At Suvla Bay; being the notes and sketches of scenes, characters and adventures of the Dardanelles campaign, made by John Hargrave ("White Fox") while serving with the 32nd field ambulance, X division, Mediterranean expeditionary force, during the great w by John Hargrave
page 42 of 136 (30%)
page 42 of 136 (30%)
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Written on Mudros Beach: Oct. 7, 1915.
July the twenty-seventh. The deadly silence . . . The tenderfoot on an expedition of this sort naturally expects to find himself plunged into a whirl of noise and tumult. The crags were colourless and shimmering in the heat. The harbour was calm and greeny- blue. One by one, with our haversacks and water- bottles, belts and rolled overcoats, we went down the companion-way into the waiting surf-boats. Again and again these boats, roped together and tugged by a little launch, went back and forth from the S.S. Canada to the "Turk's Head Pier"-a tiny wooden jetty built by the Engineers. I asked one of the straw-hatted men of the Naval Division, who was casting off the painter, what the place was like-- "Sand an' flies, and flies an' sand--nothinkelse!" he replied. No sooner ashore than the green and black flies came pestering and tormenting like a host of wicked jinn. The glare of sunlight on the yellow sand hurt the eyes. The deadly silence of the place was oppressive--especially when you had strung yourself up to concert pitch to face the crash and turmoil of a fearful battle. The quiet isolation and khaki desolation of jagged peaks and sandy |
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