boat's
rail.

AT WORK ON THE PENINSULA

Casualties began to come in pretty freely, so that our tent was soon
filled. We now commenced making dug-outs in the side of the gully and
placing the men in these. Meantime stores of all kinds were being
accumulated on the beach--stacks of biscuits, cheese and preserved
beef, all of the best. One particular kind of biscuit, known as the
"forty-niners," had forty-nine holes in it, was believed to take
forty-nine years to bake, and needed forty-nine chews to a bite. But
there were also beautiful hams and preserved vegetables, and with
these and a tube of Oxo a very palatable soup could be prepared. A
well-known firm in England puts up a tin which they term an Army
Ration, consisting of meat and vegetables, nicely seasoned and very
palatable. For a time this ration was eagerly looked for and
appreciated, but later on, when the men began to get stale, it did not
agree with them so well; it appeared to be too rich for many of us. We
had plenty of jam, of a kind--one kind. Oh! how we used to revile the
maker of "Damson and Apple'!" The damson coloured it, and whatever
they used for apple gave it body.

One thing was good all the time, and that was the tea. The brand never
wavered, and the flavour was always full. Maynard could always make a
good cup of it. It has been already mentioned that water was not at
first available on shore. This was soon overcome, thanks to the Navy.
They convoyed water barges from somewhere, which they placed along
shore; the water was then pumped into our water carts, and the men
filled their water-bottles from them. The water, however, never
appeared to quench our thirst. It was always better made up into tea,
or taken with lime juice when we could get it.

Tobacco, cigarettes and matches were on issue, but the tobacco was of
too light a brand for me, so that Walkley used to trade off my share
of the pernicious weed for matches. The latter became a precious
commodity. I have seen three men light their pipes from one match.
Captain Welch was very independent; he had a burning glass, and
obtained his light from the sun. After a few days the R.M.L.I. were
ordered away, and we were directed to take up their position on the
beach. A place for operating was prepared by putting sandbags at
either end, the roof being formed by planks covered with sandbags and
loose earth. Stanchions of 4 x 4 in. timber were driven into the
ground, with crosspieces at