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There was no one in front of us but the enemy, of whose whereabouts or number we had no knowledge, and we must try to dig in, as the staff were of the opinion that we should be shelled in the morning. That night was one of the most arduous and uncomfortable I have ever spent. The soil was hard and rocky, our only digging implements were entren-ching tools. We

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Last updated : 11/02/08

"Soldiers seeking shelter from the Suvla sun", period picture reproduced from "Field of Bones", (Dublin 2006), Philip Orr, p. 108

dug all night and when dawn broke had little to show for our labours. Most of the men has succeeded in digging shallow graves with a parapet of loose earth and flints, but some who had struck rocks had not even that.”

Second Lieutenant Ivone Kirkpatrick quoted in “Defeat at Gallipoli”, (London 2002), Nigel Steel & Peter Hart, p. 258

 

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