Courtney's & Steel's Post Cemetery

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the first "hotel de charme" on the Gallipoli peninsula

Only briefly, at Courtney’s Post, did the Turks break into the Australian position, and they were ejected from there by a party of men of the 14^th Battalion, of whom only Lance-Corporal Jacka, their leader survived. He was awarded the VC, the 1^st Australian to gain this distinction, fighting with riffle, bayonet and bare hands until the enemy fled.

"Gallipoli", (London 2000), Michael Hickey, p. 180

... The two British naval brigades left Anzac immediately for Helles, thus enabling the Royal Navy Division to be at last reformed. Young and but partly trained, thrown without preparation into a terrible struggle, overtried, gallantly but often needlessly exposing themselves, they had suffered heavily, and their dead lay thickly among the Australians and New Zealanders upon those dreadful heights.

COURTNEY'S & STEEL'S POST CEMETERY

CWGC - ANZAC
Last updated : 01/12/2006

Our men and the Turks began fraternizing, exchanging badges, etc. I had to keep them apart. At 4 o'clock the Turks came to me for orders. I do not believe this could have happened anywhere else. I retired their troops and ours, walking along the line. At 4.7 I retired the white-flag men, making them shake hands with our men. Then I came to the upper end. About a dozen Turks came out. I chaffed them, and said that they would shoot me next day. They said, in a horrified chorus: "God forbid!" The Albanians laughed and cheered, and said: "We will never shoot you." Then the Australians began coming up, and said: "Good-bye old chap; good luck!" And the Turks said: "Oghur Ola gule gule gedejekseniz, gule gule gelejekseniz" ("Smiling may you go and smiling come again"). Then I told them all to get into their trenches, and unthinkingly went up to the Turkish trench and got a deep salaam from it. I told them that neither side would fire for twenty-five minutes after they had got into the trenches.

"Mons, Anzac and Kut", Aubrey Herbert, p. 125

A note was thrown over by the Turks, evidently in answer to one from our chaps asking the distance to Constantinople ...”You ask how far it is to Constantinople. How long will you please be in getting there?” They used a knife as a weight when they threw the note and asked for it to be returned. It was thrown back but fell short ... On being told where it was they asked our chaps not to fire while one of them got it ... On another occasion there must have been a German Officer approaching, for all of a sudden the Turks began signalling to our chaps to get down in their trenches. They immediately took the hint and then a machine gun began to play along the parapet from end to end. Of Course, no damage was done. This shows something of the fairness with which the Turk fights.

From a letter (dated 22nd October 1915) by Lt. J C Price (2nd Division Signal Company) quoted in “The Broken Years” (Canberra 1974), William Gammage, p. 92-93

From late April till early May the Anzacs did got support from the Royal Navy. Obviously not without a price as Charles Bean noted in the official history (p. 116) :