|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 12
One of them saw the humorous side of life. He described to Mr.
Henderson the different attitudes adopted towards Turkish shells by
the British, Indian and Australian soldiers. "British Tommy," said he,
"Turk shell, Tommy says 'Ah!' Turk shell, Indian say 'Oosh!'
Australian say 'Where the hell did that come from?'"
The Divisional Ammunition Column was composed of Sikhs, and they were
a brave body of men. It was their job to get the ammunition to the
front line, so that they were always fair targets for the Turks. The
mules were hitched up in threes, one in rear of the other, each mule
carrying two boxes of ammunition. The train might number anything from
15 to 20 mules. All went along at a trot, constantly under fire. When
a mule was hit he was unhitched, the boxes of ammunition were rolled
off, and the train proceeded; nothing stopped them. It was the same if
one of the men became a casualty; he was put on one side to await the
stretcher-bearers--but almost always one of the other men appeared
with a water bottle.
They were very adept in the management of mules. Frequently a block
would occur while the mule train occupied a sap; the mules at times
became fractious and manipulated their hind legs with the most
marvellous precision--certainly they placed a good deal of weight in
their arguments. But in the midst of it all, when one could see
nothing but mules' heels, straps and ammunition boxes, the Indian
drivers would talk to their charges and soothe them down. I don't know
what they said, but presume it resembled the cooing, coaxing and
persuasive tongue of our bullock-driver. The mules were all stalled in
the next gully to ours, and one afternoon three or four of us were
sitting admiring the sunset when a shell came over. It was different
from that usually sent by Abdul, being seemingly formed of paper and
black rag; someone suggested, too, that there was a good deal of
faultiness in the powder. From subsequent inquiries we found that what
we saw going over our dug-outs was Mule! A shell had burst right in
one of them, and the resultant mass was what we had observed. The
Ceylon Tea Planter's Corps was bivouacked just below us and were
having tea at the time; their repast was mixed with mule.
Donkeys formed part of the population of the Peninsula. I am referring
here to the four-footed variety, though, of course, others were in
evidence at times. The Neddies were docile little beasts, and did a
great deal of transport work. When we moved out in August, orders were
issued that all equipment was to be carried. I pointed out a drove of
ten of these little animals, which appeared handy and without an
owner, and suggested to the men that they would look well with our
brand on. It took very little time to round them up, cut a cross in
the hair on their backs and place a brassard round their ears. They
were then our property. The other type of donkey generally indulged in
what were known as Furfys or Beachograms. Furfy originated in
Broadmeadows, Victoria; the second title was born in the Peninsula.
The least breath of rumour ran from mouth to mouth in the most
astonishing way. Talk about a Bush Telegraph! It is a tortoise in its
movements compared with a Beachogram. The number of times that Achi
Baba fell cannot be accurately stated but it was twice a day at the
least. A man came in to be dressed on one occasion; suddenly some
pretty smart rifle fire broke out on the right. "Hell!" said the man,
"what's up?" "Oh!" said Captain Dawson, "There's a war on--didn't you
hear about it?"
THE SWIMMING
One thing that was really good in Anzac was the swimming. At first we
used to dive off the barges; then the Engineers built Watson's pier,
at the end of which the water was fifteen feet deep and as clear as
crystal, so that one could see every pebble at the bottom. At times
the water was very cold, but always invigorating. General Birdwood was
an enthusiastic swimmer, but he always caused me a lot of anxiety.
That pier was well covered by Beachy Bill, and one never knew when he
might choose to give it his attention. This did not deter the General.
He came down most regularly, sauntered out to the end, went through a
lot of Sandow exercises and finally jumped in. He then swam out to a
buoy moored about a quarter of a mile away. On his return he was most
leisurely in drying himself. Had anything happened to him I don't know
what the men would have done, for he was adored by everyone.
Swimming was popular with all hands. Early in the campaign we had a
Turkish attack one morning; it was over by midday, and an hour later
most of the men were in swimming. I think it not unlikely that some of
the "missing" men were due to this habit. They would come to the beach
and leave their clothes and identity discs ashore, and sometimes they
were killed in the water. In this case there was no possibility of
ascertaining their names. It often struck me that this might account
for some whose whereabouts were unknown.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|