Item 02: Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett articles on the Gallipoli campaign, 1915 - Page 85
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[Page 85]
carefully gone through. The men could scarcely be restrained from again advancing to the attack of the trnech in front to recapture their property from their own comrades within a few hounderd yards of the enemy. All this debris is carefully collected and sorted after each fight for when equipment is hard to obtain every article has its value. Leaving the Boomerang Fort I next visited the one in front known as the 'Turkey Trot'. This was even more formidable in its
construction than the other but fell easily before the splendid dash of our infantry. Like all the other positions it is full of debris and dead. On going up a deserted sap I suddenly came upon a wounded Turk lying on his back all by himself with his chest heaving and his hands clenched above his head. He was muttering to himself I think praying but was too far gone to live much longer. He had been overlooked by the Stretcher Bearers a party of whom were immediately sent to bring
him in.
I then went down again to the Gully to traverse the last few houndred yards leading to our front trench built across Gully and connected up with the captured trenches on the plateau on either side. Here I came upon masses of our infantry making their way forward to relieve the troops in the front line. The companies as they passed were being inspected by their Brigadier. None of these were fresh troops for all had taken part in the fighting on the previous day and belonged to the famous Twenty Ninth Division. The men were staggering along in the excessive heat carrying their heavy loads supplemented by heavy entrenching tools empty sand bags and their rations but inspite of their fatigue and the heat these young soldiers recruits