It has already been said that water was scarce. A few wells existed, but were quite unequal to the demands made upon them. It was therefore necessary to carry the water for some distance. Two-gallon petrol tins were used for this purpose by special fatigue parties. Larger quantities were carried in "fantassies"—10-gallon tanks borne in pairs on mules—and delivered to the Quartermaster, who was responsible for the distribution of all supplies and stores. Not always was it possible to secure sufficient for ablution purposes, and at one time—during November—the issue was restricted to quarter gallon per diem per man for all purposes. At the Apex, whilst water was scarce, small parties from the reserve companies were taken in turn to the beach and allowed to bathe. A certain amount of risk was attached to this proceeding, as the enemy shelled the locality whenever a target offered. Fortunately the parties escaped without casualty.
The cooking of food was first carried on by individuals. The mess tin could be used as either saucepan or kettle, and its lid as a frying pan or drinking vessel. With the aid of the entrenching implement, which each man carried, a little excavation would be made in some convenient place and a fire built of any available fuel. As a support for the tin when laid on the embers any number of stones was available. On some of these heat had a peculiar effect, and the unwary one was sometimes startled by a loud report and the sight of his meal being hoist in the air. Usually two or more men combined in the cooking process, but the preparation of food by the individual was found to be wasteful and injurious to health in that it attracted many flies and lacked thoroughness. The company system was therefore reverted to, and the dixies brought into use in kitchens constructed outside the trenches. The dixies were then taken forward and the meal served out in equal shares according to the numbers to be provided for. The change at first was not popular, but its beneficial effects became apparent later, and the system was not again departed from except for very brief periods when extraordinary conditions existed.
Fuel was by no means plentiful, and anything at all that would burn was carefully collected. Under cover of darkness individuals would forage on the exposed slopes and return with arms full of twigs and brushwood. In the back areas fatigue parties were at work daily collecting firewood which was brought to a depôt for issue to units. These parties worked under brigade orders and a number of 28th men were, on one occasion, sent up an exposed slope accompanied by a white donkey. The animal, so easily distinguishable against the background of dark verdure, soon attracted the enemy's artillery fire and some casualties resulted. The Regimental Medical Officer and two or three stretcher-bearers very gallantly ascended the hill and attended the wounded despite the continuance of the Turkish shrapnel.
Supply and transport on the Peninsula was no easy problem. Supplies in bulk were landed on the beach from barges when the weather permitted. There, near the two piers, a reserve of at least seven days was stored and supply staffs lived between walls constructed of boxes of biscuit and tinned meat. These walls were lined with sides of bacon resting on a plinth of filled rum jars and certain medical comforts intended for the sick or wounded. In the neighbourhood huge piles of all manner of articles abounded, and sandwiched in between them one would occasionally discover a howitzer, which would come into action intermittently. From these depôts the Army Service Corps attached to Divisions drew what was required or available and transported it to their own areas. There it was again divided up, according to the actual number of men present with each battalion, and the Quartermasters took delivery.
The means of transport consisted of carts, mules, and donkeys. Few horses were kept at Anzac. The only ones the 28th saw belonged to the 6-inch howitzer battery, and were stabled up on a hillside the face of which had been cut away so as to afford safe cover. One other horse seen was used by a despatch rider who almost daily went somewhere towards the left of our line and as frequently was the target for snipers. The carts were two-wheeled, with mule draught, and could only be used at night, when they conveyed supplies to the 54th Division which lay at the northern end of the Anzac Corps areas. These carts had made a well defined track, and their passage was easily marked by the creaking and groaning sounds they gave forth. Yet they were seldom, if ever, shelled by the enemy. They were driven by Maltese or natives of India who, during the daylight hours, camped in some of the crevices in the cliffs near the shore. As carts could not ascend the ravines, mules were used for carriage to the forward positions. They were sure-footed and capable of carrying a substantial load. Shell-fire had not much effect on them, but occasionally they became fitful and, despite the lurid exhortations of their drivers, would discard their loads at most inconvenient places. They were awkward creatures to meet in a sap. One might attempt to pass them on the side where there appeared to be the more room, only to find that, when nearly through, the mule would lurch over and pin you to the wall of the trench with the corner of an ammunition box or water tank.
Each battalion had the use of a certain number of small-sized donkeys. A few men had to be detailed to look after these and drive them—being responsible to the Quartermaster, who was known, sometimes, as "the O.C. Dunks." The donkeys carried loads suitable to their strength and were found to be most useful animals in the areas near the front line. Sometimes they got shot. A story is told of one of the 28th drivers who was rather attached to his pair of animals. One day in the Dere a shell killed one of his donkeys and the concussion from the explosion knocked the other one over. With a little persuasion he got up again, but the driver, in explaining the loss, said that he had had one beast killed and that the other had fainted.
FOOTNOTES:
[N] Gallipoli Diary.
[O] H. W. Nevinson. The Dardanelles Campaign.