dugouts at w-beach

Robson and I made a very fine dugout. It was in an old Turkish trench. We dug the head in under the solid earth and lined it with biscuit tins filled with earth. Then for a roof we first ‘won’ some wood and corrugated iron from a R.E. dump. When we had it finished one of the officers from the dump came and examined it and said : “That’s a nice roof." “Yes Sir.” “When you have finished it just put the wood and iron back on my dump.” “Yes Sir” said we despondently and proceeded to remove our roof back where it belonged.

Sapper Thomas Rowatt quoted in “Defeat at Gallipoli”, (London 2002), Nigel Steel & Peter Hart, p. 326

"A rare sight at Helles. Timber sleepers, probably for the light railway, and dugouts roofed with corrugated iron, on W beach. Both timber and cottugated iron were extremely scarce. Telephone wires hang from the three poles on the centre skyline. A fatigue party is extending the terrace at top left.", period picture reproduced from "Images of Gallipoli", (Melbourne 1985), P.A. Pedersen, p. 66