"But, as we worked to clear him, I saw his face resume its natural colour, and he opened his mouth and spoke, 'Ah, Edith,' he muttered; then he opened his eyes and saw me bending over him. He struggled to his feet and saluted, with the remark, 'I'm all right, Sir.' I told him to go back to the beach, but he would have none of it. He said he was all right bar a bruise or two, and wanted to take his place in the firing line. Of course I would not hear of that, so sent him back for medical treatment. And that was all we got of our reinforcements."
Multiply this instance by hundreds, and you will get some idea of the stern endurance required of these men during those weeks of waiting, and the spirit in which they endured. With the hot weather came dysentery, and their sufferings were terrible. But they knew that a big move was shortly expected, and many of them concealed their complaint and carried on in silence, determined not to miss the great attack to which they were all looking so eagerly forward. When the word was finally given for the advance, many of these heroes charged the enemy, weakened as they were by many days' concealed suffering from this last scourge of Gallipoli.
The anticipated movement was heralded by the resumption of the offensive on the extreme right of the Anzac line on July 31. This operation can best be described in the words of Sir Ian Hamilton's dispatch:—
"On the extreme right of Anzac the flank of a work called Tasmania Post was threatened by the extension of a Turkish trench. The task of capturing this trench was entrusted to the 3rd Australian Brigade. After an artillery bombardment, mines were to be fired, whereupon four columns of fifty men each were to assault and occupy specified lengths of the trench. The regiment supplying the assaulting columns was the 11th Australian Infantry Battalion.
"At 10.15 p.m. on July 31 the bombardment was opened. Ten minutes later and the mines were duly fired. The four assaulting parties dashed forward at once, crossed our own barbed wire on planks, and were into the craters before the whole of the débris had fallen. Total casualties: 11 killed and 74 wounded; Turkish killed, 100."
And now English troops began to land on Anzac Beach, and the final dispositions for the great attack were put in train.
THE SOUL OF ANZAC