Correspondence between Field Marshal Lord William Birdwood and Lady Janetta Birdwood, 1915 - Part 14

Conflict:
First World War, 1914–18
Subject:
  • Documents and letters
Status:
Finalised
Accession number:
RCDIG0000050
Difficulty:
4

Page 1 / 10

Mreeegereemcehemem heuhehhherheemhre witl of course arrange fothrt Natial Beik of thaia to dawo the dividends fortion on everything as henal. Iin so slan som Father is allowing or to dave the ear again but I canwell believe how eetrandman diffticult it must be her to marage at all withmteneche all that taffic & yon dean old Fother anxious- beside her 1. Later Save wedeen bone all Cas Ble, &o auined the moring ofle how we have mareged to get all the new troops ashore during the night so have avvoided them being shelled. Cmpitarately something in net have gone borong in the Naval arrangements last night, as by 4.a.. there were still a good many to oips to land and as soon as even the Turks saw them they at dice began shelling them. We were however Cucky. I saw a shell burst over a horse boat full of Gunkhas ust as they were landing, but not a man was tarched. By. bad luck though I had my Naval staff officer here killed yestaclay afternoon on the er- & very nice keen young fellow by name Cater who I had just had dining with me the night before- the same shell went through the boiter of one of the pictes boat. The secend I have had sunk in the last twr days. But water is my greatest anxigt &t very grave ore. Forly ha ttha just enough to fill the mens water botles & am not quite sure if I ll even that tonight wher I have to start our big fight. shells have but walership stunk water Cighters - pump s have broken etc. etc & they keep coming to me with most doleful forces & peoppecies of dine weter disaster. Horeve all we cando is to take advantane of everiy moment. we have to pim Whenever we colget a water boat near the shore & to Eke out What litlle we can from our fact drying up wells So much defrents on thes big fight which will be startind in a few hours time. She deft cuthres.
o ifft i te mmoun ous sit is just toese vary elet cae cepes Which I am hepine man prove our blst firends. It the country was in any way casier, it would be a mass of trenches. everywhere. As it is on all & then sides of mir position - the one side remaining is almost precipitous in Ciees & covered with thick ungle sarmes. Tcom hence by galling a bila attack from my right on thee Muhits trmches hen suming my fft rond tont all thee diffet tt have a tremendous bom bourtry diring the light whele I Ward o lll bn fars al bn fa t sate bite t fee mnst Wight. so there will be a perfect babel exfect a large numper of Casnallies at witt be a most awful Memess gellig them all down to the beach & off- Io with he a long & very anxtious time for me as communicatin will we terver hard & d shall near heavy fort tlant on enan side while shells hill protably be flying aroind for horrs oore soceced as deavesty treme may, ot sulet a real good mueness - if I can get the lurts once well s Therun I hape we may capture a bot of them gans, Cant Etc & in fact do a real bg stooke - butsit is ar great gorible - if all goes well I have eveiyng hepe it mal if go werg. We would lose a lane Wire off if lumber of men and land ourselves in a very mey o boo ho shon &fce we clom ore. Homeoe
m nu morning. ere re n heal conpolent that auy one oftern are the rquel 9 6o of 10. Turks & then onty have to ar make up them luunchs to sueceed at all costs & me shall he through. It dvssut meay amything very Great in distance, butnit does us impostance. wuitt bea much & bigg bight tham the day we Candre We had been shue h hoping for the Turks to Attack us first as thet atove& time in tended doing but unfortuntcl then Couldut he broughtsup to the necessay ponnt Ane G u ere lom ee With oet on eave - Wel A terible. disanter his just happened - a lightons with 400, bangs of Inglist man t has usto been sunck - when a coming infor us Goodners kuns what letters it may if may nots have- had on warch,- So if. Gon tam rememfher onyth in at omportant fe May f wst hive with ther repeat at [9ueh- 6 Weeaus 15 3376 3rd San
is in on a ene eu a 5 & MAllenialiian Hrlty Borde Go me Aus 15. th owen dailine sr Shave. hool got gous letter of 28th Ily white we are still in the mudst of the big fight I wite & told yon we Were to have ater I last wrote. As I have just had to wite an account of thas, I think the best thing Leam do is to enclose- a copy of it as that with give Gow as prett goodidea - though it will not cowen the great auvecte in which I nowan about the pinal results. We were ss near complate success in our first night attack. Generel Shan who has lately came to me in command of one of Kes New Ahim Divisions & who issucp. a lice & Good soldie Woin whet in S. Africa, to let me after just not succceding that be had been beging to puick holes mno the plans, but had to Corpess that he thought everything possible had been thought out & he Rulet think of no o ther flan which would have been nearly so likeln to ensur S teeess- off with the Rets on my extrme left hadt able to shove on a bit more & reachs then chrest dewn all - wiulds have been well, sae shored hame held command of the Badlancles hey 9 again by secound - night. Altacks when &S to the te. Sf tm. me
Mumes M me one infortinatoas hup landing. As seiies of bim shells right our orsoer men & infliction a heave losses, Asa result o which they retured & the. Turks at once - attacked them making the whole attack a faitoe and as him will see the Brgade I aheady had up there ha beatew ofo the foloning night- leaving us in ar most aitical positcows fired still have to take the hilk & the Turks have hast lots of time to bring up then reinforcements. The must be in great humbers for we have killed I believe several thensands & yet they continie to come along & I unst say they are reat leave fellows - bo see wholer chimp of them being blow up in the am by shells, bort ebit come on and dont seem tomond their losses. Goodness Mmows- how theng of them. we have killed while my Casualties are terribly sickening - iters one ther most- harrible & pawful sights. fou dam unergie of to meeta an constant str cam of returning wounded them few &the front- come just the befeing - & thens hew cailled & all slooking really& much worse tham ar halos they are - by being covered with blove Corlise there has been nos time form rouin as of th And & we are un A Very critical tal & ucceeded as . Whe.
