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[Page 59]
I can tell you, on the 27th the Turks made a big effort to stop all reinforcements from reaching the shore, the way they tried to do it was to turn every available gun on the transports, & put a curtain of fire between them & the shore so as it would be impossible for men to come through it, it was just like a heavy hailstorm the line where the shrapnel was bursting, but all the good they done in spite of the big Asiatic shells & all their field guns & howitzers, was to sink one trawler & hit a couple of transports they never succeded in stopping the traffic to & from the boats. And now let me say one word in praise of the sailors, they were in my opinion the heoroes of the landing the way they rowed back & forwards with men, in spite of the terrific
fire directed on them, was marvellous for they were helpless, a few of them got carried away by the rush & enthusiasm of the boy's, & snatching up a rife went off with them, I am afraid there were not many of them saw the day through. Australia's name was made with the British sailors from that day, they will do any thing in reason for an Australian or New Zealander, & our fellows get on well with them, they are fine fellows without a doubt, they used to bring us bread, butter, tobacco & etc when they came ashore from their ships & our fellows would exchange for this shells, bullets, & all sorts of curio's. On the 28th we spelled all day, & cleaned ourselves up, the fighting had died almost down, & things were fairly quiet both sides were digging