HERTS Yeomanry doings as far as they concerned T. Holland-Hibbert from 10th to 20th August 1915

Aug 10

Moving.  Web equippment issued.  Going as infantry.

Aug 11

Abbasia Barracks 1914 - 15

Abbasia Barracks 1914 – 15

Back to barracks.  Saddle to go into store.

12th

More packing up.  Our own things a problem.    Equippment issued minus water bottles, haversack so whole ‘balance’ lost.

13th

Equippment fitting, wounded infantry men came to instruct us.  Sold a pony as we sat waiting for train for £9 sovereigns.  (Got 2 of them still 1969).  All wives hanging about to say goodbye.  Glad V1 was not there.  Poor old Ibrahim weeping.  Left at 9.0.  All our cavalry work wasted.

14

Arrived back in Alex 3.30 a.m.  Boarded “Night Templar”2 an enormous cattle boat.  Settled down on deck with my much too heavy valise.  Didn’t start till evening.  I went into Alex for chamber maid at hotel to make some bags to put sulphur in to stop lice.  Said to be infallible.

15

We were all in our thick uniforms.  Cut the insignia off on sleaves which are said to be too easy for snipers to recognise officers.  Sniffering & springs taken out of mens caps.  All issue with slacks.  Beautiful weather.  Sea.

16

Passed Crete.  Full dress parade.  Nobody knew how best to fit it on.  Thro channel of Juna and islands

17.

Arrived Mudros3.  Lots of shipping, battleships.  Shores covered in camps.  2.30 took party on board small tug to get onto paddle boat Queen Victoria which was said to be a channel steamer.  The capt furious at amount of baggage.  Most of it is our men stuff!  Blew the horn as we left & was told by some Col “Let’s have some more of that”  10.30 arrived off Suvla Bay4.  Impressive silence.  None of us  knew what we were to be told to do.  4 small boats arrived in darkness, we were towed to shore by a pinnace.  A landing stage.  Betram Abel Smith MLO. “Is that the Herts Yeo?”  “Yes”  “Thought so, recognised your voice”!  Marched off a short way and were told to “settle down” where we were.  Crowds everywhere.  Slept or tried to with Ralph5.  Crackling noise.  I asked Ralph if it was machine gun fire and he said he had been pretending for sometime that it wasn’t!  Seemed very close, expected Turk any moment.  Heard afterwards nearest trench 2 miles.  Slept a little.

18th

As soon as light shrapnel fire.  Saw it going on onto our infantry further up the hill.  Long distance shell began coming over.  My first shell.  Felt it must hit me and whether I ducked or not.  Thousands of troops shoulder to shoulder as far as you could see towards the sea.  There cant have been more than a couple of yards between each man over the area round us down to the sea.  I have a photograph of it.  Were given an area on Karakol Dagh6.  Clean.  Found filthy mess everywhere else.  Collected our baggage from landing stage.  Prepared for night.  A little digging for comfort & safety?  Shells & casualties.  A shell could not miss somebody.  Took a bathing party.  A shell fell amongst us.  If one man had had his legs together instead of apart it would have got him.  Tremendous rifle fire when it got dark.  Lumley Smith7 our adj. left with dysentery which he had on him before we left Cairo.  Two enemy aircraft came over and were well shelled by battleships but they must have had a proper eyeful before they left.  Lecture on bombs.  Could not hear a word and as we had it on top of an ammunition dump and we were being shelled I decided Id put off any further knowledge of bombs.

Bathing.  Masses of naked men, officers, Gen. Birdwood8 amongst them.  One Australian stubbed his toe on a rock & used language such as had never been heard before.  Gen Birdwood said “No doubt you have hurt yourself but its no good using such filthy language.”  The Australian said “Who the hell are you?”  “Gen Birdwood”  “Indeed.  Well why haven’t you got feathers sticking out of your arse like any other bird would”

19th

Ralph5 and I decided we simply could not go to the correct latrine.  Rows of naked bottoms.  So we went off into the bushes.  Not much of a success as we found the whole area covered in some sort of lomb[?].  Nor was a bathe any good where we went in was “safe” but when we got in we found the sea bed covered in rum looking things!  Rained during the night.  2 pints of water per man allowed.  Partridge about.  Tremendous naval shooting.  We could see the infantry advancing. Orders came that we were all to have tin discs on our back to help the gunners recognise us.  Cut up biscuit tins.  Made preparations for night.  Nobody else due till its too dark to see.

20th

Very hot.  Watched Turk shelling a pier.

Parade 6.45 to move.  Nobody knew what to take or where we were going or why.  No coats.  No mess tins, no shanny things.  Rum served.  Very warlike.  No blankets.  Said to be going “road making.”  In dark marched along shore Salt Lake9.  Some men with picks, shovels.  Some terrible smells which were new to us.  Flopped down just where we were at Lala Baba10.  Very cold.  The Col came & said we should be under fire in daylight, must get down the cliff to the sea by light.  This we did & crammed onto a stripe of shore.  Found a dug out but not allowed to use it because the men had none.

Notes:

1 Viola Mary Clutterbuck, Thurstan’s wife

2 SS Knights Templar Built: 1905 on Clydeside and launched on Tuesday 10/10/1905 by Charles Connell & Company Scotstoun for Knight SS Co (Greenshields Cowie & Co) Liverpoo.  It was a  Cargo Vessel with Tonnage: 7203 grt; Length: 470 feet; Breadth: 58 feet.  Converted to Whale Factory Vessel in 1925.  Sent for scrapping 26/11/54

3 Mudros – small port on the Greek island of Lemnos. It became significant after British decided to seize control of the Dardanelle Straits some 50 km away.

4 Suvla Bay is on the Aegean Coast of Gallipoli.  Troops were landed here in August 1915 in an attempt to break the stalemate of the Allied Gallipoli offensive.

5 probably Lieutenant Ralph Francis Barnett (27th August 1883 – 22nd September 1968?)  he was made a temporary Captain on 28th August 1915

6 Karokol Dagh ridge rises quickly from behind Suvla Point, to some 400 feet, and frames Suvla Bay.

7 Captain Thomas Gabriel Lumley Lumley-Smith (27th October 1879 – 16th February 1961) served as adjutant, Hertfordshire Yeomanry and 1st/1st Hertfordshire Yeomanry 4th May 1914 – 18th August 1915

8 Lieutenant General Sir William Riddell Birdwood, a senior British Officer from Indian Army, commanded the A and NZ Army Corps (ANZAC) from December 1914 until shortly before the end of the Gallipoli Campaign, cf. http://www.gallipoli.gov.au/why-gallipoli/who-were-the-anzacs/general-birdwood-the-soul-of-anzac.php

9 Salt Lake is just inland from Suvla Bay

10 Lala Baba is a small hill between the southern side of Suvla Bay and Salt Lake

HALS reference: D/EYO/2/131

This page was added on 30/06/2016.

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  • For the 15th – Sniffering & springs taken out of mens caps
    Surely stiffening, which does make sense

    By Andrew French (19/05/2018)