The Children's Story of the War Volume 4 (of 10) / The Story of the Year 1915

Lance-Sergeant Belcher and his Men holding a battered Breastwork.

(From the picture by Philip Dadd. By permission of The Sphere.)
The breastwork was knocked to pieces in places, and Sergeant Belcher determined to transfer his men to the unoccupied right wing of the work. Our picture shows the heroic little party at the moment when they were moving round the traverse. (See page 221.)

CHAPTER XXIX.

While the Second Battle of Ypres was raging, the French were making a big effort in Artois, more especially in the district between Lens and Arras. On page 223 you will see a map showing the main features of this district. Fix your attention for a moment on the high ground marked "N.D. de Lorette"—that is, Notre Dame de Lorette. You notice by the side of the name a cross; this shows the position of the church of Our Lady of Lorette. It stands on a bare ridge, broken by many gullies, and with a few coppices here and there. To the south of the ridge there is a broad hollow, from which rises Mont St. Eloi. Do not confound this hill with the St. Eloi which lies to the south of Ypres.

In the early days of May the Germans were holding a sharp salient in this district. Their lines extended from the east of the village of Loos,[38] across the broad highway which you see running south to Arras, then across the Lorette ridge, and to the west of the two villages which lie to the south of it. From Carency the German lines curved sharply back, still covering the highroad. Upon this salient the French made a great onslaught, which began on 13th May, and did not end until the close of the month.

The French Offensive between Arras and Lens.

The salient consists mainly of a chalky plateau full of hollows, each with its village or little town. The fields are hedgeless, and are cut across by many white roads. The ravines of the plateau and the many villages had been made almost impregnable by the Germans, who had set up all along their line numberless little forts, armed with machine guns, and connected by a maze of trenches. There were at least five lines of very strong trenches, one behind the other, in that part of their position which lay between Loos and the village of Ablain. It was a desperate task which the French now set themselves, but should it prove successful it would be well worth the sacrifice entailed. Further, an assault on the German lines in the west was now necessary. The Russians at this time were being driven back by a storm of artillery to which they could make no resistance, and General Joffre saw that something must be done to draw off German forces from the Eastern front if the Russians were not to be overwhelmed and put out of action altogether. His plan was as follows: the French were to try to capture Lens, and the British, further north, were to make a desperate push towards Lille. If these movements succeeded, the line of railway all along the German front from Lille to Soissons would be captured, and the enemy would be forced to retreat into Belgium.

I shall tell you the story of the British assault in a later chapter. I will now confine myself to the French effort. On Sunday, 9th May, General Foch, who had brought up no less than 1,100 guns of all kinds, began to bombard the German trenches between the villages of Carency and La Targette. You will notice from the map on page 223 that these trenches were called "The White Works." They were so named because the parapets, being cut from the chalk, showed up white and clear. The French bombardment was the most terrible that had ever been known in Europe up to that time. It went on for hours, and the French 75's, which can fire twenty-five aimed shots a minute, seemed to be pouring out shells like gigantic machine guns. When the bombardment ceased the White Works were simply a ploughed field strewn with fragments of wire and human bodies. More than 300,000 shells were hurled upon them in the course of the day.

CHAPTER XXX.

Next day the French were hard at it again. They pushed on to the outskirts of Loos, attacked the church on the Lorette ridge, took trenches to the south of it, seized the cemetery at Neuville, and beat off the German reserves which had been hurried up in motor cars. Everywhere the fighting was most desperate, for the Germans had turned every possible place into a little fort, and each of them had to be carried by storm. By Wednesday, 12th May, the Germans in Carency were surrounded. More than 20,000 shells had been hurled into the village, and 2,000 Germans were obliged to hold up their hands. Meanwhile the summit of the Lorette ridge had been carried, and only two or three strongholds on this high ground held out. The Germans at once rained shells on the ridge, and the ghastly scenes of Hill 60 were repeated. The French, however, clung to their trenches; nothing could move them.