eee M hs suceelded. As I heped pels m old The would have Home, we should betueen us have held. a very gone. position Sambard to the Dardamelled & giving us.a safe base - but we have heither Gort soe witl sheck to s I as sheccededed. saet. We mow het every seay makes it- harde as the Turks hill be in greater strength & more ding in - ard the iseve. Can be no certainty yit- awhill I have told mis boys they have to stick loat & see everiyg thing througt of thes then assure me they & will do sand have the streng ths te fight as long as & the. they witt 6oo so. and of couns be wit tat cemfrement. but it all talles time. dut thint fom tt was now dichita fetrone of 9 my letters which & fear must have gone astrayn as I have never missed wiiting. Angelsey has foined me & semos such. A particuter by wice fellons & all om boys tere or the Staff have latten tos hum - aftts Same time I have heard thest thes Cliegos letter thehave de Creshight & that be ts nows bhshirs Way here from &den - so to the time beem a ty ills 5o though Ausel Stall a have. 30t. re o & be tce tham on. Wt st.
mmuu ne m Meee emmcey weheeeey oemee believe he has partly come be camse that nother in Camel his the Ducess of Rulland has been s terting stormes about him the sypt to sccape bigtting de wanted to peove thes he oily Cames to was not the case - As Sir Ian said he would probally see more with me in a weck them with most people in some Mouhtrs &cheady to has had to take his share of Bullet's coming along very close over his head when I lost hom along round my left flans fighting, & yester day we hadut cone to yards, when a big shell landed about 20 gerds off. I was rafter amused as a fair Battulion of the K. Army was just bess de me at the time & 5yin soldiers pammptly fell head over peels with fright Not a very good angaving out its was probably the first they had Ward o seei coming near & they just fell over then owr feet in a perectly usdless faine - if the Gurners who fired coulds have seen &it must probatly have thought they had hit. then hese new Regts. Cannol at present- tunch. me older hands Now that de Crespigny is coming & cannot of course get Reggie &hes tor, toyph as he is aheady an & the Sprobably in Any cape would not have been able to do so. Whate a morsance it is that Nance has had to return from the tospital & Iam eo somy about it for I quite agree with Gon thot they will very soom get tired of her seay they cam is to keep her on if she poes sick a secound time Iam quite somy non couldnt all go to hady Robinson of Broadstans for it was most awfully kind of her to ask yon Bderesay the Charge to the see might have made yot steel all right - is it still too late to eay yonford f on cam all 2. all mill. little wite- over tom ver lon old. Wit
Meoee S.B. M. 18 Augis &ly out darling little with. fighting. We have still been havie a lot o all round the new bits of position I have taken from the Enemy. The. Turks evidently hated our taking the series of trenches of thins which we called Lone fine on my right Myon can magine what the logpting has been like where I mention that we have in three days after taking it dragged over 1000 Corpse's out of the trenches - about half of them dam somy to say being our own men. The Cnemy never ceased attacking but I fancy We have killed so mani of them all round & especially in rear by our Rtillery that they have how chucked though then are sire to come on again later on. I have bi theelt just been through all the trenches & Sulst say the Turks had managed to make themselves pretty comportable they bact suich of lot of Encellent head cover made of beawlfl Strong uunber - A areat deal of it. meently out pine trurks & Franchs than which nothing could be more suitable & Importunately we have nothing of this sort in our bit of countr On the left where we made our big more- we have townkilled an enormons number of Turks & I must say they aere plncke ellows. Some of my guns are so placsed th D ceml Le get right into them in enplads at the ey came up. hosikat us. it.
erere hme and we got right uut them in Mases as they camie along.- A prsoner when we have just got who was there says the Corpses are so many it is hard to get over them and that they are h in rows just like cor which has been reated. And yet they never stopted for a minute. you hill reeneenba Capt. Allanson who has just arrived in cormard of his Regt the 6th Gurkhas. He did sflendidly & wit a beea recommended for the N.C. Hhope. I was talking to him yesterday jus as he was going to hospital. He lead and his story nearly made me cy to realige how I had actually completed all we had to do, but faited at the last moment. He lead his Regt in their night attack in the Turkish position which he actually took & then were chasing the Turks down the & ther side when suddenly one of our ships, not seeing who tire were put some of their luge shells arong them. Some of then Vew some of the Gurkhas to fieces & made the rest for thre Came beving aterutely famme strcher & tey bolled arrwin the hills like hairs & Allanson could not get them back. Gou May remenbe young de Marchand in 50th in Holat , he was attached to them & repused to leave the hill & was killed. That from Goring Wallas boy was shot through the head & Shear canmot be expected to line - in back as puddally Loe. by now & fllenen me. Wor
f fm o f in fhae m t And watt Tuld All be have folight for ms Gone. bh not mnsy. since the Gurllas left the Turks have been en trenching ike the devil & shall have an awful jot taking at again as I must do. The only smalt satisfaction is that Wen the Turks came down to attack the Gurkeras that night Allanson assires me they killed about 600 of them which at in addition to the large number we have down elsewhere- etting nito so Many of them yon woud think they mist chick there toge. Eery pororer tells us they are dead sick of it are longing to semender but are hot allowest to and their number seem ineshassitable - they have I belieme about 150,000 in this perusule which is of course far more them wire have. I wouldunt change mry men for any. they Arenjust magnificerd Hreally om more them pleased & pronst of them & they have quite strprised mne for I never hoped they wiulat have come on as they have & I belieme they have confidence in me - Gorine lousd all our lew tenches. Uf ith hill sides yesterdal then tould say. Tes uis. we are quite really to go on hilling Turks, whenever yon call on hs - but re are weal as cal Dibout think we could march ci comple of mates - Shat the arroful thing thap really womes ofughtas me f ishard to believe how much the really ener vating not Heather here has talon it outh of the I 6 Syf Lll tave beee Aiting from the nsnat earteri. complant & the has taken it but all.

