Thomas Whyte Collection - Wallet 4 - Part 10 of 10

III

relation of Louie's but I have never liked
to ask him, as he seems such a silly kid.
Being calm we didn't take long to row
over the two miles to where the 'Liza' lay
quite near the harbour entrance.
We rowed right round looking in vain for the
damage the Turks claimed to have inflicted
& then with our usual cheek asked if we
could go on board. The Quartermaster soon
obtained permission from a couple of officers
strolling on the deck, & up we hopped not
waiting for Sextons or anybody's permission.
Obliging sailors on board soon had us in
tow & seemed only too anxious to show us
everything. The piece de resistance was the
turrets I can only give you a hazy description
of these awe inspiring masses of steel. They
encircle the working parts of the guns & swing
round with them. The shellproof armoured
elastic steel is 15 inches thick in front
you get inside by crawling underneath &
popping up through a manhole. Then you get
your breath taken away by the sight

91

writing one one of the marble card tables.
We are envied by all who are in the know.
A collier came alongside this morning
& delivered water & some preserved
vegetables.  The tucker has been much
better the last couple of days.
Wednesday 17th A funny incident happened
this morning About 20 sick (all those in
the hospital on board) were being towed
ashore by a pinnace.   A Greek bum boat
was alongside one of the jigs selling fruit
The pace increased & the owner let go to
pick up the next boat.  Somehow or other
the Dago got jambed & his boat fully
stocked turned turtle.  The fellows could
hardly pull him out for laughing
At He gave one agonised look at the
keel of his boat with matches nuts oranges
Turkish Delight etc floating round and
burst into tears.  All the way ashore he
tore his hair in real Greek Dago fashion
The climax came when one of the purchasers
asked for his tuppence change.  He had
a hired man aboard but he jumped onto
the jig when the boat was filling.  He was
most unconcerned, smoking his cigarette
& gazing round as if it was quite a
pleasure trip

110

It looks as if they were going there
to fully provision coal & water.
The 3rd Brigade is the only British soldier
force here now & will probably soon be
the only military force here.
I saw a lot of bacon arriving on board today
so we will have a holiday from that eternal
bully.
Sunday  I wouldn't give up my place in the boats
28th crew for worlds.  It may have its disadvantage
in the necessitating turning out at night but its
advantage outweigh them tremendously.
To-day we had the fortune to explore the
Queen Elizabeth not only to wander round
the decks but to actually be inside one of the turrets
of those wonderful 15 inch guns.  I am getting
ahead of myself however as this letter seems
to have developed into a diary.
We had to take Col Melkie the chaplain to
the 9th landing this morning.  There had been
some talk of rowing round the Queen Elizabeth
if there was an hour to spare.  In anticipation
Lieut Sexton & a couple of sergeants came in
the boat with us.  I believe Sexton is some

92

There were half a dozen cases of measles
among those taken ashore.  Four are from
A company two of which are in our platoon
Archie Smith & Swann.  It is only German
measles.  Fisher has tonsolitis but expect
to be back again in a couple of days.
The news this morning only concerned
France nothing about the Dardanelles or
Russia.  I believe they have made good
progress in the former place if they have
not actually got right through
More boats in to-day but no word of the
rest of our division.  It is rumoured
Sir Ian Hamilton is to command this
expedition & is to arrive to-day
Nothing official about our moving or
the arrival of the rest of the division
Most of the French force must be
here by now.
Thursday    Had a day with the heads.  We must
have seen 1/2 a doz Generals at the same time
this morning.  The new scout Phaeton arrived
yesterday with Sir Ian Hamilton & staff
aboard.  They ran from Marseilles in two
days, quite easy for a 36 knot boat. She is
a new class built for scouting & destroying
destroyers.   Not heavily armed, nearly everything
being sacrificed for speed.  We took the