On the 13th, amidst drenching rain, and in teeth of a bitter north wind, they returned to the assault. They had broken the German line; but their work was by no means done, for though the trenches had been carried, the German forts all along the front still held out, and each of them had to be besieged. The strongest position of all lay to the south of Neuville, and was known as the Labyrinth.[39] It was a wonderful network of trenches and redoubts, tunnels and roofed-in pits; it covered two square miles, and was so situated that the long-range fire of the French artillery could not get at it. Probably never before had such a stronghold been constructed. It was a cunning maze, furnished with every death-dealing device known to the science of war. It contained engines for making poison gas, machines for throwing liquid fire, scores of small fortresses, and underground passages which enabled the defenders to get to the rear of the attackers. In the background an enormous collection of big guns was in position, ready to sweep away any troops advancing upon it. Such was the Labyrinth which the French were attacking. They could not proceed until it was captured, for, as you will observe from the map on page 223, it enfiladed their advance.

By the end of May good progress had been made in clearing the Labyrinth. The German salient had gone, the French line had been straightened out, and Lens was closely beset.

An officer gives us a vivid picture of the struggle in the Labyrinth, which was not captured till towards the end of September:—

The first stage of the Battle of Artois may be said to have ended with the capture of Neuville St. Vaast on 8th June. The French had done splendidly, though they had not yet won a decisive success. The German losses during the terrible month of May cannot have been less than 60,000, and the French had suffered almost as severely. They had advanced with but few casualties; it was in the hand-to-hand fighting in the villages and against the forts that so many of their men fell. The victory was due largely to the French artillery, but the infantry did more than its fair share. It had shown itself as full of fiery courage and dashing bravery as in the great days of Napoleon.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Suppose for a moment that, in the first week of May, a British soldier in the captured village of Neuve Chapelle is looking towards the German lines. Away to the north-east he sees a long ridge crowned by the village of Aubers. He gazes upon this ridge with eyes of desire, and recalls the many determined but, so far, fruitless efforts which the British army has made to capture it. He remembers that, as far back as October 17, 1914, the red-roofed village in the distance was in British hands, and that two days later the 2nd Royal Irish, by storming the hamlet of Le Pilly,[40] attained our "farthest east." But our grasp of the ridge was very feeble; it could not be held, and by mid-November we had fallen back behind the ruins amidst which our soldier now stands. The coveted position was as far off as ever.

Fresh in his memory is that terrible day in the second week of March 1915, when he raced through the streets of Neuve Chapelle full of hope that the goal would be reached before nightfall. Alas! he and his fellows were again doomed to disappointment. The Aubers ridge, so near and yet so far, was still beyond our grasp. And now the rumour reaches his ears that another big effort is to be made. The French are striving south of the canal to carry Lens,[41] and we are to attack for the double purpose of preventing the enemy from sending reinforcements to the south, and of reaching the ridge if possible. Once we are securely established on it the flat plain to the eastward will be commanded by our guns, and La Bassée and Lille will soon know the German no more.

Look at this map and find the wood of Biez, which, you will remember, figured largely in the fighting around Neuve Chapelle. To the east of the wood you will see a road which skirts the ridge for a mile and a half and then climbs it to pass through the villages of Aubers and Fromelles. We were now about to make a thrust through the wood and through Fromelles, in the hope of reaching the ridge. On the morning of Sunday, 9th May, the 8th Division advanced against the village, and at the same time the 1st Corps and the Indians began to push through the wood. The attacks were preceded by the usual bombardment. Our high-explosive shells wrecked the first line trenches of the enemy, but unhappily did not do sufficient damage to the second line, and our men found themselves up against unbroken wire and unbreached parapets. Some ground was gained, but it could not be held, and by the evening we had made but little progress. Many fine deeds of heroism were done during the fierce fighting of the day.

On the left the 24th and 25th Brigades behaved most gallantly, and a Territorial battalion, the 13th (Kensington) of the London Regiment, performed a feat which won high and well-deserved praise from Sir John French. The Kensington men carried three lines of German trenches with the bayonet, and held on to them until the German artillery fire became so intense that flesh and blood could no longer endure it. When they fell back they had but four company officers left.

