Here’s to all the diggers.

Using letters, diaries and photographs, The Sunday Age recounts events through the eyes of the diggers who battled on amid despair and death. Jonathan King reports.

APRIL – THE LANDING

The great challenge for the Anzacs on April 25 was to land at Anzac Cove against formidable opposition from the Turks and then dig in. We are now within a mile of the shore and the din has increased… the whole side of the mountains seems to be sending forth tongues of flame and the bullets fairly rain upon us… the water is churned up from rifle fire, machine-guns, Maxims, shrapnel and common shells… seven of the boys in our boat are killed and God knows how many in the others.

Anonymous soldier, the 3rd Brigade

Our boat’s bottom scratches the rocky shore… we wade ashore with the feeling that we are at least one of the first to put foot on Turkish soil… silent forms lay scattered on the beach everywhere: some gone to their last resting place, some writhing in their last agonies, others with their life-blood fast oozing out…

Anonymous soldier

It was a remarkable day and a day in which it was easy to pick out the wasters, also the brave men. I am delighted with our Australian troops, the way they take the gruel is splendid. At times there was a shortage of ammunition and reinforcements were badly wanted. But seeing they had landed everything under shell fire, I should say they did very well.

Private T. J. Richards

MAY – BURYING THE DEAD

The Anzacs organised a truce with the Turks so they could bury their comrades who had been killed since the landing. Had a darn good sleep and got up at about 6am and issued rations to the chaps. Then the shrapnel began and it hailed around about us and hit everything around me but myself. We deepened our sleeping place about three feet, but it was not deep enough.

Captain D. B. A. King

Our troops made a successful advance and, according to the number of injured coming in, they paid dearly for it. What a pitiful sight they presented. They had been 20 hours lying all over the place with great gaping wounds. Some had both legs broken and the pain they endured coming down the steep sides was almost unendurable.

Lieutenant F. T. Small

The armistice began for the purpose of burying the dead. The smell is something awful. Some of the bodies have been lying in the heat of the sun for four weeks and of course all are unrecognisable. It is only by identification discs that the corpses are known. The ground was simply covered with dead between the trenches and estimates of 12,000 Turks killed have been made. Amongst this awful mass of dead Turks were some of our boys who had been killed on the first and second days’ fight and had lain there since. The bodies were horrible to look at being black and swelled up stretching out the clothing and, in many cases, when they were touched, falling to pieces.

William Dexter

JUNE – ALL QUIET ON THE FRONT LINE

After the difficult landing in April and fighting in May, both sides ceased fighting. I have established a little prayer meeting in my dug-out on Pope’s Hill. Sometimes we sing a well-known hymn, Nearer, my God to Thee, and the sound is wonderfully inspiring.

Chaplain E. N. Merrington

We have not had our clothes off for five weeks and it was most pleasant to strip off and have a dip in the sea. The weather here is glorious just at present and I am in the best of health.

Private F. W. Muir

The trenches are ridiculously quiet considering war is on and often perfect quiet prevails to be broken by the pot of a single snipe or the dismal squeal of a shell.

Lieutenant R. W. McHenry

JULY – TALK OF MUTINY

The debilitating heat stalled fighting and there was talk of mutiny among the Australians. I would not care a rap if 75 per cent of our officers had a wooden cross over their heads. Half of our duty men are taken up digging most secure dug-outs for officers or washing shirts for them in half a bucket of water while other men are almost famished for a drink. By God, if ever I am asked to dig a dug-out for one or wash their shirts. I will be shot at daybreak for refusing to obey an order on active service.

Private J. K. Gammage

The captured Turks who surrendered reckon that we are great shots. They are full of admiration for our shooting and fighting generally and admit being terrified.

Sergeant C. Bosward

AUGUST – BATTLE FOR LONE PINE AND THE NEK

Having consolidated their positions and obtained reinforcements, the British ordered the Australians over the clifftops on a mission impossible with dire consequences. One hundred and fifty men of the 8th Light Horsemen jumped out of the trench but were all mown down within 30 seconds, sinking to the ground as though their limbs suddenly became string. They were waiting, ready for us and simply gave us a solid wall of lead.

Sergeant Cliff Pinnock

It was a truly awful sight.

Once more the long procession of wounded, dirty, ragged, torn and bloody men came down from the Nek to the dressing station while others lay just 25 yards (23 metres) in front of the trench in the hot sun not daring to move till night when some of them might be able to crawl slowly back.

