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[Page 16]
Gallipoli
25:10:15 - "New York Sun" - "It has struck the world with horror."
"Chicago Post" - "Miss Cavell's murder is one more first-rank blunder of German statesmanship."
"Chicago Journal" - "Crime is adverse to all instincts of humanity and western ideas of womanhood."
Vide Poldhu (continued) – Sir Ian Hamilton returned from Dardanelles to-day (Oct. 23) and paid early visit to War Office. He was cheered on arrival by large crowd. The King has issued an appeal to his people in which His Majesty calls upon men of all classes to come forward and volunteer and take their share of fighting for the honor of the nation.
The Turks shelled us to-day at one o'clock and 7 p.m. It was particularly violent on both occasions, though it did not last long. The wireless station on the ridge just above us, not 100 yards away, had special attention, and one of the aerials was destroyed. It was, however, soon repaired. The evening bombardment created a mild change from the lethargy of the last few nights. The dull boom of the Turk gun as it sent its awful missile on its voyage of destruction gave us sufficient warning to allow us to take cover and we crouched and anxiously waited whilst we could hear the eerie song of the shell as it cleft the air on its approach. And as we crouched we all prayed that it might "go over" – out to sea, anywhere, but where we were. At last it came with an awful whiz as a sudden burst of steam from a huge exhaust – it came like a meteor from the heavens and plugged with a terrific deep-throated roar into the side of the hill not a dozen yards away. A simultaneous flash of blood-red flame converted the surrounding gloom and darkness for an instant into fiery light and silhouetted us all as if we were lost souls in Hell witnessing a ceremony of the devil. For seconds after the explosion the air was filled with flying and falling earth and torn bushes, and the nauseous odor of the burnt explosive was stifling in its intensity. Three of these huge monsters were hurled at us in quick succession, but happily they accounted for no loss of life. Now that Bulgaria has joined our enemies we may reasonably expect the intensity of Turkish shell fire to increase both in weight and numbers. Lord Kitchener has sent a warning in regard to this, and advised us to "dig" ourselves in and strengthen our defensive positions greater than ever so that we may be immune from any shell fire, however great, but I doubt the resisting powers of any earthwork or redoubt against these heavy shells. (Note: The deep underground tunnels which we later had in France were practically unknown in Gallipoli at this time: if known, they were certainly not used, though General Godley subsequently fell wise to their protection against heavy shell fire and actually had shafts and tunnels dug at New Zealand and Australian Divisional Headquarters in Otago Gully.)
These Turkish shells plough huge craters in the ground and their size may be judged by the fact that the base of one which was fired last night could have covered a large dinner plate with ease. And they stand 4 feet high.
26:10:15 – The weather continues warm, but rain is again threatening. There has been a heavy naval bombardment to-day of an enemy encampment in direction of Kilid Bair. The roar of the guns has rent the air all day and the incessant concussion has been nerve-racking in effect. The health of the troops is improving.
27:10:15 – A wild boisterous day with high wind from the south-east. A rising barometer heralds approach of stormy weather. The office has been deluged with dust, which is an inch thick everywhere.
The Turks are determined to shift us. At mid-day during the height of the gale they bombarded us for half an hour with big shell within a circle of 100 yards diameter. The shells owing to the roar of the wind could not be heard until right upon us, and we could not place their direction. The first was beautifully