April's Item of the month has just been posted. It examines a postcard and diary kept by Engineer Jesse Garton, crew of one of the landing craft that took Indian and Australian soldiers to the beaches of Gallipoli in April 1915. Jesse's diary is an eye witness account of the landings, full of references to the progress of the Australian troops, everyone being soaked by the spray of near misses, co-ordination between spotter balloons, aircraft and the battleships trying to reduce the Turkish forts, and submarine scares (the last turning out to be an upturned boat...). On 15 May it records the news heard over the wireless of the sinking of the
Lusitania. Jesse also sent his mother a postcard where he cheerily remarks '
Just going up the Dardanelles with the troops'. Considering the censorship of the post, it's amazing the postcard actually found its way to Jesse's mum in Sydenham... Take up the story with
April's item of the month.
Martin