MAY 24th 1915
Gallipoli: Day 30
My dearest, resplendent Elsie,
I must admit, I am struggling here on Gallipoli. I hardly know which way is up at the moment, my head isn't in a good place.
But, in true Clancy form, (as Dad would say), I'm keeping my spirits high and making the boys laugh as often as I can.
Oh Elsie, I'm missing home. I'm missing the horses, the footy, the cricket, my family and oh how I miss you. I miss not being able to laugh with you and talk to you. I just miss you.
It's very, very hot here on the peninsula and I can't describe the sights and smells we are dealing with at the moment.
The boys are getting fidgety, we haven't done a whole lot yet but so many people have died. I don't understand.
I haven't been feeling too flash over the past couple of days, Ned hasn't either. The other boys are calling it the Turkey Trots, apparently it's from eating the tinned beef but what would we know?
I do hope you're well, and that your mind is busy dreaming of beautiful things. Is the hospital busy at the moment? We haven't had a big push for a couple of weeks so the patient list must be dropping right?
Ned and Tom are out searching for rations and empty jam and Bully beef tins so we can make jam tin bombs. We've run out of ammunition so we've taken to building our own. I'm writing to you while I wait for more tins.
I guess the world will realise how awfully it is treating its boys, eventually.
Write to you soon, all my love, always,
Clancy Taylor.
-
We can hardly see straight. Our heads are dropping with every slight lift of the arm, from absolute exhaustion. I lied in the letter, the guns have only just silenced after our night long fight against Johnny Turk. They are trying to reclaim the Anzac Cove beachhead and they failed miserably.
Their bloated bodies are now lying in no-man's-land, churning our already upset stomachs and bringing tears to our eyes.
Our trenches are only about 20 metres apart in some spots. We can hear them talking and singing, we don't understand them but it sends chills down our spines.
"Gather round Gentlemen." Our tired eyes focus on Sergeant Williams, I have to blink a few times to concentrate.
"The Turkish officers and our officers have come to the conclusion that this weather and the conditions we are in, are not doing anyone any good, so we've called a 24 hour armistice to, I suppose, clean up." Sergeant Williams smiles at our raised eyebrows.
"I need a couple of you to go over the top to confront them." Captain Lewis says.
"I'll go." I announce groggily.
"No you will not! Put your bloody hand down." Ned punches my shoulder.
"Good on you Private Taylor, anyone want to go with him?" Lewis questions.
There's a silence.
No one is sure.
Is this fair dinkum?
"I'll go, I can't believe you Clancy, I seriously can't." Ned shakes his head and pushes me up the ladder.
I gasp at the sight before me and I shut my eyes, hoping that when I open them it'll be gone, but the carnage still lies before me.
"Ya right?" Ned furrows his eyebrows and I nod, hauling my legs into the blood stained dirt.
"Makes your eyes water." Ned wipes his eyes, trying to be brave as we stare at the bodies. I swallow the lump in my throat and whistle out.
Two Turks pop their heads over the wall of their trench.
"AUSTRALIA!" They wave and clamber over. The two stare at Ned and I for a moment, it takes them a couple of seconds to realise we are twins.
"Ikizler.*" One says and the other agrees.
"Sizin isimleriniz ne*?" One asks politely.
Ned and I cock an eyebrows in confusion, this is going to be harder than we think.
"We don't understand you mate, we don't know Turkish." I inform.
"Anlamıyorlar*." One sighs.
"My name is Ates, and this is my friend Demir." The tall dark eyed one grins, his teeth showing. The shorter one copies.
"I'm Ned and this is Clancy." We put out our hands and we exchange handshakes.
"Daha önce hiç bir çift ikiz görmedim." Demir says, an astonished look on his face.
"Demir knows next to no English, he says he has never seen a pair of twins before." Ates explains.
"Oh, well we're identical as you can tell." I laugh, Ates laughs too.
"It is rare to have twins in our country and our town hasn't seen a set for many years." Ates says.
"It's revolting out here, should we get to work?" I suggest, bending down to the boy at our feet, his eye stare back at me.
"Yes, korkunç*, we shall sift through the bodies, ANZAC on the left, Turkish to the right." Ates explains what he has said to Demir before sending him back to the trench to get their soldiers, I send Ned to do the same.
"I apologise on behalf of the allies, for invading your country, it was wrong, this whole war is wrong." I say, lighting a cigarette and offering one to Ates.
He takes a long drag and sighs.
"Bu savaş herşeyi çaldı, this war has stolen everything, but it isn't your fault, so you have no need to apologise, I'm not going to apologise on behalf of the Ottoman Empire for killing your friends, War doesn't work like that, but I think we should apologise to each other for scaring our minds, for giving each other nightmares and for putting ourselves through battle, human souls aren't made for battle, but you Australians certainly know what you're doing." He explains, passionately.
I laugh, we have no idea.
"We like to think we know what we're doing, we're just being bossed around by the POM's." I chuckle, Ates laughs along with me.
We stand in silence for a while, just thinking about nothing in particular. Just enjoying each other's company.
It is nice to have a new friend.
•TELGRAM•
Arthur, the Turks aren't bad people, love Clancy
-
Ikizler : English
Sizin isimleriniz ne: what are your names?
Anlamıyorlar: they do not understand
korkunç: terrible
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