by their di'ivers, and falling 
 sometimes two or three tunes before they reach 
 the summit. I say, without hesitation, that such 
 a scandal is a blot on Alexandria, a blot on the 
 police officials, who wink at it, and a blot on the 
 British rulers in Egypt who tolerate such a state 
 of affairs. A couple of thousand pounds should 
 be set aside at once to remedy the grievous suffer- 
 ings which are dail}^ and hourly inflicted there on 
 our unfortunate dumb friends. 
 
 I was told that a Society for the Prevention of 
 Cruelty to Animals flourishes in the country. If 
 a member of it ever goes up and do'SMi the Gib- 
 bari Bridge, he must surely turn a blind eye on 
 the cruel sights which are to be seen there almost 
 at any time, othenvise he must be shamed for- 
 ever. This recalls to my mind a story which Gye 
 once told me about a leading light of this Society 
 who was on a visit to Egypt. He made a tour 
 of the Provinces, and at each place he visited he 
 was delighted to find that the officials were most 
 zealous supporters of the Society. As a proof 
 of their keenness for the League, they would con- 
 duct him to the pubhc pound and show him num- 
 bers of maimed camels, horses and donkeys which 
 they assured him was the day's catch. Of com'se 
 it was all eyew^ash, as the wily officials had got 
 
 [236] 
 
LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 news of the coming of the great one, and told 
 the police to lock up the wretched animals for 
 just as long as he was in the place and no 
 longer. 
 
 While the Arabs show appalling callousness to 
 the sufferings of animals, they often exhibit in- 
 tense kindness and affection for each other ; more 
 especially does the Arab mother show great love 
 for her child. A pretty story has come down to 
 us illustrating this maternal solicitude. An 
 Arab youth married a maiden whom he came to 
 love passionately, but he had great love for his 
 mother too, and of this the wife was intensely 
 jealous, so much so, that she told him one day that 
 she could never love him fully while his mother 
 lived, and that the only way for him to secure her 
 affections was to kill his mother and bring her 
 heart as a peace-offering. The wretched youth, 
 blinded by passion, committed this terrible crime, 
 and, concealing his mother's heart within his 
 gown, he ran swiftly to present it to his wife. 
 On the way he tripped and fell heavily, and, in 
 doing so, the heart fell to the ground. On pick- 
 ing it up to replace it, the heart said to him, "My 
 poor boy, I hope you did not hurt yourself when 
 you fell." 
 
 I related this story to a friend in London, and 
 
 [237] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 he said: "Now I will tell you a story of filial 
 piet}^ on the part of an English boy. He pos- 
 sessed a dog of which he Avas passionately fond, 
 named Paddy. One day a cart ran over Paddy 
 in the street, and he was picked up dead. The 
 boy's mother broke the dreadful news to her little 
 son while he was having dinner, saying how 
 sorrj'^ she was to have to tell him that poor Paddy 
 was killed. The boy was not very much con- 
 cerned, and went on eating his pudding. Later 
 on, however, in the nursery his Nana condoled 
 with him on the loss of his pet, whereupon he 
 raised a tremendous outcry, sobbing and weeping 
 bitterly. His mother rushed up to see what was 
 the matter, and on finding he was weeping for 
 the dog, said, 'But, darling, I told you at dinner- 
 time that Padd}^ was killed, and you didn't seem 
 to mind much.' 
 
 " 'Oh, mammy,' he sobbed, 'I thought you said 
 Daddy— not Paddy.' " 
 
 Thinking this would be a good story to tell a 
 little boy that I know very well, I related it to 
 him, but as he took it very gravely, I asked him 
 whether he saw the joke, and he said, "No." 
 Now he possessed a black kitten, named "Mike," 
 for which he had a great affection, so I thought 
 I could illustrate my story by saying: "Well, 
 
 [238] 
 
LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 now tell me which would you rather see run over 
 and killed— Mike or Daddy?" 
 
 Having given long and serious consideration 
 to this problem, and with a troubled look on his 
 little face, he, after a great inward struggle, at 
 last said: "I think Mike." 
 
 During the time I was in Alexandria an at- 
 tempt was made there on the life of the Sultan of 
 Egy^pt, not the first attempt, by any means. 
 Now the Sultan is a kindly, good-natm'ed ruler, 
 having the welfare of Egj^pt and the Egyptians 
 thoroughly at heart ; there is nothing whatever of 
 the tyrant about him, and therefore there is no 
 excuse for attempting his life. I happen to know 
 that the Sultan was not at all anxious to accept 
 the dignity which was thrust upon him, but since 
 he has fallen in with the policy of England, it is 
 the duty of England to protect him and uphold 
 him by every means in her power. Let it be 
 known that in case of any further attempt stern 
 measures will be taken, not only on the perpetra- 
 tor of the crime, or the attempted crime, but on 
 the family and relatives of the criminal, and also 
 on the leading members of any political society 
 to which he belonged — because, of course, they 
 are all in league with each other and know per- 
 fectly well what is going on — and if they knew 
 
 [239] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 that they would be pimished as well as the crimi- 
 nal they would take good care either to dissuade 
 him from the crime or give timely warning to the 
 authorities. If they fail to do this, their property 
 should be confiscated to the State, and if the crime 
 were perpetrated from a hired house, then the 
 o^vner of tlie house, who had led it, should be se- 
 verely punished, because in Egypt the only pohcy 
 that is miderstood by the criminal agitator is two 
 eyes for one eye, and a whole row of teeth for one 
 tooth; and the sooner our pusillanimous politi- 
 cians reahse this the better it will be for Egj^pt, 
 the Egyptians, and the continuance of our rule 
 there. As ex-President Roosevelt said in his 
 vigorous and memorable speech at the Guildhall, 
 we should either "govern Egypt or get out." It 
 is impossible to govern such a country on the 
 milk-and-water policy so loved by invertebrate 
 politicians. 
 
 I was privileged, while at Alexandria, to meet 
 on many occasions Prince Fuad, the brother of 
 the Sultan, and it was at one of his many inter- 
 esting and hospitable receptions, for which he is 
 famous, that I had the opportunitj'- of being pre- 
 sented to His Highness the Sultan. When, how- 
 ever, I looked through the windows of the room 
 where the Sultan was receiving, I saw that he did 
 
 [240] 
 
LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 not appear to be very well (it was soon after the 
 attempt had been made on his life), and there 
 was such a throng waiting to be presented that I 
 determined that I, at least, would save him the 
 fatigue of a handshake. There were compensa- 
 tions for my solicitude for the Sultan, because at 
 that very moment I was talking to a most charm- 
 ing and interesting lady, whose people had hailed 
 from the famous city of the Caliphs, Baghdad, 
 and although her ancestors came from that dusky 
 neighbourhood, she herself was fair as a lily, had 
 gloriously red hau*, and was withal as entertain- 
 ing as Scheherazade. At this same entertain- 
 ment I saw standing before my eyes and talking 
 to the Sultan a lady whom I took to be Cleo- 
 patra herself retui*ned to life. I was amazed to 
 see some one really alive so like the picture of 
 the famous Queen of Egypt, and yet there she 
 was within a few feet of me, carrying on an ani- 
 mated conversation with the Sultan. I came to 
 know "Cleopatra" and her husband very well in- 
 deed during my stay in Egypt, and I spent many 
 an enjoyable evening under their hospitable roof. 
 And what a delightful couple they were ! I shall 
 never forget a little impromptu concert which 
 took place one night as we sat out under the 
 rustling palms in the soft moonlight. Cleo- 
 
 [241] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 patra's husband melted all our hearts by singing, 
 in his low, sweet voice, "Un peu d'amour." It 
 prompted me to make the ungallant remark to 
 Cleopatra that I really did not know which of 
 them I liked the better, and ever afterwards she 
 whimsically pretended to be hurt at the lack of 
 discernment which I had shown. 
 
 Now, Cleopatra, before I bid you good-bye, I 
 will only say that I am glad you did not live in 
 the days of the Pharaohs, because if you had, I 
 am sure you would have been given to the croco- 
 diles, for you must Imow that once a year, in those 
 barbarous, far-off times, there was chosen for 
 that sacrifice the most lovely and the most per- 
 fect maiden in all Egj'^pt. 
 
 It was at some reception or other in Egypt 
 that I met, about this time, an officer who had 
 been on the Staff of the 29th Division in Gal- 
 lipoli. Riding about the Peninsula as we both 
 did, we met practically every day during two or 
 three months, and although we rode together and 
 were quite good friends, I never knew what his 
 name was, and I never tried to find out, as I am 
 not of an inquisitive nature. However, one day 
 he disappeared and his place in Gallipoli knew 
 him no more. I thought it was very likely he had 
 been killed, because his duties often took him into 
 
 [242] 
 
LIFE IN EGYPT 
 
 perilous places — indeed, any and every place in 
 Gallipoli was perilous in those days. At all 
 events, here I met him safe and sound, on which 
 I heartily congratulated him. A little later he 
 asked to be introduced to a friend of mine who 
 was also at the reception, so I was compelled to 
 confess that I had not the foggiest notion as to 
 
 his name. "My name is B ," he replied ; and 
 
 on asking him if he was any relation of , 
 
 mentioning a well-known public man in Eng- 
 land, with whom a few days before I left home 
 I had been walking up and down Rotten Row, 
 "Oh, yes," said he; "that's my father!" 
 
 My Gallipoli friend was, unfortunately, on the 
 Persia when she was sunk without warning in 
 the JNIediterranean, and went down with the ship ; 
 but his time was not yet, for he luckily came up 
 again, and was numbered with the saved, for 
 which Allah be praised. 
 
