Anzac Journal
Journal
15th April
The food on the boat is terrible, it smells foul. The beds are uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable when the boat is rocking from side to side. The toilets are foul and they smell horrible. I wish I was back at home sleeping in my own bed, eating my delicious rice pudding and using my own dunny. I only joined the Army because I heard the wage was ok but I never thought about the other things that came with it.
24th April
We are due to land, on the wasteland that is Gallipoli. I would consider this a suicide mission, we are being sent to our deaths. I am trying to enjoy the little freedom I have.
25th April
We have landed at Gallipoli. As soon as we landed, bodies started piling up on the landing ship. The Turkish have a clear advantage over us. They controlled the cliffs that tower above the ground and which gives them a clear view of the battlefield. I captured a scouting Turk (Yilmaz) a few hours ago but he said he wanted to help us so I let him and we became friends. Yilmaz and I were two of the few snipers in the regiment. The Turks are harder than we first anticipated. We clearly underestimated them.
1st July
The beach is scattered with dead bodies, rotting and decomposing. The trenches that we dug earlier are filled with the bodies of dead soldiers. It was a disgusting sight; it made my stomach twist with disgust. A few of the soldiers are getting a bit paranoid at the sight of the rotting bodies. Its like being in hell, people just dropping dead in front of you and the sight of dead bodies every were you look, in the water, in the trenches, on the boats and scattered all over the beach. The question, still in my mind and every other soldiers mind is when we are going to get off this place?
