Written in 1965, and featured in 'The Sea Horse', my school magazine, in 1966. This was as it was written then. Mistakes with the regiments , apart from the Lancashire Fusiliers. Tittle of the updated story: Gallipoli 1915 (Lancashire landings)
It all started early one cold morning in 1915. All the men were in tramp steamers, coal ships, and pleasure boats, and at the same time the A.N.Z.A.C.S. were landing at Gallipoli, also going to fight the Turks. When they started to leave the ships in dinghies they were blown off course by the wind. One of the men in these dinghies was a Private Joe Williams, who was batman to a Captain Wilson. As they neared the beach, they realized to their horror that they would have to climb a hundred foot cliff. Then suddenly a machine gun opened fire and two men were shot dead. Pte. Williams felt sick. They were only a few yards from the beach when they were ordered to jump out and run for it. As they were running through the water men fell dead all about him, but he jumped over the bodies and when he reached the shore he fell flat to get out of the fire. When the Captain came up he told them to crawl to the cliff and knock out the machine gun post. So they started crawling. Bullets bounced all round them. When they reached the bottom of the cliff they checked their ammunition and made up some home-made grenades, and they they started climbing.
They seemed to be making good progress until they were about a quarter of the way up to the machine gun post. Then several explosions were heard and two men seemed to fall apart. They knew it was shell fire but they did not know where it was coming from. They kept on climbing and by now they were just under the machine-gun post, and the Captain told them to pass up the hand grenades. When they were in the hands of the Captain he lit the fuse and lobbed a grenade at the post. They threw another two and then they went inside. Two Turks were still unhurt. One of them shot at the soldiers who had just climbed in. One man fell down dead. The Captain shot the Turk with his revolver. The other Turk threw down his gun. Two men took the Turk down to the ship to be interrogated.
They looked at the bodies of the other Turks and they found two more badly wounded. They bandaged them up as well as they could. Then they looked out to see what was aiming at them. They saw, to their horror, that their own ships had been firing at them. They sent out a message saying who they were, then continued climbing up the rest of the cliff. When they reached the top, two men were shot dead, then they rushed for the enemy trench. A fierce fight took place. Hand grenades were thrown. The Turks were beaten and the prisoners were taken down. By now it was light. They waited for some reinforcements to come and when they arrived it was nearly dark again, they had been waiting all day. During this time the Captain had taken out a reconnaissance party. When they were only 50 feet way from another enemy trench, the enemy opened fire. The Captain told them to make their own way back. When they got back they found that the Captain had not returned. They waited with the reinforcements till morning. Then they looked out and saw a man who was trapped in a group of bushes which had caught light. Pte. Williams got out of the trench and ran over to the man and took him back, but on the way the Pte. was hit in the arm. When they returned they went to the hospital ship. The Captain did not live long. After only a few months the whole invading force retreated, but many thousands of men did not sail back with them, men like Captain Wilson.
K. Williams 2.13
This I wrote when I was 13. With out the help of two mats in class , the story would have remained in side my head. The reasons most of you know by now.
The Dyslexic Poet
Ken D Williams
Short story by ken d williams
Read 789 times
Written on 2010-03-07 at 10:40
Save as a bookmark (requires login)
Write a comment (requires login)
Send as email (requires login)
Print text
The Lancashire Landings 1915
This is a true story about a landing which happened in 1915 during the First World War. All the regiments in this landing came from Lancashire and they were the Lancashire Fusiliers, The Manchesters, the Liverpool Regiment and other famous Lancashire Regiments.It all started early one cold morning in 1915. All the men were in tramp steamers, coal ships, and pleasure boats, and at the same time the A.N.Z.A.C.S. were landing at Gallipoli, also going to fight the Turks. When they started to leave the ships in dinghies they were blown off course by the wind. One of the men in these dinghies was a Private Joe Williams, who was batman to a Captain Wilson. As they neared the beach, they realized to their horror that they would have to climb a hundred foot cliff. Then suddenly a machine gun opened fire and two men were shot dead. Pte. Williams felt sick. They were only a few yards from the beach when they were ordered to jump out and run for it. As they were running through the water men fell dead all about him, but he jumped over the bodies and when he reached the shore he fell flat to get out of the fire. When the Captain came up he told them to crawl to the cliff and knock out the machine gun post. So they started crawling. Bullets bounced all round them. When they reached the bottom of the cliff they checked their ammunition and made up some home-made grenades, and they they started climbing.
They seemed to be making good progress until they were about a quarter of the way up to the machine gun post. Then several explosions were heard and two men seemed to fall apart. They knew it was shell fire but they did not know where it was coming from. They kept on climbing and by now they were just under the machine-gun post, and the Captain told them to pass up the hand grenades. When they were in the hands of the Captain he lit the fuse and lobbed a grenade at the post. They threw another two and then they went inside. Two Turks were still unhurt. One of them shot at the soldiers who had just climbed in. One man fell down dead. The Captain shot the Turk with his revolver. The other Turk threw down his gun. Two men took the Turk down to the ship to be interrogated.
They looked at the bodies of the other Turks and they found two more badly wounded. They bandaged them up as well as they could. Then they looked out to see what was aiming at them. They saw, to their horror, that their own ships had been firing at them. They sent out a message saying who they were, then continued climbing up the rest of the cliff. When they reached the top, two men were shot dead, then they rushed for the enemy trench. A fierce fight took place. Hand grenades were thrown. The Turks were beaten and the prisoners were taken down. By now it was light. They waited for some reinforcements to come and when they arrived it was nearly dark again, they had been waiting all day. During this time the Captain had taken out a reconnaissance party. When they were only 50 feet way from another enemy trench, the enemy opened fire. The Captain told them to make their own way back. When they got back they found that the Captain had not returned. They waited with the reinforcements till morning. Then they looked out and saw a man who was trapped in a group of bushes which had caught light. Pte. Williams got out of the trench and ran over to the man and took him back, but on the way the Pte. was hit in the arm. When they returned they went to the hospital ship. The Captain did not live long. After only a few months the whole invading force retreated, but many thousands of men did not sail back with them, men like Captain Wilson.
K. Williams 2.13
This I wrote when I was 13. With out the help of two mats in class , the story would have remained in side my head. The reasons most of you know by now.
The Dyslexic Poet
Ken D Williams
Short story by ken d williams
Read 789 times
Written on 2010-03-07 at 10:40
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