 I hope the reader will not run away with the 
 idea that I spent my time in Egypt in a round of 
 festivities and riotous living. It was, as a mat- 
 ter of fact, very much the reverse, because even 
 when I went to these receptions I combined busi- 
 ness with pleasure by getting the people I met 
 there to help me to get recruits and to interest 
 themselves in the Zion ^lule Corps. 
 
 [243] 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 KETUKX TO ewU.l.ll\n.l 
 
 I WAS very impatient to gvt baek to Callipoli and 
 made several applications to the StatV both by 
 letter iuid by telegram to do so, but it takes a 
 long time for the machine to move! ^Vt last 1 
 receiveti the anxiously looked tor orders for my- 
 self and my new men to embark. 
 
 I had a little trouble with a member of tlie 
 Stati' before 1 left. mid. as it illustrates the petti- 
 ness of some men even when great events are at 
 stake, I think it is wortii i-ecounting. I had sent 
 him my embarkation return, showing tlie numWr 
 of officers imd other ranks lK>uud for the Darda- 
 nelles. In the meantime a telegram arrived fivm 
 Gallipoli asking for two of my otheers to be sent 
 there iimnediately. 1 had tliem on boanl and 
 on tlieir way to the front within foiu- hours of the 
 time I read the message. Two days afterwards 
 when I came to embtu-k, I had with mo my men 
 and one other othcer, but the red-tape, red-tabbed 
 acting Statf man objected to this otHcer going, as 
 he said my original application was for three oH- 
 
RETURN TO GALLIPOLI 
 
 ficers only, and of these, he said, "Two have 
 ah'eady gone; you make the third, therefore the 
 other officer cannot go ; he must he left hehind to 
 look after the men at Wardian Camp." It was 
 in vain that I pointed out to him that this officer 
 would he of little use at Wardian, hut that he 
 was invaluahle to me, as he knew the various 
 languages of the men, which I did not, and that 
 I could not very well get on without him. He 
 was obdurate, so I said that, as I must have the 
 officer with me, I would, if necessary, go and see 
 the General and get his sanction. On hearing 
 this threat he took counsel with another red-tab 
 man, whose official designation entitled him to 
 write half the letters of the alphabet after his 
 name, and who, from the little I saw of him, was, 
 I consider, fully entitled to three or four more! 
 These two tin gods, having privily consulted to- 
 gether, issued a ukase to the effect that it would 
 be impossible to allow the officer to accompany 
 me to Gallipoli. "All right, then," I said; 
 "there is nothing for it but to see the General, 
 as I must have this officer." This meant that I 
 had to motor some three miles and lose a lot of 
 precious time in order to outwit these ruddy ob- 
 structionists, a thing I was determined to do at 
 all costs. When I got to the General's office, I 
 
 [245] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX CtALLIPOLI 
 
 tirst interviewed his Staff Officer. ]Major Ains- 
 worth. one of the most sensible and helpful statt' 
 officers it has been my luck to come across during 
 the whole campaign. On my proceeding to tell 
 him what I wanted, he said: "Oh. I know all 
 
 about it. ^lajor has already telephoned to 
 
 me that you were on the way, and has said that, in 
 his opinion, you should not be allowed to embark 
 your extra officer." I remarked to Major Ahis- 
 worth that it appeared to me that some of the 
 Start' were only there to obstruct, and I repeated 
 that this man was necessary to me for the effi- 
 ciency of my Corps, and that it was much more 
 to the point to have efficient officers in Gallipoli. 
 rather than to leave them behind kicking their 
 heels hi idleness in Alexandria. This had the 
 desired effect on a sensible man like Major Ains- 
 
 worth, who tactfully told Major that I must 
 
 have the officer with me that I wanted : and so the 
 incident was closed. 
 
 On embarking for Gallipoh for the second 
 time I found that I had 1,100 men on board, made 
 up of 102 different miits, many of them without 
 officers, and as I was again the senior on boiU'd, 
 I had to take conmiand of the whole, and jolly 
 glad was I to know that I would only be respon- 
 sible for such a heterogeneous collection for two 
 
RETURN TO GALLirOLI 
 
 or three days. The first thing* that I discovered 
 on going ahoard was that for the 1,100 men we 
 had only boat accommodation for 700 in the event 
 of the ship being sunk. I asked the skipper if 
 he usually put to sea in war-time, when sub- 
 marines were about, with an inadequate supply 
 of boats, and I refused to sign the clearing papers 
 to say that I was satisfied with all the arrange- 
 ments on board ship. The captain fully agreed 
 with me ; he anchored the vessel in the outer har- 
 bour, and we went back together next morning 
 and interviewed the naval authorities, who were 
 furious at the delay in sailing and at my demand 
 for more boats, but at the same time promised to 
 send them out to us in the course of an hour or 
 two, and as soon as they arrived and were stowed 
 away on the deck, we sailed for Lenmos. 
 
 I am very thankful that we dodged the sub- 
 marines on the way, because with such an over- 
 crowded vessel, with so many different units, most 
 of them without officers, and hardly standing 
 room for everybody, and with verj^ inadequate 
 means of getting boats out, I fear that there 
 would not have been many survivors had the ves- 
 sel been sunk. I issued orders to all on board 
 never to part with their life belts, as they would 
 have to depend on them principally, and not on 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 the boats, for their hvos. Wo were hieky to es- 
 cape, for just about this time the transport 
 Famadiifi was sunk with lieavy loss of hfe. It 
 passes my eomprehension that ship-owners shouki 
 be aUowed to conthiue the antiquated methods 
 of Ixiat knvering whieh are still in existence. 
 How many hundreds of lives have been lost 
 owing to the stupid method in use! Kopes, 
 blocks and tackle are fixed to the bow and stern 
 of each boat, and to ensure that it should reach 
 the sea on an even keel the men using both sets of 
 tackle must lower away at exactly the same rate. 
 What actually happens in any time of excitement 
 is that one rope is lowered much more quickly 
 than the other, with the result that the mifortu- 
 nate occupants are tilted into the sea and 
 drowned. It would be a simple matter to lower 
 boats by means of one rope only, and this method 
 should be made compulsory on all ship-o^^^le^s. 
 
 Captain Williams of tlie 3Iunsters was my 
 ship's adjutant. I beheve he was the only sur- 
 viving officer who had huuled fwm the Kivcr 
 Ch/dc on that memorable morning of the '2'Ah 
 of April; he had gone through that desperate 
 tight, and had been engaged in every battle on the 
 Peninsula since that date, and yet had come 
 tlu-ough it all miscathed. He must have borne 
 
 [■2iS] 
 
RETURN TO GALLIPOLI 
 
 a charmed life, and 1 sincerely hope liis luck will 
 stick to him to the end. lie practically did all 
 the work of the ship for me, and I never had a 
 more efficient adjutant. 
 
 We readied Lemnos in safety, and got into 
 the harhour at dusk, just before the entrance was 
 blocked up, because, of course, the harbour mouth 
 was sealed every night from dark to dawn, owing 
 to the fear of submarines. We lay at anchor all 
 night and most part of the next day, and, as no- 
 body seemed to take the slightest notice of our 
 arrival, the captain and I sailed across the har- 
 bour in a tiny boat, although the sea was far from 
 calm, and, on reaching the Aragon, I reported 
 myself to a gentleman in an eye-glass, whom I 
 had never seen before and never want to see 
 again. He was very "haw haw," and said that 
 I had no business to leave my ship until the mili- 
 tary landing officer had been aboard. I re- 
 marked that we had been waiting in the harbour 
 so long that I thought perhaps the military land- 
 ing officer was dead, and so I had come myself to 
 report our arrival. With that I left him and re- 
 turned to the ship, and soon afterwards we were 
 boarded by the landing officers, and the 1,100 
 men were drafted off to their different units, I 
 going with mine on a trawler to Cape Helles. 
 
 [249] 
 
WITH THE ZIOXISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 "We arrived at Lancashire Landing on a beauti- 
 ful calni moonlight night, and were received with 
 joyous shouts of "Shalom" (the Hebrew form 
 of salutation "^ from the veterans of the Corps. 
 
 I missed the face of Lieutenant Gorodisky 
 from among those who greeted me, for, alas, he 
 liad died during my absence from an ilhiess con- 
 tracted owing to the hardsliips of the campaign. 
 By his death the Corps suffered a severe loss. 
 He had resigned from an important and lucra- 
 tive post in Alexandria and enlisted as a private 
 soldier in the Zion ^lule Corps. His abihty and 
 soldierly qualities soon raised hmi to officer's 
 rank, and he was one of tlie best and most use- 
 ful in the Corps. Like all Israelites he was pas- 
 sionately fond of music, and it was he who wrote 
 out for me the Hatikvoh, the music of which has 
 been arranged for me by ^liss Eva Lonsdale 
 and will be found in the Appendix. He told 
 me once that, though the Germans claimed 
 that they were the most nuisical nation in the 
 world, yet all their best musicians were either 
 Jews or had Jewish blood in them. His death 
 was a sad blow to his widowed mother, as he was 
 her only cliild. Madame Gorodisky may. how- 
 ever, be proud to have been the mother of such 
 a noble character, and it will, I trust, be some 
 
 [-30] 
 
RETURN TO GALLIPOLI 
 
 consolation to her to know that he was held in the 
 highest esteem by every officer and man, not only 
 in the Zion Mule Corps but also by those who 
 knew him in the French and British regiments 
 among whom we were camped. 
 
