Diary of Percy Lay, 1914-1918 - Part 2

April 1^st but on divisional Training
under some Staff Heads. 2^nd Church
Parade in morning. Same night there
was a great row in Cairo someone
set fire to the Wazzaw and it
ended up in a Stoush up between
our Chaps and the Red Caps - things
been pretty lively for the time. 3^rd
Got word to say we were to leave
for Alexandria and then Embark for
some unknown place where we were
likely to have some fighting 4^th Struck
Camp and then marched to Cairo. and
entrained for Alexandria which
we reachd on morning of the 5^th
and Embarked on the Transport
named the Clan MacGuivallary. 6^th
Moved out a little way from the
pier and waited to take on stores
and Iron rations. 7^th Still taking
on stores and our Iron rations did
turn up yet. 8^th Finished taking on
stores and in evening we moved
off. 9^th A very rough sea. most
of the boy's were sea sick but
it did not affect me in the least
10^th Got our Ammunition and
Iron rations issued to us.
sighted land same morning
11^th Anchored in Mudros Bay.
There were a good many Cruisers
and Transport there. 12^th A Coy
on Guard and we pulled in and
anchored alongside the Mashobra.
13^th Making preparations for landing getting
Slashers, Iodine, and other things issued
to us. 14^th Pulled in near land so
that we could go ashore but the
sea was to rough. 15^th A Coy got put
on guard on account of the row
they kicked up, the previous night

16^th Got one of the Ships boats and went
for a row around the Harbour. 17^th
Went ashore and went through one of
the Greek towns and it was a very
pretty place also very clean. 18^th Two
more transports came in and we took
on a Cargo of water. 19^th A Coy duty
Coy. but two of us had to go on
Fire station duty. in case of Alarm.
20^th A lot of troops came on board
to act as Hold party after we have
the boat 21^st A Heavy. shower of rain
in morning and a cruiser came in
with one of her funnel's blown off.
22^nd Six more transports came in and
we also got our mail 23^rd Praticed
disembarking and our Col told us we
were likely to get a lively time landing
24^th Got ready to move off. and railed
in afternoon and anchored just off
Imbros Island.
25^th April. Was a never to be forgotten
morning as it was our first taste
of war. We landed in small boats
but we could not get near the shore
so we jumped into the water. which
was nearly up to our necks. Shells
were bursting all around us
and the zip of bullets was like a
hive of bees. After a pretty stiff
fight we were obliged to entrench
on top of the Hills as our boys
were getting knocked out all around
us. Our Ships doing great work
put in front of us we could
see the Turks advancing in Mass.
under cover of field guns. the
same gun's put five out of nine of
us out of action. We got orders
from the Admiralty to retire but
and they would do all they could to
get us off.

but our Officers said they would hold
the position at all costs. and we were
glad when we got a few Reinforcements
That night we had some pretty Hot
work as the Turk's made attack after
attack and the first one there was a
German Officer got into our lines
and passed along the message dont
shoot. your own patrol coming in
and they must of been right on us when
we heard them singing out "Allah" "Allah."
and they got Allah but a different
sort to what they expected, and they.
turned and fled in all direction. We
worked hard all the night entrenching
ourselves and making our position as
secure as possible and we were not
sorry when daylight appeared. 26^th Seemed
to have the Enemy a bit bluffed.
Our War Boats were pasting Hell into
them all day. That night they tried two
or three times to retake the position but
failed. The Rifle fire all this time
was terrific 27^th Got a couple
Field guns into position and the
Queen Lizzie. came on the scene
and did a lot of damage to
Abdul. The Sniper's were very busy
on our Front. 28^th Things quietened
down a little and we were not
sorry as it gave us a chance to get
something to eat. and drink. and we
were pretty near faggied out. 29^th
Gaba Tepe. post opened up on us
but was soon silenced by. the Naval
Guns. A Party off one of the boats
tried to land but the fire was
to heavy. 30^th Got relieved and went
back to the beach for a spell. where
we had a decent feed and also a sleep
My mate Gus Waldron got shot while
having a swim in the

