Item 02: Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett articles on the Gallipoli campaign, 1915 - Page 52

[Page 52]

by about thirty officers and men should have it in her power to inflict on you a vital injury without any warning. You feel much the same as Goliath must have felt just before the fatal stone came wizzing from David's sling. You have an impression in your mind that although the illusive little beggar may possibly sink another ship he could never do any harm to the one you are on. Or at least this was my feeling until the enemy struck his first deadly blow. Then there is the never failing amusement caused by the various ways each individual on board provides for his own safety.
The number and variety of the lifebelts carried is endless. Some believe in a colar which is blown out and warn round the neck. Someone else will tell you confidentially that two men who by way of experiment jumped in the water with these on both had their necks broken. Others carry belts which ressemble bycle tyres cut in half. You blow these out and tie them round your waist either on deck or after you have reached the water. But the Gieve waistcoats are the most popular of all. They are an ordinary waistcoat which you can wear under your coat and which when the emergency arises you blow out throgh a tube in the form of a lifebelt all around you. Others declare all lifebelts hamper your movements in the water and prefer to trust to their swimming powers. It is certainly amusing to see a lot of thin officers and men suddenly swelling to gigantic proportions in moments of danger as they quietly blow up their waistcoats underneath their coats.
The older crews consisting chiefly of Reservists feel the strain of this constant submarine menance more than those manned by the active service ratings. When you are a father or a grandfather and well over