 [251] 
 
CHArTEK XXVII 
 
 I irX^UNP. on niy return in September, that life 
 on the Peninsula was much less strenuous than 
 when I had left for Eg>'pt at the end of July. 
 The Turks must have Kvn very short of iunminn- 
 tion, for few shells were tired for the tirst tiN e or 
 six weeks after our arrival. I was able to have 
 drills and parades in the open, exposed to the 
 full view of Aohi Baba and Krithia — a thing 
 which would have been out of the question in the 
 early days. It was quite a pleasure to be able 
 to ride about all over the Feninsula even to within 
 a few lumdred yards of the Turkish trenches 
 without being shelled. Of cinirse, in the days 
 when tlie Turks had plenty o{ amnuuiition. they 
 thought nothing of wasting half a dozen rounds 
 on a soUtary horseman, and nuuiy a time have 1 
 had to gallop at breakneck speed to avoid the 
 shrapnel which they peppered me with on many 
 cxvasions. I was very glad indeed that shells 
 were rather scarce, as it gave my recruits time to 
 
beel;5ebub 
 
 get into sliiipc and get used to the conditions of 
 warfare. 
 
 The new Cairo men took to the life very 
 kindly, and soon burrowed themselves well into 
 the ground and ada])ted themselves to cave 
 dwelling as to the manner born. 
 
 In the evenings, when our day's toil was ended, 
 we had concerts round our camp fires and en- 
 joyed ourselves as much as it was possible to do 
 under the circumstances ; in fact, at times we used 
 to forget that we were at war. 
 
 The camp-fire sing-songs were rather weird af- 
 fairs — songs in l^'.nglish (Tipperary, for choice), 
 French, Kussian, Hebrew and Arabic — the two 
 latter made rather melancholy by the plaintive 
 wail of the East. Some of the men were first- 
 rate Russian dancers and expert wrestlers, so we 
 had many excellent little side-shows. 
 
 The concerts were alwa3^s ended by singing 
 *'God Save the King," the JNIarseillaise (for many 
 French soldiers would be present), the Russian 
 Anthem, and last of all the Maccabjtan JNIarch. 
 
 We had many visitors to our quaint polyglot 
 lines; a strenuous lieutenant all the way from 
 Canada often called on us, and I was indebted to 
 him for an invitation to come and try my hand 
 at tent-pegging on a beautiful tan track which he 
 
 [253] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 had made and at which various officers used to 
 meet to rim a course. 
 
 Xow I used to be rather good at the game, and 
 I think I rather surprised my Canadian friend, 
 IMaurice, when, in answer to his bantering chal- 
 lenge: "Xow, Colonel, show us how it's done!" 
 I took every peg for which I tried. It was good 
 to lind that one could still ride straight and de- 
 pend on eye, hand and arm, and that the spear- 
 point could be made to strike the peg as squarely 
 and as surely as of old. 
 
 There was not a great deal of work to be done 
 in these days, as there was now any amoimt of 
 other Transport which took much of the weight 
 off our shoulders. 
 
 The lack of steady hard work made the mules 
 very frisky, and some of them were regular de- 
 mons. We had one which was rightly named 
 Beelzebub, for he was indeed a prince of devils, 
 and I veritably believe he made all the other 
 mules laugh when he kicked one or other of the 
 N". C. O.'s or men. He had an extraordinary 
 cat-like faculty of being able to plant fore and 
 hind feet into one's ribs practically simultane- 
 ously, while at the same moment he would make 
 a grab at one's head, emitting all the while 
 strange noises and terrifying squeals! He 
 
 [25i] 
 
BEELZEBUB 
 
 pinned me in a corner one day, apparently to the 
 delight of the other mules, and I was glad to get 
 out of it alive ! In order to make hmi pay a little 
 more respect to his commanding officer for the 
 future, I ordered him to be tied up to a tree and 
 kept for a day without food or water. This, 
 however, did not fall in with Beelzebub's theory 
 of things, so he gnawed through the rope in the 
 night and then made for the forage stack, where, 
 to make up for lost time, he ate about six mule 
 rations I — at which the other mules did not laugh I 
 No one was over-particular about Beelzebub's 
 safety, as he was not what might be called popu- 
 lar, so instead of being put do^vn with the others 
 in a dug-out, where indeed he would have kicked 
 them to bits, he was generally left by himself in 
 about the most exposed position that could be 
 found for him in the camp, and I am quite cer- 
 tain that both Jewish and Gentile prayers went 
 up for his speedy annihilation by a Turkish shell ; 
 but Beelzebub bore a charmed hfe. Shells 
 hopped all round him, cut in tw^o great trees 
 which sheltered him, excavated enormous caverns 
 at his very heels, but the only effect they had on 
 Beelzebub was to rouse his ire and start him off 
 on a fresh kicking bout. At last a chunk of shell 
 hit the ground close to him, bounced up and 
 
 [255] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 "ricked" off his ribs, making a wound, not veiy 
 serious, it is true, but still not exactly calculated 
 to improve his diabolical temper. 
 
 I sent liim off to the sick lines to have his 
 wound di'essed. Xow I never could find out 
 what he actually did to the veterinary surgeon 
 who tried to doctor him there, but this officer 
 wrote a polite httle note requesting me to be so 
 very kind as to remember in futm'e that his hospi- 
 tal was for sick mules — not for 3Ian-Eatersl 
 
 I have already mentioned that on the night of 
 my return to Galhpoh from Egypt a brilliant 
 moon was shining, and by the light of it I saw 
 great mounds of earthworks thrown up just to 
 one side of om* lines. On looking closer, I fomid 
 that these were the emplacements for four hea^'y 
 French guns of 9.6-inch calibre. 
 
 I cannot say that I was over-pleased at the 
 sight, because I knew that the moment they 
 opened fire theii* position would be seen from 
 Achi Baba, and the shells which the Tm-ks would 
 be bound to hurl at them would be more than 
 likely to miss the battery and hit my men and my 
 mules. 
 
 Two French officers were in charge of the 
 siege pieces. Captain Cujol and Lieutenant La 
 
 [256] 
 
BEELZEBUB 
 
 Riviere, both exceedingly nice men with whom 
 we made great friends. The gallant captain 
 was a great horseman, and I often delighted him 
 (for he had no horse with him) by mounting him 
 on one of mine, and together riding over the 
 Peninsula. Lieutenant La Riviere, who was a 
 much-travelled man, often entertained us with 
 stories of his wanderings and adventures in 
 Arabia, Abyssinia and the Soudan in the long 
 evenings after we had all dined together in our 
 cosy little dug-out. 
 
 While I was away recruiting in Egypt the 
 glamom* of the Horse Artillery had fallen upon 
 Gye, and, furthermore, Davidson and other offi- 
 cers of L Battery had beguiled him, so that soon 
 after my return he asked me if I would let him 
 go to the Gunners. I was glad to recommend 
 him for the transfer, for I felt that with his sound 
 common sense and good horsemastership he 
 would be of more use to the general cause as a 
 gunner than as a muleteer. 
 
 I had two British officers still left with me, 
 and here, too, was a case of good material being 
 wasted on work which could have been equally 
 well done by less brainy men. 
 
 Claude Rolo was an eminent civil engineer, 
 and had constructed some of the most important 
 
 [257] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 public buildings in Egypt, and, of course, his 
 proper place would have been with the Sappers. 
 His brother, I. Rolo, with his vast business ex- 
 perience in Egypt, should have been employed 
 as purchasing agent for the Army, where his 
 knowledge of local affairs would undoubtedly 
 have saved us tens of thousands of pounds. His 
 talents were wasted merely keeping the records 
 of the Zion ^lule Corps Depot at Alexandria. 
 I reconmiended both for transfer, but I fear 
 their services are still being wasted. 
 
 I wonder when we will wake up to the fact that 
 we have plenty of talent if only those in author- 
 ity would avail themselves of it and use it in the 
 right way. 
 
 [258] 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 A FEAT IN GUNNERY 
 
 By this time, after many weeks and months of 
 delving, the efforts of our Engineers and other 
 troops to alter the geographical features of the 
 Peninsula began to have effect. Long lines of 
 communication trenches were dug to and fro 
 everywhere. Indeed, the amount of earthwork 
 that was excavated in digging trenches and dug- 
 outs, both at Helles and Anzac, was simply 
 "colossal." If the same amount of digging, 
 trenching and dug-outing had been concentrated 
 into one effort, it would have been possible to 
 make a canal across the narrowest part of the 
 Peninsula, wide enough and deep enough for the 
 Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the British Fleet 
 to sail through, without let or hindrance, to Con- 
 stantinople ! 
 
 One good thing the diggers did was to make 
 the communication trenches wide and deep 
 enough to give ample cover to horses and mules. 
 In consequence of this, it was now possible to 
 take ammunition and supplies to the front dur- 
 
 [259] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 ing daylight, and so most of our night work 
 ceased. Small detacliments of men and mules 
 were attached to various battahons for transport 
 work, and all over the Peninsula Zion men could 
 be met cantering along on their mules — for they 
 were good horsemen — and they invariably rode 
 when they had a chance. They looked very 
 comical as they galloped along, uttering exulting 
 yells, their faces grimy, caps crammed home on 
 the back of their heads, jacketless and with torn 
 shirts, perched up on the pack saddles, the chains 
 of which clattered loudly at each stride of the 
 mule. Our soldiers, with their usual happy 
 knack for nicknames, christened them the "Allies 
 Cavahy," while a brilliant wit went even one bet- 
 ter and dubbed them "Ally Sloper's Cavalry!" 
 
