Item 01: Oliver Hogue letters, November 1914-29 December 1915 - Page 101
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[Page 101]
9
P.P.P.S. 1.5.15
I'm just back from the base hospital where the Australian wounded are being taken. Saw a Red Crescent train steam in loaded with our fellows back from the Dardanelles. They all seemed wonderfully cheerful & happy, smoked cigarettes and joked about their experiences. There is no doubt our fellows fight wonderfully well. It was a great sight to see the slightly wounded march from the train to the hospital. They mostly were shot around the arms or the scalp. Their uniforms had dried blood all over them and were torn about where the field doctors had ripped off sleeves etc to get at the wounds.
As they marched irregularly along, one chap with his arm in a sling & a flesh wound in the leg limped behind & yelled out "Eh, you chaps, dont make it a welter". They have a supreme contempt for the Turk as a rifle shot & a bayonet fighter. But the German marines and the shrapnel are very deadly. Also the snipers do very deadly work - they hide in unexpected corners & do nothing but pick off the officers. One chap sniped poor Col MacLaren