Sir Douglas Haig now recognized that the attack against the Biez Wood and Fromelles had failed. Nothing daunted, he now proposed to make another attempt to win the Aubers ridge, this time from positions between Neuve Chapelle and Givenchy. On the map (p. 231) you will see Festubert, which is less than a mile to the north of Givenchy. From Festubert, and from the points to the north of it marked A and B, three attacks were to be made. The Indians and part of the 2nd Division were to push forward from A; the 20th Brigade of the 7th Division was to advance from B; the 22nd Brigade of the same division, from Festubert. In front of our positions, across the wet fields, the Germans lay in three lines of trenches, all of which would have to be carried before the Aubers ridge could be reached.

All day Saturday, 15th May, British troops were pouring into the trenches, and the Germans guessed what was afoot. During the afternoon they frequently shouted, "Come on; we are ready!" In the late afternoon Sir John French rode along the line greeting his men with inspiring words, and wishing them good luck in the coming struggle. A heavy bombardment of the German front had been going on for some days. Now it grew heavier, and shortly before midnight on Saturday evening, 15th May, the order to assault was given.

As our men at A left their trenches the sky was lit up by the white glare of German flares and searchlights. The Indians soon found themselves checked by the fire of many machine guns installed in a group of farms which the Germans had turned into little fortresses. The 2nd Division, however, carried the first line trenches opposite to them, and broke into the second line. By daybreak five or six hundred yards of the first two lines of the enemy's trenches were in our hands. All day Sunday the big guns of the enemy fiercely bombarded these trenches, and created a zone of fire behind them. Nevertheless many heroes carrying supplies of ammunition and bombs crossed the three hundred yards which separated them from their comrades. Shells burst around them; the whole space was swept by machine-gun fire, and a man had to risk his life a hundred times before he could get through.

Ammunition parties of the "A" Company of the 1st King's (Liverpool), under Lieutenants Hutchison and Roberts, succeeded in this perilous work, though their casualties were very heavy. Lance-Corporal Tombs of the same regiment displayed wonderful heroism in rescuing the wounded, lying out in the open, and was afterwards awarded the Victoria Cross. On the 17th Lieutenant Hutchison led a party of bombers along a trench, partly held by us and partly by the Germans. So skilfully was this work accomplished that 200 Germans were forced to surrender, and 200 others were driven pell-mell down their communication trench. For this fine exploit Lieutenant Hutchison was awarded the Military Cross.

The attack in the centre made good headway. Though checked by a flanking fire, the 20th Brigade pushed on, and when reinforced reached the outskirts of the hamlet marked C, where it broke into the second line trenches. Late on Sunday evening the 1st Grenadiers were brought up, and their bombing attacks were successful in driving many Germans from their lairs. One company of the 2nd Scots Guards on this part of the line advanced too far ahead, and was cut off. Like the Canadians at St. Julien, the trapped Guards fought to the last man. When we took the ground a few days later the gallant fellows were found lying stiff and cold, with the enemy's dead thick around them.

The movement from Festubert was still more successful. The trenches against which the attack was launched formed a perfect maze; yet an advance of more than a mile was made. The 1st Welsh Fusiliers swarmed over the German parapets with real Celtic ardour, and drove the enemy down a long communication trench into an orchard. Company Sergeant-Major Barter of this regiment called for volunteers, and he and his eight devoted companions did miracles of heroism in the German second line. They cleared five hundred yards of trench, discovered and cut the leads of eleven mines, and captured three officers and 102 men. Sergeant-Major Barter afterwards received the Victoria Cross.

Next day rain fell heavily, but the struggle in the trenches still continued. On this day a terrible scene was witnessed at a point between A and C. The remnant of a battalion of Saxons proposed to surrender. As they advanced towards our line they waved a white flag tied to a stick. At once their comrades opened rifle fire on them, and the guns behind dropped shells among them. In a few moments the Saxons were destroyed almost to a man.

