"Over here!"
Happy Stevens of Palmerston North...why did I think of Palmerston North?...dashed up to us followed by a pair lugging an ammo box between them.
"Lieutenant Hubble is ashore and connected with Lieutenant Goodwood. They'll be up in a few moments, soon as they organize the beach party."
"You're Dan Elgin," I said.
He smiled. "Gisborne, Poverty Bay."
"I'd say we found poverty bay right here," O'Rourke said.
"And you're Spears," I said.
"By God, you remembered. Kaikoura, South Island."
"Sure, I remembered," I said, "Spears put the pack on your mule backward on Lemnos. Don't let him feed the ammo belts."
"Now, that's something to be remembered for," Spears said.
"Find yourselves cover. Don't go more than a few yards. Face the beach so any new troops heading uphill won't mistake you for Turks."
No sooner had I spoken than a new wave of men were quickly moving through us toward the front. I inquired. Things were no better on the beach. I could see why Stevens of Palmerston North was called Happy. He grinned as he caught sight of me and came in with Jeremy and Chester on his heels. They tucked in with me.
"My boat was a mess," Jeremy huffed. "We got caught on a sand spit, had to wade in from chest high. Lost three men and several reels of wire. Chester said Johnny Tarbox didn't make it."
"He's gone."
"Beach is under control," Jeremy said. "We've stacked the barbed-wire reels up against a little knoll. It should be safe. Rest of the platoon knows where to dig in. Right now, they're trying to get the wounded back to the hospitalship."
I nodded.
"Well so much for naval gunfire obliterating the Turks," Jeremy said. "I can't locate us on the map."
"Neither can I," I said, "and I don't see any place here to set up a paddock."
"Look!" O'Rourke cried, pointing uphill.
Coming over the rise above us, the walking wounded dragged their way back from the front. Litters holding the more seriously wounded were being hauled by two to four men, most of the walking wounded helping someone or trying to carry a part of the stretchers.
I flagged down a captain, arm shattered at the elbow.
"Give us a drink," he gasped.
"Can you talk?" Jeremy asked.
"Captain Huddleson, C Company, Otagos...what's left of it...over this ridge there's a deep gully, then a real high hill...it's not on the bloody map...can't see it from here...but you won't miss it. The Turks are dug in with a sweep of the entire field...they're kicking the shit out of us...."
He began to tremble and his eyes rolled back in his head. Huddleson mumbled he had to get his men to safety. We tried to calm him, assure him they would make the beach safety. Up ahead, a dead man was rolled off a stretcher. O'Rourke brought the litter to us and we set the Captain on it.
About twenty yards uphill was a nice big boulder. The view of things would be better from there. "Let's go upstairs and take a look. O'Rourke!"
"Here!"
"Come up to that rock with us! Happy Stevens of Palmerston North!"
"Yo!"
"You're in charge of the machine gun. Sit tight. Do not help with the wounded unless they fall on you!"
"Yo!"
One by one we made the sprint to the boulder and tucked in, our backs uphill to the front lines. The view to the coastline from here was better. While we studied it through our field glasses, wounded still poured down from the front and newly landed troops were passing through them on their way up.
"North," Jeremy said. "They've landed us north of Brighton Beach."
"North," Chester agreed. "We're more than a mile from where we should be. Down there is the Plain of Maidos. We're supposed to be crossing it."
"Jesus Christ," I muttered. "We're going right into the jaws of the Turkish defenses. We might be heading right into Chunuk Bair."
"Damn!" Jeremy cried. "First the naval gunfire draws a nil and now this. Isn't anybody talking to anybody in our command?"
"Hell, don't worry, it's only the first day," Chester said.
"Fucking funny."
"Well, I guess I'd better find us a paddock," I said. "Right off the beach over there starts up with gullies and ravines. Chester, want to keep me company?"
"I'm coming, too," Jeremy said.
"You're the one they sent to beach master school with Johnny. You better get back there and give some direction to the incoming boats and get those fucking piers lashed up."
"Are you giving me orders?" Jeremy demanded.
"Yes," Chester said. "It's your beach, Jeremy. We'll find the stables."
Jeremy grumbled acquiescence.
"We all want to go up the hill and fight Turks," I said, "but on the other hand, we seem to be the only ones here who know what the hell we're doing. I'm taking the machine-gun squad with us. If we can locate a paddock by, say, 0330, I'll send one of the men back to you. Get as many men and barbed-wire reels up to me as you can. If we go past 0400, we'll have to dig in for the night."
"Do you have flares?"
"I've got a pair. No time to look for more."
"There's a meltrami blowing," Chester said. "Look, a reverse wind. Everything in the sea is being pushed north. We'll be scouting that region over there." He pointed. "We'll try to stay within a couple of hundred yards of the beach."
"See you later or first thing in the morning," Jeremy said, and turned for the beach. A man with a leg wound was on his knees. Jeremy pulled him up and put an arm over his shoulder to help him.
I brought my lads together. "We're hunting for a gully or ravine north by east, say at twenty degrees to forty degrees, or like one o'clock if that knob of land is noon. I'll move in twenty-yard bursts, more or less. Chester is always in sight at my rear. You are twenty yards behind."
It was the most fucking miserable day of my life. No one had warned us that the sun shot the temperature up over a hundred degrees, even in the springtime. There wasn't much in the way of firefights, but the day was spent crawling on our bellies. We must have been in a line of fire from Chunuk Bair into what was supposed to be Brighton Beach. Shit! Had we landed on the true Brighton, we'd be beyond their fire.
