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From Australia to Gallipoli
honest, and sometimes very troublesome. The Australians, however, were not always in the right as their skylarking though meant for no harm, and their familiarity caused a considerable amount of contempt, and though we were participating in the defence of their country the Egyptians had little or no time for us. Their sympathies were unanimously on the side of the Turks.
Naturally enough as months passed by the Australians wondered if the British government really considered them as a fighting force at all. At last, after months of training and of anxious waiting it was ascertained that the Australians were destined for a landing to take place somewhere in Turkey. The 3rd Brigade were the first to embark. They were followed by the remainder of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at short intervals. Each unit and brigade left independently, and by the 13th March we had all embarked for the island of Lemnos where a great number of our transports awaited final instructions to proceed to their destination.
In this well protected and sheltered harbour lay many warships, destroyers and submarines belonging to the British and French navies intermingled among the different transports bearing French, British and Australian troops who were shortly to leave for the peninsular.
Many Greek sailing vessels were sailing about while overhead the sea planes were practicing