Drip Rifle:

A delayed action device that was used during the Evacuation of Gallipoli.

Evacuation from Gallipoli

On the 15th November 1915, the decision was made by the Commander in Chief of the British Army that Gallipoli was to be evacuated. His reasoning was that without re-enforcements, little progress would be made against the strengthening Turkish Army.

The hardest bit of the operation was going to be hoe to leave the peninsula without arousing suspicion from the Turks. An evacuation plan was devised by  Lieutenant Colonial Charles Brundenell White which involved ‘elaborate’ deception plans. There were to be ‘silent stunts’ where there was to be no artillery fire or sniping from the Australian lines. White hoped that by not firing on the Turks, they would become accustomed to the thought that the Allied forces were preparing for the winter, not withdrawal. There was also great care taken to keep up the irregular firing that was expected by the Turks.

The evacuation was planned to be 3 parts. During the first 2 stages, the number of soldier reduced from 41,000 to 20,077. The idea was that by the end of the second stage, the soldiers would be reduced to a point where they could still hold of a major Turkish offensive for a duration of about 1 week. The remaining soldiers would then be evacuated in the ‘Final Withdrawal’ that would be spread over 2 nights.

On the nights of 18-19 and 19-20 December the final 20 000 Anzacs were taken off. On 19 December, the British cruiser HMS Grafton lay in off North Beach ready to take the soldiers on board and, if necessary, to open fire on any enemy attempt to hinder this final withdrawal. An observer on the Grafton noted:

It is about 9 o’clock. An ideal night for the job. No ships (only a few lights) visible at Suvla. One ship about a mile on our port beam. Barely a wrinkle on the water. Soft air from the north. Moon at present quite invisible. The wash of the destroyer has been lapping against our sides like wavelets at the edge of a pond.

10.00 pm- Three ships just gone in …

10.35 pm- Five trawlers coming out with cutters in tow.

On 19 December just 10 000 men held the lines of trenches from Bolton’s Ridge in the south to Hill 60 in the north. The day was spent by firing aimed at convincing their watchful enemy that things were proceeding as normal. At 2.15 pm the British started a small scale attack at Helles to distract the Turks. At dusk the rear guard soldiers began leaving for the beach until finally there were but 1500 left in the dark trench. Company Sergeant Major Joe Gasparich, Auckland Infantry Battalion, was among the last to depart in the early hours of 20 December:

I came down – I got off my perch (the firing step) [and]I walked through the trench and the floor of the trench was frozen hard … and when I brought my feet down they echoed right through the trench, down the gully, right down, and you could hear this echo running ahead … Talk about empty, I didn’t see a soul … It was a lonely feeling.

By 4.00 am, 20 December 1915, a handful of men were left at North Beach. Among these was the commander of the ‘Rear Party’, Colonel J Paton, from Waratah, Sydney. At 4.10 am, Paton, having waited ten minutes for any last Anzac straggler, declared the evacuation complete and sailed off. The Anzacs had successfully left Gallipoli with hardly a casualty.

12 Facts about D-Day

1. D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with over 156,000 men landing in Normandy.
2. D-Day was originally set for June 5but had to be postponed for 24 hours due to bad weather.
3. In military terms, D-Day means a date and H-Hour a time for combat operations.
4. When the D-Day forces landed, Hitler was asleep. None of his generals dared send re-enforcements without his permission, andno-one dared wake him.
5. German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men, while Allied casualties were at least 10,000.
6. 4% of the sand on Normandy beaches are still made up of metal particlesfrom D-Day landings.
7. Civilian casualties on D-Day and D+1 are estimated at 3,000 people.
8. In 1944, by a huge coincidence, acrossword puzzle was printed with answers all containing D-Day operation “code names”, which sent MI-5 into a panic thinking their invasion plans had been discovered.
9. In 1942, the Canadians and the British Navy launched a practice invasion of France, the”Dieppe Raid.” 20% were killed, 10% wounded, 30% captured. The lessons learned in that disaster lead to D-Day’s success.
10. J.D. Salinger arrived inNormandy on D-Day carrying with him a work in progress:”Catcher in the Rye”.
11. Theodore Roosevelt Jr was the only General involved in the initial assault onD-Day, after insisting to his superiors to be one of the first ones off the boats. He survived, then died of a heart attack one month later.
12. The actor who played”Scotty” on Star Trek wasshot 6 times on D-Day: 4 times in the leg, one in the chest and one through his finger.

