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[Page 23]
[Text incorporates handwritten corrections by E.A.B.]
But the Turk not being of an imaginative turn of mind, refused to play the role assigned to him and to run away shrieking to Allah for mercy and protection against such devilry. On the contrary he sat tight in his trenches and successfully resisted our infantry when they went forward to the attack. Now unless we carried the Straits by a coup de main it was obvious from the start that our fleet would not be able to remain indefinitely off the coast because the Huns far away in the North Sea would be certain to send some submarines to assist their ally, and in addition there was always the chance of some Austrian submarines escaping the blockade of the Adriatic. So just for three weeks after the landing the Fleet was left in peace and quiet and then the trouble began. Rumours began to ripple down the Mediterranean. First from Gibraltar, then from Malta later from Cape Matapan and then from Smyrna.
Now it was time for the giants to take some precautions against these amphibious Davids and their deadly slings. The mighty Queen Elisabeth faded away towards the setting sun to reappear in all her glory under the northern star. Others followed her course. Only such ships as were considered necessary for the safety of the army remained off the coast.
There were scares abd more scares followed by irrefutable proods that the Huns were beneath us. Then came the sinking of the Triumph followed two days later by the Majestic. The fleet had to retire to sheltered harbours protected by booms and nets. The Turks on the hills above us looked on exultingly. They were so carried away by the successes of their ally that they issued a pathetic appeal to our soldiers in the trenches pointing out how they had been deserted by the Fleet, that now no hope remained for them, adding that if they would surrender they would be certain of good treatment and a freindly reception on arriving in Constantinople. The 'Swinehunds' as they called the big guns of our battleships had gone. In their ingorance they imagined they were going to enjoy a respite from big gun fire until the end of the war. In their ignorance they imagined they were going to enjoy a respite from big gun fire until the end of the war. They forgot one thing in their ignorance, The Anglo-Saxon Saxon race is always surprised but never beaten. We are never ready for anything except taxation but we have a marvellous talent for improvisation and adopting fresh means