109

Friday March 26  A mail closed today.  I sent
a letter C 6 from which you may be able
to gather that the 3rd Brigade is to form a
covering party for the landing in Turkey
in 3 weeks time.
The war news to-day is reassuring containing
particulars of the 120,000 Germans & Austrians
captured at Przemysl.  The main point about
this is the 1/2 million besieging Russians it
will free.  It serves to compare this war with
previous ones.  The forces engaged in this hardly
noticed side show would be sufficient to
settle previous wars.
The weather has been very fine to-day.
All the battalion have been ashore except
A Coy.  We had a row to the 9th landing this
morning & a trip with the brigadier to
the Hussar this afternoon.  We also took Major
Brand to the jetty.
Our gallant Major B4 is now known to
a few of the officers as the submarine owing
to Keith Green telling them about my abbreviation
of his name.
Several of the French transports left
to-day for Alexandria (presumably)

93

brigadier off to her on his own. At
the same time a couple of British Generals
& their staffs & 2 French Generals with their
staffs arrived on their official visits to
Sir Ian. The saluting that went on among
them was never ending. We were not
kept waiting for long as the 'Phaeton' moved
off after the visitors had hurriedly got
aboard their small craft. The sailors said
she was going up the Dardanelles sightseeing
Coming back the Brigadier told us that
we would be here for some time as
the French & Naval Brigade  The [[?]] would
probably move first. He also told us that
the Queen Elizabeth was heavily engaged yesterday
A large number of shells struck her
but only bounced back into the water.
This new elastic armoured steel must
be wonderful stuff. One shell only did
any damage, entering the a wardroom
possibly through a porthole. No casualties
were mentioned.
Today has been a bit rough making rowing
difficult. They took all the morning to take
the battalion off, as each boat has to make
3 trips, some 4. We had quite a rough time
rowing the brigadier round to several
of the Castle boats this afternoon.

108

Of course B4 could do nothing It would
only be defamatory if published or returned sent
to him. Scotty was up on a charge of being
absent for 24 hours without leave at Mena
He was not tried until about a week later
When B4 asked him what he had to say,
he bluffed  B4 he  that he was talking
to him the very day he was absent & detailed
a conversation he had with him. He got
off.
I could go on describing characters to you for
hours. It is remarkable what a lot of
globe trotters there are in the battalion
I don't believe there is a spot on the
earth someone hasn't been to. Even this
harbour was visited by Windy when with
the Mediterranean fleet. One very quiet
chap was actually fighting in Villier's Army
in Mexico a year ago.
We have just been called out to take round orders
& drop a couple of officers at the Suffolk
The wind has dropped right down so it won't
take us so long. Goodnight dear

94

This evening four of the Castle boats
and the Royal George went out. Nobody
seems to know where they are bound
for. I think there is  R.M.L. I on all.
The officers were all supposed to wear
web equipment & rifles for the first
time. They didn't play the game though
as they only had overcoats in their packs
B4 got a cheer mixed with jeers when
he appeared with his. Unfortunately
he had noticed a great 12 lb tin of bully
somebody had slipped in when his batman
wasn't looking.
There were some nurses aboard the
ah Narvanha. A hospital has been establis...
ashore so perhaps Gay Burns is there
I haven't seen any of them but next time
we go to Mudros I will have a look out.
Still no mail. Have found out there
is a weekly mail with Egypt & Castro which
hes somewhere on the other side of the island
It comes overland from Castro to Mudros
but there has been no military letters yet.
Perhaps they don't haven't let the [[headqua...?]]
P.O. know where to send ours.
Friday Last night I had just finished this
I had time to undress & settle down comfort
ably when in came Sgt Tomlinson

109

Struck for a long time He is known
as Bouff Mackey. The pronunciation of Bouff is long drawn
out. I never heard a more appropriate
nickname Immense round bloodshot
eyes & or heavy bovine face. Pure Australian
in his language. You can never get him
riold & when he is barracked he comes out
with some of the drollest expressions
imaginable. Bow in the crew is known
as Windy a short nuggetty ex man of wasomen
I think he is a deserter from the navy.
Windy gets very sarcastic if anybody happens
to tell him what to do when we are coming
alongside. In his position as bow he
operates the boat hook.
Another character is Scotty Murray in A Coy.
His name will be go down to prosperity as the perpetrator
of the 'No shave No razor' joke on Beevor. He comes
from Goffnock, Glasgow where Aunt Lizzie
lives. His pet aversion is B4. When the first
letters left here, he wrote a fearful description
of B4 to his brother little knowing that it would
be the object of his letter that would censor it.