All facts found on http://www.factslides.com/s-D-Day

A Different Sort of Battle at Lone Pine

Here is a story that I had to write for my English class. I have used aspects of my other story, My War. This story is based on the Battle of Lone Pine and how 2 mates friendship continued even after death. This story is classified as a detective fiction story.

18th May 1985:

As I walk through the fields, gunshots again ring through my head and send shivers down my spine. Poised like a snake in the mountains, we ambushed the Turks, taking them by surprise. A fellow soldier was shot. The service for his country came at a price. He was soon on the ground, screaming for help. We could do nothing. His wounds were too serious. He knew this and before we could stop him he pulled out his gun and died from self-inflicted wounds. Or so we thought.

I was 29 when I enlisted for the Australian Imperial Forces. I had been a detective for 5 years and undergone many months of training. You would think that all the training would have helped me when I enlisted. However, nothing could have prepared me for what happened at Lone Pine.

I was placed in the 1^st Brigade where many men I knew were stationed. I became very close with a man named Andy who was 31 and a teacher from Mackay. It was during the battle of Lone Pine that he was injured and, soon after that killed.

As we were walking to battle, I could feel there was a lot of tension in the air. There had been many disagreements in the brigade and it made it hard to work together. When Andy and Baz had confliction opinions, it was like two dogs fighting for dominance but no one gained anything over the other. As we arrived at the ‘zero hour’ location, I had a bad feeling about this operation. I often felt this way when doing my detective work but this felt different. It was a feeling of danger, which naturally didn’t sit well with me. The Brigade Commander soon spoke. “Men, I have received word that there is 60 minutes until hop over. Start to begin battle prep.” Nothing more needed to be said. Men all around began to prep their rifles to charge the Turks.

The time was coming closer. It was now 5:20. 10 minutes to go until zero hour. We all knew there was no room for mistake. As the time came closer, I positioned my self between Andy and Baz. 3 minutes to go. My heart was racing. 2 minutes. I started to pray to god. 1 minute to go and before I knew it, men were hopping over the parapet and charging the enemy.

This is the part that has stuck in my mind for the past 75 years. Andy had hopped over before me and was about 10 meters in front of me. All I could hear was the whizzing of bullets and the screams of comrades falling to the ground in pains. Many of them to their deaths. I was one of the lucky ones that made it to the enemy trenches first. The Turks had cleverly disguised their trenches that our planes could not see them. They were also covered all the way around so it made it virtually impossible to get into. It was a while before we gained access, but when we did, we captured around 70 Ottoman troops. When I made sure the enemy soldiers were detained, I went in search of Andy. I was pitch black in the new trench, so it was hard to know where to go. I started to call his name, more and more frantically as time passed. As I was beginning to lose hope, I heard a faint call coming from out in front of me. I knew by the tone it was Andy. “Help me Walter” he called, almost crying. I knew I needed to help him.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I began to crawl out of the trench. Soldiers from my brigade, including the Brigade Commander, we yelling at me to get back to the trench. I ignored them and continued to crawl towards the voice that was getting louder and louder the more I crawled. Mateship was just as important as self-preservation at Gallipoli and when you saw a mate that was injured, you would do whatever you could do to help them. When I looked up, not 20 meters in front of me was Andy, laying on his side, clutching his left leg with his hands covered in blood. When I got to him, he just looked at me. After a few seconds, he opened his mouth and whispered the words, “I’m in pain. Help.” I carefully picked him up and started to run back towards the newly captured trench. Andy was complaining with every step I was taking but I ignored him and kept on running until I reached the trench.

When I reached the trench, mates were there to assist me in getting Andy into the trench. Once he was laid down on the trench floor, one of the soldiers Matt who was a doctor began to assess him. After what seemed like hours, the examination was finished. Matt came to the conclusion that the gun shot wound that Andy has received had severed major tendons and arteries. The best option for Andy was for him to be evacuated to the hospital ship but even then, it wasn’t a guarantee that he would survivce. All the while this conversation was happening, Andy had been complaining and he was giving up hope. “I cannot cope with all of this pain” he cried and before we could stop him, he took out his gun, said a quiet prayer and shot himself. At least that was what it looked like.

We continued on with our duties at Gallipoli. Andy’s body was sent off for an autopsy and then returned home to Mackay. It was extremely hard for me as I had just lost my best mate. A couple of weeks later, I was summoned to a meeting with the Brigade Commander. I was the only person that he had wanted and I instantly started to wonder what I had done wrong. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes before the commander spoke up. “I have received some information on Andy’s death.” Before I could ask what it was, he was pushing a piece of paper into my hands. I began to read it.