will of course arrange for the National Bank of India to   
draw the dividends for you on everything as usual. 
 I'm so glad your Father is allowing her to drive the car again,  
but I can well believe how extraordinary difficult it must be  
for her to manage at all, with him beside her all that  
traffic & your dear old Father anxious beside her! Later.  
I have just been round all Cox's Bde who arrived this morning - Up to 
now we have managed to get all the new troops ashore during the night  
& so have avoided them being shelled.  Unfortunately something must 
have gone wrong in the Naval arrangements last night, as by 4.a.m  
there were still a good many troops to land, and as soon as even the  
Turks saw them they at once began shelling them - we were however  
lucky.  I saw a shell burst over a houseboat full of Gurkhas just  
as they were leaving, but not a man was touched.  By bad luck though 
I had my Naval Staff Officer here killed yesterday afternoon on the pier - a 
very nice keen young fellow by name Cater, who I had just had dining  
with me the night before - the same shell went through the boiler of one 
of the picket boats - the second I have had sunk in the last two  
days.  But water is my greatest anxiety & a very grave one.  I only have  
just enough to fill the men's water bottles and am not quite sure if I'll even have  
that tonight, when I have to start our big fight. Shells have hit water ships  
& sunk water lighters - pumps have broken etc. etc. others keep coming to me 
with most doleful faces & prophesies of dire water disaster! However  
all we can do is to take advantage of every moment. We have to pump  
whenever we can get a water boat near the shore & to eke out  
what little we can from our fast drying up wells.   
So much depends on this big fight which will be starting  
in a few hours time.  The difficulties of the country are

 

