Photostat copies of letters from Charles Albert Barnes to his mother, 1914-1915 - Part 5

come aboard also from the
Suffolk & they are both marooned
11^th Thursday
Weather still too rough for
moving from the ship Brennan
& Thomson cursing because
they cant get back E Censoring
mail which goes out tomorrow
Friday
A little better today Have had the
whole detachment on fatigue
duty shifting cargo The wind has
changed & is again fearfully cold
We look rather like trussed fowls
two with lots of underclothing, 2
pairs of socks & a sweater
Saturday 13^th
Went ashore on a Brigade scheme
away most of the day & found 3
more ships had arrived including
the hospital ship Soudan who
at once started taking on board
wounded from the warships.
All our horses now gone & the 9^th
Battalion has gone ashore to camp
30
Sunday
Maj Roberts & self went to lunch on
Suffolk & afterwards took some
of their officers for a cruise around
the bay Had a great day Went on
the cruiser Dublin & treated royally
also on the French transport La
Provence a huge ship with over
2000 soldiers aboard. Saw the
Aenne Rickmers a German prize
which was down in Sym  Smyrna
with our fleet the other day & had a

huge hole blown in her fore part
10ft x 12 ft It is a wonder they were able
to keep her afloat they covered the 
hole with matting & stuff & kept all the
pumps busy. She is now being fitted
up so that they can get at the hol
damage. Rather a fine piece of
work on the part of the Navy getting
her up here at all. The Queen
Elizabeth left for the Dardanelles

30
Monday 15^th
Brigade Spasm today. Went
across to the other side of the island
as also its a very clear der day could
just make out the o coastline of the
opening to Dardanelles. After
our return Shick & Self went over
to Suffolk & had rather a good time
there. We were today practising
an opposed landing & at 4.30 am
tomorrow are to do it again
Tuesday 16^th
Up at 3.45 & left the ship in 3 boats
blowing ½ hurricane & as dark
as pitch, raining like hard too
altogether a most comfortable trip
All our boats found the spot in
the dark but several others missed
the point altogether. When we reached

the shore we were all about wet thro
& were quite pleased to get the order

to return to the ship. By this time it
was just starting to get a little light
so the return journey was not quite
so bad. got Had a little trouble
getting aboard from the boats owing
to the rough sea

This afternoon some of us
went for a run round the fleet
which has now reached big proportions
With warships there are over 70
vessels in harbor of all sorts & sizes
Atlantic liners down to old tramps
Weather cleared up in the afternoon
17^th Wednesday
Went ashore as the Advance guard
of a brigade covering the landing
of a division. The men are by this
mostly oarsmen & can handle
a boat well I wonder how they'll
do it when we have to land under
fire. We have been over a good
bit of the island now but have
not yet seen a decent town the
chief place is Castro & there are
34 villages Island is about 20
miles long & has some 27000
inhabitants There were many
Turks but they have mainly all gone
This place was taken possession of
by the Greeks during the last war with
Turkey & [[acceded?]] under the Peace treaty
31
Turkey however will not recognise
this & has been agitating to get it
back. We have come arrangement
with Greece whereby we are allowed
to concentrate here Am going to
Suffolk to dinner tonight & will
probably be late home as the
Padre & the Dr promise to give
a little Irish night
18^th
Had the little Irish night good
deal of singing Irish songs (&
others) & a very little whisky its
all gone, some in the fleet now
Went ashore again today on a
Brigade scheme Its pretty cold
still but grand walking, heaps
of grass, clovers &c & you can hear
larks singing wherever you
go
I think its Madelines Birthday 
today Many Happy Returns.

31
old girl Hope to wish them personally
next time. Its started to blow again
& the skipper expects a bit of a storm
19^th Friday
Blowing hard all day unable to use the
boats, busy cleaning up arms & equipment
mail going out tomorrow & so I have
had a big job censoring. No news of a
mail in yet worse luck its time ours
came along, Raining a bit but the
wind is a terror.
Saturday 20^th
This morning a lovely sight met our
eyes. The boats were left on Thursday
night hanging on to the stern of the
various ships They were all right
yesterday but this morning 16 of them
have got away & blown ashore. If
this storm keeps up they will soon
be pounded up The wind is stronger
than ever & will probably keep up
for another day or two.
21^st Sunday
We were to have had a Church Parade
but its still too rough for the Parson
to come to us. We dragged our anchor a

good deal last night & this
morning we're only 30 ft from
the shallow water & 6 inches of
water under the stern we were
bumping a bit as the skipper
shifted anchorage to deeper water
In the afternoon to our surprise we
saw Cawdor Castle, who was shifting
her position, get caught by the wind &
she was very soon aground near
a patch of rocks. Wild excitement of
course & we could dis see the men being
formed up as we were at the time of
collision on Ascanius After being
there for about 1 hour she by going
full speed astern got off the bank &
a sort of heartfelt sigh went over
our ship The Cawdor however was

not yet out of danger there was (& still is)
a terrific wind & going astern too
far would take her straight on to the
rocks. Everything was O.K. & she got
right clear & one noticed that when

she anchored again it was right away
in the middle of the harbour.
Later on in the evening a big
lumbering Frenchman came
along He had also been caught by
32
the wind & bore down almost on the
top of us, in deed so close that he
actually passed right over our anchor
chain. We were not finished yet as
another boat a troop collier this
time took into his head to shift &
she also came almost on top of us.
Altogether a most successful &
exciting day. I hope the wind soon
goes down. There are at least another
10 or 12 ships boats broken loose &
blown ashore & the local inhabitant
person getting busy collaring what
he can from the beach, reaping rather
a fine harvest too.
Monday 22^nd
At last its fine again & we went back
to our old anchorage. Had plenty
of physical drill
23^rd Tuesday
Mending the boats today Several
or ours knocked about by bumping