95

The crew was wanted to take the Adj
& the two interpreters we have with us ashore
Some Greek had run amok & been laid
out by one of our chaps before doing
any damage. The local police were kicking
up a shindy. The wind had increased
so those heavy gigs needed some pulling
against the head wind. it took us nearly
2 hours solid pulling to get to the newly
constructed 9th jetty We got back to the
ship at 2.30 am. We have been off all
duty to-day as a reward.
There was to have been another attempt
at night landing in the morning but
I expect it will be cancelled as the wind
is still strong. At no time have the waves
been large enough  to cause the slightest
movement of the Ionian but the jigs
being so high out of the water, catch it all
& make it only possible to move very slowly
against it.
The Castle liners all came back to-day
having only cruised outside the harbour
To day comes the official news that the
Invincible Ocean Irresistible have met with
misfortune with no loss of life but a French
cruiser sank with all hands in 3 minutes

The trouble seems to be floating mines

106

Thursday The news about 3^rd Brigade
forming the covering party has been confirmed
by Major Brand to-day in a lecture to B Coy.
I didn't hear it but heard from some
of B Coy fellows. I am hoping it is rough
to-morrow & A Coy get the lecture.
I believe the 10^th is to go ashore soon to camp
soon for the 3 weeks before moving up.
The Queen Elizabeth is still in harbour
 waiting for ammunition from England
Major Brand says. He also said in his
lecture they [[cabled]] will to Egypt some time ago
for mails & money. [[GBMecrlchion?]]
It has been too rough to-day for any crews
to go off. This is a lazy life Being off all duties
except the Brigadiers crew. I dont have to attend
parades & when it is too rough have nothing
to-do all day. One gets tired of reading & walking
about the deck.
This is the place to study human nature.
You meet some rare characters among the
men. One of the Brigadier's crew is the drollest I have

96

The Turks or rather the Germans
float these mines down the Straights with
the tide, causing the men of war to move 

out each night.
The library was opened to-day. The 9^th
Orderly room were we sleep is being used.
However we have still got our tables &
lounges & as it is only to be open for an hour
each day it will cause us inconvenience.
I got hold of a book by McCutcheon 'Nedra'
this morning & have finished it. It is
a most perplexing book, but I expect you
have read it.
It has struck me that the reason of the
others getting the chance of removal before
us is the want of transports to bring up
the rest of the Division. I surmise that
the opportunity of 4 transports near Egypt
was the cause of the 3^rd Brigade moving when
they did it did and were was intended as a reserve for
the marines that landed. Finding that it was
premature to attempt it at present & the
other forces arriving complete, they naturally
would get pride of position. I believe there
are over 2000 transports engaged & just at
this time they would have none to spare
from the Channel. 
Saturday The Dardanelles rumours [[yester]]  

105

Last night I had a hot bath in the officers
bathroom. A [[brother]] Scot who has charge
managed it. It looks like a regular thing
now only I must be careful not to be caught.
We had curried bully stew for tea tonight.
My tummy is still feeling the strain
though it is 9 o'clock.
The part of A Company that got ashore were
brought back at 8 o'clock by a pinnace which had
to make a couple of trips with jigs
B4 distinguished himself as usual.
He had the two platoons trying to shift a
large barge that was high & dry on the beach.
Yesterday a company & a half of the 9^th tried
to unsuccessfully. While A Coy were at it
the Colonel of the 9^th strolled up. 'Who is in
charge of this party' he asked. 'Major Beevor,
sir' was the reply. 'I might have thought so'
said the Colonel. The marvel is he never
takes a tumble to his unpopularity.
Sunday he affected his eyeglass again but
he seem proof [[of]] against all sarcasm.   

