State Library of NSW
[Page 89]
Letter July 9thScenes on the Gallipoli PeninsularE. Ashmead—Bartlett.The Cape Helles end of the Gallipoli Peninsula has been transformed since we landed three and a half months ago. We occupy almost the same ground but on it has gradually sprung up a permanent camp of bomb- proof shelters and dug outs in which every man and almost every animal can find shelter from the enemy's shells. For the first month it was safe to live in the open in tents or in shelters constructed from trees or to basque under the shade of the trees but now all is changed and everyone has been obliged to go underground to escape the storm of shells which the enemy plays or rather sprays over our positions whenever he happens to be so inclined or has received a fresh consignement of ammunition.
The immunity we enjoyed at the start was due to the fact that the Turks never thought we could obtain a footing on the shore and therefore he had not got his big guns in the right positions for shelling the beaches and camps. Also until the arrival of the Submarines our battleships with the aid of the aeroplanes were able to keep down the fire of his heavy artillery and to smash up any new emplacements in course of construction, especially on the Asiatic coast. But now it is not safe to keep battleships permanently off the coast and of this the Turks or Germans have taken full advantage and the shelling of the beaches has become far more frequent and violent. We lived for a month in an atmosphere of false security. On Lancashire Landing (the former W Beach) there sprung up a great camp of tents and a great depot of stores whilst
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