Volume I Part 10 (1/2)

I have sent a reply:--

”SS _Arcadian_, _23rd April, 1915_

”My dear Adives expression to et to work now the better and may the best cause win

”Yours sincerely, (_Sd_) ”Ian Hahtaway he will be buried The rest is silence

Tas ”the sight” vouchsafed me:--in London when I told Eddie I would bespeak the boy's services; at Port Said when I bespoke the day--nothing so tragic save that ned Death grins at hts He is fed up with the old and sick--only the flower of the flock will serve hi, and our star is to be scrubbed bright with the blood of our bravest and our best

Youth and poetry are the links binding the children of the world to corandsires of the world that was War will smash, pulverise, sweep into the dustbins of eternity the whole fabric of the old world: therefore, the firstborn in intellect hty God, Watchman of the Milky Way, Shepherd of the Golden Stars, have mercy upon us, smallest of the heavenly shi+ners Our star burns die black chasm of space closes in: if only by blood ? Thy Will be done _En avant_--at all costs--_en avant_!

CHAPTER V

THE LANDING

_24th April, 1915 HMS ”Queen Elizabeth” Tenedos_ Boarded the Queen Lizzie at 130 pm Anchored off Tenedos just before 4 pm Lay outside the roadstead; close by us is the British Fleet with an Ar up to the ht by all those warshi+ps and troopshi+ps A good omen surely that not one of thely, horned devil--not dead itself, but very much alive, for it answered a shot fro of fire and smoke bred for our benefit by the kindly Gerht I think so If not, my wakefulness ish the clock's hand forward

_25th April, 1915 HMS ”Queen Elizabeth”_ Our _Queen_ chose the cold grey hour of 4 am to make her war toilette By 415 she had sunk the lady and put on the ht compartments and stoay under arlish, our hty battleshi+p was cleared for action, and--my mind--that also has now been cleared of its everyday lumber: and I am ready

If this is a queer start for me, so it is also for de Robeck In sea warfare, the Fleet lies in the grip of its Admiral like a platoon in the hands of a Subaltern The Admiral sees; speaks the executive word and the whole Fleetout the order in his oay, but each Captain steanal In the Navy theup shells in the hoist has no discretion unless indeed the gear goes wrong, and he has to use his wits to put it right again With us the infantry scout, a boy in his teens perhaps, may have to decide whether to open fire, to lie low or to fall back; whether to bring on a battle or avoid it But the Fleet to-day is working like an army; the shi+ps are widely scattered each one on its own, except in so far as wirelessunder conditions just as unusual to hi toith de Robeck The conning tower is a circularpot Here we are, all eyes, like potatoes in the cooking pot aforesaid, trying to peep through a slit where the lid is raised a few inches, _ad hoc_, as these blasted politicians like to say My Staff are not with me in this holy of holies, but are stoay in steel towers or ja and at 430 arey Thence we steamed for Gaba Tepe and midway, about 5 o'clock, heard a very heavy fire froht Noe are off Gaba Tepe!

The day was just breaking over the jagged hills; the sea was glassy s of the lads fro over the water; the patter ofout to sea; we are in for it now; theteeth--up to our necks in it now But would we be out of it? No; not one of us; not for five hundred years stuffed full of dullness and routine

By 535 the rattle of sfor the land; swar the shore; other groups digging and hacking down the brushwood Even with our glasses they did not look er than ants God, one would think, cannot see theether And yet, it would be a pity if HeThey are not charging up into this Sari Bair range for ht for love--all the way from the Southern Cross for love of the old country and of liberty

Wave after wave of the little ants press up and disappear We lose sight of thereat shi+p longs to be with them But the main battle called The Adhtthe coast to Cape helles

Opposite Krithia ca--sure--it is a fact I have to repeat the word to myself several times, ”fact,” ”fact,” ”fact,” so as to be sure I a telescope The thing seeh I were in a drea theround as fighting men!

Both Battalions, the Plyh cliff without loss; so it was signalled; there is no firing; the Turks have er or stress; only parties of ourh the telescope we can nowthe crest of the cliff, quite peacefully reposing--probably sreat results to our ar, for I hope that won't last long--but the eneyptian Gazette_; in spite of the spy systeht off our tactical _coup_ and surprised the enemy Chief The bulk of the Turks are not at Gaba Tepe; here, at ”Y,” there are none at all!

In a sense, and no uine too, at the _coup_ we have brought off here as I was just now to see Birdie's four thousand driving the Turks before them into the mountains The scheh to Mal Tepe the whole Turkish Army on the Peninsula will be done in If the ”Y” Beach lot press their advantage they may cut off the enemy troops on the toe of the Peninsula With any luck, the KOSBs and Plyht on the line of retreat of the Turks who are now fighting to the South

The point at issue as we sailed down to ”X” Beach hether that little force at ”Y” should not be reinforced by the Naval Division ere ainst the Bulair Lines and had, by now, probably finished their work Braithwaite has been speaking to ly because I have been all along most keen on the ”Y” Beach plan which is my own special child; and this would be to make the most of it and press it for all it orth But, until the main battle develops more clearly at Gaba Tepe and at Sedd-el-Bahr I must not commit the only troops I have in hand as ot to ”X” Beach the foreshore and cliffs had been ood without h there is a hot fight going on just south of it But fresh troops will soon be landing:--so far so good Further round, at ”W” Beach, another lodgment had been effected; very desperate and bloody, we are told by the Naval Beachmaster: and indeed we can see some of the dead, but the Lancashi+re Fusiliers hold the beach though we don't seem yet to have penetrated inland By Sedd-el-Bahr, where we hove to about 645, the light was very baffling; land wrapped in haze, sun full in our eyes Here atched as best we could over the fight being put up by the Turks against our forlorn hope on the _River Clyde_ Very soon it becalasses we could quite clearly watch the sea being whipped up all along the beach and about the _River Clyde_ by a pelting storm of rifle bullets We could see also how a number of our dare-devils were up to their necks in this tores linking the River Clyde to the shore There was a line offlat down under cover of a little sandbank in the centre of the beach They were so held under by fire they dared not, evidently, stir Watching these gallant souls fro: Roger Keyes said to me he simply could not bear it Often a Coedies froht I have had my share of the hair's breadth business and now it becosters But, from the battleshi+p, you are outside the fra becoladiators from the dress circle The moment we became satisfied that none of our men had made their way further than a few feet above sea level, the _Queen_ opened a heavy fire froe and the high steep ground ringing round the beach in a seround At tinalled that the worst fire came from the old Fort and Sedd-el-Bahr; at ti out fro of seats on the West of that a to take our places Ashore the uns and rifles never ceased--tic tac, tic tac, brrrr--tic tac, tic tac, brrrrrr Drowned every few seconds by our tremendous salvoes, this more nervous noise crept back insistently into our ears in the interval

As ht but wait

[Illustration: SS ”River Clyde” ”Central News” photo]

Whenour covering party fairly hung up under the fire fro fresh orders to the main body who had not yet been co theets on the beach Roger Keyes started the notion that these troops ht well be diverted to ”Y” where they could land unopposed and whence they uard at ”V” more effectively than by direct reinforcement if they threatened to cut the Turkish line of retreat from Sedd-el-Bahr Braithwaite was rather dubious from the orthodox General Staff point of view as to whether it was sound for GHQ to barge into Hunter-Weston's plans, seeing he was executive Commander of the whole of this southern invasion But to me the idea seemed simple common sense If it did not suit Hunter-Weston's book, he had only to say so