"Landed at Lemnos Island on New Years Day, but it was a damn poor New Year for the boys. We got a surprise when we got told to pack our kit and be ready to move at any minute, we were wondering what was up when our Troop Sergeant came along and told us that there was to be no smoking and no talking until we were five miles out on sea.
The reason for that was that on the 28th December there had been an English Regiment going off that night and they started to shout and sing, but they found that the Turks had not been sleeping all the time and they lost about fifteen men going on board the Lighter. But I may say that we got off without any casualties.
We knew then that the Gallipoli Peninsula had been getting evacuated from the 29th December; there was Troops coming off it until the 7th January 1916 when the evacuation was complete. The Troops were all taken off during the night so that the Turks would have no knowledge of what was going on, for they had their aeroplanes up scouting all day long so to come off the Peninsula in day time would have given the game away.
So I think it was a miracle to get off the Peninsula without any casualties. If we had got on as easy there would have been a few more of the Khaki Boys living to tell the tale of the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
It is only fair to say that the Turks played the game that their German masters forgot to do, they played the game all through. The Turk is a very cunning man; he knows how Trench warfare is fought. I don't think we could (teach) him anything about it and he can shoot very well, but is afraid of the bayonet.
So to take the Turk all round he has taught us to respect him for a fair and brave fighter, and a good bit better than the fat faced Germans who are driving them on to our trenches with their swords and revolvers, but we bear the Turks no malice for that."
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