The
Last
to
Go
THE YPRES TIMES
139
By Wanderer.
DECEMBER, 1915, found us thoroughly enjoying ourselves on the Island of
Mudros, and appreciating to the full, ample leg-room after months in
very cramped quarters at Suvla, on the Gallipoli Peninsula, which we had
evacuated a short time before.
Had we known that before long we were to return to the Peninsula, we
would not have been quite so cheerful possibly, but we did not know, so there
was nothing to interfere witli our enjoyment.
Mudros was not at all pretty, everything a dull brown, but the climate at
that time of year was superb, and as we had got our horses back again, we had
a chance to explore the island.
On Christmas Day some of us rode over to the hot springs on the other
side of the island from our camp and had a gorgeous hot bath, though in my
opinion it was not to be compared to the bath P.N.T.O. gave B. and myself in
his private bathroom the morning after the evacuation of Suvla.
Helles had not at that time been evacuated, though it was generally under
stood that it was only a question of days before it also would be left and the whole
of the Gallipoli Peninsula given up to the Turks, so that we were a good deal
surprised when orders came for two Brigades of the Division to embark for
Helles. We buoyed ourselves up with the thought that we were being sent over
to help in the evacuation and not to hang on there, which as it turned out was
our mission, though some of us, owing to an accident no foresight could guard
against, were very near being left behind.
Our two Brigades held the left of the line, and our Division Headquarters
were at Gully Beach, where there was a small jetty.
As soon as we had settled in, we began the preliminary work for evacuation
which proved no easy business. Unlike Suvla, where the decision to evacuate had
been taken some time before the time to leave, the decision to give up Helles
was only made at the last minute, so that everything had to be done in a hurry,
and it was not easy to discover dumps of stores which had been cached all
over the place, and almost forgotten. The Turks having been once bitten were
wide awake, and matters were further complicated by the presence of a number
of Greek workmen, who were suspected of being in sympathy with the enemy, I
think with good reason, so that there was a possibility of the date of the evacuation
leaking out.
By giving out the date of the evacuation as one day in advance of the real
date it was hoped that the Turks would be deceived, which fortunately they were,
as it made all the difference. The evacuation was planned for three successive
nights. A very few to go on the first night, the bulk to go on the second night,
leaving only the rear-guards, in the case of our Division about 800 men, to go
on the last night.
On the morning of the second day of the evacuation the Turks, thinking no
doubt that we had very few men left, made an attack on the whole Corps front,
a particularly determined one being made on the front of our Division, which got
into our front line, and after some pretty stiff fighting was repulsed.