97

we're not quite right as we found out
this morning when the official news from
the 'Hussar' was posted. The Irresistible
& Ocean & 2 French boats were sunk and
the Invincible was damaged by a
howitzer battery but successfully beach at [[?]]. This happened Thursday.
We had a lecture this afternoon about
the war. It is estimated there are 18000
German Officers & non coms among the
Turks. You see Germany has been frighten
ed all along Turkey would say 'Kismet'
when the bombardment started & make
it an excuse to declare peace early
to save Constantinople, which is quite
on the boards I think.
 There is a rumour among the officers
that Sir Ian Hamilton has declared
he won't table the proposition without
half a million men.
It has been blowing a gale today. There
has been no chance of any crews going out.
Each company in turn had a sort of
route march round the ship. Being
off all other duties except the crew I have
been reading all day. I struck an old
bound volume of the Corkhill.
A mail closed today. Through Keith Green
I was able to write you more than the

104

The wind was at it's roughest when we were there
but arrangements had been made
to tow us back by a Picquet boat. Three
boats were towed We were in the centre.
The last one was dropped at one of the
Castle liners. You can imagine how those
jigs would yaw being towed at 10 knots.
Well passing the Castle liner after dropping
the top rear top boat off, the picquet boat turned
a bit. We kept well out from the liner
with the aid of our own rudder, but the first
boat with a strain on both ends ran
is rather close. We couldn't stand up
for laughing when they got under two
ports discharging bilge water. The crew was
drenched. To completely fill their cup of
woe when coming alongside the Ionian,
they caught another ducking from the
same thing. The poor beggars had been
out since 7 this morning with no dinner.
They had got straight across from the shore
to the flagship but couldn't make any head-
way dead against the wind. No wonder they
were almost fighting one another.

98

regulation page chiefly extracts from
this diary letter.  How I hate writing letters
that I know are to be censored.  I quake
when I think this one might be.
All the boats have two anchors out but
the waves are not strong enough to
case any motion.  The wind is howling
through the rigging a most [[mournfill?]]
way.  This storm will stop all operations
in the Dardanelles. until
It is wonderful what can be done with
bully beef.  The past 3 days since our cooks
have taken over the galley they have made
different kinds of stews with it, quite
palatable they have been.
The lights have gone out so it is Goodnight
again My Darling.
Monday night I didnt write yesterday.  There
didnt seem anything of interest to write about
& then paper is getting short.
A couple of the Octans crew have been attached
to us for signalling purposes until they get another
ship.  It appears they had plenty of time to get
off the Ocean taking 3 hours to sink.  Some
of the crew, excited, jumped on to the decks of
the rescuing boats & broke their legs.
The two sister ships easily distinguished
Agamemnon & Lord Nelson with the [[Queen]].

103

Wednesday March 24th  The wind still blowing from
the North has kept the weather still cold.  From the
hill near the 9th landing you can see a snow
capped mountain in the distance.  I heard
somebody say it was Mt Athos.  The wind the
last couple of days feels as if it was blowing
straight off something like this.
Half a dozen English transports went out this
afternoon including the 18000 ton Frankonia.
Several men of war have gone out & some
have come in.  A couple of French transports
moved to a berth near us after the Castle liner
had gone.  One is a great grey armed merchantman
Both must be about 12000 tons each.
Half of A Coy got ashore this morning at the
9th landing but the boats couldnt get back,
so the intended battalion route march was
postponed.  We had a row ashore this morning
& were the only crew to get back without being
towed.  This afternoon we took the Brigadier
to the flagship for lunch & had a good time
yarning to the sailors on the Hussar &
Imogene for a couple of hours.  The Imogene lays
alongside the flagship.  She is an Admiralty
Yacht used as the  living quarters by the Admiral
& Rear Admirals.  She was attached to the British
Embassy at Constantinople at the outbreak of the war. 