 While the men were out on these detached 
 posts, I, of course, visited them at regular inter- 
 vals to see that they were keeping up the reputa- 
 tion of the Corps and also to hear any reports or 
 complaints they might have to make. It was 
 rarely that a day went b}^ without something 
 odd or amusing, or both, happening at one or 
 other of these detached posts. For example : I 
 had some men stationed up the Gully Ravine, 
 and just before I visited them the Turks had 
 given them a vigorous bombardment which had 
 
 [560] 
 
A FEAT IN GUNNERY 
 
 set fire to the forage which was stored close by 
 the mules. The last of it was being burned up 
 just as I arrived on the scene and, as my men 
 were still lying low in their dug-out, I shouted 
 for the corporal and angrily demanded why they 
 had not saved the forage. He replied: "Turk 
 he fire shells, plenty shells, hot, hot — too bloody 
 hot," which showed that their sojourn with the 
 British Army, if it was doing nothing else, was 
 at least improving their knowledge of classical 
 Enghsh ! 
 
 Although Gye had by this time joined L Bat- 
 tery for duty, he still lived with me in our little 
 dug-out under the great olive tree, which, by the 
 way, now supplied us with excellent olives. Be- 
 ing with the gunners, he would occasionally get 
 early news of an artillery "strafe," which, as a 
 rule, we went together to watch from some com- 
 manding position. 
 
 I was not surprised, therefore, when one after- 
 noon he came in from the battery and told me 
 there was to be a most interesting "shoot" on in 
 the afternoon, nothing less than the "strafing" 
 of a troublesome Turkish redoubt by the huge 
 guns of one of the Monitors. As this promised 
 to be a rare good show, we sallied forth on our 
 horses, taking the road by X Beach and the 
 
 [2611 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Gully Ravine. On reaching our observation 
 post and seeing no sign of a Monitor in the vicin- 
 ity, I remarked to Gye: "It certainly is a very 
 fine afternoon for a ride, but I don't see much 
 appearance of that 'strafe' you promised to show 
 me. 
 
 "I think it will be all right," replied Gye, 
 "there is the Monitor away out at sea," pointing 
 to a speck close over to the Imbros shore, some 
 seven or eight miles away — a mere cockleshell in 
 the distance. 
 
 On looking from the speck to the redoubt I 
 said; "It is not a 'strafe' you have brought me 
 out to see but a miracle," because it looked to me 
 that it would be little short of a miracle to hit 
 that small redoubt which, of course, could only 
 be faintly seen from the tops of the Monitor by 
 telescope. 
 
 However, I hadn't to wait long for the won- 
 derful sight. Punctually to the moment when it 
 was expected, we saw the Monitor enveloped in 
 great billows of waving clouds of flame and 
 smoke — one of her great 14-inch guns had been 
 fired. Anxiously we watched the redoubt and, 
 incredible as it may seem, the shell only failed to 
 strike it by thirty yards, for at that distance from 
 it a great upheaval of earth could be seen. 
 
 [262] 
 
A FEAT IN GUNNERY 
 
 Again we watched the Monitor. "Pouf !" went 
 her second gun, this time sending the shell plump 
 into the redoubt. The result was extraordinary. 
 Up went Turks, rocks, timbers, guns, all mixed 
 up in a cloud of smoke, flame and earth — a mar- 
 vellous shot ! Three more followed in quick suc- 
 cession, each one plumping right into the re- 
 doubt, pulverising it absolutely out of existence. 
 It was as if a steam-roller had gone over the 
 earthworks. A few more shells were dropped 
 into the fort, just to make sure, and one of these, 
 having struck some hard substance, "ricked" 
 across the Peninsula, over the Dardanelles, and 
 exploded in Asia! 
 
 I took off my hat to the man behind the gun 
 on that Monitor. If he is a type of all other 
 gunners in the British Navy, the Germans may 
 as well scrap their fleet without further ado. 
 
 After watching this wonderful feat of gun- 
 nery, we were riding back towards camp, when 
 we saw running towards us an old soldier of a 
 Scottish regiment in a state of great excitement, 
 apparently having something of importance to 
 impart. I pulled up my horse and asked him 
 what was the matter. He told me in the broad- 
 est Scotch that there was a German spy a little 
 further down among the gorse taking notes and 
 
 [263] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IX GALLIPOLI 
 
 sketching the position of a hea^y battery which 
 was in position close by the sea. I asked the 
 Scotty how he knew the man was a spy, and he 
 said: "He's goin' on verra suspeecious." 
 
 I got him to point out the exact position of the 
 supposed spy and then I arranged with Gye 
 that I would go up and open conversation casu- 
 ally with him, and that if I made a certain signal, 
 he was to gallop off for an escort. I found the 
 "spy" di-essed in kliaki in the miiform of a Scot- 
 tish regiment. I opened the conversation by 
 asking if he had seen the magnificent shooting of 
 the ISIonitor, and carried it on until I found out 
 who he was and from whence he had come. I 
 knew that his regiment was forward in the 
 trenches, so I asked him wh}^ he was not at the 
 front, and he told me that he was going through 
 a course at the bombing school and so, for the 
 moment, was away from his battalion. He 
 seemed all right, but to make sure I sent Gye 
 over to see the Instructor at the bombmg school, 
 which was close by, to find out if such an officer 
 was really there taking a course. 
 
 While Gye was away I strolled to the edge of 
 the cliff with the supposed spy who, I was now 
 pretty sure, was what he represented himself to 
 be — a British officer. Down below us on the 
 
 [264] 
 
A FEAT IN GUNNERY 
 
 shore was the body of a dead horse, half in and 
 half out of the sea, and tearing at it was a good- 
 sized shark which we could see very plainly, for 
 the water was beautifully clear. My spy got 
 very keen on seeing this and, borrowing a rifle 
 from a soldier standing near, he made such good 
 shooting at the shark that it speedily gave up its 
 horse-feast and plunged off to the depths in 
 terrified haste. In the midst of the fusillade, 
 Gye came back to say all was well, so bidding 
 my ".py" good-afternoon, we rode off to our 
 camp. 
 
 There is no doubt, however, that the Peninsula 
 was alive with spies, and at night, on returning 
 from the trenches, when all the camps would be 
 in slumber, I have repeatedly seen flashes sent up 
 from the British lines towards Krithia, where 
 they would be answered, but although I tried on 
 several occasions to locate the signaller, I never 
 succeeded in doing so. Of course I reported the 
 matter to Headquarters, but whether they were 
 more successful than myself I never learned. 
 
 On one occasion, a night or two before we made 
 a big attack, I distinctly saw signals flashed from 
 the neighbourhood of the cliffs by the Gully 
 Ravine, where there was the Headquarters of a 
 Division, to the lines of the Royal Naval Divi- 
 
 [265] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 sion, from which a signaller answered back ; both 
 then signalled to somebody on the hill where the 
 Headquarters Staff of om' Army Corps were 
 established, and this signaller in his turn flashed 
 messages up to Krithia, where there was a steady 
 red light shown for a considerable time while 
 the signalling was m progress. I tried to locate 
 the signaller on the Headquarters hill, but failed. 
 I then reported the matter to the Chief Signal- 
 ling Officer, who told me that whatever hghts I 
 had seen were not made by our people, as none 
 of the signallers were out on duty that night. 
 Gye and I found the spot from which the daring 
 spy on the Headquarters hill had been signalling. 
 It was most craftily selected, as it was completely 
 sheltered for three-quarters of the wa}'^ round, 
 and his light could only be seen from the direc- 
 tion of Krithia; I had not been able to observe 
 it until I came into a direct line between Krithia 
 and the hill. 
 
 The tricks and daring of the spy are wonder- 
 ful! It was common gossip in the Peninsula 
 that a Greek contractor who was allowed to sell 
 some tinned foods, etc., to the soldiers, had in 
 some of the larger tins, not eatables, but carrier 
 pigeons, which he would send off to the Turks 
 on suitable occasions, but whether this is true or 
 
 [266] 
 
A FEAT IN GUNNERY 
 
 not I cannot say for certain. It was rumoured 
 that he was found out and shot. 
 
 Some of our fellows used to do the most 
 extraordinary things. A sergeant, thoroughly 
 bored with life in the trenches, thought he would 
 like to break the monotony by having a look at the 
 Turks, so, shouldering his rifle, he sauntered over 
 to the enemy trenches and looked in, and there 
 saw five Turks, tlii'ee sitting together smoking 
 and two others lying down having a rest. He 
 shot all five and then doubled back to his own 
 trench, escaping in some marvellous way the hail 
 of bullets that came after him. 
 
 Then there was Lieutenant O'Hara of the 
 Dublins, who was always doing some daring feat 
 and showing his contempt of death and the Turks 
 on every conceivable occasion. He won the 
 D. S. O. before going to Suvla, where, alas! his 
 luck deserted him, and he was mortally wounded. 
 O'Hara fii-mly believed that no Turk could ever 
 kill him, for he thought nothing of sitting up on 
 the parapet coolly smoking a cigarette, while 
 bullets rained all round him. When he had fin- 
 ished his survey of the Turkish line he would 
 get down, but not before. 
 
 Another brave man of the Dublins was Ser- 
 geant Cooke. If ever there was a dangerous 
 
 [267] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 job he always volunteered for it, and was con- 
 stantly out reconnoitring the enemy's position 
 and bringing in useful information to his officers. 
 He, too, was very lucky for a long time ; he was 
 one of the few who escaped all hurt in the original 
 landing, but at Suvla, Sergeant Cooke, while do- 
 ing a brave deed, was mortally wounded, and, 
 although he must have been in great agony for 
 a couple of hours before he died, he never uttered 
 a groan. Just before the last, he said: "Am I 
 dying like a British soldier?" No soldier ever 
 died more gamely. 
 
