State Library of NSW
[Page 149]
Monday August 9th This morning I left early and went out to Lala Baba where I remained all day watching the battlefield from this standpoint. There were disoultry movements of no importance it being obviously impossible to get the infantry to advance. They lay about under the shelter of the trees for the most part too hot and too thirsty to attempt to drive back the Turkish snipers who took full advantage of the immunity they enjoyed creeping about all over the place and playing the devil with our battalions and brigades hopelessly mixed in the broken ground. From time to time there were attempts at a forward movement by small parties of officers and men but these all died away leaving the dead lying out in front as if washed up by a high tide and the survivors lying in little groups behind cover or else trying to creep back in two and threes under the fire of the enemy's sharpshooters.
It was indeed a trajic sight to see Two Divisions held up aand harassed by a few battalions of irregular sharpshooters. About midday a series of fires were started either by accident or design which swept diagonally across our front fanned by a strong wind. In our centre we were on a hill which is now known as burnt hill. Our troops were driven off this by the flames and many of our wounded lying round in the open perished miserably. You c could see them attempting to crawl out of the track of the fire many alas in vain. The warships kept up their useless fire on the Anafarta Ridge behind which did absolutely no good and we could not even silence the two batteries of rtillery with which the Turks annoyed our harassed lines all day. Later in the day Nevinson who had been right out at the
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