Part 01: Rupert Nixon letters, 28 November 1914-2 October 1917 - Page 88
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 88]
3.
by false "bugle calls" but the "musicians" were soon "spotted" and "wiped out".
Only for the strenuous training which we received in Egypt we could never have successfully charged up that steep hill and during which time comrades were falling on all sides, but we got there and carried out our orders to stick there at all costs. Our fire was so continuous that my rifle got too hot to handle, & I used one of the dead Turk's as there were plenty of rifles & bullets lying around so that they had a taste of what their own lead feels like, as the cartridges I picked up were a clip of "Dum-dums"! Many of their bullets had been taken out & turned round, causing them to spread out like a fan when they hit anything.
On the Tuesday our Division advanced about three miles, & we crossed a wonderful garden of nature - the cliffs were covered with great yellow poppies growing in wild profusion, also white orchids, rock roses, & fields of white & yellow daisies intermingled with brick-red pea & yellow clover & many other coloured flowers; Olives & Apricots too were in abundance, but we did not have the time to sample them. We travelled about two miles through this sort of wild garden until our scouts reported - discovering