 [268] 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE FINDING OF THE SHIELD OF DAVID 
 
 Soon after the Bulgarians had thrown in their 
 lot against us, the Turks, who up to this time had 
 been husbanding their ammunition, felt, I pre- 
 sume, that there was now no need to be so spar- 
 ing in their use of shells, and they therefore took 
 on a much more aggressive attitude. 
 
 Turkish bombardments and trench "strafes" 
 once more became the order of the day. Not to 
 let the enemy have everything his own way, we 
 ourselves arranged, late in October, to make a 
 tremendous onslaught on the Turks. One of 
 their trenches, known as H. 12, occupied a some- 
 what commanding position and had been giving 
 us a lot of trouble. It was decided, therefore, 
 to batter it out of existence. 
 
 Sharp to time, at three o'clock on a very 
 "nippy" afternoon, a most terrific cannonade was 
 opened on the doomed trench. Naval guns, 
 French guns, British howitzers and field-pieces 
 rained a devastating fire of high explosives and, 
 as if this were not enough, three huge volcanoes 
 
 [269] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 spurted out at three points of the trench, denot- 
 ing that some great mines had been exploded. 
 While the fire lasted, it was terrific, and the dust 
 and smoke speedily hid all the Turkish trenches, 
 as well as Krithia and Achi Baba, from our view. 
 The infantry were then launched and the trench 
 captured with very little loss. 
 
 Trench warfare, dull as it is, for those who 
 prefer a fight in the open, with a good horse 
 under them, is yet not without its moments of 
 fascination, and I often found myself in the thick 
 of a trench "strafe" when I really had no busi- 
 ness whatever to be in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Gye, Rolo and I were returning from one of 
 these trench fights in mid-October, when we our- 
 selves nearly got "strafed" at Clapham Junction, 
 a well-known spot behind the firing line on our 
 right centre. Our mortars, borrowed from the 
 French, had thoroughly annoyed the Turks and 
 they retaliated by bombarding our trenches with 
 shell-fire. We were pretty safe so long as we 
 remained under cover, but on the way back to 
 camp we caught it rather badly and only saved 
 ourselves by our speedy flight over an exposed 
 piece of ground which we had to cross, where the 
 shells were falling pretty thickly. 
 
 One of the most annoying things the Turks 
 
 [270] 
 
BADGE OF THE ZION MULE CORPS (The Shield of Davki) 
 
THE SHIELD OF DAVID 
 
 did was to mount a big naval gun "somewhere in 
 Asia" not far from Troy — as distances go in 
 Asia. This fiendish weapon had such a high 
 velocity that the shell arrived on us before the 
 report of the gun was heard. The sensation of 
 hearing the shell screaming a few feet over one's 
 head was most unpleasant, and we all looked for 
 the moment that the big French guns in our lines 
 would begin to shoot, as things were very dis- 
 agreeable for us while "Helen" was in action. 
 This gun was altogether so troublesome that we 
 had christened it "Helen of Troy." 
 
 Fortunately, only about one in four of its 
 shells bm'st, otherwise we should have suffered 
 very heavily, because many of them fell in and 
 around our lines. My men would calmly pick 
 up these unexploded shells and struggle off with 
 them on their shoulders to adorn the entrance of 
 their dug-outs ! This used to horrify the French 
 gunners, who were close by and knew the danger 
 of touching such dangerous toys. I am afraid 
 my Zionists thought me somewhat of a tyrant for 
 abolishing these aesthetic aids to the beautifica- 
 tion of their subterranean homes ! 
 
 Now and again, just as a reminder of the rig- 
 ours to come, we were deluged by a downpour 
 of rain, and then life in the trenches was almost 
 
 [271] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 unbearable, for, owing to the subsoil being clay, 
 all the water ran on the sui-face and speedily 
 filled up every trench, dug-out and hollow; and 
 this discomfort, coupled with mud, filth, too little 
 food and sleep, and too much shells and bombs, 
 made life in GallipoH more fit for a dog than a 
 man. 
 
 As the cold weather was coming on, I deter- 
 mined to build a good stone house for my men, 
 where there would always be a big fire going to 
 keep them warm and to dry their clothes when 
 they came back wet from the trenches. As it 
 was not in our zone, I had to get the permission 
 of the Chief Engineer of the French Army to 
 take some stones from Sedd-el-Bahr village, be- 
 cause it was only there that building material 
 could be obtained. While we were pulling down 
 a house and excavating the foundation, we dug 
 up a slab of marble with a beautiful filigree de- 
 sign carved round the outer edge of it, and in the 
 centre, strange to say, was the Shield of David! 
 The stone must have been very, very old, and 
 how it got there is a mystery. Perhaps it may 
 have been taken from Solomon's Temple in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 My Zion men were delighted at the find and 
 brought the stone in triumph to our camp, and it 
 
 [272] 
 
THE SHIELD OF DAVID 
 
 was kept in the new house as a tahsman to ward 
 off the shells. Strange to say, although they fell 
 all round, the building was never touched nor 
 was any one injured in its vicinity. 
 
 Our own dug-out was also gi-eatly improved 
 when the weather became bitterly cold. We 
 made the fireplace and chimney-stack out of old 
 kerosene tins, which made a kind of brasier on 
 which we burned charcoal obtained from the ref- 
 use heap at the Field Bakery. Altogether, our 
 dug-out was considered to be the cosiest one in 
 the whole Peninsula, as indeed it had every right 
 to be, for was not Claude Rolo, who was our 
 architect and engineer, one of the cleverest civil 
 engineers that ever passed through the Polji:ech- 
 nic in Paris ? 
 
 Our charcoal fire was very useful in many 
 ways; it made very good toast, for the bread, 
 which up to now had been excellent, began to 
 be sodden owing to the bakery being in the open 
 and, of course, getting the full benefit of all the 
 rain that often came down in torrents; and in 
 addition to the rain the unfortunate bakers were 
 at all times under shell-fire. Although the bread 
 was not up to the usual standard after the rains 
 set in, yet in the whole history of war I do not be- 
 lieve that men and animals have ever been better 
 
 [273] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 fed than were the troops, horses and mules during 
 the whole time we were on the Peninsula. The 
 variety of food might perhaps have been bet- 
 tered, but the qualitj'^ and quantity on the whole 
 were excellent and reflected the greatest credit 
 on the organisation of the Ai-my Service Corps; 
 in fact, it was the only department where 
 one could say all the time — it had done well. 
 The Ordnance failed at times — failed lamentably 
 in the supply of high explosives for the guns, but 
 this was through no fault of the ordnance officer 
 on the spot, who, I know, took every precaution 
 to ask for every conceivable article months be- 
 fore it was required. Of course, he did some- 
 times get the needed articles, and sometimes, 
 when it was on its way, submarines would sink 
 the ship, or the ordnance people said the ship 
 was sunk, which amounted to the same thing and 
 covered a multitude of sins. Those submarines 
 saved many reputations! All the sapper sup- 
 plies, however, might just as well have been sunk, 
 as it was impossible to get the smallest scrap of 
 material, no matter how urgently required, with- 
 out the most minute details as to what it was for 
 and all about it. There was any amount of stuff 
 one wanted in the Field Park, but when applica- 
 
 [274] 
 
THE SHIELD OF DAVID 
 
 tion was made for it the invariable reply was, 
 "It is earmarked for other purposes." 
 
 This policy is all very well in normal times, 
 but does not do for war. Some men cannot 
 shake off the petty trammels by which they are 
 fettered in times of peace. 
 
 I have no doubt the Turks much enjoyed the 
 use of a considerable amount of this "ear- 
 marked" material, which, if it had been issued 
 to us, would have greatly enhanced the comfort 
 of man and beast. 
 
 I remember on one occasion being in want of 
 a gallon of tar. Now there was any amount of 
 it in the stores, in fact, one could see it oozing 
 out of the barrels in all directions. I wanted 
 this tar to put on some ropes and sacks filled 
 with sand which I was burying in the ground to 
 make my horse lines and to waterproof some 
 canvas ; so I sent a man to the R. E. Park, with 
 a requisition, hoping to get it back in the 
 course of half an hour or so; but no: all he 
 brought back was a letter to say: "Please ex- 
 plain for what purpose you require this gallon of 
 tar." I was so annoyed that I replied: "To 
 make a bonfire when you get the order of the 
 boot." But I have some doubt as to whether 
 
 [275] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 this message ever reached its destination, as I 
 had a very diplomatic adjutant. 
 
 The officers and men of the corps of Royal 
 Engineers who wore no red-tabs were simply 
 splendid, and it was with admiration that I often 
 watched them at all hours of the day and night, 
 digging trenches, making saps, or putting up 
 barbed wire, right in the very teeth of the enemy 
 —''Second to None." 
 
 It is sometimes of vital importance in war to 
 do the exact contrary to all peace tradition; but 
 men get into a groove, get narrow, and often fail 
 to rise to the occasion. I have a good instance 
 of this in mind. A certain officer refused to issue 
 sandbags from his store when they were urgently 
 needed. (This did not happen at Helles.) 
 "They cost sixpence each," he remarked, "and I 
 have got to be careful of them," — a wise precau- 
 tion in peace-time, but utterly unsound in war, 
 because a few sandbags at sixpence each might 
 save the lives of several soldiers worth hundreds 
 of pounds, putting it on merely a cash basis. 
 
