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The Turks were in a trench on the other side of this saddle, and an average of only fifty yards separated our positions. Thick scrub nearly shoulder high stood between us so that we couldn't see any enemy to shoot at, though we could hear them talking and their wounded groaning. It was certainly a hot spot, with bullets and shrapnel pellets whipping and cracking past our ears from invisible foes, and soon acquired the reputation of being one of the most hazardous parts of the Anzac front line.
There was no sleep for us on that first night, nor on the next one. In between alarms and stand-tos we spent the next day digging ourselves in with the few shovels some of our men had carried ashore, and some of us were frequently dozing off into fitful sleep standing up and leaning against the side of the trenches when we finished them.
The day after the landing, in bright sunshine, the fine new battleship H.M.S. "Queen Elizabeth" stood off Anzac Cove and fired several salvoes of shells from her fifteen-inch guns, right across the peninsular into Maidos village, and at the big Turkish fort at Chanakale on the other side of the Narrows: the huge projectiles roared over our heads with the sound of a passing train. It was here on this day that most Australians, for the first time, saw an aircraft in flight - a lone artillery observation seaplane launched from a specially converted mother ship anchored off the coast.
During the early afternoon of the third day, the Turks made a determined attack in force on us. They came yelling and shouting as they crashed invisibly through the thick scrub. As we had been reinforced by nearly a score more of "strays", I felt that on the principle that attack is the best defence, we should go out and meet them halfway, and prevent an enemy build-up in front of us that could result in an overwhelming attack. So we got out of our trenches and I led a steady advance in the direction of the yelling; but I didn't go very far, for suddenly I felt that someone seemed to bash me on the right groin with the end of a forty-foot pole. The bullet