Item 02: From Australia to Gallipoli, ca. 1916 / Dudley V. Walford - Page 16

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[Page 16]

Anzac Beach

for transportation, mule limbers being constantly unloaded and unloaded, piers of quite a substantial quality & running well out to sea, workshops for wireless telegraphy, store supply sheds, the constant clanking of the type writing machines at headquarters, and the much congested traffic of men getting water, and fatigue parties on tour of duty, recalled to mind a business quarter in a prosperous Egyptian town more than a blood soddened battlefield especially at night when the flickering lights shone from the numerous dugouts & store sheds. The beach was however was a most dangerous highway as Beachy Bill, which was the name given to the Turkish gun skilfully concealed in Olive Grove, was constantly and unmercifully causing enormous casualties amongst our men operating on the beach. Shells of all calibres were from time to time pelted right among the stores and dugouts, and at times it was impossible to carry on with work which had to be suspended at intervals.

At the northern and southern end of the beach was situated the most pathetic of all sites - the graveyards – where officers and privates lay side by side, crosses well moulded and neatly painted marked the spot. Wattle trees which have been planted there will, in time to come, pay a sweeter & more homely tribute to heroes almost forgotten.

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