Item 02: Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett articles on the Gallipoli campaign, 1915 - Page 232

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[Page 232]

off, when all he has to do, is to sit tight and eat and sleep, while he,the Sailor, never has a rest or more than four hours work at any one time. There is a lot of truth in both standpoints. Both the Soldier and the Sailor have been worked, at times, almost to a standstill in this most arduous Campaign. The Soldier in fighting and digging Trenches, and the Sailor, in covering the Army from the Sea, in landing everything the Soldier requires on Shore, and in guarding the lines of communication against the Enemy's Submarines. Of the two the Soldiers life is undoubtedly the most dangerous and he stands the risk of being left lying wounded
on the Battlefield, between the hostile Trenches, whereas, the Sailor has the satisfaction of knowing that he can never be left on the Battlefield, and if his Ship does go down, he sinks or floats with the majority of his Comrades around him to the last moment. Neither must one overlook the work of the immense number of
Trawlers, and Drifters, which carry all the Supplies to the Troops on Shore from the Bases, which have been made safe against Submarine attack.

The Campaign would have been impossible without them. The lot of their Crews is a hard one. They must go out in every kind of weather, and are often kept busy for sixteen hours, out of the twenty-four. They have to go right into the Beaches, and are constantly exposed to the Enemy's shell fire. Some are officered by Sub-lieutenants, but the majority carry the Skippers who handle them in the North Sea, in the Channel, and off the West Coast. They are a rough hardy lot, and excellent Seamen, if left to do things in their own way. They are no respectors of Persons, and their language towards their Superiors, when ordered on some par

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