12 May 1915

HELLES - Second Lieutenant Arthur Behrend, 1/4th East Lancashire Regiment, 126th Brigade, 42nd Division - At dusk the shelling had apparently ceased, and I went along the trench to battalion headquarters to talk to the Adjutant. They were situated in a ruined cottage known as the Brown House, and while he and I were standing in the little garden at the back an unexpected shell bust in the midst of a group of orderlies a dozen yards away, and I have a sharp picture lit by the glare of the bursting shell, of the cracked walls of the Brown House and of men throwing up arms to shield their faces.

Gradually the Helles campaign took on the character of trench warfare. Second Lieutenant Arthur Behrend recalled a typical incident.

"The morning and afternoon passed without incident. After tea we were lightly shelled; we crouched in our dugouts wondering why our artillery didn't reply and if the next one would come any nearer. The ground shook and trembled; showers of earth , or 'nast' as the men called it, trickled down my neck. There were no casualties in my platoon. At dusk the shelling had apparently ceased, and I went along the trench to battalion headquarters to talk to the Adjutant. They were situated in a ruined cottage known as the Brown House, and while he and I were standing in the little garden at the back an unexpected shell bust in the midst of a group of orderlies a dozen yards away, and I have a sharp picture lit by the glare of the bursting shell, of the cracked walls of the Brown House and of men throwing up arms to shield their faces. I found myself on the ground, but whether I was knocked down by the blast or if it was merely that my knees gave way I cannot say."

 

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SOURCE: A. Behrend, Make me a Soldier, (London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1961), pp72-73