After all, when one remembers that the Turk has always been friendly to the British, it is not surprising that in fighting against us he should still retain a good deal of his old feeling. At the same time he is fighting in defence of his own country, and is regarded by all who know him as never so effective as when on the defensive. All one hears and reads of dissension amongst the Turkish and German officers may be true, as no doubt the German officer has taken a high hand in his dealings with the Turkish Army. At the same time the Turk is not so blind but that he realises, to the full, the value of the German as a teacher of the latest methods and devices of warfare.

CHAPTER III
OFF THE LEFT FLANK AT HELLES

Shortly after my arrival I was appointed to a ship engaged in bombarding enemy gun positions and trenches off the left flank of the army at Helles. To those unacquainted with warships perhaps a short description of the ship may be of interest, though I cannot of course enter into an exhaustive account of our particular form of defence which has been evolved through the advent of the submarine. The ship I joined is known in the Navy, since her re-incarnation, as a "blister" ship. She belongs to the Blake and Blenheim type, which were in their day the finest cruisers turned out by any naval power; handsome vessels, good sea-boats, and generally a crack class; but on the outbreak of hostilities they were a back number and practically ready for the ship-breaker. One of the surprises of this war, however, has been the amount of active work done by the older vessels, many of them good enough ships, though not fit to lie in the battle-line, but excellent for bombardment purposes, for which they have been extensively used. Amongst these the cruiser I have mentioned came in for special protective treatment. Since the German submarine had driven our battle fleet into protective harbours, and the Army must be supported at any cost, a scheme for rendering these vessels proof against the torpedo had to be devised. Torpedo nets had failed in the case of the Triumph, and were apt to render a ship extremely unhandy in the event of the enemy batteries successfully getting the range.

The first day on which the ship saw any action we left Kephalo at nine o'clock in the morning to relieve the Endymion, our sister-ship on the left flank, each of us doing forty-eight hours on patrol and forty-eight in harbour. I must say my feelings were somewhat strange at being actually on a war vessel for the first time about to come under fire.

Impressions of this kind have been described so often that I feel nothing in the way of a pen-picture can give readers any new idea of the sensation. My own feelings were a strange mixture of a desire to get under some really effective cover and a wish to see the fall of our own shot on the enemy's position. Our first taste was at a range which enabled one to get a fair warning of the approach of the enemy's shell. One heard first the distant bang of the gun, followed almost immediately by a long whine which grew in crescendo until the shell hit the water with a loud plop. In the case of shrapnel this exploded generally very short of us, leaving a round ball of white smoke suspended in the air for some moments, the bullets generally striking the sea some fifty yards ahead of the burst. The shells which straddled the ship were the most trying, as the sound of a projectile passed right overhead, and seemed as if it must be coming inboard. The long range (most of the shell-fire being 12 or 15 pr.) made the danger problematical, as the angle of descent was very steep. On the other hand, should we be hit, the shell was likely to fall on our unarmoured decks. In the case of several ships comparatively small shells had caused damage in this way out of all proportion to the size of the projectiles: in one instance a shell came inboard on the Grafton between the foremast and funnel, and bursting there, killed 9 and wounded 17 men.

The general consensus of opinion on board was that the Turks only fired when fired on, which went some way to allay apprehension. Our first day out certainly confirmed this idea, for it was not until we had fired a number of rounds that any reply came from the shore, and that of so desultory a nature as to cause us little worry. At about five in the afternoon one of our seaplanes came out to observe and spot our fall of shot; this was the only way in which any accurate results could be obtained. While off the coast we were practically at the disposal of the military, who informed us when any Turkish batteries caused them particular annoyance. They would then signal to us the position on which they wished the shells to be fired.

The procedure was of some interest, as the shooting which we were required to do was of a somewhat novel kind for naval guns. With very few exceptions, where the objective could be seen, the target was only one of many concealed batteries. On one occasion as many as 800 Turkish shells were fired in a comparatively short space of time from the Asiatic shore on to Helles beach, although the total casualties, due to the wonderful system of dug-outs, were only three mules killed and two men wounded.

The hour chosen for our practice on the enemy's gun emplacements was, as a rule, late in the afternoon, by which time the sun was directly behind us and showed up every formation of the coast. At about the time appointed one or other of the lookouts would report "Aeroplane in sight, sir," and shortly afterwards one shot would be fired, or possibly three, to give the aeroplane something to work on. The range, usually about 8000 yards, was arrived at by the navigator, who, knowing our own distance from the coast to a yard, would then use the squared map of the peninsula on which every known Turkish battery was marked, and add to it the distance inland of the particular battery, taking for a point of aim some feature on the land, the ship being stationary.

The most interesting place on the ship while firing was in progress was "Monkey Island." This is the platform above the chart-house used in ordinary times for navigation and from which a clear all-round view can be obtained. It was surrounded by a thick protection of canvas packed with cotton-waste, rope, and other odds and ends to render it proof at least against shrapnel and rifle bullets, whilst overhead a thick mat was suspended for the same purpose. It is from this position that the directions are handed on to the guns by voice-pipe from the control on the foremast, where the gunnery lieutenant is stationed.

Soon after the first shot is fired, the tinkle of a bell can be heard. This is the telephone from the wireless-room, where the aeroplane's spotting correction has been received, and the Captain's voice is heard at the voice-pipe from the conning-towers to the fire-control, giving the gunnery officer the correction. Assuming the aeroplane's signal to have been, say, 200 short 50 left, the gunnery lieutenant then gives the corrected range via "Monkey Island" to the guns, or whichever particular gun he wishes to use. The message is handed on by a boy to the gun below, and there repeated by one of the gun's crew back to the fire-control in confirmation. A moment's pause, and the order "Fire" is again given. Immediately a sheet of bright orange flame, and an ear-splitting crash are followed by a vibrating rush of the shell through the air, gradually dying down to a distant sigh. Then just over our point of aim a dirty yellowish cloud rises slowly, showing roughly the spot on