rising tier above tier on the
opposite hillsides indicated how difficult would be the task should a
further advance be ordered. The observers on Nos. 2 and 3 Posts mostly
concentrated their attention on the ground in the vicinity of the
Pinnacle. From there a sniper was taking shots at any object which
appeared above our parapets or at a loophole. Very rapid and accurate as
he was, it was soon found that a certain amount of skill was required to
camouflage and look through a periscope without having one's eyes
destroyed with broken glass. A small Union Jack, mounted on a stick less
than half an inch in diameter, was cut down at the sniper's first
attempt.

In No-man's Land, in front of the two posts mentioned, could be seen the
remains of a trench dug by the New Zealanders in their August advance.
This they had been compelled to abandon together with their dead
comrades who lay about, still unburied, rapidly decomposing in the sun
which yet retained the strength of summer. Picks, shovels, rifles and
equipment also littered the landscape. Within our own area there were
likewise grim reminders of the fight. Here and there a limb protruded
through the wall of a newly cut trench, whilst in other places a piece
of biscuit box, or a rifle stuck into the earth muzzle down, both
bearing a name written in indelible pencil, indicated the last resting
place of some fallen comrade.

From No. 4 Post the observer could look down on "The Farm." This was a
spot on the side of Chunuk Bair at the head of the Aghyl Dere, and had
formerly been cultivated. Now the Turk had commenced to entrench across
it, and was apparently working on it under cover of darkness. Beyond, to
the north, running up over the ridge (Kiretch Tepe Sirt) which bordered
the Gulf of Xeros, could be seen the whole of the line held by the 54th
Division and IX. Corps. The principal features were Hill 60 (Kaijak
Aghala), W Hills (Ismail Oglu Tepe), the village of Anafarta Sagir,
Chocolate Hill, the salt lake near Suvla Bay, and the bay itself with
the hill Lala Baba on its southern side.

The support of the Royal Navy was further manifested by the presence in
the Bay, behind the IX. Corps, of a cruiser and some smaller craft. From
one of these a sausage-shaped balloon occasionally ascended some few
hundred feet and afforded observation of the enemy's rear lines. A
glance down the ravine of the Chailak, between Bauchop's Hill and Table
Top, revealed H.M.S. "Grafton," a