4th & 5th May, 1915- Gallipoli

[christine liava'a]

The general situation at Helles, at the southern tip of Gallipoli, was that Allied units including the 29th Division, 2nd Naval Brigade and the 1st French division, had advanced north from their positions taken on 25 April, stalling at a line that came to be known as the Eski line.This line extended straight across the peninsula from about a mile north of Point Eski Hissarlik on the southeast coast of the Dardanelled to a point halfway between Y beach and Gully beach at the mouth of Saghir Dere or Gully ravine on the northwest coast of the Aegean.

The Turks attacked this line on the night of 1 May, and the Allies replied with a counter attack the next morning, furthur advancing the line about another 450 yards- except for the French sector, on the very right against the Dardanelles, which failed to move forward. The kink that now existed in the front line gave the Turks an opportunity to enfilade machine gun fire into the British positions to the North west, forcing them to fall back to the Eski line.....

The 29th Indian Infantry Rifle Brigade, previously earmarked to complete the establishment of the NZ and Australian Division, landed at Helles on 1 May, followed by the Lancaster Fusilier Brigade on 5 May. Both Brigades joined the 29th Division, which had suffered heavy casualties.

At Anzac, changes were being made in preparation for contributing a force to Helles....when the major campaign (at Helles) ground to a hopeless halt on the shallow slopes of Achi Baba, the Anzacs were ordered to proceed to Cape Helles to take the village of Krithia, a stumbling block in the capture of Achi Baba. During daylight on 5 may the NZ Infantry Brigade was replaced by 2 battalions of the 2nd Naval Brigade, and assembled in Mule Gully, for embarkation about 8.30 pm. But a delay in the arrival of Royal Navy destroyers kept the force waiting on the beach. The destroyers eventually arrived later in the evening, whereupon the men crowded onto barges and lighters and were taken to the ships

Bloody Gallipoli; Richard Stowers

[christine liava'a]

map of the Gallipoli peninsula

Bloody Gallipoli; Richard Stowers

[michaeldr]

“Tuesday, 4th May: When daylight came saw evidence of fierceness of the attack. Turks lying in heaps. Some even stretched across the barbed wire. Gully full of bodies. Turks evidently had enough because except for a sniper or two, everything was quiet. Took advantage of this to go up the stream – Kerveres Dere – to have a wash. Felt fresher after it. Could not get a shave, however, as razor was lost on 28th April. Collected a few souvenirs such as Turkish and French bullets, Queen Elizabeth shrapnel etc.

A good many Turkish prisoners came in. Spoke to one – a big, fine looking man who seemed to be delighted with his fate. All he wanted was food and a cigarette. After dinner got orders to remove into reserve trenches to re-fit as we could scarcely muster up a set of equipment amongst us. New trenches very wet and shallow. Could not dig deeper as we came upon water. Made them as comfortable as possible. Made a dug-out and covered it with tree branches to shade us from the broiling sun. Flies everywhere. Could scarcely put a bite into our mouths without swallowing hundreds of flies.

Chummy Todd arrived in afternoon with joyful news that he had brought up the Mail 0- the first one! Great excitement. Waited very patiently till it was sorted out. Then a wild scramble for the letters and parcels. Gun team as usual fared well in the letters line. Retired to our dug-outs and enjoyed our letters from home. Got three parcels – from Dr. Burns, the Edwardses and ‘E.’ Fancy having a cake, chocolate and cigarettes again! Had almost forgotten how these things tasted. Gorged ourselves with them. Fortunately Dr. Burns’ parcel contained a shirt and socks. Very pleased to see them as my socks were minus soles and the least said about my shirt the better! Our shirt-picking competitions seem to do no good. Got comparative quiet to enjoy all the good things. Everyone very happy night and forgot that there were such things as Turks and shrapnel etc. Great rejoicing all along the lines. Never realised before that a letter could bring such happiness. Read and re-read our letters till we knew them by heart. Had quite a feast washed down with rum. A beautiful starry night with bright moon. War seemed very far away except for occasional crack of sniper’s rifle.”

“Wednesday, 5th May: On sentry duty in early hours – not a pleasant duty. Went across to Pink Farm for water. Well very deep. Had to take off my puttees and tie them to the tin before I could draw up water. Helped Kemp to get breakfast ready. Quite a luxurious meal this morning thanks to our parcels. Had novelty of milk in tea as Dr. Burns had sent a tin of condensed milk. Not much rest although we were out of firing line. Had to take the machine gun to pieces to give them a thorough cleaning which they greatly needed, being clogged up with sand and dirt. Heat almost unbearable. Got another wash to-day. Lay down to get a much needed rest in afternoon. Kemp roused us to tell us tea was ready. A very enjoyable meal to-day as we could all picnic together in the open without having to dodge bullets. Had brown bread to tea as Lang had got some in parcel. A bit stale but a pleasant change from hard biscuits. Did some visiting at night. Went over to the company lines and saw Murdoch and Sandy Wallace. Found them feasting on salmon sandwiches. Made enquiries about Donald Watson, but nobody had seen or heard of him since 28th April.”

from the ‘Diary of John F. Goate, Machine Gun Section, 5th Royal Scots, 29th Division’ [discovered after his death in 1946, by his daughter Ms Dorothy Goate] as reproduced in ‘The Gallipolian’ issue No.91, Winter 1999