Sat. 1^st May. We had a roll Call and
it was sad to find out that a lot
of our mates were either killed or
missing. Rifle fire very hot all along
the line. 2^nd Went back into the line
again but more to the left. and could
see the turks busy digging trenches. THat.
evening there was a terrible bombardment
by our Naval and Field Guns and the Indians
battery; on a Hill just on our left Front.
and they simply tore the place to pieces. After
which we made a slight advance. 3^rd
Got a issue of Cigarettes and Tobacco. and
had to stand to all that night as
we expected a heavy attack. Our
Areoplane's reporting having seen
large bodies of Turkish Soldiers moving in
our direction 4^th Gaba Tepe opened up
again but it did not take long for
our Navy to silence her. and then they
stood off and blew it to pieces
May 5^th Got relieved out of the trenches and
moved down to the beach. and we heard that
we. were to go down to Cape Helles. to Rienforce
the British and French Troops. there.
Sailed on the T.B destroyer. Bulldog. and
arrived there on the 6^th Seen on all
sides where the place had been torn
up by our guns. We went Inland for
a couple of miles and acted as reserve
to the twenty ninth division. Also
seen the famous. French. seventy
five. Firing. It looked more like
a battlefield than Anzac. did
7^th French still advancing and
now a large body of French troops
moving up forward. We were
well treated by all the French
Soldiers 8^th Moved. up to act
as reserve. but just after digging
ourselves in. we got the Oil to say
That we were to make a advance

The Advance was made under a
heavy shrapnell fire at first and then
Machine Gun Fire and they simply
mozed us down on all sides. We
advanced about six hundred yards
and dug in but not without
terrible loss of life in fact it is
a wonder how any of us reached as
far as we did. We lost nearly all our
officers amongst the killed been
Col. Garside and Captain Porringham
and our Platoon Officer Lieut Caton
got severly wounded. Same evening
I. was one of a party that Volunteered
to. go back for Ammunition and
we had the most exciting as well as
risky time of our lives, The cries
of the wounded and dying was
something awful and hundreds must
of died from exposure alone.
9^th We improved our position and
same night we buried some of our
dead. A party of us put fifty seven
in one grave. and next morning
you could not see where we had taken
them from 10^th French opened a heavy. bombardment.
on. Enemy Trenches on our
front. All the time the only tucker
we got was what we got out of our
dead mates Haversack: We dug.
Communication Trenches all day. May 11^th
Had the first bit of Sleep for three
days and that night we got relieved
by the 8^th Manchester. and we had
a hell of a trip back. up to our
knees in mud. we camped about
two mile back in some old. Trenches
got a issue of Rum and Bully beef
12^th Up pretty early and went back
to the base where we heard our Casualties
amounted to in our Company 82

and in Brigade to somewhere about
two and half thousand 13. Reorganised
our Battn and also received
a letter from Lord Kitchener congratulating
the Australian's on their fine performance.
14^th Turks turn to give us a bit of
shelling Our Guns still bombarding
hill known as Achi Bahr. in Afternoon
we went over to see ruins of Cape
Helles. 15^th Turks seem to have a funny
habit of shelling us just at meal [[Horn]]
In evening six of us went over
and robbed a hive of bees we had
found the day before. We did not
much honey. but plenty stings
16^th Chanak Fort put a few of
her big shells amongst us. Got
orders that we were to rejoin
our division at Anzac. and
we were taken by the mine sweeper
Reindeer - over on to the
Ionica and we were not sorry
to leave the Cape. 18^th I.B.D - Ribble
took us off and landed us at Anzac
and we camped in White Gully.
19^th Some of boys that got slighty
wounded on the first day required
us. they seemed eager to get back
We also got our first Mail on Anzac.
Same night the turks made their
big attack and our boys simply
piled them up in front of the
trenches. May 20^th two Enemy's
Areoplanes came over flying very
high. same evening we relieved
the first Battn. at Steel Post
a lot of Turks. lying dead in front
of our trenche's 21^st A Turkish
General came in Blindfolded to
try and arrange he wanted
four days to bury their dead
but our heads would not hear

of it. Some of our light Horse landed.
22^nd A bit of a scare on amongst
the Ships as it was reported that a
submarine had been sighted close
at hand. Went into trenches again
same evening 23^rd Turkish General
again came into our lines and
they granted him a eight hour's
Armitice to bury their dead.
24^th Went up to have a look at
Turks burying their dead. they
seem to be a decent lot of men.
4^th Light Horse landed. May 25^th
Just as we were having dinner
we heard someone say what
was wrong with the triumph
and we could see that she had been
torpedoed. as she turned to one
side and sank in twenty minutes
from the time she was hit.
26^th Our fourth Reinforcements
joined us. That night we had
to dig a safety trench from Shrapnell
Gully to the Beach. 27^th All our
T.Boats out searching for the
Submarine that sank the Triumph
28^th Another large Australian Mail
arrived. Eight of our boys got snipped
down near the Cookhouse. 29^th The
Turks made a bit of a attack but
our boys gave them another knock
back. Artillery duel. that lasted
ten hour's. Went up to garrison
Bround Hill for three days 30^th
Had to stand to. as we expected
the Turks to make a strong
attack on us. 31^st One of our
Planes went over and dropped
some messages on their lines
Another Submarine scare on
amongst the boats

