A New Zealand infantryman writes of his escape from the front lines at Gallipoli in 1915:
'After I had covered a hundred yards or so I began to feel pretty bad; then an Australian spotted me. He wriggled over to where I was and told me to lie down while he tied up my wounds. Then he soused his handkerchief from his water bottle and spread it over my face. It was a scorching hot day, and what he did for me revived me tremendously. I lost so much blood, though. I did not seem to make further progress, so he got stretcher-bearers to come for me, real heroes.
My word, what a mistaken idea that some people have about the Red Cross boys! Do you know, I'd always thought they were inclined to be cold footed or something. I know better now. Those two Australian stretcher bearers couldn't do enough for me. They had me on the stretcher and were off with me before I had time to think. I begged them to lie down and wait until there was a lull in the firing, particularly as we had already learned that the Turks had no respect for the Red Cross men, but they said, 'No, you're shot and we've got to get you back as soon as possible; besides, we're too busy to wait.'
How they got back with me I don't know, for bullets whizzed all round and frequently they went zip-zip-zip over my prostrate body and between those two game chaps. They were completely fagged [i.e. tired] by the time they got me to the beach, but they would scarcely wait for a spell. They were off again in no time for more wounded men. They were game, those fellows, real game - fired at all the time and never a chance of hitting back or making cover. Like the rest of us, they're game'.
- Private B. Smith, Auckland Battalion, letter to his mother, printed in The Dominion 26 June 1915, quoted in Glyn Harper, Letters from Gallipoli, Auckland, 2011, p.102-3.
See also:
Blog: The mercurial naval legacy of HMS Maori, 10 May 2020
Blog: 'Europe is mad. The world is mad', 25 June 2009
Blog: The Western Front, 11 December 2007
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