 [276] 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 Shortly before I left Gallipoli our Staff ar- 
 ranged what the American soldier would call a 
 great "stunt." Materials for a huge bonfii-e 
 were secretly collected and placed in a command- 
 ing position after dark on the heights near the 
 -<iEgean coast; near to it a mine was laid. At 
 about ten o'clock at night this was purposely ex- 
 ploded, making a terrific report; next moment, 
 according to prearranged plan, the bonfire, 
 which had been liberally saturated with oil and 
 tar, bm'st into a great sheet of flame which lit 
 up half our end of the Peninsula. Our Staff 
 fully expected that the explosion followed by the 
 great fire would bring every Turk out of the 
 depths of his trench to the parapet in order to 
 see what had happened ; so at this moment every 
 gun on the Peninsula, which of course had the 
 range of these Turkish trenches to a yard, loosed 
 off a mighty salvo. Next morning at daylight 
 the Staff eagerly scanned the enemy's parapets, 
 expecting to see them littered with dead — but 
 
 [277] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 instead they were somewhat chagrined to observe 
 our old friend the Turkish wag slowly raise a 
 great placard announcing: "No Casualties!" 
 
 The Tm'ks were now much more lively in their 
 cannonading, and began once more their hateful 
 tactics of loosing off shells at mounted men. 
 
 About a fortnight before I left the Peninsula, 
 I was riding up from Gully Ravine, and, having 
 got to the top of what is called Ai'tillery Road, 
 I met a gun team, and one of the di'ivers told me 
 to be careful going along the next couple of hun- 
 dred yards, as the Turks were shelling the short 
 strip of road just ahead. I was walking my 
 horse at the time, and continued to do so, as I 
 felt I was just as safe walking as galloping. In 
 a few moments I heard the report of a gun from 
 behind Krithia, then I heard the scream of a shell 
 coming nearer and nearer, and as I bent my head 
 down to the horse's mane I said to myself: 
 "This is going to be a near thing." The shell 
 whizzed close above my head and exploded a yard 
 or two beyond me, plastering some twenty or 
 thirty yards of ground with shrapnel. My 
 horse took no notice of the explosion, and con- 
 tinued walking on as if nothing had happened. 
 Although I was anxiously on the look-out for 
 another salute from the enemy, I thought, if I 
 
 [278] 
 
BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 just walked on, I would bluff the Turkish ob- 
 serving officer into thinking that, as I took the 
 matter so unconcernedly, he must have the wrong 
 range and it would be useless to go on shooting. 
 It was either that or else he was a sportsman and 
 thought that, as I had taken my escape so calmly, 
 he would not shoot again, for at any rate not an- 
 other round was fired. 
 
 Although I did not know it at the time, Gye 
 had been watching the whole of this episode from 
 a little distance. He had seen the gun team be- 
 ing shelled as it galloped for shelter down to the 
 Gully, and when he saw me emerge he felt pretty 
 sure that I would be fii-ed on as soon as I was 
 spotted by the Turkish gunners. He told me 
 it was most exciting to watch me as I came to 
 the dangerous bit of road, hear the report of the 
 Turkish gun, hear the shriek of the shell as it 
 came along, and then see it go bang, apparently 
 on my head! 
 
 As was to be expected, where cannonading ard 
 battles were the order of the day, there was little 
 to be seen on the Peninsula in the way of animal 
 or bird life. The cranes which Homer sings of 
 somewhere or other, flew in great flocks down to 
 Egypt, flying almost in the arrow formation of 
 geese when in flight, but with the arrow not quite 
 
 [279] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 so regular. I have put up some partridges out 
 of the gorse, between the Gully Ravine and the 
 ^gean, within a hundred yards of where the 
 guns were blazing away for all they were worth. 
 There were a few other small birds about, but 
 very few, if any, warblers. I came across one 
 dead hare, shot by a stray bullet, and I had a 
 glimpse of one live one as it scuttled away in 
 the gorse. The only other four-footed wild 
 thing that I saw in the Peninsula was what ap- 
 peared to be a cross between the merecat and 
 the mongoose, but slightly larger than the mon- 
 goose. It was of a dark reddish-brown colour, 
 thickly dotted over with grey spots. I saw one 
 or two small snakes, but whether they were ven- 
 omous or not I cannot say, for they glided off 
 into their holes before I could secure a speci- 
 men. 
 
 A night or two before I left Gallipoli we had 
 a sudden downpour of rain which made the 
 trenches raging torrents, and turned the dug-outs 
 into diving baths; but still our men remained 
 cheery throughout it all; nothing can depress 
 them. The men of L Battery, R. H. A., like all 
 others, were flooded out in the twinkling of an 
 eye, and I watched them, standing in their shirts 
 on the edge of their dug-outs, endeavoring with 
 
 [280] 
 
BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 a hooked stick to fish up their equipment and the 
 remainder of their attire from a murky flood of 
 water four feet deep — all the time singing gaily : 
 "It's a long way to Tipperary." 
 
 My escape on Artillery Road was the last 
 serious little bit of adventure I had on the Penin- 
 sula, for towards the end of November I got ill, 
 and Captain Blandy, R. A. M. C, packed me off 
 to hospital. My faithful orderly, Corporal Yor- 
 ish, came with me to the hospital and saw that I 
 was comfortably fixed up for the night. I can- 
 not speak too highly of this man's behaviour dur- 
 ing the whole time he was with me in Egypt and 
 Gallipoli. In Palestine he was a dental student, 
 but he could turn his hand to anything, and was 
 never happy unless he was at work. 
 
 I spent that night in the clearing station close 
 to Lancashire Landing, on a bed having a big 
 side tilt, with a dozen other officers all round, 
 some sick, some wounded. We had a dim light 
 from a hurricane lamp suspended to a rope, 
 which was tied to the tent poles, and we got a 
 little warmth and a lot of smell from an oil stove, 
 for the weather was now very cold. 
 
 At about 4 A. M. I dozed off, and the next 
 thing I remember was a Turk leaning over me, 
 trying, as I thought, to prod me in the face with 
 
 [281] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 a bayonet. I made a vicious kick at him which 
 woke me up, and then I discovered that my Turk 
 was no Turk at all but merely the hospital or- 
 derly, who was attempting to jab a thermometer 
 into my mouth in an effort to take my tempera- 
 ture. It was 5 A. M. and the hospital machine 
 had begun to work, and whether you are well, 
 or whether you are ill, or whether you are asleep, 
 or whether you are awake, temperatures and 
 medicines must be taken according to rule and 
 regulation. 
 
 This same clearing station had seen some very 
 lively times, because it is close to the ordnance 
 stores, and in a line from Asia to W Beach, 
 so that shells used to fall into it both from Achi 
 Baba and from across the Dardanelles. Order- 
 lies and patients had been killed there, and many 
 others had had marvellous escapes. Scores and 
 scores of times have I witnessed the departure of 
 the sick and wounded, which generally took place 
 in the evening, and the clock-like precision with 
 which everything worked reflected the greatest 
 credit on Colonel Humphreys, R. A. M. C, who 
 was in charge of it from the beginning to the 
 end, and on the members of the R. A. M. C. Corps 
 who assisted him. From what I saw of the 
 R. A. M. C. men in Gallipoli, this Corps has every 
 
 [282] 
 
BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 reason to be proud of itself. Of course, at the 
 first landing there was a lamentable medical 
 break-down, and there is no doubt that hundreds 
 of lives were lost because there were not enough 
 doctors, attendants, and stores to go round. 
 Hundreds and hundreds of badly wounded men 
 had to be stuffed anywhere on board transports 
 and sent down to the hospitals at Alexandria 
 with practically no one to look after them, ex- 
 cepting their lesser wounded comrades; but this 
 was an administrative blunder, which does not 
 reflect on the pluck, energy and skill shown by 
 all those R. A. M. C. officers and men with whom 
 I came in contact in GalHpoli. 
 
 Colonel Humphreys saw me off on the morn- 
 ing of the 29th of November, and I went down in 
 an ambulance full of officers and soldiers to the 
 French pier at V Beach, the same at which I 
 had landed in April, because our own pier at W 
 Beach had been washed away and could not 
 be used. While we were getting on board the 
 trawler which was to take us to the hospital ship, 
 the Turks put a few shells close round us in their 
 efforts to damage the French works on V Beach. 
 This was their last salute so far as I was con- 
 cerned, for I never heard another shot fired. 
 They were very good about our hospital ships, 
 
 [283] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 and never attempted to do any shooting which 
 would endanger them in any way. 
 
 As we rounded the stern of the hospital ship 
 in order to get to the lee-side, as the weather was 
 a bit boisterous, I was interested to see that the 
 ship was called the Assay e. 
 
 Now during the South African War, I had 
 gone out in this same ship in command of about 
 twelve hundred troo23s, and it was somewhat odd 
 that I should now see her as a hospital ship and 
 be going aboard her as a patient. I found 
 things very comfortable on board, and certainly 
 it was an immense change to to us to find our- 
 selves once more between sheets on a spring bed 
 swung on pivots, so that the patients should not 
 feel the motion of the ship. We were very 
 democratic in the hospital, as generals, colonels, 
 majors, captains, lieutenants and senior N. C. 
 O.'s, some thirty or forty of us in all, were jum- 
 bled up together in the ward. 
 
 There was only one nursing sister for our 
 ward, an Australian lady. Sister Dixon, who 
 certainly worked like a slave from somewhere 
 about seven in the morning until ten at night. 
 Her task was too severe, and enough to break 
 down any ordinary mortal. She was assisted in 
 the ward duties by Corporal O'Brien, who did 
 
 [284] 
 
BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 what he could to make us comfortable. The 
 night orderly was a big kindly Scotch High- 
 lander, named Mackinnon, almost as tender and 
 sympathetic as a woman, who apologised pro- 
 fusely when he had to wake us every morning at 
 8 A. M. to take our temperatures and count the 
 beats of our pulse. 
 
