v-beach
the first authentic hotel on the Gallipoli peninsula
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"V-beach from a sketch by Captain Geddes", reproduced from "Military Operations: Gallipoli", Volume I, (London 1929), Brigadier-General Cecil F. Aspinall-Oglander, p. 230
The troops landing at V Beach beheld the chilling spectacle of
the victims of the River Clyde , still lying in perfect preservation in
the clear water, still staring glassily up at the appalled newcomers. These
were not the only manifestations of war. ‘ on the surface of the water,
drifting out towards the sea, we noticed the corpses of two Turkish soldiers’,
Captain Feuille relates. ‘ One of them was entirely naked. Everywhere one
could see traces of the recent assault on the beaches, cork helmets and many
pieces of equipment floating to the sea.’
“Gallipoli”, Robert Rhodes James, p. 148
V beach is seen here awash with supplies giving some idea of the quandary, period picture reproduced from "Gallipoli Then and Now," (London 2000), Steve Newman, p. 36
On one of these visits I was accompanied by a Gallipoli man who
had been with me in
France.
Whereas France was fast fading out of recollection, for him, too, the
Peninsula was an obsession; though an obsession of evil. As we approached the
beach on which he had first landed some eleven years before he broke out into
a violent sweat, and I to put out a hand to steady him as the boat grounded.
He was in visible terror, not merely of his memories, but of that unsullied
beach on which he was to set foot again. He recovered immediately I had
persuaded him to take the plunge on to that firm warm sand. It was glittering
morning; and the heat of the sun seemed suddenly to embrace us. He looked
around wonderingly. ‘How quiet it is’, he murmured; ‘how quiet!’
"The
Fading Vision", (London 1936), John North, p. 16
last updated : 14/02/08
There were
quite a few wounded soldiers which were brought down to the beach – I think I
brought two strecher loads in - and these poor fellows with their wounds, there
wasn’t any barges to take them back to the hospital ship. It had been hot
during the day, but it was freezing cold at night. These poor fellows with
their wounds were lying there stone cold, freezing cold, crying out for some
attention. ‘Just a minute, soldier. We’ll have you off soon.’ But it was very
slow. The doctors were very, very busy and, while we could give them first aid,
we couldn’t help with the bleeding and patching up ... It was bad.
Pte Cecil
Tomkinson quoted in Defeat at Gallipoli, (London 2002), Nigel Steel & Peter
Hart, p 93
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