Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 2 - Part 8 of 12

71
Eighteen forts had been demolished
when they left. He was one of the crew landing 
the Marines that were cut up. This fort had
been settled some days previously but
bad weather had prevented any landing
party. In the meantime the Turks & Germans
had taken full advantage of the time 
& entrenched themselves very strongly 
besides having snipers in every available
cover, ruins etc. Evidently the reconnoitering
seaplanes missed this. or the Marines couldnt
see where the firing came from even
A lot of their shells dont explode & the firing
is not very good. The 'Nellie' (nickname for
the Lord Nelson) had no difficulty in silencing
a fort with 14 inch guns though her biggest
are 12 inch. He was particularly funny
describing this fort. "All at wance them 
Turks stahrted commin' aht of that fort 
in hundreds rahght on top of a hill. We
gave em a salvo at abaht 8000 & Gawd
blimy, when the dust cleared we had
shot the ground they was on away."
Somebody asked why they came out of
the fort! 'Guess it was gettin too 
blaming hot in there'
The Marines caught one Turk gouging
out the eyes of one of the dead. They charged

72
him before he got away, stood him
up against a wall & literally shot pieces 
out of him.
Two mine sweepers have been settled.
They are only trawlers & drag for mines
with wire ropes. Naturally they take
a tremendous risk. There are half a 
dozen in harbour here.
A French General arrived yesterday &
inspected the camp of the 9th
We have started Bridge again, There
is to be no stake. I ought to be something
of a player when I get back.
All our horses are going ashore to-morrow
We have about 40 on board.
No word of the 2nd or 1st Brigade yet nor
of any mails.
I have had to rearrange my writing kit
I can get this book with a few postcards 
& paper in my haversack nicely. Your
photo is in wonderfully good order. The
cardboard covers of the book keep it from
getting bent. Three of the corners are gone a little
but the photo is as undamaged as the day
I got it. Do you remember how shy you 
were about showing the proof? The tissue
envelope I still have. I like the hazy glimpse 
I can get of you through it. I always
 

73
have it on the back of the previous page
when I am writing. I never get tired of
looking at it. I am afraid I have neglected 
the profile one. That is in my kit bag
with your letters. I don't like it half as
well as the one Freda called affected.
The best light to look at it is artificial
It looks most natural then. I feel awfully
ashamed I haven't had a decent photo to
send you yet
Thursday March 11^th We have had quite a pleasant 
day. This morning we took the Colonel & party
ashore near the 9^th camp for a court
martial. I was quite surprised to find
round a little point a tiny jetty. Quite 
a decent sized village. We can see part
of it from the Ionian but most is
hidden by the little hill that runs out to
the point. The 9^th camp is on the hill
The heads were away for several hours
so after we had lunch we had a stroll.
A well made road led from the jetty
winding through the group of 50 or so houses that
formed the village. There were two or three 
cafes where you could get Turkish coffee,
cognac, a dark sour weak wine, rum &
English lager beer. Needless to say we
sampled the Tennants Lager & found it

74
very refreshing. Most of the houses are
two storeyed & well build of stone. A peculiar
shaped tile forms the roof. The tiles are
semicircular & are laid like this [[?]]
There was the same variety of dress.
The women were all of a clear cut similar
type & wore the white cloth round their
heads ears & chins looking for all the world
like a corpse with the chin tied up.
The old women are nearly as good looking
as the young. Babies were very numerous
A finely built Greek Orthodox Church 
looked magnificient among these rural
surroundings Some of us went inside
The Greek priest in his funny cap &
gown gave us a taper each which we
lit & stuck in an urn containing
sand. The thing that one noticed most
was the abscence of seats or pews. The interior
was richly decorated in blue tints with plenty
of well painted panels of the saints. A tall
beautifully carved preaching desk (I Forget
the correct name) was particularly noticable
On a specially carved lecturn was a painting
of the Madonna & child that looked very
old probably medaeval. ^? I don't know
what the burning of the tapers signified
at anyrate one didn't show our appreciation

75
by placing anything in the alms box
which was in a prominent position.
The villages are really out of bounds but
of course the Colonels crew would be excepted.
Over the other side of the hill on the beach
below the 9^th camp is tiny quaint brick
church about 8ft x 12ft by 7ft high. It is
evidently dis not in use. A niche in one
wall evidently formed the alter. The rafters
were very old and wormeaten. There was a little 
glass bowl in a bracket with sanctuary 
oil & floats in it.  On the other side was 
an iron spiked arrangement with bits of 
rags on it. I wonder if it is a superstition
similar to one often seen in Ireland near
wells?
The harbour is very busy. Super Dreadnoughts
Cruisers, Destroyers, Torpedo boats, Trawlers
(for mine sweeping), Submarines, Supply
Ships (coal, oil & provisions) Pinnaces &
Picquet boats and a dozen or so Transports
There are 5 boats for the 3^rd Brigade
The Ionian, Malda, Suffolk Nizam & Davanah
There are 6 'Castle' liners in with Royal Marine
Light Infantry & sundry details and
a couple of French Transports. When we
were ashore we saw a party of Frenchmen
with their greenish Khaki blue overcoats

