water for forty-eight hours; but in a country of this nature and under a boiling sun it is naturally impossible to convince the young soldier fighting in a temperature he has never experienced before, of the necessity of husbanding his water supply. So it proved in this instance. The advanced troops were completely exhausted by thirst. Could this have been remedied at once it is certain a different tale would have been told.

The question which now arose amongst those who were conducting the naval side of the operations was, how long would the Turkish guns allow the shipping to remain in the harbour (it became a harbour, theoretically, as soon as the steamer detailed for the work had laid submarine defence nets).

The bay was now thickly crowded with shipping, including such tempting bait as big transports full of troops, store-ships, and every kind of vessel which goes to the support of an army. Yet, fortunately, we were only subjected to intermittent shell-fire, the Turks probably experiencing some difficulty in getting guns into position in addition to those required against the troops.

It was not until the 12th August that any serious action was taken by the enemy against the ships in harbour. On that day the vessels inside the defence net consisted of a large monitor lying close in shore, several smaller monitors at intervals off the beach, the Cornwall, Chatham, and Swiftsure, and a number of transports and storeships. The Swiftsure was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Christian, who conducted the naval side of the operations.

Shortly after midday the Turks opened fire on the monitor Havelock. The range was good, but the first shells were ineffective, though they fell close round her. As she was lying at anchor, and things were becoming rather uncomfortable, she weighed and was just moving when a shell burst on the upper deck behind the funnel, without, however, doing serious damage. The enemy's gunners realising now that their chances of hitting the Havelock were small, turned their attention to the Swiftsure. The latter, surrounded as she was by picket-boats and lighters, found it difficult to get under weigh quickly. Several of us were standing on the quarter-deck of the flagship when the shells began to come in our direction. The first shell pitched some fifty yards short; the next passed overhead, falling fairly close to our port side. They had our range to a nicety. The probability that the third would hit us caused a hurried exodus below deck, where, although the protection afforded was not great, one felt a sense of security which was perhaps more theoretical than practical. Almost immediately the heavy thud of a projectile outside the ward-room told us that our judgment was not far wrong. Fortunately this failed to explode, and was afterwards picked up on the net shelf. Another entered the ship's side close to the padre's cabin, and, going through three steel partitions, brought up in the petty officers' pantry, where a peaceful domestic was engaged in washing-up. Fortunately for him this also failed to explode. Immediately afterwards three high explosive shells came inboard on the upper deck, and bursting there killed 7 men and wounded 16. Curiosity in this case had overcome a sense of prudence, for they had been watching the enemy's attempt to drive us out of the harbour.

The numerous picket-boats, lighters, etc., had now left us, so we were able to get weigh on the ship. We slowly steamed in a circle without going outside the defence net, in case a submarine might be lying in wait as part of a preconceived plan. The fact that we had moved from our former billet was sufficient to stop the enemy's fire, as practically all his guns were field artillery, making it almost impossible to follow a moving object with the accuracy of a naval gun.

It is not my intention to attempt any elaborate description of the land operations, as it was very difficult to obtain really reliable news. Moreover, after the first few days, the Turks had succeeded in bringing up a number of fresh troops and artillery, and were strongly entrenched. It was increasingly evident, therefore, that, unless a very large body of men could be brought up the advance had virtually ceased and resolved itself into a digging-in competition. Up till now the Turks had made no concerted effort to drive us out; but one night, at about eight o'clock, a heavy bombardment suddenly commenced on the left flank, which lasted about an hour and a half. The sky was lit by hundreds of bursting shrapnel, high explosives and star shells: the prelude, presumably, to an attack in force. From our position in the bay it certainly looked as if a big fight were in progress, and a great deal of speculation was rife on the ships in harbour as to the outcome. About 9.30 a signal arrived from the Headquarters 9th Army Corps, saying "Situation well in hand." It appeared, for some reason unknown to us, that the enemy had entirely failed to follow up the bombardment and attack. Indeed, as far as could be ascertained, not a single Turk had left the trenches, and we afterwards learned from deserters that even flogging and threats had failed to move them.

After this, day succeeded day with a desultory artillery duel morning and evening, the afternoons being presumably spent by the Turks in a siesta. Little was accomplished by the artillery fire, beyond the annoyance caused by shells falling amongst the stores and dug-outs at the bases. It was astonishing to see high explosive shells bursting in what appeared to be crowded areas and to learn afterwards from the soldiers that comparatively few casualties had resulted. Certainly, at times, a shell would cause considerable damage, especially if it fell on rock or hard earth: one of these killed and wounded upwards of 100 mules, and another, which I saw, killed 9 men and wounded 7; but these were exceptions. The Red Cross dressing stations had been shelled in the early days of the landing, as, owing possibly to the restricted area held by us, or more probably to carelessness and want of thought, large quantities of stores and ammunition were landed close to the dressing stations. These suffered considerably in consequence from shell-fire. This was not a deliberate act, as no nation could possibly have conducted warfare in a more above-board and clean-handed manner than the Turks. The fact that such qualities could be attributed to the Turk was a surprise to me, though naval officers generally have long regarded him as the gentleman of the Eastern Mediterranean. This is further borne out by his reported refusal to use poisonous gas when attacking.

On the afternoon of the landing the Turks sent in an emissary to say that the Red Cross stations would be respected provided no stores were landed in the vicinity. Also at a later date the Turkish Headquarters made a helio to the effect that they had seen tows of boats communicating between warships and the dressing stations. This they very naturally resented, and said it must cease or they would feel compelled to open fire. In another case a surgeon told me that the enemy had actually sent to apologise to him for the accidental shooting of one of his stretcher-bearers. All this is, of course, only what one would expect from a chivalrous enemy. So brutally, however, have many of the theoretical usages of war been violated that the action of the Turk stands out in bright contrast, and shows that this much-maligned race retains a sense of honour which seems to be lacking in others who claim the right to lead the world in this direction.

The Turkish prisoners taken by us were few in number. Many were farmers whose one wish appeared to be to see the end of the war.