32
against one another. On looking
up the boats blown ashore a lot of
them are very badly damaged &
some of them have been cut about &
things stolen from them
Wednesday 24^th
Nuthin doin on board, a number
of the ships leaving port for place or
places unknown for water &
supplies
25^th Thursday
Censoring letters most peculiar
too some of them its a blooming
nuisance More ships going out
& the warships all going too.
26^th
Major Roberts & I went ashore for a
long ride My new mount is a
little gem. We had a jolly good
time, went through several villages
Carnimia (I think thats it) & some
others names unknown. Put up several
partridges & quail, altogether a
successful time. Day before yesterday
a torpedo boat was blown ashore
& wrecked, the crew (14 in number)
had a cold cold night & some of

The 9^th Bn went over some 6

miles taking food & blankets to

them. I hear they found the 

wrecked men in a pretty bad way

There was no loss tho, the boat is

a complete wreck

Saturday 27^th

Had to stay aboard and this morning

but in the afternoon went over to 

the Devanha & Suffolk on duty

not much doing in the military

line. Also went ashore to Mudros to

see my horses.

Sunday 28^th

Maj Roberts, Jackson Priestly & self

went for a ride to Castro about 16

miles away, Had a great day passed

through some bonny valleys all

sort of blooming in the spring style

About 12 miles out we came to Thermo

where there are hot springs. Found 

a very good family there Greeks &

two of the dearest little kiddies 

a boy & a girl. The mother & 5 others

of her family were caught & bayoneted

by the Turks in the last war so the 

man is not very much enamorised
33
of Mr Turk He is very anxious for
Greece to fight Well we got to Castro
at lunch time & have put our horses
up at the Cavalry depot then to
lunch & had a distinctly Greek
feed. I didn't enjoy it very much
too much grease (no pun intended)
After lunch we called on the
Governor & partook of refreshment
with him Mrs Governor was there
but neither of them can speak
English so except by interpreters
conversation was rather limited
The Governor took us over the old 
fort now dismantled except for
one or two very old & very useless
guns We were also shown the cliff
lxxx from which history says
that the married woman in

days gone by all pushed their
husbands over into the sea,
(true tale that). The town is

33

very perfectly situated straggling

round two little bays & over a

lot of hills.  As usual the streets are

very narrow & paved with cobbles

I go took a snapshot of the vice

regal party Hope it turns out well.

Theres a funny little square in

the town & near by a little fishing

boat harbour. We got back to the

ship at 7 p.m. quite satisfied with

our day Its starting to blow again

looks as if its going  to last for some

days too

29^th
Too rough & cold for words. Only
physical drill as we couldnt
get ashore When are the mails
coming.  M
We are being turned into a prison

ship, at least some men who are

undergoing punishment are

being sent here so today we've 
been getting things ready for

their reception

Tuesday 30^th
All the transports except our
brigade & two French have
now gone. Its very rough again
but not so cold.
31^st Wednesday
Fine again & on looking up our
friend Samothrace found
most of the snow has left his
face. Went round some of the
warships & Aenne Rickmers
April 1^st
Have heard that we are all
meeting again we next week some
time & making a dart for the
Dardanelles Hope its right our
fellows are very fit now. An
Aeroplane was reported over the
island today Enemy or friend
unknown by us. Wonder if we
will see anything of it We have
sentries up on the bridges of all the
boats & specially detailed to
look out for aeroplanes & when
we go ashore every man takes
34
50 rounds of ammunition
At lunch time we saw a launch
go alongside the Ionian with a
lot of bags which looked like
mail bags, the glasses abound
this as correct & we found there
were over 100 bags Over Ours come
just before dinner this evening
& I got 25 letters & about 20 papers
Mothers - Madeleine
Olive Mildred
Gwen & Babs
all up to end Feby also letters from
the Shotter Kiddies. Thank you
all for the letters  Its just great
to hear again from home & I'll
try & refer to them as I go on, I
also received a few other letters from
outside services.
Good Friday
Had Church Parade at 2 p.m, the
singing was very hearty & the

34
prisoners joined in with great
eclat.  Getting ready to receive
waggons & stores on board.
3^rd Saturday
Early this morning we went
alongside the Suffolk & stayed there
for an hour or so. Then left & took
up a new anchorage altogether
There will be about 160 odd Ships
here directly & we are all to be double
banked so that there will be room
for all. Went ashore for a stroll
with the birds.
Easter Sunday
Went to the Divanha to early Service
this morning & all day have been
getting the ship ready to start taking
horses tomorrow. In the afternoon
we went alongside the Molda so
as to start tomorrow with their
waggons & take horses from the other
side.
Spose you are mostly together
today Went to dinner on the
Molda tonight.