76
& ugly French military caps.
War boats are constantly leaving & coming
& it is difficult to keep count of them
The most noteworthy are the Queen Elizabeth 
the Inflexible (of Falkland Island fame)
the Lord Nelson, Indominatable & AE2
submarine from Australia.
There  is an are two & Admirals a rear & a vice
Today the French General & a couple of
his staff paid an official visit on board
The only gawdy thing about him was his
cap all gold & red braidwork & lace fancyfully
coloured. His only decoration was the
Legion of Honour medal & ribbon which
he seemed very proud of. We turned out a
guard of honour & the band.
Friday March 12 I was called away last night 
at 8 when I was writing. We went round
to the Brigade boats with orders for the
brigade training to-day. When we came back
there was a mouthful of whiskey waiting
for each of us.
A mail left yesterday. I was able to get
much more th in than should have by
getting Captain Green to censor it instead
of my own Coy. Commander. I can't
relish Beevor censoring any of my letters.
From C3 you may be able to gather that

77
all is well & 40000 French troops are arriving
in 3 weeks time. They have to close the mail
a day before it leaves on account of the 
censoring I noticed it still lying in the 
mail room so it may not go for a day or
two
A couple of large liners in their grey war
paint arrived during the night. It looks
like the Canadian flag they are flying.
A hospital ship, the 'Soudan' also arrived
I dont know who is on board or where
she comes from. She looks very pretty
painted white with a broad green band
right round her intersected, with 3 large
red crosses on each side.
Saturday afternoon Intercepted again last
night. This evening now looks like a
regular thing. However we dont mind
We would sooner be on this game than
any other. This morning we took the
Brigadier & staff to the 'Frankonia' one
of the yesterdays arrivals. She is a large
Curnard liner The other big one is the
Royal George a Canadian Northern Railway
boat. Both have Naval Brigades on board
I think this is the branch George & Euthrie
belong to. They have a lot of naval reserve
men among them. They say about 10 000

78
are coming here.
The last day or two has been a bit cold
but not too cold to sleep on deck.
The past 3 days the official war communiques
have been posted up. Things seem to be progressing
in the Dardenelles.
The tucker has not been very varied lately.
You see the boat was leaving Alexandria Pt Said for
England when she was stopped & sent to
Alexandria & took us on board next day
They had no chance of victualling her properly
so bully beef has been our main diet
lately. The butter is a bit rancid. To-day
for dinner we got quite a surprise with
some beautiful rice soup, tender beef & potatoes
& bread & jam. The bread is always good
freshly baked each night Jam & cheese
will be served regularly each other day now.
There has been no complaint as most
recognise that it is inevitable Thank 
goodness the bully has been very good
but you get awfully sick of it.
A boatload of men got ashore the other
night. What for goodness only knows. They
got each 10 days field punishment. For two
hours each day they are tied up to waggon wheels
& spend the rest of the time in the detention
room. Naturally dicipline will be very

79
strict now.
There are 6 Castleliners in now with
marines & naval Brigade men on board
All the horses have been taken ashore
There is plenty of greenfeed & they seem
to be enjoying themselves
Sunday Evening I wouldn't have swopped
places with the King today. Just think
of it We have been all round the 
Queen Elizabeth & all over a submarine
Right down in her & the B11 at that
the ? identical one that made history
when she dived under 4 rows of mine
& sank that Turkish battleship. And
not least of all we have shanken
hands with her V.C. Commander &
had afternoon tea with her crew
everyone awarded the D.S.M. Let 
me tell you how it came about.
At 2 o'clock the crew had to take the 
Brigadier & staff ashore to the 9^th
Camp. He said he would be ashore
an hour or so & had no objection
to our pulling out to the 'Eliza' Off
we went with Sgt Heritage on whom
we picked up as we were moving off.
We had a good 3 miles to row & saw 
the Agamemnon Inflexible & Lord Nelson

80
steam off. The booms were up
on the 'Eliza' & we were frightend
we wouldn't be in time. However we
got there in time to rowe right round
her and gaze aghast at the great 
floating mass of armoured steel &
guns. What a personification of power
she looked. Think of it 8 immense long
15 inch dealers of death capable of throwing
a shells weighing a ton, 15 miles
On each side forward were 6 - 6 inches
& aft 2 each side, 16in all.  Amidships
what looked like 4 - 12 inchers. The 
immense steel barbettes for the I5s
were awe inspiring You couldn't imagine
any force piercing them And yet to
think that floating fort costing 2 million
& its thousand souls could be blotted
out by one little mine. War is cruel
think of that gigantic engine of destruction
throwing its ton shells whe 25,000 yds over hills
& reducing forts to rubbish and men
to bloody atoms, while 4 miles out of
range, neither the weilders not seeing the 
effect of their fire nor the defenders where
they it came from.
There were a lot of men on deck
among them about 20 civies (men