June 1^st We got relieved out of
trenches by the seventh and went
back to our old position. Two
Gunners of Mary Ann got killed
2^nd Our Coy on duty and we had
to dig trenches and gun pits
3^rd Got word to be prepared.
for heavy attack as Turks had
brought up Reinforcements. 4^th
Captain Cooper and Lieut Caton
went away sick very hot and
the flies were very bad. 5^th Fourth
Reinforcement of 4^th Light Horse
landed amongst them. been Norm
Flack he was the first Ballan Coy
we met. 6^th Fifty of us had to go
out early in morning to dig a
rather exposed piece of trench. Also
got a Cablegram from the King
Congratulating the Australian on
Their Brilliant landing at Anzac
7^th Road Making and we also
received a Cablegram from Mayor
of Ballarat 8^th Heavy firing on
our left and we heard that
the New Zealanders had captured
a couple. lines of trenches. on our
left. 9^th Some of our chaps were told
off as snippers and others in Bomb
throwers 10^th Got word to say that
we were to relieve the light Horse
at Steel Post and took over the
trench same evening 11^th Had
a bit of fun with the turks in
front as they are to mark our Shots
and we are to do the same for them.
Turks very busy digging trenches.
12^th Went on the same post as yesterday
and our Friend put three shots through
our periscope and sparked -a
lot of glass in our faces.

13^th Turks still working very hard.
on their trenches. In Afternoon our
Plane. came over and dropped three
bombs on to the Chessboard. Our Battle-ships
got on to a Camel Transport and
blew it up. 14^th General Birdwood and
Walker came up through the trenches and
they. seem to be two nice men especially
General Birdwood he has a pleasant word
for everyone. 15^th Off-duty for twenty four
hours and went down to the beach for a
swim. Sea very rough. 16^th Turks put
over a few Jack Johnson's into our
position and got a few of our Coy.
17^th Very quiet until evening when
their artillery opened out and
knocked us about a bit we had
a few lads buried 18^th but in Support
for twenty four hours. Had a good
tea as Lord Tenant Son was up and
brought up a lot of extra good tucker.
19^th Sgt Moon who had just returned to us
got shot dead. Alf. Homes getting wounded
with same bullet. A Taube came over
and dropped a few bombs. 20^th Turks
knocked over trenches about a bitx
with their shell. A Violent Bombardment
at the Cape. 21^st We
tried to spring a surprise on them
by making a Sham demonstration
The French also advanced a little
at Cape Helles. 22^nd Got a Australian
Mail and things were very quiet
on our Front. 23^rd Some more of our
wounded returned amongst them
being Curly and J Whitney 24^th
A lot more wounded returned and
same evening I got knocked unconscious
by a bursting Shell.
25^th Felt a bit crook after the knock
I had the night before. - One of our
Cruiser came up and with the Aid

of a Observation Balloon gave the Turks
a bit of Hurry up. Turks in front
of us got relieved by a younger lot.
26^th Got a bit more Turkish delight
but it did not do much damage.
27^th One of our Mates named Stokie
got a bullet through his leg. and
got a trip away. 28^th Got particular
Hell from the Turks Artillery and
after it was finished it was surprising
to find how small our Casualties were.
More troops landed and we straightened
our line on our right Flank.
29^th Got my first stripe and had
to go on duty from six at night
till six in morning. Went down to
beach and got some tucker off the
Sailors 30^th Very Hot and the flies
were awful. Turks made a bit of
a attack on our left: but they were
beaten back badly and left a lot of dead.
July 1^st In the Afternoon a heavy dust.
storm blew up, and the turks thought
we must be going to attack. as they
opened up a heavy rifle fire on our
trenches. 2^nd Enemy Hard at work digging
Communication trenches. and as soon as
they finished our Guns knocked
them about a bit. 3^rd The Porridge
Battery opened out on Quinns Post.
Our Box Kite was up and dropped
messages to the Enemy. Our Coy
got relieved and we had. to go
on sapping 4^th Started Sapping in
D.16. and same evening a bomb dropped
in amongst six of us but as
it fell it went through a dixie
and that put out the fuse.
5^th Turks seem to take a delight
in shelling our Trenches. for during
the day the blew them about
and caught a lot our Chaps'