In the evening the 21st Brigade on the right made another advance, in the course of which a Territorial battalion, the 4th Cameron Highlanders, recruited mainly from Inverness-shire, Skye, and the misty Hebrides, pushed on far before their comrades. Under heavy fire, they advanced over country liberally seamed with ditches, one of which was so deep and wide that most of the men had to swim across it. The third company reached the back end of a German communication trench; but being without bombs, and having almost wholly used up its cartridges, was soon in desperate straits. About midnight these gallant fellows were reinforced by two platoons; but as they had no machine guns, and as the Germans were fast closing in on both sides of them, and they were "in the air," they were ordered to retire. In the small hours of the morning they made their way back through a heavy rain of shells, and by the time that the weary, mud-stained battalion had regained the British position it had been reduced to half its strength.

Playing their Comrades up to the Germans: the Pipers of the Black Watch at Richebourg.

(By permission of The Illustrated London News.)
During the general advance in May the Black Watch suffered very heavily. They assaulted the German trenches a few miles east of Richebourg (point A on the map, page 231). Their first charge in the morning only reached the German wire, and they fell in swathes under the merciless machine-gun fire of the enemy. During the afternoon other companies of the Black Watch dashed up, and by a brilliant charge captured the trenches which had defied them in the morning. It was during this charge that the pipers showed wonderful courage. The two pipers of each company played their comrades right up to the Germans. The skirl of their pipes was heard above the din and crash of Maxims, rifles, and bursting shrapnel. The lads of "brown heath and shaggy wood" rushed on to victory with the pibroch of their sires ringing in their ears.

Still the fight went on. The Canadians, who had recovered from their terrible ordeal on the Ypres salient, were now sent up to relieve the two brigades of the 7th Division. On the afternoon of 18th May two companies of the 16th (Canadian Scottish) were ordered to advance on the hamlet at C, to the north-west of the orchard already mentioned. One company made a frontal attack, and the other proceeded along the communication trench which had been won by the Welsh Fusiliers. The advance was partly successful, and the companies dug in five hundred yards in front of the starting point.

On the night of the 20th an attack was made on the orchard itself. During the afternoon the little enclosure was heavily bombarded, and at 7.45, when the artillery fire ceased, the Canadians climbed over their parapets and dashed forward. The advance was made in broad daylight, and a torrent of fire beat down upon them. At the edge of the orchard they discovered a deep ditch full of water, with a wired hedge on the other side. Without pause, the men plunged into the water, and, scrambling up the bank, pushed through gaps in the hedges and swarmed into the orchard. On the far side there were many Germans, but they fled as the Canadians charged. Before long the orchard was in British hands.

Early on the 20th the 10th Canadian battalion made a gallant but unavailing attempt to seize a very strong German position known as Bexhill. The approach to it was defended by a redoubt strongly held with machine guns. On the evening of the next day the Canadians returned to the attack, but it was not until the early morning of the 24th that the redoubt was captured. Five hundred men of the 5th Brigade, along with 100 men of the 7th (British Columbia) Battalion, made an advance in the bright moonlight across a ditch which had been previously bridged, and by four in the morning were in possession of the stronghold. Two hours later Bexhill itself was won, and the victors received orders to "dig in and hang on." They did so, in spite of three very fierce counter-attacks.

It was now clear that we could make no further headway without more guns and more shells than we then possessed. We were meeting with the same difficulty that had beset the French in Artois. The German lines broke up into a series of little fortresses, each of which could only be captured by a separate assault. It was the Battle of Festubert which brought home to the British people the absolute necessity for providing the army with more and more big guns and an almost unending stream of munitions. Our losses were very heavy, and they would have been greatly reduced had our artillery been more numerous and better supplied. Less than three weeks after the close of the battle the Government appointed a Minister of Munitions.

The battle came to an end on the 26th, about the same time that the fierce struggle on the Ypres salient died down. The results were summed up by Sir John French as follows: "Since 16th May the First Army has pierced the enemy's lines on a total front of four miles. The entire first line system of trenches has been captured on a front of 3,200 yards, and on the remaining portion the first and second lines of trenches are in our possession." During the fighting we captured 8 officers, 777 men, 10 machine guns, and a considerable amount of war material.

CHAPTER XXXII.

