Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 75]
one of the warmest spots on the peninsular it was a regular sea of fire & smoke their idea was to put as many of the Turkish guns out of action as they could before our charge came off, for the Olive Grove" was swarming with gun's of all calibres, & completely dominated the Pine" & all our positions.
About 4 oclock that afternoon (6th) we were all in readiness, & a fair ration of rum was served out in the tea this was a fairly regular thing, & I believe it done a lot of good, especially when we first landed, for the nights were very cold.
At 5 oclock to the minute the whole of the batteries & warships were turned on to "Lone Pine", they started off at a steady pace & increased as they went along til 5.15, when the
bombardment reached the climax, the noise was deafening, & the shells were bursting that fast, that it was impossible, to hear single shells burst, it was one continuous roar, while this was going on we were crouched in dugouts & old trenches, waiting for our turn to come, & the Turks were shelling us like mad, field-guns & howitzers, were going their hardest, & shrapnel without a word of a lie was falling like a hail storm, I will never forget our dugout there were about 20 men in it, & every 2 or 3 minutes, a monster shell would just miss us, by about 20 yards or so if one had just dropped a little short, it would have been the end of us, as it was we used to hold our breath when we heard it come roaring through the air, & everyone