RETURN TO GALLIPOLI

MEMORABLE SCENES RECALLED

FROM H. COLLINSON OWEN. LEMNOS, NOV. 10. The final act to one of the greatest dramas of the war was enacted yesterday, when, in accordance with the terms of the armistice with Turkey, British troops landed unopposed to occupy the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The contrast between yesterday’s landing and that other famous and heroic one of 1915 was as great as can be imagined. Our men landed on a deserted peninsula, peopled only by British lead and by great memories that will live so long as our race endures. They stepped ashore immediately beneath the bows of the River Clyde, that gallant and battered tramp from out of whose sides our men streamed under a storm of machine-gun bullets. But there was nothing to oppose the landing this time. On the contrary, at the summit of the steeply rising beach, which we captured at such heavy cost, stood a little group of Turks, looking down quietly on British troops disembarking. They were Turkish artillerymen, waiting to hand over the heavy guns of Cape Helles, which have for long been standing ready in anticipation of a renewed British attack on the Dardanelles.

We left Mudros at four in the morning to see the landing, and arrived off Cape Helles about nine. Lines of black drifters and mine-sweepers, including a very efficient new type just out from home, were cruising about on their hazardous task of sweeping lanes through almost countless thousands of mines laid both by ourselves and the enemy. The work of gathering in this deadly barrier has been much greater than anticipated, and is the sole reason for the delay in the passage of the Allied Fleet to Constantinople. The destroyer took us in close to Cape Helles, and everybody on board gazed silently at the barren and repellent coast that has made such a tragic page in our history. Some there were on board who had been through most of those events, and who felt strangely indeed in approaching so calmly and easily this “corner of a foreign field that is for ever England,” that was won and lost again at such a price.

HISTORIC GROUND

We anchored just off “V” beach, where the River Clyde was run ashore. As the landing of the troops was not expected for some hours, it was decided we should go ashore and visit the ground which is compact of so much British history. It was strange indeed to set foot on that barren shore, realising how much we had paid to take it, and find it now completely deserted. The Turkish troops occupying the peninsula had been removed some days before, and not a single Turk was to be seen.

We walked up the steep ground which had been held by massed machine-guns and Turkish riflemen, passed over old trenches, both our own and the enemy’s, and saw new ones constructed in case of the further attack which for months past the Turks had been expecting. Every yard of the ground we traversed holds the remains of our dead, but there were no signs of graves or crosses to be seen.

We embarked again near the River Clyde, went on board a patrol launch. All the way up we were within a few yards of the Gallipoli coast, and our busy drifters were at work sweeping in pairs. We passed within five yards of an ugly Turkish mine floating on the surface. As it is in shallow water, it is unadvisable for the moment to sink it, and for the time being this nasty object, packed with high explosive, is serving the purposes of a buoy.

CHANAK FORT

An hour’s run up the Straits, and we ran into Chanak, just below the Narrows. Here we went ashore, and walked the length of the long main street out to Hamidieh battery, a mile and a half away, which is the strongest on the Straits. Here were Turks in plenty, both soldiers and otherwise, and everybody appeared quite well fed and in robust condition, although inquiries revealed the usual stories of very high prices for food.

We found the fort almost deserted. Hamidieh fort has played a big part in the operations against the Dardanelles. At the moment of writing British soldiers are probably already in possession here. As at every other battery a small party of Turkish non-coms and men will be temporarily left to keep the guns clean and in order and we shall hold the forts until such time as the Allies shall have decided what is exactly to happen to the Dardanelles in the future.

By the time we returned to Cape Helles a big transport and an old-type cruiser, both loaded with British troops, were lying there. Our men, troops who have seen much hard service in Macedonia, stepped ashore with their kit. And that was all the incident there was to the second landing in Gallipoli. They made a very small group as they stood there on the shore. It was now getting dusk, and our destroyer had to leave to make sure of getting through the channel in the minefields.