The following are first hand quotes and diary extracts taken from Paul Allen's book 'Neath a foreign sky'
Extract:Gallipoli
A veteran of three years hard fighting with the Naval Division, Clarkson had initially enlisted during 1914 as an Ordinary Seaman in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and had served in 'A' Company of the Nelson Battalion. Also a former pupil of the new [1900] Scarborough Municipal School [1901-2], following training at Blandford [Dorset] Clarkson and the remainder of the 1ST Naval Brigade had embarked at Avonmouth in the Cunard Line's R.M.S. Franconia for service in the Middle East and eventually Gallipoli. During May 1915 Clarkson [by then a Petty Officer] had written a letter to his former school's Headmaster, Mr. Alfred S. Tetley, describing...
'We left England on March 1ST for Port Said. After 18 days there we moved to an island [Tresbukis Bay at the Greek Island of Skyros, where the poet Rupert Brooke had died on the 23RD of April 1915 from the effects of an infected mosquito bite], where we were until proceeding to Gallipoli... Our battalion landed at a point [Gaba Tepe, later to become known as 'Anzac Cove'] where Australians had done earlier in the week. The Colonials made a splendid job of landing, and much credit is due to them... We were in dugouts up to Sunday night, when we went right up to firing, and had an engagement after dawn the following morning... .We had fire from three sides, and naval guns were acting as our artillery. Unfortunately, I got knocked out quite early managing to get hit in the left arm. I'm now in hospital in Egypt. The English residents look well after us. We're quite cosmopolitan here. The doctors are Egyptian, the Sisters, French, the orderlies, Arabs; half the wounded are French, and most of the British are Colonials... . I expect to be ready to be sent back to base within a week now'...
Clarkson had returned to Gallipoli during May 1915. Landing at the southern tip of the Peninsular at Cape Helles; an account of his 'doings' during this period had eventually been included in 'The Scarborough Mercury' of Friday the 20TH of August under the banner of; 'Scarboro seaman at Dardanelles';
'We returned wounded had come from the base island in a trawler during the night and arrived off land here during the early hours of Sunday. Arriving at our next camp we found our battalion up in the trenches, and there we joined them late that day until the Tuesday night, when we were relieved. Although we were right in the firing line things were rather quiet at our point, though we were expecting an attack at any moment consequent upon an aerial report. Sniping is always going on, but in our trench the only thing they sniped was a periscope this time'...
Obviously never far from action, shortly, on the 4TH of June 1915, Clarkson had taken part in an operation later named as the 'Third Battle of Krithia', during which the R.N.D. had been given the task of capturing three lines of Turkish trenches. He describes;
'So off we went on our advance of between 300 and 400 yards. Shrapnel and rifle bullets ploughed the ground the whole way. Men dead and with terrible injuries had to be passed, and wounded crawling to holes made by shells for shelter, but we got there. I with about a dozen others was on the extreme left in a small piece of trench, separated from the rest owing to a shell having broken the trench down. There we had a busy firing encounter straight away with the Turks, whom we saw quite plainly in a trench eighty yards away Our artillery were firing in front of us and the bursting of the shells scorched our faces. It was wretched trench and we had to keep improving it and firing at the same time. The chap next to me was shot in the head and died straight away. These trenches stank with dead Turks, and those bodies left in the trench we threw over the parapet at dark. All night the watch was tense and from time to time we could hear the enemy's cries of 'Allah!' 'Allah'! At dawn we caught the enemy taking up a fresh position, and we were able to account for quite a batch'...
Extract: Egypt
After a short period of acclimatisation, where the men had been allowed to indulge in a little sightseeing and trinket buying the Commercials had got down to the business of defending the Suez Canal, Bilton says;
'For the few months that the Hull Brigade had been in Egypt life was both monotonous and at times very hard and taking the entries of the four battalions into account, of very little consequence. There were no Turks to fight or accidental killings or deaths to record as in the other battalions of the division, just the continual movement of one battalion from one place in the desert to somewhere else in the desert to relieve either one of the Hull battalions or a battalion from another brigade... [2]
[2] David Bilton; 'Hull Pals'; Pen and Sword Books Ltd, 1999.
Extract:East Africa
In general, a forgotten theatre of the Great War that had become more notorious for the huge numbers of military personnel that had become casualties due to sickness rather than enemy action, the conditions faced by Private Travis during the operations in East Africa can be gauged from the despatches of Lieutenant General The Honourable J.C. Smuts, Commander in Chief of the East African Force:
... 'The Mechanical Transport was in a seriously damaged condition in consequence of the strain of continuous work over appalling roads, or trackless country, and extensive repairs, for which there had been no time, were essential. The personnel of this Transport suffered, as did every other branch of the forces, from the same diseases as affected the fighting troops, and as men dropped out increasing strain was thrown on those able to keep going, until the loss of men threw scores of vehicles out of work. Anima diseases had wiped out horses, mules, and oxen by thousands, and it was necessary to replace this transport in some way or other before movement was possible. The strain upon all ranks of all units and services due to the steadily increasing effects of disease reached the limit which was endurable'... [2]
