Item 02: From Australia to Gallipoli, ca. 1916 / Dudley V. Walford - Page 50

[Page 50]

From Anzac to Suvla Bay

along the beach for a considerable distance. No words were spoken and not a match was lit as we silently advanced with fixed bayonets.
Having approached no. 3 outpost which had apparently at this time been captured by New Zealanders, we curved inwards and took our course along the green fields, occasionally taking to the extended order.

Dead and wounded were lying The field about here was thickly strewn with dead and wounded which showed that serious fighting had already occurred in this locality with our now advanced companies. Stray bullets from Turkish rifle and machine guns were whispering through the air in quick succession. The night was very dark which gave an ugly aspect to the mountains which for all we knew might secrete thousands of Turkish troops. This greatly affected our already highly strung nerves.

After we had advanced some hundreds of yards further beyond the outpost we turned to East in the direction of the Sari Bair mountains. But here the darkness of the night and the mountainous nature of the country greatly hindered our progress and we lost our way through no fault of our own.

The lack of leadership and the initative greatly added to the difficulties. We were gathered in parties waiting for orders which never seemed to come. At last an order was given to charge a hill to the right of the gully, and several platoons advancing down the opposite slopes were caught by the Turkish outpost who inflicted [indecipherable]