 The Assay e lay off Cape Helles in a blind- 
 ing blizzard of hail and snow, during which many 
 of the poor fellows in the trenches were, I am 
 told, frozen to death, or, as a lesser evil, got their 
 feet frozen during that very cold spell. 
 
 On the 27th we set sail for Mudros, which we 
 reached in about four hours, where we lay at 
 anchor for a day, and there was much specula- 
 tion as to whether we would be transhipped, or 
 go ashore and be put in hospital on this island, 
 each and all wondering what was going to hap- 
 pen. One or two light cases were put ashore, 
 and then the ship weighed anchor bound for 
 Alexandria, which we reached without adventure 
 on the 1st of December. All of us who were 
 unable to walk were carried ashore by some stal- 
 wart Australians, and then we were sandwiched 
 into a motor ambulance, still remaining on our 
 stretchers, and driven off to Ras-el-Tin Hospital, 
 which occupied an excellent position by the edge 
 
 [285] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 of the sea. Here I spent fifteen days getting 
 every care and attention from Miss Bond (the 
 matron), and nursing sisters Blythe and Jordon, 
 who looked after the patients in my ward. Ras- 
 el-Tin Hospital is used for officers only, but I 
 noticed that some of the medical officers were 
 somewhat young and inexperienced. This I 
 consider wrong, because in these days the lives 
 of officers are of great importance, and only 
 the best and most experienced medical officers 
 should be employed to look after them, and 
 get them fit for their duties as soon as possi- 
 ble. 
 
 My own little experience in this respect may 
 not be out of place here as an apt illustration of 
 what I have just written. 
 
 The senior medical officer in charge, a very 
 young temporary captain, without coming to 
 see me, decreed that I was fit and well enough to 
 leave the hospital for a convalescent home. 
 Now, I was just about able to crawl and no more, 
 and the matron and sister who knew the state I 
 was in, told him that I was utterly unfit to leave 
 the hospital. However, without coming to see 
 me, he still remained obstinate, and ordered my 
 kit away, but meanwhile. Colonel Beach, the 
 A. D. M. S. Alexandria, having come to see me, 
 
 [286] 
 
BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 his experienced eye showed him that it would be 
 some months before I should be fit for military 
 duty again, and he told me I should have to go 
 before a medical board, who would dispose of 
 my case. The following day the medical board 
 decided to send me to England, and I was put 
 on board the hospital ship Gurkha, which I 
 found very comfortable, with excellent food and 
 a most excellent medical staff, a colonel, three 
 majors, and a captain, all of the Indian Medical 
 Service; and I thought what a pity it was that 
 some of these able and experienced officers could 
 not be utilised to take charge of such hospitals as 
 Ras-el-Tin, where they could guide the junior 
 staff into the way they should go. It is just an- 
 other example of not utihsing in the right way 
 the wealth of talent which we possess in skilled 
 and able men. I do not for a moment mean to 
 suggest that the talents of these Indian Medical 
 Service officers were wasted on the Gurkha. 
 What I do mean is that one or two of the senior 
 men would have been ample on the ship, with 
 a couple of younger men as assistants, and the 
 other senior men could then have been released 
 for similar work among some of the ill-staffed 
 hospitals in Egypt or Mesopotamia. 
 
 Colonel Haig, I. M. S., the senior medical of- 
 
 [287] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 ficer on board, was untiring in his care of the sick 
 and wounded, and if a testimonial of his zeal 
 were wanted, it could be found in the difference 
 in the appearance which his three hundred pa- 
 tients presented from the day when they came 
 on board the Gurkha at Alexandria to the day 
 when they left his hands at Southampton. I, 
 who saw it, can onty say it was simply marvel- 
 lous. 
 
 After eleven daj^s' treatment in the capable 
 hands of Major Houston, I. M. S., I found my- 
 self a different man when I walked off the ship 
 at Southampton, where we arrived on Boxing 
 Day, 1915, and reached London on a hospital 
 train the same evening. At Waterloo we were 
 met by a medical officer, who scattered us 
 throughout the hospitals in London. I was for- 
 tunate in being sent to that organised by Lady 
 Violet Brassey at 40, Upper Grosvenor Street, 
 where I was never so comfortable, or so well 
 cared for in the whole course of my life, and for 
 which I tender her my very sincere thanks; and 
 I would also like to thank Doctor A. B. Howitt, 
 Miss Spencer (the matron), and the sisters and 
 nurses for the care and kindness which they 
 showed me during the three weeks I was in their 
 charge. 
 
 [288] 
 
BACK TO ENGLAND 
 
 It was delightful to have old friends crowding 
 in with gifts of flowers, and fruit, and books, and 
 all the latest London papers and gossip. Lady 
 Violet arranged some delightful concerts for us 
 at which such public favourites as IMadame 
 Bertha Moore, Miss Evie Greene and others 
 charmed us with song, story, and recitation. 
 Among the "others" was Miss Marjorie Moore, 
 whose song, "Just a Little Bit of Heaven," 
 reached all the Irish hearts there. 
 
 Harry Irving, too, came to see me one day, 
 and presented me with a box for the Savoy, 
 where half a dozen of us thoroughly enjoyed 
 The Case of Lady Camber. 
 
 Discussing the play at dinner in the hospital 
 afterwards, I remarked how well Holman Clarke 
 had acted in the Sherry scene, when the V. A. D. 
 nm'se who was at that moment handing me some 
 soup remarked: "I am glad j^ou liked him, be- 
 cause he is my brother." 
 
 How wonderfully well the women of the Em- 
 pire have shown up during the war! They have 
 come forward in their thousands, not only for 
 V. A. D. work, where their help is invaluable, 
 but also for munition work and work of every 
 kind, which up to the outbreak of war it was 
 thought could only be done by men. 
 
 [289] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 Yes, the women have certainly come into their 
 own, and I for one am very glad of it, and proud 
 too of the fact that they have responded so nobly 
 to the call. 
 
 [290] 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 THE EVACUATION 
 
 When I learned in August of the Great Failure 
 at Suvla, and heard with astonishment and no 
 little anger that no further troops were to be 
 sent to Galhpoli, I knew then that the only thing 
 to do was to get out as quickly as possible be- 
 fore the Turks could get a fresh stock of muni- 
 tions and reinforcements from Germany and 
 Bulgaria. 
 
 It must not be imagined that I was anxious 
 that we should leave Gallipoli after all our great 
 sacrifices there, but since the Government had 
 decided once more to fritter away our chances 
 by divertmg troops to Salonika, when it was al- 
 ready too late to accomplish any useful purpose 
 there, I knew that our position on the Peninsula 
 was hopeless. 
 
 Bad weather was coming on uid it would have 
 been absolutely impossible to live in the trenches 
 and dug-outs. Even with the httle amount of 
 rain that I had experienced, the communication 
 and other trenches were at times waist deep in 
 
 [291] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 raging torrents, carrying down empty cases, dead 
 Turks and other debris. 
 
 Had troops been left in Gallipoli for the win- 
 ter, the losses from sickness and exposure alone 
 would have been enormous; in fact, the Ai'my 
 would have needed renewing every month. 
 
 It must be remembered that the conditions of 
 life in Gallipoli were entirely different to those 
 prevailing in France. There were no such 
 things as dry sleeping places, dry clothes, or 
 housing of any kind, and one was just as likely 
 to be killed in the so-called rest trenches as in 
 those on the front line. 
 
 One of the saddest things I know of was the 
 death of the Colonel commanding the King's 
 Own Scottish Borderers. He had escaped every- 
 thing right through the campaign, but in the end 
 met his death in one of the rest trenches about 
 the middle of November, by a shell fii'ed from 
 "Helen of Troy" on the Asiatic coast. 
 
 When once it was definitely decided to send 
 no further reinforcements to GalHpoli, of course 
 the only thing left to do was to get out, and to 
 get out as speedily as possible. 
 
 But even after the obvious had become inevi- 
 table, we still went on gaily, spending enormous 
 sums of money, laying down miles of tramways, 
 
 [292] 
 
THE EVACUATION 
 
 making roads, bridges, erecting camp hospitals, 
 and doing a thousand other things — all very ex- 
 pensive work. 
 
 When I saw this going on I began to think 
 that perhaps, after all, the Government were 
 really going to do the right thing, which would 
 have been to throw an overwhelming force of 
 Anglo-French troops on the Turks, catching 
 them, as they then were, with but little ammuni- 
 tion, crumpling them up and thus accomplishing 
 our main object in the Near East. This would, 
 undoubtedly, have been the right line of policy to 
 have taken, and would have helped Serbia much 
 more than anything else, but some fatal demon 
 seems to dog the footsteps of our politico-strate- 
 gists. 
 
 When our Foreign Minister declared that we 
 were going to uphold Serbia with all our might 
 he must have known that he was mouthing mere 
 empty phrases, but the unfortunate Serbians put 
 their trust in the pledged word of a British Min- 
 ister, with the result that thousands upon thou- 
 sands of them have been cruelly done to death. 
 
 The more honest and more noble plan would 
 have been to have admitted that, at the moment, 
 we could do nothing for Serbia or the Serbians, 
 and to have advised them to make what terms 
 
 [293] 
 
WITH THE ZIONISTS IN GALLIPOLI 
 
 they could with their powerful neighbour, assur- 
 ing them that, at the right time, when we were 
 ready, we would, without fail, not only deliver 
 them from the hands of their enemies, but amply 
 compensate them for the trials they would, for a 
 space, have to endm^e. 
 