I have already mentioned the exploit of Company Sergeant-Major Barter and his eight comrades. One of the men who joined his party was known as Private Hardy. While the bombing of the German second line trenches was going on, Hardy did splendid work, but was hit in the right arm, and fell fainting to the ground. His wound was dressed, and he recovered. As soon as he was on his feet again he cried, "Luckily, I am left-handed," and ran off to rejoin Barter. With his left hand he flung grenade after grenade; but the white bandage on his arm made him a good mark for the German sharpshooters, and he fell with a bullet through his head. Now comes the astonishing part of the story. Soon after the war broke out, Captain H. S. Smart of the 53rd Sikhs was granted short leave, and returned to England. He overstayed his leave, and disappeared. All inquiries failed to trace him, and his name was removed from the Army List. After the death of Private Hardy it was discovered that the dauntless man was none other than the missing Captain Smart. He had so longed to fight in France that he had deserted the Indian army, and had joined the 2nd Battalion of the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment as a private. When the story became known the King ordered the hero's name to be restored to the Army List with full honours.

During the fighting in the Festubert district one of our officers was seen lying out on our front wounded. He was on the lip of a mine crater, where he was hidden from the Germans. Our people could see him, and when he gave signs of life they determined to bring him in. Under cover of the fire of our snipers, a non-commissioned officer crawled out with a rope, which he made fast to the wounded officer, who then crawled or was gradually dragged into our trench, his rescuer staying behind in his place! This noble fellow was continually bombed, but at last he, too, was able to crawl back to safety.

Sir Max Aitken tells us that the Canadian artillery, shortly after the affair at the orchard, played a very effective trick on the Germans. They opened fire on the enemy's trenches, and meanwhile the infantry made a great show of fixing bayonets, rigging up trench ladders, and blowing whistles, just as though they meant to attack as soon as the bombardment was over. The Germans, according to their custom, promptly retired to their support trenches and prepared to shoot down the Canadians as they advanced. As soon as the Germans were in the support trenches, the gunners lifted their sights and began shelling them; whereupon the Germans rushed back to the front trenches. Still there was no infantry attack. When the front trenches were full once more the Canadian gunners shortened their range, and the full blast of their fire fell upon the crowded Germans, causing great havoc. Next day the world was told that the Germans had beaten off a desperate attack! The Huns in the trenches, however, knew better, for that evening one of them cried out: "Say, Sam Slick, no dirty tricks to-night!"

On the 26th Corporal Pym of the Royal Canadian Dragoons showed great self-sacrifice and contempt of danger in rescuing wounded men. The British and German lines were only sixty yards apart. An English voice in the narrow No-man's Land was heard calling for help, and Pym determined to try to bring in the sufferer. He crept out into a zone swept by constant rifle and machine-gun fire, and found the man, who had been wounded in both thigh bones, and had been lying out in the open for three days and nights. The poor fellow was in such torment that he could not bear to be dragged in. Pym, therefore, called back to the trench, and Sergeant Hollowell crept out towards him. Just as he reached the wounded man, however, he was shot dead. Pym thereupon crawled back across the fire-swept space, to see if he could get a stretcher; but when he considered the position, he decided that the ground was too rough for him to drag a stretcher across it. Once more, therefore, he recrossed the fire-zone, and at last, with the utmost difficulty, brought the wounded man in alive.

The heroism of Sergeant Hickey of the 4th Canadian Battalion must not go unrecorded. On 24th May he volunteered to go out and recover two trench mortars which belonged to his battalion and had been abandoned in a ditch the previous day. In doing so he was going to almost certain death. Over and over again he escaped by the narrowest shave; yet, nevertheless, he found the mortars and brought them in. He also discovered the shortest and safest route by which men could be brought up from the reserve trenches to the firing line. "It was a discovery," says Sir Max Aitken, "which saved lives at a moment when every life was of the greatest value; and time and time again he guided party after party up the trenches by this route." Unhappily, this cheery, modest soldier was shot down by a stray bullet on 30th May. "And so there went home to the God of battles a man to whom battle had been a joy."

