TRENCH WARFARE IN GALLIPOLI
"From all forms of trench warfare, preserve us, O Lord!" should be the
humble prayer of every soldier, for it is about the most unpleasant,
tiresome, humdrum, disagreeable, dangerous, death-without-glory kind of
warfare which the evil genius of man could devise. As, however, it has
come to stay, it may perhaps be of interest to describe what it was like
in Gallipoli.
When, after the first battles, the Turks refused any longer to meet us
in the open, and took to the trenches, which they had, with great
energy, dug right across the Peninsula, it became necessary for us to
adopt the same mole-like tactics, and our advance was brought
practically to a standstill. Instead of going ahead a couple of miles in
a day's fight, it now became a question of taking one trench at a time,
and often we did not gain as much as that, even after the most strenuous
battles.
Long lines of trenches, from three to six or more feet deep, and three
or four feet wide, were dug in zig-zags right across the Peninsula, more
or less parallel to the Turkish lines, and behind these were similar
support and reserve trenches; at the back of these again were second and
third line defence trenches; while still further were the so-called rest
trenches, but in Gallipoli these were just as dangerous as the front
trenches, owing to the confined space in which the army was cooped up,
and also owing to the configuration of the ground, which exposed them to
fire from Achi Baba as well as from the guns in Asia. Some of our
trenches were so deep that hundreds of scaling ladders were always kept
in readiness to enable the men to swarm out quickly when an assault was
to be made. Long lines of communication trenches ran up and down and to
and fro, connecting the various lines of trenches, and many of these
were dug deep enough and wide enough to give ample cover for mules and
horses. Various little back alleys were also dug in different
directions, so that the whole face of the country was transformed into a
veritable rabbit warren. These communication trenches were necessary so
that reliefs, reinforcements, munitions, food and water could be taken
up in safety to the firing line.
Where the ground was very hard and deep trenches could not be dug, the
necessary cover was given by building parapets made of sandbags, little
canvas bags about two feet long and ten inches across, which could
easily be carried by one man when filled with sand or clay. These
sandbags should be of different colours, because otherwise when one is
taken out to make a loophole the blank space is seen at once and the
enemy's fire is concentrated on it. In Gallipoli our sandbags were all
of the same colour--drab-coloured canvas.
When an attack was made and an enemy's trench was captured, thousands of
these sandbags were carried forward, and by piling them up a new
protective trench was rapidly constructed, for, of course, the original
Turkish trench was always battered to pieces (or should have been) by
high explosive shells before the attack was launched.
Another great use of the sandbag was to erect a barrier across an enemy
communication trench, otherwise, of course, he could pour his troops
down the communication alley and perhaps effect a surprise. It was
exceedingly odd to see our sentry on one side of such a barrier and the
Turkish sentry on the other side, apparently quite friendly in the
intervals of bombing each other!
One day a man of the Inniskilling Fusiliers played a trick on the
Turkish sentry. Finding life rather monotonous, and being somewhat fed
up with bully beef, he bored a hole in his tin, stuck a cartridge into
it, and hurled the novel projectile over the sandbag barrier among the
Turks, who could be heard flying for their lives away from it along the
trench, evidently thinking it was some new form of diabolical bomb we
had invented. Then one man, a little bolder than the rest, could be
heard cautiously stalking it; he even threw stones at it, and when these
failed to cause an explosion, he plucked up enough courage to hook it
towards him with his fixed bayonet. It was apparently sent off for
investigation to some German professor in the rear, for some few hours
later the Turkish sentry shouted out loudly over the parapet: "Bully
beef, bully beef; throw us more," and this little incident led to many
friendly exchanges of bully or cigarettes.
Life in the trenches when no "strafe" was on was very monotonous--dull,
weary watching and waiting, with dust blowing into one's eyes and mouth
and nose all the time, and flies everywhere. While in the trenches food
had to be snatched when it was possible to get it. It was cooked some
considerable distance to the rear and was then carried up to the
trenches in great pots and there distributed, and in Gallipoli, of
course, that meant dividing it between men and flies--the latter getting
the lion's share during the months of June, July and August.
Of course, work was always going on. The trenches had to be carefully
drained and sloped so as to allow the rainfall to flow off. If this were
not properly done they would inevitably be flooded out in the rains, and
life in them would be impossible. Even when every care was taken they
sometimes became raging torrents. Much ground was made good by digging
out from the trenches towards the Turkish lines and forming a fresh line
of trenches closer to the enemy and in a better position.
Every yard in front of the trenches was guarded by barbed wire,
sometimes left unrolled on the ground, where it naturally goes into
coils and traps for the unwary, and sometimes interlaced on stakes, like
a regular wire fencing, doubled many times. It was very dangerous work
putting up this form of defence, and it was generally done at night, but
even then the enemy could see our men by the light of the brilliant
flares which were constantly sent up, for these remained in the air for
several seconds, making everything as bright as day. The only chance of
escape then was to lie flat down and remain perfectly still until the
flare went out.
Then there was the constant arduous and dangerous labour of sapping, _i.
e._, tunnelling underground from our trenches underneath the Turkish
trenches, making a huge cavity there, filling it with explosives and
blowing the trench and such Turks as were in it sky high. This was
generally done when an attack was made, so as to throw the enemy into
greater confusion.
At night it was usual to man the front trenches fairly strongly,
one-third of the force always being awake and on the look-out for the
enemy.