3) enormous & it is just those very great difficulties 
which I am hoping may prove our best friends. If the  
country was in any way easier, it would be a mass of  
trenches everywhere. As it is, on all other sides of my  
position - the one side remaining is almost precipitous in 
places & covered with thick jungle & vines. I commence 
by making a big attack from my right on the Turkish trenches 
& then swinging my left round through all this difficult 
country during the input, while I'll have a tremendous bombardment  
of all my guns all round going on the while 
night. So there will be a perfect babel. I fear I must 
expect a large number of casualties & it will be a most 
awful business getting them all down to the beach & off. It  
will be a long & very anxious time for me as communications  
will be terribly hard & I shall hear heavy fighting on every 
side while shells will probably be flying around for hours. 
If we succeed as I earnestly pray we may, it should be 
a real good business - if I can get the Turks once well on 
the run I hope we may capture a lot of their guns, camps 
etc & in fact do a real big strike - but it is a great 
gamble - if all goes well I have every hope it may 
come off - if they go wrong we would lose a large 
number of men and find ourselves in a very much 
worse position than we now are. However I have told my

 

boys I feel confident that any one of them are the equal 
of 10 Turks & they only have to a make up their minds to 
succeed at all costs & we shall be through. It doesn't mean 
anything very great in distance, but it does in importance -  
will be a much bigger fight than the day we landed. 
We have been much hoping for the Turks to attack us first, as 
they at one time intended doing, but unfortunately they 
couldn't be brought up to the necessary point. 
With all my love sweetheart. Ever your very loving old 
Will 
P.S. A terrible disaster has just happened - a  
lighter with 400 bags of English mail has  
just been sunk when coming in for us!! 
Goodness knows what letters it may or may 
not have had on board, so if you can 
remember anything important you may just 
have written, better repeat it! 

 

Lone Pine 
9 Aug 1915
Mediterranean Expdy Force
9 Aug 15
  
My own darling girl, 
I have just got your letter of 28th July, while we are 
still in the midst of the big fight I wrote & told you we 
were to have when I last wrote.  As I have just had to write 
an account of this, I think the best thing I can do is to 
enclose a copy of it as that will give you a pretty 
good idea - though it will not cover the great anxiety 
in which I now am about the final results - we were so 
near complete success in our first night attack - General 
Shaw who has lately come to me in command of one of K's
New Army Divisions & who is such a nice & good soldier 
whom I met in S. Africa, told me after just not succeeding 
that he had been trying to pick holes in the plans, but 
had to confess that he thought everything possible had 
been thought out & he could think of no other plan 
which would have been nearly so likely to ensure 
success.  If only the Regts on my extreme left had been 
able to shove on a bit more & reach the crest by 
dawn all would have been well & we should have 
held command of the Dardanelles beyond. Then 
again my second night attack, when I had 
got on to the ridge, two Brigades were beaten down

 

by one unfortunate ship landing a series of huge 
shells right among our men & inflicting heavy 
losses, as a result of which they retired & the Turks 
at once attacked them, making the whole attack a failure.  
And as you will see the Brigade I already had up there was 
beaten off the following night - leaving us in a most critical 
position, for I still have to take the hill & the Turks have 
had lots of time to bring up their reinforcements - They 
must be in great numbers for we have killed I believe 
several thousands & yet they continue to come along & I 
must say they are real brave fellows - you see while clumps 
of them being blown up in the air by shells, but still they 
come on and don't seem to mind their losses. 
Goodness knows how many of them we have killed, 
while my casualties are terribly sickening - it is one 
of the most horrible & painful sights you can imagine 
to meet a constant stream of returning wounded 
men from the front - some just hobbling - others being
carried & all looking really much worse than 
perhaps they are by being covered with blood,
as of course there has been no time for washing.  
And we are in a very critical state I think - 
had I succeeded as I hoped & had Genl.

 

2)  Stopford's Army Corps succeeded as I hoped
it would have done, we should between us have
held a very fine position Commanding the Dardanelles
& giving us a safe base - but we have neither 
of us succeeded & though we will stick to it,
for all we know, yet every day makes it harder
as the Turks will be in greater strength & more dug
in - and the issue can be no certainty yet awhile.
I have told my boys they have to stick to it & see every
thing through & this they assure me they will do - and
they will fight as long as we have the strength to 
do so - and of course we will get reinforcements -
but it all takes time.
I can't think how it was that you didn't get one of
my letters which I fear must have gone astray, as
I have never missed writing. Angelsey has joined me
& seems such a particularly nice fellow & all our 
boys here on the staff have taken to him - at the
same time I have heard that the Chief is letting
me have de Crespigny & that he is now on his
way here from Aden - so for the time being I
shall have 3 ADC's, though Angelsey will probably
not stay for more than a couple of months - I

