Joe Murray

Joe grew up in a County Durham mining community. He arrived in Gallipoli with the Hood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division in April 1915 and was soon moved to engineering duties as a sapper. At Gallipoli, following the failure of the August offensive intended to break out from Anzac and the new Suvla landings, the fighting had settled into a grim stalemate.

By this time Ordinary Seaman Joe Murray was attached to the VIII Corps Mining Company and engaged in an underground game of chess. Both sides were driving out tunnels under the trenches seeking to lay huge mines to blow up their enemies. Both were listening out for the tell-tale sounds of underground digging. When detected, a camouflet mine would be set and detonated to destroy the enemy mine workings. It was a race against death. Joe recalled one such incident. We decided to make preparations for a blast. We had to make a recess in the side, a little bit to the left so that we didn’t blow our own mineshaft. We had to stop him without stopping ourselves.

Lieutenant Dean gave permission. They came up with all their paraphernalia. There were three 10lb tins of ammonal. I put two detonators in one tin of ammonal, then I wrapped the cable round the tin and then round a sandbag so that when we pulled on the cable it wouldn’t displace the detonator.

All the sandbags were already filled and we packed them up to a barrier of about 5 feet. You have to make the place of least resistance upwards – not along the tunnel – or it would blow out your own tunnel.

The cable had to go right to the surface to the firing line. There the officer had a detonator box with batteries and a plunger. The moment he pulls that plunger up he warns the officer in the line: “I’m going to do a bit of blasting – mind your heads!” All the troops in the line stand-to on the firing step with rifles ready because we don’t know what’s going to happen.

As soon as the plunger goes down, the lot goes up. I thought: “That’s fine, thank the Lord for that!” There was this terrific noise… and great big chunks of clay falling everywhere.

With the Turkish mine blown in, the British mine could be reopened. And so it began again.