The following Victoria Crosses were awarded for outstanding deeds of bravery during the Battle of Festubert:—

Company Sergeant-Major Frederick Barter, Special Reserve, attached 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

You have already read a brief account of this hero's exploits. You will remember that on 16th May, at Festubert, with eight volunteers he attacked the German position with bombs, capturing 500 yards of trench, three German officers, and 102 men. Later on he discovered the leads of eleven of the enemy's mines, situated about twenty yards apart, and cut them. Had he not done so he and his brave comrades would have been blown sky-high by the touch of a button a mile away.

Lieutenant John George Smyth, 15th Ludhiana[42] Sikhs, Indian army.

On 18th May, at the point marked A on our map (page 231), the Sikhs were holding a section of German trench known as the "Glory Hole," and a portion of the same trench was in the hands of its original occupants. Next morning the Germans brought up a large number of men, and it appeared that they were about to make an attempt to drive out the Sikhs. Shortly afterwards the Germans began a heavy bombing attack, to which the Sikhs made a vigorous reply until noon, when their bombs gave out. It was then decided to send up a bombing party from the reserve trenches, and Lieutenant Smyth was ordered to lead forward ten men laden with two boxes of 96 bombs. Dropping over the parapet they wriggled their way through thick mud, pulling and pushing the boxes between them. They had to cross rough ground while bullets whizzed around them and the air was white with puffs of shrapnel. All the time they were in full view of the enemy. The little party had now been reduced to two—Lieutenant Smyth and Sepoy Lal Singh. After fording a stream the survivors reached the trench, both untouched, but with their clothes shot through and through by bullets. The fresh supply of bombs which they had thus brought up enabled the Sikhs to beat back the Germans. Sad to relate, Lal Singh was killed shortly after reaching the trench. Lieutenant Smyth was described by a Times correspondent as "a short, ruddy, smiling officer lad, with merry gray eyes."

Lance-Corporal Joseph Tombs, 1st Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment).

On 16th May, during the fighting mentioned on page 231, Tombs of his own accord repeatedly crawled out of his trench under very heavy shell and machine-gun fire and brought in wounded men. Altogether he rescued four of his comrades, one of whom he dragged back by means of a rifle sling placed round his own neck and the man's body. So severely wounded was the rescued man that he must have died had he not been promptly brought in.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Sir Ian Hamilton,[43] the accomplished general who commanded our forces in Gallipoli, tells us that the southern half of the peninsula resembles a badly-worn boot with the ankle between Gaba Tepe and Maidos; beneath the heel lies the cluster of forts at the Narrows, while at the toe we find the strongholds which were reduced by the gun fire of our ships on 25th February.

At first sight the interior of the peninsula from Suvla Bay southwards looks like a choppy sea which has been suddenly frozen. If, however, we look closely at the map on page 168, we shall be able to make out three prominent features. Running right across the toe of the peninsula from sea to sea, at a distance of three and a half miles from Cape Helles, is a ridge which rises in its highest part to the Achi Baba peak, 591 feet above sea level. Big guns on this ridge command all the toe of the peninsula, which is hollowed out something like the bowl of a spoon, so that only the outer edges can be shelled directly from the sea. The inside of the bowl is not level, but is filled up with numerous spurs and gullies.

Now look at the forts of the Narrows. Behind them is a plateau—the Kilid Bahr plateau—which rises in the peak of Pasha Dagh to a height of 700 feet above the level of the sea, and extends westwards for about five miles. The Achi Baba ridge, you observe, is the buttress and outlying defence of this plateau on the south. To the north-west of the plateau you see a network of high hills with very steep sides and deep ravines. This is the Sari Bair mountain, which forms the buttress and outlying defence of the Kilid Bahr plateau on the north. Some of its peaks are nearly 800 feet high.

I have already told you that the forts at the Narrows are the real defence of the Dardanelles. We had already failed to capture them by a naval attack. If, however, we could reach the Kilid Bahr plateau by land, we could attack the forts from the rear—the side on which they are least capable of resistance. But, as you notice, nature has made this plateau very difficult of access. An invader from the south must first carry the Achi Baba ridge before he can reach it, and if he lands south of Suvla Point he must fight his way across the Sari Bair.