‘Dear Brigade Commander Watson,

After conducting an autopsy on Sgt. Andy Puller, I thought it would be prudent to contact you and share this information. I found some suspicious findings while examining Puller’s body. After reading Sgt. Pullers notes, It was recorded that he died from ‘self inflicted wounds’. After examining his body, my findings conclude a different type of wound. When I examined the gunshot wound, it was evaluated that the blast was not a short distance but a long distance bullet wound.

I recommend that you follow this up with your brigade as I find this quite suspicious.

Kind Regards,

Matthew Packish

Forensic Pathologist’

 

I can remember reading that letter with tears streaming down my face. To know that a fellow soldier had the guts to kill a fellow soldier was horryfing. If almost reading my thoughts, the commander said “I know this is a tough subject for you but I promise you we will resolve this issue and the culprit will be found.” I thanked the Brigade Commander and left the dugout with a heavy heart.

True to his word, the Brigade Commander held a meeting the next morning. He informed the brigade of the situation and explained that if the killer did not come forward, he would personally make sure that drastic actions were to be taken. He also asked that if anyone knew anything about the incident to come and talk to him privately. Almost immediately after he had finished talking, Baz put up his hand and asked to speak with the Commander separately. That was the last I saw of Baz during the war.

After the war, I found out that Baz had admitted to killing Andy although his motives were unknown. I was asked to be present at the time of the court hearing. Baz was trialed and found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to death by hanging. That was the closest I ever got to closure. I was also nominated to receive the Victoria Cross for bravery during battle. I was asked to write a speech.

At the ceremony, I presented my speech. I talked about Andy and how he was the perfect person that anyone could be around at war. I also said that I dedicated the medal to Andy.

When that incident at Gallipoli happened, I promised myself that I would make Andy proud. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of him and I hope that I have done him proud. RIP Andy.

Warsaw Ghetto

Warsaw is the capital of Poland. Before World War 2, it had 1.3 million inhabitants (more than 350,000 of them Jews). Germans entered Warsaw on September 29th 1939, shortly after its surrender.

Less than a week after they entered, the Germans ordered the establishment of a Jewish council. They had to administer the soon-to-be ghetto and implement German orders. On October 12 1939, the Germans passed an offical order stating that all Jewish residents of Warsaw were to move into a designated area of the city, in which German authorities sealed them off from the rest of the city.

The boundaries of the ghetto were walls that were more than 10 feet high and topped with barbed wires. These walls were closely guarded to prevent movement and communication between the ghetto and the rest of Warsaw. The population of the ghetto was estimated to contain about 400,000 jews.

Conditions in the ghetto were tough. According to https://www.ushmm.org,’German authorities forced ghetto residents to live in an area of 1.3 square miles, with an average of 7.2 persons per room.’ The population of the ghetto consumed an estimated amount 1,125 calories a day. It is thought that between 1940 and mid-1942, 83,000 Jews died of starvation and disease. Smuggling of food and medicine into the ghetto kept the death rate from further increasing.

From July 22 until September 12 1942, German SS and police units carried out mass deportations to the Treblinka killing center. ‘During this period, the Germans deported about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to Treblinka; they killed approximately 35,000 Jews inside the ghetto during the operation.’ (according to https://www.ushmm.org).

On April 19th, 1943, an uprising in the ghetto began. Fighters armed with pistols and homemade weapons ambushed the SS guards and forced them outside the ghetto walls.German commander SS General Jürgen Stroop reported losing 12 men, killed and wounded, during the first assault on the ghetto.

On the third day of the uprising, the SS and other forces began to reduce the ghetto to rubble to force all of the occupants out of hiding. Even thought the main resistance movent lasted for a couple of days, small groups of resistors continued to fight the SS for almost a month.

It is recorded that Stroop captured 56,065 Jews and destroyed 631 bunkers. He estimated that his units killed up to 7,000 Jews during the uprising. As a result of the uprising,The German authorities deported approximately another 7,000 Warsaw Jews to the Treblinka killing center, where almost all were killed in the gas chambers upon arrival.

Most of the remaining Jews (approximately 42,000) were sent to the Lublin/Majdanek concentration camp, and to the Poniatowa, Trawniki, Budzyn, and Krasnik forced-labor camps. With the exception of a few thousand forced laborers at Budzyn and Krasnik, German SS and police units later murdered almost all of the Warsaw Jews deported to Lublin/Majdanek, Poniatowa, and Trawniki in November 1943.

 

Battle of Verdun

French Cavalry on their way to Verdun