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[Page 77]
& just then I got a terrible shock or fright which ever you like to call it, for I distinctly saw, for the fraction of a second an 18 pounder shell coming straight for me, (I was facing Gaba Tepe" at the time) but by the greatest piece of luck it fell about a yard short & buried itself in the earth in front of us, & failed to explode I did not know what to do, for to get out of the dugout seemed certain death & to stay in it seemed the same, for the gun was pointed straight at us however I decided to stop & take my chance, they fired 3 more, & luckily none of them burst, if they had done, I should not be alive today for the furthest shell did not lob more than 3 yards away its a test of nerves I can assure you to sit there helpless & let a gun shoot at you
besides you have no hope of dodging these small shells for they travel a lot faster than the big one's
At 5.30. to the sec. all our guns stopped & there was a lull for a moment, & then Hell seemed let loose, but above the frightful din of bursting shrapnel & rifle & machine gun fire, we heard a shout, & knew that the 2nd 3rd & 4th Battalions were over, & as it turned out afterwards half our Batt. with them, it was a race against death to reach the other side, & men fell like hailstones you could see little white patches wherever you looked, for just before the charge everyone was issued with 3 pieces of white calico one for each arm & the third for the back, the idea of this was so as we could tell our own men from Turks