y the 5th Battalion Royal Scots have received the highest praise
from General Hunter-Weston for their brilliant work. They have three
times retaken trenches from the Turks that had been lost by our
Regulars. This is the only Territorial Battalion in the whole of our
Division, and was looked on by the others as our one weak point. Their
Lt-Col. (Wilson) received the D.S.O. from His Majesty by cable the day
after he was recommended.

_Later._--The French captured five lines of trenches, a large concrete
redoubt, and possibly a battery, but there is some doubt about this
last. All are greatly satisfied at the result, although the cost to
the French was very heavy. A great number of Turks are said to have
been slaughtered and a large number taken prisoners, but so far I have
heard no exact figures.

_Still Later._--The French casualties are placed at 3000 and they are
said to have taken that number of prisoners, but as a man said to me,
"Where are they then, they must have buried them?" General
Hunter-Weston, I was told, "is as proud as a dog with two tails over
the French success".

A Taube visited us early and one of our biplanes gave chase and is
said to have winged it, as it was seen to descend behind Achi Baba,
while our airmen dropped bombs on it. I watched the chase as the two
circled about. While the chase was in progress a second Taube
appeared, and the coast being clear it flew round us and dropped a
couple of bombs.

Yesterday I passed in The Gully what remained of the Dublin
Fusiliers--less than a company. They were parading in their gas
respirators, their M.O. lecturing them, and saying that if a rifle is
a soldier's best friend, his respirator should come next. We are all
provided with these.

A strange occurrence happened the other day at W. Beach, when I was up
The Gully. A figure appeared over the sky line in petticoats, as it
was thought. Our men began yelling "A wuman, a wuman," and all tore
out to see what they had not seen for months. Lieut. Thomson and
Corporal Morrice were the most excited. These two have not yet got
over their disappointment on discovering this was an Egyptian--and a
male one--in a long coat.

_June 24th._--Whyte left us to-day on sick leave. There is a proposal
that the rest of us should get short leave--four days to Lemnos.

I have just had a visit from a couple of Senegalese--French troops.
They were going through our camp, grinning as only a nigger can, our
men making