I couldn't go too fast because the lads behind me were packing a fair load. I wanted to drop my jacket but the rock and underbrush would have ripped my flesh to pieces.
At one time or another we all came close to fainting from the heat. I had to keep telling them, "Easy on the water, lads, easy on the water."
Each gully was either in Turkish gun sights or had a ridge sticking up in the air exposing us to the skyline.
SHIT, NO! GODDAMN SONOFABITCH!.
We were huddled in safe shade when our entire field started blowing apart! Our own destroyers were shooting us up. As we scattered for better cover I saw O'Rourke go...in God only knows how many pieces.
It seemed like a year before the assholes stepped their fire farther up the hill.
It was closing in on our witching hour. One more exposed hillside to crawl, our fourth gully. Either this would be the one or we'd have to call it a day.
Lord! It was almost like looking at the Promised Land from across the River Jordan. The gully below took a weird U-shaped turn with the end of it running down to the beach at an off-angle. We gathered up and counted shells landing in the area. Only one in five minutes, that was off the side walls. We could live with that.
"Happy."
"Yo."
"It's too late to set the barbed wire down, but get down to the beach and tell Hubble where we're at. He's to be here at the crack of."
It ran through my mind that we could all go back, but I didn't like the top of the ravine. It was too wide open. Hell...I don't know. I didn't like it that there were none of our troops above us here...the Turks could just maybe slip into the ravine....
"Take off, Happy."
"Elgin, Spears, Chester. I like that indent about halfway up the ravine wall. Let's set up the machine gun there."
How in the hell with all those thousands of men shooting millions of rounds did anyone leave this ravine open? We set up the machine gun so that if anyone came into the middle of the ravine we'd catch them broadside.
I got a craving feeling in my stomach. I was hungry. We hadn't eaten for over twenty hours. I'd heard bitching about the rations, but on this very day nothing ever tasted so good. That would change over time.
As the firing went from dusk into darkness we moved to get a better look at the sea. There seemed to be more chaos than ever. I didn't like the looks of the water. It was filled with bobbing bodies.
Elgin and Spears were on the gun. Chester and I had our first minutes to reflect. I found a leaning rock, put my back against it, and directed abuse at myself. I hadn't made myself very proud this day.
"Forget it," Chester said, reading my mind.
"I didn't know myself," I whispered.
"And I didn't have Johnny Tarbox's brains and blood all over me. You were back in control within a minute."
"That's not what I mean, Chester. Not that I haven't been scared in my life. The worst fear I'd known before today was realizing I'd never see Georgia again. But I was totally frozen in terror when Johnny got hit. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. Jesus, I didn't know anything like this existed."
And I was going to take care of Chester today, make certain he didn't become freaky. He went through the day like a Sunday stroll in the botanical gardens.
"You've known the kind of fear I felt today, haven't you?" I asked.
"Yes."
"What happened to you?"
"It's just the way your life turns out, sometimes."
"What can you do about it, Chester?"
"Recognize that from this day on, the monster is sitting on our shoulder all the time. It can strike a hundred times, never twice the same way. It's worse when you pretend it's not there. Recognize it! Know it the instant that flush of terror paralyzes you and, at that same instant, say, 'Hello friend, it's you again...you sure scare the shit out of me but you can't stop me from thinking or moving.' You'll get plenty of practice."
I took Johnny's wallet. There was a picture of him and his old man. He loved his dad. Thought about him after. The photograph of his mother was so old and faded I couldn't make much of it. He never got a letter from her.
I'd made a basic mistake about Chester. Never judge courage from the size of a man. Won't make that mistake again. Bloody giant, that kid was.
We went to Spears and Elgin. "Two up and two down," I said. "You take the first watch. See if you can stay awake for two hours. If not, wake us up. If you have to talk, talk with your lips on each other's ear. No fucking noise, lads."
Chester and I found a bit of softer ground a few yards away. We were nearly asleep when some short rounds of artillery fell close to us. We could feel the heat and waves of the blast and a kick of dirt.
"Mind if I curl up with you?" Chester asked.
"My pleasure."
"If you feel an erection," he said, "don't take it personally. It only means I have to pee."
"Well, you'll get no hard-on from me this night," I retorted.
After a time.
"You know what?"
"What?"
"It's my birthday," Chester said.
"What the hell. I had mine a week ago. I turned twenty-one. My old man can't get me back now. How old are you anyhow, Chester?"
"Truth?"
"Doesn't make any difference out here."
"I'm turning seventeen."
I put my hand over Chester's mouth and watched his eyes open. What a kid! He wasn't even alarmed. I put my mouth around his ear. "Turks," I said. "They came over the ridge and are down in middle of the gully. Elgin's at the trigger. I'm putting up a flare in about thirty seconds."
I rolled away from him and put a flare into the Very pistol. There was almost no noise below. The Turks must be wearing rags over their shoes. There! A little snap of brush...I want them in just a little deeper...just a little...
I aimed for the opposite wall of the gully so we could light them up without being seen ourselves. The sound of the cartridge arcing out brought quick, loud whispers from the Turks. THERE! Night to day! They were caught and frozen in the white brilliance...trapped. The dummies were bunched up.
"Go!"