 

believe he has partly come because that Mother-in-law of
his the Duchess of Rutland has been starting stories about him that
he only came to Egypt to escape fighting & he wanted to prove this
was not the case - As Sir Ian said, he would probably see more
with me in a week than with most people in some months, & already
he has had to take his share of bullets coming along very close over his 
head when I took him along round my left flank fighting, & yesterday
we hadn't gone 10 yards when a big shell landed about 20 yards off. I was
rather amused as a new Battalion of the K. Army was just beside me
at the time & 3 young soldiers promptly fell head over heels with fright!
Not a very good augury, but it was probably the first they had
heard or seen coming near, & they just fell over their own feet in
a perfectly useless panic - if the Gunners who fired could have
seen they most probably have thought they had hit them!
These new Regts cannot at present touch my older hands.
Now that de Crespigny is coming I cannot of course get
Reggie Sherston, though as he is already an A.D.C. I probably in
any case would not have been able to do so.
What a nuisance it is that Nancy has had to return from the
hospital & I am so sorry about it, for I quite agree with you
that they will very soon get tired of her & say they can
not keep her on if she gets sick a second time.
I am quite sorry you couldn't all go to Lady Robinson at 
Broadstairs, for it was most awfully kind of her to ask you
& I daresay the change to the sea might have made you sleep
all right - is it still too late to say you find you can go after
all? All my love little wife. Ever your very loving old - Will -

 

M.E.F.
18 Aug 15 

My own darling little wife.
We have still been having a lot of fighting
all round the new bits of position I have taken from the
enemy. The Turks evidently hated our taking the series of
trenches of theirs which we called "Lone Pine" on my right 
& you can imagine what the fighting has been like when I mention
that we have in three days after taking it dragged over 1000
corpses out of the trenches - about half of them I am sorry to 
say being our own men. The enemy never ceased attacking,
but I fancy we have killed so many of them all round, &
especially in rear by our Artillery that they have now chucked
it, though they are sure to come on again later on. I have
in this & oth just been through all the trenches & I must say
the Turks had managed to make themselves pretty comfortable
for they had such a lot of excellent head cover made of beautiful
strong timber - a great deal of it recently cut pine trunks &
branches, than which nothing could be more suitable &
unfortunately we have nothing of this sort in our bit of
country.
On the left where we made our big move, we have too killed
an enormous number of Turks & I must say they are plucky 
fellows. Some of my guns are so placed that I could
get right into them in enfilade at the back of
their positions as they came up the hills to attack

 

and we got right into them in masses as they came
along. A prisoner whom we have just got who was there
says the corpses are so many it is hard to get over them
and that they are laid in rows just like corn which has 
been reaped! And yet they never stopped for a minute.
You will remember Capt. Allanson who has just arrived in
command of his Regt. the 6th Gurkhas. He did splendidly &
has will been recommended for the V.C - I hope - I was talking to him
yesterday just as he was going to hospital. He lead and his
story nearly made me cry to realize how I had
actually completed all we had to do, but failed
at the last moment. He lead his Regt. in their
night attack on the Turkish position which he
actually took & they were chasing the Turks down the
other side when suddenly one of our ships, not seeing who they
were put some of their huge shells among them. Some of them
blew some of the Gurkhas to pieces & made the rest for the
time being absolutely panic stricken & they bolted down the
hills like hairs & Allanson could not get them back. You
may remember young de Marchand in 56th in Yuhat - he
was attached to them & refused to leave the hill & was
killed. That poor young Dallas boy was shot through
the head & I hear can not be expected to live - in fact
has probably died by now & Allanson was wounded, but

 

2)  not seriously.  And all we have fought for is gone, for
since the Gurkhas left the Turks have been entrenching  
like the devil & I shall have an awful job taking it
again as I must do. The only small satisfaction is that
when the Turks came down to attack the Gurkhas that night
Allanson assures me they killed about 600 of them, which is
in addition to the large numbers we have down elsewhere.
Getting into so many of them you would think they must chuck 
it ere long - Every prisoner tells us they are dead sick of it &
are longing to surrender but are not allowed to and their numbers
seem inexhaustable - they have I believe about 150,000 in this 
Peninsula, which is of course far more than we have.
I wouldn't change my men for any - they are just magnificent
& I really am more than pleased & proud of them - they have
quite  
surprised one for I never hoped they would have come on as
they have & I believe they have confidence in me. Going
round all our new trenches up on the hill sides yesterday,
they would say "Yes - Sir - we are quite ready to go on killing
Turks whenever you call on us - but we are weak as cats
& I don't think we could march a couple of miles" - That is
the awful thing that really worries & frightens me. It
is hard to believe how much the really enervating
hot weather here has taken it out of the men - nearly
all have been ailing from the usual eastern stomach
complaints & this has taken it out of them more than one

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