Photostat copy of diaries of Benjamin Bennett Leane, 1915 - Part 4

48
and bring you with me.
Some day we will have a
second honeymoon, chicken,
and will revisit all the
places I visit during this
expedition. I only wish you
could have been with me
this trip.
March 13^th Another uneventful
day. Cold as charity (why
charity should be picked on 
for a simile I don't know, but
it is usual). A destroyer
steamed alongside the Red
Cross ship (the Soudan) this 
afternoon and unloaded
some wounded.
March 14^th I have had a 
very interesting day today
49
girl, Being Sunday, work has been
fairly slack. The usual church Parade
was held this morning, and
after dinner, a swimming parade
(voluntary) was held.
Early in the afternoon four
or five sergeants from a French
troopship ( the "Carthage") came
on board our boat, and we
showed them round the ship
and the took them into the
mess and had drinks all
round. Of course, they had
to sing the "Marseillaise" and
we had to give "Australia"
and "Tipperary". Afterwards
we made up a boat party
and rowed them over to their
boat. They insisted on our 
going aboard; and took 
us into their mess, and we 

50
had champagne.
The men on the boat
were very curious, and
crowded round us as we
came up the gangway as
though we were wild men
from the woods. They are
a pretty rough crowd themselves
- the French Foreign Legion
about which you have often 
read. They are practically
always fighting, and have
just now com from Algeria
& Morocco where they have
seen active service, to
take part in this invasion
of Turkey. They are
composed of almost every
race on earth (for the
time being they have dropped 
their German and Dutch
members) and are real
soldiers of fortune. Their
pay is - one halfpenny
per diem! Just think
of it. 24 days to earn 1/-
But they seem rather
contented and cheerful about
it. There are four or
five Englishmen among them.
One, an ex-Life Guardsman
I was speaking to,
and I asked him why
 he joined the Legion - if it
was for experience, "Experience",
he said, with an expressive
shrug "- but it's a long story,"
And I could get nothing
more out of him. I fancy
the French Foreign Legion contains
many a "black sheep".
After we left them we

52
rowed round the harbour
and made a close inspection
of several of the warboats
and transports. We
saw the submarine B11,
the one that brought itself
so prominently before the
pubic eye by ramming
that German vessel some
little time ago. Also
the Russian cruiser "Askold"
and the English "Swiftsure".
The "Askold" is a big
fine funnel cruiser, and
seems rather out of date.
We saw her at Colombo
on our own way from Australia.
The "Swiftsure" we also 
saw on our own way from
Australia, at Port Said.
She is a grand little boat,
53
and positively bristles with
guns. The "Queen Elizabeth"
the big super-dreadnought
which has been shelling the
Dardanelles, came in to
coal yesterday, and went
out again this afternoon.
Another long route march
tomorrow kiddie, so I will
lie me to bed. Goodnight.
March 15^th - We had the route march
- over hill & dale. As one man
remarked "It's just as well Eiffel
Tower isn't on this island, or they'd 
have us climbing that".
Tomorrow we are to practice landing
before daylight first boat pushes 
off at 3.0 am.
March 16^th - The first boat did push

54
off at 3.0am in a drizzling rain.
Half a dozen other boats followed.
One boat reached the landing place,
the others got lost in the dark,
and came back about 5am
wet through. As the rain 
came on more heavily it was
decided to postpone the exercise,
and the rest of us went back
to bed.
Report received today that the
"Dresden" has been sunk. Also
that the battleships have succeeded
in pushing through the Dardanelles.
March 17^th Sir Ian Hamilton arrived
last night. Today the battalion
acted as a covering party for
the remainder of the Brigade.
I had a very vivid dream
about you last night, chicken.
55
I had been thinking about you all
day, and in my dream I was
at home again, and we were
so happy together. Even after I
awakened the dream remained with 
me, and consequently I have felt 
very happy all day, imagining
to myself that the evening would find
us together again. Won't there
be joy when I do get back, kiddie.
March 18^th - Another practice in 
attack today. The most exciting
part was the journey to and
from shore, especially from shore.
The sea was very choppy, and 
a gale was blowing so that the 
rowers had hard work to make
headway. It was all good fun
though. I saw a boat 
today - a German prize - 

56
which has been struck by
a British torpedo. She
had a hole in her
side 13ft. by 15 ft., a great
yawning chasm that you could
drive a horse and cart through.
I've got the blues badly 
tonight kitten. The fact is I
want you as badly as
any baby ever wanted its
mother. I have just been
down in my cabin gazing at
your dear old photo, like
a big moon calf, and I 
feel lonely and want to howl. 
Think I'll go to bed and
lie in the dark and think
about you. I know I'm
a terrible calf, but I 
can't help it. I have
been reading in the Illustrated
57.
London News, about the way
they bring English soldiers by
special express trains from
the front to Calais and
thence to London for occasional
week ends, and I want 
to do the same. It wouldn't 
be half bad if I could run
home to see you for a day 
or two now and then.
It's seven months today since
I enlisted, and five months
since I last saw you.
March 19^th Bad news today.
Two British man of war and 
two French cruisers struck mines
in the Dardanelles this morning.
The two British boats and one
of the French were sunk, the
latter going down in three minutes