99

Elizabeth came in last night. A shell pierced
one of the funnels of the Liza. We haven't heard
much of the last engagement.
The storm blew out yesterday. The crew
had a trip to the Hussar after war news
& to the 3rd Brigade boat. In the afternoon
the wind was blowing nearly  as strong, 
ofrom the immediate reverse quarter &
has kept up to-day. The jigs have been so
badly knocked about that I believe they
are not to be used for taking troops ashore
anymore  The companies have been taking
it in turn to exercise by running round
the ship.
This afternoon  General Birdwood who
arrived to-day in the 'Doris' came aboard.
The Doris has been engaged bombarding
Smyrna, Whether she brought mails from
with the General remains to be seen
Four weeks to-day without a line. That's the
hardest part of all.
One of the chaps who was recommended for
one of those commissions in the English
army got hold of the what he says is
reliable information that nearly all
those recommended had been granted
I hope my luck changes if we get into
any action.

102

potatoes & tapioca pudding. We were offered
some but hadn't time, worse luck.
The brigadier & Cap Ross had lunch aboard

but we had to come back with Lieut
Holmes & call again the afternoon
We had a trip to the Hussar after war
news & round the brigade fleet this evening
with orders. The wind has gone down
Considerably. Last night was pretty cold
Out the north wind no doubt.
It is funny reading the Turkish tales
of the damages 100 to the Queen Elizabeth & then
seeing her in harbour with nothing
wrong except a hole in her funnel.
Our news about the Invincible was corrected
to the Inflexible. She has gone to Malta.
A lot of warships have come into harbour
since Sunday. They seem to be taking
their time about the job. A persistent rumour
to-day was that the main Turkish fort at
the narrows has fallen. I have arranged
about a hot bath to-night & must go so
goodnight my love.

100

I am a getting a veratable book worm.
Yesterday I finished that volume of
‘Cornhill’  & to-day Jess by Rider Haggard.
This is not bad reading though the ending

seems too sad. I think I would have finished
it a another way.
When at the flagship yesterday they gave
us some London Times & copies of the 
Malta Daily Chronicle as late as March 10th.
Here I am at the last page. I will have
to fall back over the sheet of paper. I will have

to fall back on sheets of paper. When I get
the chance I will post you the two books
of carbon copies in case any of the letters has
gone astray.
This ought to be a worlds record letter 44 pages
 if so far  & not chance of posting for some
time. I forgot to number Saturdays censored
letter C4. These censored mails will be weekly
going ashore on Monday to the local post office
where they are sent to Castro & thence per
steamer to Alexandria via Athens. They
should arrive in time to catch the following
weeks Australian mail which leaves
on Tuesdays generally.
I will end up this page as a letter & the go
on with No. 19 on whatever I can get
hold of.  Good night my Darling Angel
from your ever loving boy Tom.

No 19
107
H.M.S. Ionian
Mudros Bay
Lemnos Island
March 23rd 1915

I feel awfully pleased having got No 18
off. It stands just a chance of getting through.
As I haven't anymore duplicate books I am going
to use the back of the pages of this. When there
is a chance I will post both books.
I gave Chapman a postcard saying what I had
done which I should get through even if No 18
is stopped. This would be C 5. I forget to number
the censored cards.
Nothing further has happened of any importance.
Some of the Castle liners went out this afternoon
Chapman says there are walot of British Regulars
to come here from India [[Inosiskillings]] etc.
He was promoted to Sergeant to-day which is
little enough considering the work he is doing.
He is a son of Prof. Chapman & was in partnership
with Goyder. They live like fighting cocks
on the Frankonia. We saw the privates at
dinner today. Pea soup, Roast beef, cabbage, turnip,