 It is said that the gods strike with blindness 
 those whom they are about to destroy and it cer- 
 tainly looks as if the gods had held the searing 
 iron rather close to our eyes; but, notwithstand- 
 ing all the mistakes and in spite of our politicians 
 and our blundering strategists, and in spite of 
 our neglect of science and scientists, I have still 
 absolute confidence, owing to what I have seen 
 of the splendid pluck and endurance of our men, 
 both in the Fleet and in the Army, that we will 
 come out of this great World War triumphant. 
 
 Let it not be supposed that our terrible losses 
 and disastrous failure in the Dardanelles have 
 been altogether fruitless. By our presence there, 
 we held up and almost destroyed a magnificent 
 Turkish Army and by doing this we gave in- 
 valuable aid to our Russian ally. 
 
 Had it been possible for the Turkish Army, 
 which we held fast in Gallipoli, to have taken 
 part in Enver Pasha's great push in the Cau- 
 casus, there is no doubt that the Turks would 
 
 [294] 
 
THE EVACUATION 
 
 have crushed the Russians in those regions and 
 have made things look verj'^ black indeed for our 
 ally. As it is, I consider it is greatly due to the 
 Gallipoli campaign that Russia, during her time 
 of stress and shortage of munitions, was able to 
 hold her own in the Caucasus and, when she was 
 ready, assume the offensive, resulting in her re- 
 cent brilliant capture of that great Turkish 
 stronghold in Asia Minor, Erzeroum. 
 
 The knowledge that this effort of ours has, 
 after all, borne some fruit tends to assuage our 
 grief for the loss of those dear friends and good 
 comrades who now He buried by those purple 
 ^gean shores. 
 
 We can well imagine that the spirits of those 
 heroes of France and Britain and Greater Brit- 
 ain who have fallen in the fight are eagerly 
 watching and waiting for the hour of our victory ; 
 and when our Fleet sails triumphantly through 
 the Dardanelles, as it surely must, and thunders 
 forth a salute over the mortal remains of our 
 mighty dead, their shades will be at peace, for 
 they will then know that, after all, they have not 
 died in vain. 
 
 [295] 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 I HAD no idea when I was taken to Hospital that 
 I should not see my Zion men again. I thought 
 I should be fit for duty in the course of a few 
 days, so I never even said good-bye to them be- 
 fore I left. However, I am in touch with them 
 still through the post, and I am glad to say that 
 there were no deaths after I left and all got 
 safely back to Eg^^pt when that brilliant piece 
 of work — the evacuation of Gallipoli — took 
 place. I promised to recommend those who did 
 well to the Russian Authorities, and I was glad 
 to forward the following letter and list of names 
 to the Imperial Russian Consul at Alexandria, 
 for transmission to the proper quarter: 
 
 Headquarters, Zion Mule Corps, 
 
 14* Rue Sesostris, Alexandria, 
 
 December 14!th, 1915. 
 From the OflScer Commanding 
 Zion Mule Corps. 
 
 To • 
 
 The Imperial Russian Consul, 
 Alexandria. 
 Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to state that with the approval of 
 
 [297] 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 your Government a number of Jewish refugees from 
 Palestine, Russian subjects, were formed into a corps 
 for service with the British Army. I have already fur- 
 nished you with a nominal roll of all officers and men 
 of Russian nationality in the Corps. I now wish to 
 bring to your notice, for the favourable consideration 
 of your Government, the names of those soldiers who 
 did especially well while serving under my command in 
 Gallipoli, and I sincerely trust that you may find it 
 possible to have their names brought before the Im- 
 perial Russian Minister for War for favourable con- 
 sideration. 
 
 The following have distinguished themselves before 
 the enemy : 
 
 Officers : 
 
 1. Captain J. Trumpledor has proved himself a most 
 gallant soldier and has been already decorated by 
 H. I. M. the Tsar for gallantry at Port Arthur. 
 
 2. Second Lieutenant Alexander Gorodisky. This 
 was one of my best officers and he was a very brave 
 soldier. I was much grieved when he died as the result 
 of the hardships of the campaign. He leaves a wid- 
 owed mother who was dependent on him for her main- 
 tenance. 
 
 3. Second Lieutenant Zolman Zlotnic, a useful officer 
 and a gallant man. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS : 
 
 1. Sergeant-Ma j or Joseph Yassinsky. 
 
 S. Sergeant Nissel Rosenberg. 
 
 3. Corporal M. Groushkovsky. This Corporal has 
 been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gal- 
 lantry in the field. 
 
 [298] 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 4. Corporal Nehmia Yehoudis. 
 
 5. Corporal Isaac Yorish. 
 
 G. Corporal Frank Abram (killed in action, leaving 
 a widow and five little children). 
 
 I have only mentioned those who have specially dis- 
 tinguished themselves, many others did very good serv- 
 ice also, and I am glad to be able to attach a copy of 
 an official letter, enclosed herewith, testifying to the 
 good work done by these Russian subjects while serving 
 under me in the British Army. 
 
 Trusting for the favour of your transmitting these 
 names to the proper quarter. 
 
 I remain. 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 (Signed) J. H. Patterson. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding Zion Mule Corps. 
 
 [copy.] 
 
 8th Army Corps, H. Q. D. Adjt.-General, G. H. Q. 
 No. 274/12. No. B. 3322, 
 
 October 2nd, 1915. 5/10/15. 
 
 M. E. F. 
 The A. Q. M. G. 8th Army Corps. 
 
 I have had a petition from forty-five N. C. O.'s and 
 men of this corps for permission to go to Alexandria 
 for a couple of weeks on leave. I would very strongly 
 recommend that this leave may be granted, as these 
 N. C. O.'s and men have been here (and have worked 
 well) ever since the original landing in April. 
 
 I consider that the men really need this change and 
 as their families are in Alexandria, I hope they will be 
 sent there in accordance with their request. 
 
 [299] 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 If, as I hope, my men are given leave to proceed to 
 Alexandria, I propose to give one half leave as soon as 
 granted, and the other half on the return of the first 
 party. 
 
 As these men have done particularly well, I trust 
 that their good service will be recognised. 
 
 J. H. Patterson, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding. 
 2/10/15. 
 (Zion Mule Corps) 
 
 2. Adjutant-General, G. H. Q. 8th Corps, H. Q. 
 
 No. B. 332. No. A. 274/12. 
 
 5/10/15 4/10/15 
 
 M. E. F. 
 G. H. Q. 
 
 I recommend this application. As the G. O. C-in-C. 
 is aware this Corps has done excellent work. 
 
 (Signed) Francis Davies, 
 
 Lieutenant General, 
 4/10/15. Cemmanding 8th Corps. 
 
 3. G. O. C. 8th Corps. 
 
 This leave is approved, the delay is greatly regretted, 
 but has been unavoidable. The C.-in-C. has approved 
 of a grant of one pound to each of these forty-five men 
 in consideration of the good •work of the Corps, and the 
 Field Cashier is authorised to issue the cash. 
 
 (Signed) A. Cavendish, 
 
 Colonel, 
 6/11/15. A. A. G., G. H. Q. 
 
 [300] 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 4. Field Cashier. 
 
 Please note, and pass to O. C. ZIon Mule Corps, who 
 should return this memo to Corps Headquarters. 
 (Signed) C. D. Hamilton Moore, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel for B. G., D. A. 
 and Q. M. G. 8th Army Corps. 
 7/10/15. 
 
 THE END 
 
 [301] 
 
HATIKVOH 
 
 (Song of Hope) 
 
HATIKVOH 
 
 Kol owd Hallivor peneemoh 
 Nafesch Yehoodee howmeeoh 
 Ulefahahsi Mizroch kohdeemoh 
 Aynec Tzeeown tsowfeeoh. 
 
 Owd lou ovdoh Sikvohsinu 
 Hatikvoh hahnowshohno. 
 Loshur learetz ahvousinu 
 Leear bow Dovid chonoh. 
 
 Kol owd demohows — INIieyeninu 
 Yizzlu keghashem nedovous 
 Urvovous mibni Amminu 
 Owd howlcheem al kivri ovous. 
 
 Owd lou ovdoh Sikvohsinu 
 Hatikvoh hahnowshohno. 
 Loshur learetz ahvousinu 
 Leear bow Dovid chonoh. 
 
 [304] 
 
HATIKVOH 
 
 ( THE SONG OF HOPE ) 
 
 Arranged by Eva Lonsdalh. 
 
 1. O, Zi - on, our fair dwell-ing, home of peace and rest, 
 
 2. Tho' dark and drear, the hours pass slow, and fraught with pain. 
 
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 Far from thee we mourn our lib - er - ty, Tho' 
 Still we trust, Thoul't cher - ish us once more For 
 
 By kind permission of Messrs. R. Mazin & Co., London. 
 [305] 
 
HATIKVOH 
 
 sadden'd be our hearts, our souls with grief oppress'd, 
 soon the dawn must break o'er thy green hills a - gain. 
 
 Still our hope, our hope is in thee. 
 Bring - ing joy to thy fair shore. 
 
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 Refrain. — ~ 
 
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 Oh, Lord our God, guard and set us free — 
 
 l^^-^=d-^=4 
 
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 Grant to Zi - on joy and lib - er - ty. 
 
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 [306] 
 
THE SONG OF HOPE 
 
 f^-f^^ 
 
 molto rail. 
 
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 :^=at 
 
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 more, dear land, re - stor - ed to thee. 
 
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 colla voce 
 
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 [307] 
 
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