58.
with all hands. The officers
and men of the two British 
boats were saved. The other
French cruiser was disabled,
and has had to come in
for repairs. The two British
Boats were the "Irresistible" and
the "Ocean". Another British
boat, the "Invincible" "Inflexible" was
hit by Howitzers and had to
be beached. Altogether
the Turks done pretty 
well for one day's work.
We are all itching to get
at them. We are only
about three hours' journey
from the Dardanelles, and
yet everything is so quiet
and peaceful here.
59
March 20^th - I've got a shift - of a
sort - at last darling. From
today I am Company Quartermaster
Sergeant of 'C' Coy. Quite a 
mouthful, isn't it? It is a
rise in this respect, that it
makes my pay 12/- per day instead
of 11/6. But I'm not going to
allot you one penny of the 
extra 6 per day. I am going 
to hang on to it all, and live
a fast life - keep racehorses,
aeroplanes etc. So there!
I will have to stay on in
the orderly room for a few
days until the new man gets
the hang of things. The
Adjutant told me today that
one of the officers has been recommended
for return as medically unfit
so I will most likely get

60
his job. This long deferred
commission has become a
bit too long- winded for my
liking. Twice now, just as
I have been practically certain
of it, some blighter has
blown along from reinforcement 
or somewhere to fill the
vacancy. I hope it comes
off this trip. Anyway I 
am sure of going into the
firing line now, so I don't
care so much. I was
thinking seriously of taking
on Platoon Sergeant, which
means a drop of 1/- per 
day, rather than get
left, but this simplifies matters.
Fortunately, too, the Officer
commanding the Company
is Captain Jacobs, and he
61
and I were subalterns together
in the old 10^th Regiment.
Jove, kiddie, it is
blowing a gale tonight. I
have never known such a 
strong wind. All the
ships are tugging like mad
at their anchors, and
several smaller boats have
broken away and being been
washed ashore through the
day. After dinner tonight
I went away up to the
bows of our ship and got 
the full force of the blast.
It was grand. I had
to hang into the railing or
I would have been blown
backwards. You know how
I love these wild blustering
nights. They make you

62
glad to be alive. I only
wish you were here with me.
I sent you another 
short note by todays mail
girlie. It should reach 
you about the second
week in April. I will
write you a nice long 
letter to reach you about
the middle of May, so
that you will have it 
just about when our little
one is coming. And I'll
askthe  Colonel not to 
read it, but to take my
word that there is no
war news in it. He will,
I know. Dear old darling,
I do hope everything goes
well with you. I will 
be thinking of you constantly
63
sweetheart. I only wish I
could be with you at the
time. Dear wife.
March 21^st - Sunday, and a quiet
day - as regards work. The
weather however, is still
blustering and wintry.
I finished reading "The
Claw" by Cynthia Stockley
tonight. It is splendid. I
think you told me you had
read it. If not, get it
and read it you will
enjoy it very much. Cynthia
Stockley is the author of 
"Poppy" ( you remember
our reading "Poppy" - up
to a certain point - at Aldgate
that happy Easter) This 
book in much better. Don't

64
fail to read it Girlie if you
have not already done so.
March 22^nd Still rough.
We rescued some of our
life boats which drifted
ashore during the storm.
They were badly knocked 
about, and one was
smashed up completely.
One of the destroyers was
also washed ashore and
broken up through the night.
You would never imagine 
that such a peaceful little

harbor could become the
scene of such a terrific
gale. It must be awful
outside the heads
March 24^th - I had one of my bad
heads again yesterday, kid,
so I turned in before tea
and consequently there was no
entry in my little book.
I feel alright today though, which 
is always the way.
I am in love with my present 
job, chicken. I am staying in
the office for a week in order to 
teach the new man the ropes, and
I think the best way to teach 
him is to let him do the job
on his own, so I make myself
scarce all day -  read or
play the piano or enjoy the
sun - and just pop in
occasionally to see how things
are going. So far they are 
going very well. But I
have not enjoyed such an

66.
absolutely lazy time for a
long while. I think I have 
earned it, though.
March 25^th - Another lazy day.
I have been stretched out on
the boat deck most of the
time, basking in the glorious
sun. I have red two books
-"The Reason Why" by Elinor
Glynn and "Havoc" by
Oppenheim - during the last 
two days. I have also
learned the rudiments of
Bridge and Chess. And
in my spare time I have
read up a work on "Night
Operations". The last was
to salve my conscience.
I must drop novels and
get to work in earnest
67
shortly only it is rather nice
to have an absolute loaf for
once.
March 26^th - Major Brand, our
Brigade Major, gave us a short 
talk yesterday explaining the
"whys" and "wherefores" of this
unexpected wait. It appears
that we - that is, the 3^rd Brigade
- are merely the nucleus or
advance party of an immense
army, which will contain
the whole of the Australian &
New Zealand Army Corps; the
French Foreign Legion; about 
twelve battalions - that is 
three brigades - of English
regulars; as well as a large
number of marines. General
Sir Ian Hamilton ( you remember