You have already gathered that the peninsula is difficult to traverse even in times of peace; the few dwellers on it make most of their journeys from point to point by water. Except in a few valleys, there are no cultivated fields; and save for a few cypress and olive groves, the whole peninsula consists of bare or scrub-covered hills and ravines filled with jungle. Amidst the rocks flourish many strange and beautiful flowers. Water is scarce, and the villages and hamlets are few and far between.

Look again at the map on page 168, and follow the track which runs from Cape Helles northward through the village of Krithia and over the Achi Baba ridge. A branch of this track leads, as you see, across the Kilid Bahr plateau. On the western coast just north of Gaba Tepe you will observe a track which meets the track from Krithia. General Ian Hamilton proposed to land a force on the tip of the peninsula, and another force near Gaba Tepe. These forces were to fight their way forward until the left wing of the southern army came into touch with the right wing of the northern army. Then the united armies would advance on to the Kilid Bahr plateau, from which our big guns would be able to destroy the European forts at the Narrows. When these were reduced we should be in a position to attack the forts on the Asiatic side at short range, and if all went well, our ships would be able to dash through and, in the course of a day or two, train their guns on Constantinople.

The first business was to put our troops ashore. The line of high yellow cliffs fringing the sea was carefully surveyed, and note was taken of every place where a landing was possible. A glance at the bird's-eye view shows you clearly that good beaches are rare. On the map (page 168) you will see various spots marked by capital letters round the tip of the peninsula. Just south of Cape Tekke, where you see the letter W, there is a small sandy bay, and half a mile north of it a break in the cliffs marked X. Three and a half miles further up the coast (Y) there is a scrub-covered gully, and eastwards of W there is another sandy beach (V), about three hundred yards across. Round the corner, still further eastwards, is Morto Bay, with a small beach (S) commanded by the guns of Kum Kale. On these beaches General Hamilton decided to land his southern army. The northern army was to be put ashore to the north of Gaba Tepe, where the sandstone cliffs recede a little from the water's edge.

Not a single one of the beaches affords a really good landing-place. Almost everywhere the cliffs rise steeply from a narrow strip of shore. As you know, the Turks had ample notice of our invasion, and they had diligently and skilfully prepared for it. There were mines, barbed-wire entanglements, and trenches on the beaches, and along the cliff tops they had constructed very formidable works, in some places ten feet deep. There were snipers in every bush, machine guns were cunningly hidden in the rocks, and behind the trenches on the cliffs there were field guns, backed by heavy pieces on the Achi Baba ridge. To land on these beaches and carry the cliffs would be worse than "storming the Embankment out of Thames barges, with the enemy comfortably established with his guns on the second floor of the Savoy Hotel." The Turks believed the operation to be quite impossible, and indeed, according to all the rules, not a single invader should have left the beaches alive.

For this most difficult and dangerous enterprise General Hamilton was supplied with a weak and somewhat motley army of 120,000 men—a force far inferior in numbers to that which the Turks could bring against us. One division of this army (the 29th) was composed of two brigades of regulars and a third brigade consisting of three regular battalions and a Territorial battalion—the 5th Royal Scots; the remainder consisted of two naval brigades and a brigade of marines, the Australian and New Zealand Division, a large number of Indian troops, and the East Lancashire Territorial Division, together with French marines, French Colonial troops, and the Foreign Legion. To oppose these three army corps the Turks are said to have had 275,000 troops within reach.

Sir Ian Hamilton's army was assembled in Egypt. By the 17th of March the transports were at Tenedos. Unfortunately, they were found to be wrongly loaded, and the bulk of them had to be sent back to Alexandria, where the various units were properly redistributed amongst the ships. About the middle of April the expedition began to arrive in the Bay of Mudros.[44] Part of the force was landed on the island, and the rest remained on board ship, where night and day, under the direction of naval officers, dress rehearsals of the landing took place. By the 20th of April all was ready, and five days later the great adventure began.