ver Pasha, or rather Enver Bey as he then was, the enemy marked the
occasion by making a most determined attack. The brunt of it fell upon
the 29th Division.

We who were in support were awakened before daybreak by continuous
artillery and rifle fire which ominously increased in volume. At 4.30
a.m. the Battalion was ordered to hold itself in readiness to proceed in
support of the 29th Division. Breakfasts were hurried on and an extra 50
rounds of ammunition was issued to each man.

Our position came under the enemy's shell-fire, and we were heartened by
the very spirited reply put up by our artillery, particularly "L"
Battery R.H.A., of Mons and Le Cateau fame, firing from our immediate
left front.

Walking wounded from the firing-line began to pass through our trenches.
From these we learned that the attack was being well held, and that the
Turkish infantry coming on with fanatical shouts of "Allah, Allah!" was
being mowed down by rifle and machine-gun fire.

The enemy realised his defeat, and about 9 a.m. the firing died away.

During the morning two of our men were wounded, one by a spent bullet,
the other by shrapnel. Later on in the day the Battalion was ordered
forward for an instructional spell in the front trenches.

Guides from the 29th Division arrived before dusk and at nightfall we
set off, moving in column of route as far as Fig Tree Farm. From thence
we passed in file up the Eastern Mule Track and through a labyrinth of
trenches to a ruined cottage near Twelve Tree Copse. This was the
Headquarters of the 87th Brigade, and here the Battalion was split up,
"A" Company going to the trenches of the 1st Battalion Dublin Fusiliers,
"B" to the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, and "C" to the 1st Munsters.

Battalion Headquarters and "D" Company were stowed away in the reserve
trenches. All these battalions had suffered very severely since the
historic landing on April 25th. The Munsters, for instance, had not more
than a hundred of their original men left.

About this time the Turks were evidently apprehensive of an attack, and
made the night hideous by prolonged bursts of rapid musketry fire. Our
introduction to the front trenches was therefore a fairly lively one.

Here we first encountered some of the gruesome spectacles incidental to
this style of warfare. Such sights as the withered hand of a Turk
sticking out from the parapet of a communication trench, or the boots of
a hastily buried soldier projecting from h