Of course, it was almost certain death for a man to stand up and show
his head and shoulders above the parapet line, so the watch on the enemy
was kept by men with periscopes, who could see every move in perfect
safety. Even the periscopes were often shattered to pieces by the
bullets of the Turks, which shows that some of them were good marksmen.
Telephone wires were laid everywhere in the trenches, and telephone
operators and observing officers were scattered up and down the line.
On the first sign of an enemy attack these officers communicated with
their Batteries in the rear, and within two seconds a curtain of fire
was rained on the advancing foe, which, in most cases, he found it quite
impossible to get through. If he ever succeeded, however, the Infantry
were by this time lining the parapets, ready to mow down the enemy with
rifle and machine-gun fire, so the only marvel is that any of the
assaulting force ever got through. A very rare occurrence--and those
that did pierce the line never again got back to their own trenches.
One day I went up to visit Lieutenant Davidson, who was Forward
Observing Officer, and he, having occasion to fire a gun, telephoned to
the Battery; it was a distinctly weird feeling to hear the scream of the
shell from the guns two miles back flying close over our heads into the
Turkish trenches in front of us, almost before Davidson had ceased
speaking! At that same observation post, on a previous day, another R.
H. A. officer, Lieutenant Perceval, who also was a member of our little
mess, had a very narrow escape. A Turkish shell came through, slightly
bruised his shoulder, and killed his Bombardier, who was, at the moment,
holding the telephone.
In the side of the trench next the enemy little niches were excavated
where men could lie and sit fairly well sheltered from wind and rain.
These recesses were often used by the Turks as burial places for their
dead. I remember on one occasion I was walking along a piece of the line
which we had just taken from the Turks when a shell exploded close to
the trench. The concussion shook away some loose earth and out from the
side of the trench popped a dead hand and arm!--just as if a policeman
had put out his hand to stop the traffic. The dead Turk seemed to try,
even in death, to bar the way to an enemy's approach.
A very disagreeable feature of trench life is the unpleasant odour of
the dead, which penetrates everywhere, for, of course, when an attack is
made by one side or the other hundreds may be killed close to the
trenches, and as a rule it is impossible either to rescue the wounded or
to bury the dead, because the enemy would inevitably shoot down any one
attempting such a task.
One of the very worst trials of trench warfare is to see the dead body
of a comrade lying out in the open, gradually fading away before one's
eyes, a mummied hand still clutching the rifle, the helmet a little way
off, looking ever so weird in its gruesome surroundings.
While in the trenches one is, of course, subject at all times to shells,
rifle fire, mine explosions, poison gas, bombs, liquid fire, and other
diabolical inventions. The Turks, however, did not use either poison gas
or liquid fire, and, of course, neither did the British.
Worst trial of all is the trench mortar! This venomous weapon sends a
bomb weighing a hundred pounds or more of the most deadly high explosive
plumb into the midst of a trench with marvellous accuracy at any range
up to four hundred yards. The vicious thing can be seen soaring high up
into the air, until it reaches a point directly overhead, then it hovers
for a moment, like a hawk over its prey, and finally swoops down,
pulverising everybody and everything near which it explodes.
From my own observation of trench warfare I would say unhesitatingly
that no assault should be launched against the enemy until his trenches
had been thoroughly pounded to pieces by high explosive, his men
demoralised by a constant stream of shells, and all wire entanglements
or other barriers swept out of the way of the advance. Then, and then
only, should the infantry attack be launched, but before doing so the
supports and reserves should be brought up as close as possible to the
firing line, because, in these days especially, the speed with which an
assault can be reinforced makes all the difference between victory and
defeat.
During the assault the guns should be constantly playing on the reserve
trenches of the enemy, the counter batteries (_i. e._, those batteries
told off to dominate enemy batteries) firing as fast as they possibly
can to keep down enemy shrapnel fire and generally supporting the attack
in every possible way. Special groups should always be told off (not
single individuals) with orders to signal back to the batteries the
position which the front line has reached in the assault, otherwise--and
I have seen it happen more than once--our own guns will be found playing
on our own men.
It is unwise to trust to telephone wires for passing signals back to the
batteries, for they are often cut by shells or broken by passing troops.
Aeroplanes fitted with wireless are most useful. Another good plan is to
fasten some very conspicuous object, such as a large tin disc, to the
backs of the men, so that the gunners would always be able to tell at
whom they were firing. The disc should be tied so that the men could
switch it round to the front if they were forced to retire. This plan
was adopted in Gallipoli towards the end of July with excellent results,
for our men could always be made out by the flashing of the tin, which,
of course, the enemy could not see.
Bombs should always be carried with the assaulting columns, and the bomb
throwers should not be hampered by a rifle, but should only be armed
with revolver and bayonet, for when their stock of bombs is expended
there are always plenty of rifles lying around belonging to the dead and
badly wounded.
When all these arrangements have been completed, and a combined attack
is made with shells, machine-guns, rifle fire, trench mortars, poison
gas, liquid fire, etc., the attack is almost certain to succeed at some
point or other, and once the defender's line is broken his whole line is
threatened, and if the reserves are brought up and poured quickly enough
into the breach, so as to get a wedge in between the enemy's forces, his
army can then be smashed up in detail and a great victory won.
Cavalry can then burst through and once more come into their own by
playing havoc with the enemy's line of communication. Of course, in
Gallipoli we had no Cavalry; at least, such mounted men as we had came
as Infantry without horses! and I must say that they fought well, those
yeomen from Bucks and Kent--the only pity is that we did not have more
of them. When we did make a breach in the enemy's line, we never had
enough troops to push through and so ensure a crushing victory.