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quintinshill rail disaster
NOWHERE TO HIDE
In a number of cases opposing trenches were in bombing
(grenade)
range
of each other and, if too far for hand throwing, the home-made grenades
were launched at the enemy from improvised catapults (see page 14).
Nowhere on the Peninsula was absolutely safe from Turkish bullets.
It was, in fact, often safer to be in the limited protection of the
front-line trenches. Those troops in reserve were more vulnerable to
snipers, a number of whom managed to operate behind the Allied
lines. Furthermore, the heaviest shelling, including from very large
calibre Turkish guns firing across the Dardanelles, invariably fell on
the rear trenches and the so-called rest camps near the beaches.
At least in France, when you were ‘out of the line’,
which probably
averaged one month in two,you were safe from enemy fire and could have
showers, a change of clothing, regular, well-cooked meals and a proper
rest. 1/7RS, and 1/4RS,
never left the Peninsula for a single day
in the
eight months they were there.
LACK OF WATER
As if this alone did not make life worse than in France, every single
drop of water, apart from run-off after storms, had to be brought to
the Peninsula by sea. Consequently, it was mostly used for cooking and
drinking. There was never enough for the latter, especially in the heat of
the summer.
Even less was available for personal hygiene, making troops more
susceptible to sickness and disease, although there was some limited sea
bathing in sheltered coves when‘out of the line’.