Corporal Alec Riley

As we captured Lone Pine we felt like wild beasts and as fast as our men went down another would take his place but soon the wounded were piled up three or four deep and the moans of our poor fellows and also the Turks we tramped on was awful.

Private Tom Billings

SEPTEMBER – DISEASE STRIKES

With so many soldiers now stationed at Gallipoli, the poor food supplies and sanitation triggered an outbreak of disease. In the morning we get a piece of bacon, a pint of tea and hard biscuits, perhaps a loaf of bread. For dinner, we have water, tea and sugar, and for tea we have bully beef stew.

Sapper V. Willey

The general health is bad with as many as 50 per cent of the men unfit for duty and unless relieved there will be, to a certainty, a severe epidemic of pneumonia, dysentery and enteric fever as the resisting power to disease is practically nil.

War Diary of the 12th Infantry Brigade

You ought to see the Anzac fleas, millions of them, and other things that crawl and stick closer than a brother. My blanket nearly walks by itself.

Captain Bill Knox

OCTOBER – TRADING TUCKER WITH THE TURKS

The frontline soldiers had been at Gallipoli and inactive for so long they began chatting to the Turks in the trenches, often less than 10 metres away. The more one sees of it, the more one realises the rottenness and horror of the whole business. God knows I do want to do my bit and am far from having cold feet, but any reasonable-minded man must wonder what the outcome will be – war is not a very pleasant thing, old girl.

Captain Bill Knox

Extraordinary friendly exchanges between the Turks and our fellows this morning early. Some of our chaps ran right over to the enemy trenches and exchanged bully, jam, cigarettes etc. The whole business was wonderful and proves how madly unnecessary this part of the war is.

Lieutenant T. E. Cozens

Some graves are very artistically finished, done in some cases by the brothers of the dead, others have simply a bottle with a piece of paper with the name inside. It is very touching.

Anonymous, 20th Battalion

NOVEMBER – LORD KITCHENER VISITS

As the soldiers had made so little headway, the British military command had decided to send Minister for War Lord Kitchener to determine if Gallipoli should be evacuated. Today (November 13) Lord Kitchener landed here. All the chaps on the beach gave him a cheer when he stepped ashore. He addressed a small party of colonials and told them he had a special message from the King. He was to thank them all on the King’s behalf and to say he was more than proud of our doings.

F. A. Weeks

We are now down to half-issue water.

Private A. West

Had another storm last night. It was such as I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. The wind was something terrible – it was quite impossible to stand up in it. The trenches are terrible.

Captain Ivor Williams

The first fall of snow fell tonight. We spent a cold, wet and miserable night. The ground was frozen. In our supports trenches we have no overhead cover. Our clothes and blanket wet through. The snow is a beautiful sight, no doubt. We are past admiring scenery just now. We are on half rations, biscuits and cheese. How we hate the sight of those biscuits.

Private John Henry Turnbull

DECEMBER – EVACUATION

Although the Anzacs were holding out well, the British military command evacuated Gallipoli before the bitter winter set in.
We have had a foresight of what it would be to put the winter in here as we had a torrential downpour of rain recently. It came down the hills as if a huge dam had been dug away and simply swamped the trenches.

P. O. Bert Webster

What makes the men growl is seeing immaculately dressed British staff officers walking about washed and shaved asking silly damned questions. I am fairly convinced I am becoming a bit of a Socialist.

Captain Bill Knox

Everything points to the early evacuation of the Peninsula. It will be a thunderbolt to Australia. There is no doubt this peninsula part of the war has been the greatest failure.

Lieutenant J. G. Cosson

We left in small parties, I had 28 men and left the trenches at 5.15pm. Each ranks carried two match-head grenades as well as ammunition and as we marched on to the pier we threw them into the water. It was a great success and I don’t know yet whether the Turks know we have gone.

Lieutenant N. E. McShane

The evacuation from Anzac was not by any means a defeat, but it became obvious we could do no good there and were getting hell from the new, bigger Turkish guns, but we had attempted the impossible at the Dardanelles and the Turks can make a very good story of their victory.

Captain Bill Knox

Acknowledgments
Gallipoli Diaries: The Anzacs Own Story Day by Day by Jonathan King (Simon & Schuster)
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Mrs Diana Baillieu, Mrs Mary Burke, Mrs Kate Campbell

This was printed in the Sunday Age a couple of years ago

[Found and posted by Phil C.]