Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-05-06

} Indian marine cruise. Ezydiage, and
here was GUY 1r.t evidence Of there hav-
Ing BEEN agit, tor her funnel WAS gone
ali Ike way down one side, and the ether
side was r5ddls3 with bullets and her
br.dgs gone. q. course ships in the canal
pass within Z few feet Of each other, 50
We could ZEE everything. Her captain
and plIo.. who we're CT the bridge z, the
tine. were killed. and about Is Others
were wounded.
From this time On We passed several
1srzhipz. and troops were On both sides
Q! the canal. We amused ourselves By
throwing tins Of cigarettes on, 70 them.
We cleared all the cigarettes from the
tar.
An this time We were going q, eight
miles an hour. which is three miles more
than the speed Limit, 90 it was eT.aen,
that they wanted 70 get Us through the
canal az quickly as possible
AT the E,rh nile the men in the
trenches told us that they had been en-
gagged with the Enemy or the previous
Gay. am that the Turks were Row abou,
eight niles Of. I went up On the deck
and saw troops in the distance, but could
4zc% EGG e14SllSt I!4Ss were or rO--
FROM the End mile the banks Of the
canal are high and 1 could not see any
great distance, except between occasional
gays.
But at the 18th mile / saw dead
horse, BALI On the bank and half in the
water, and a little farther dead camel.
Then the excitement began. First one
dead Turk was seen, then two, then a
batch q seven or eight, and at the 18th
mile, crowd Of them, with number Of
broken small boats, fun Of dead, simply
smashed to pieces. some hanging over
the side with a leg gone, others wtthou,
an arm. and Some you could not recog-
nize al men at all. Just here the banks
are quite high. but they slope down 70
the water. and on these slopes were dead
Turks In all sorts Of positions. Some hal
fallen with their heads and shoulders
Just in the water. I climbed UP in the
rigging to see what was over the top O.
the bank, and there / saw almost hun
dredg
1t appeared that the Turks were seen
coming. and the warships in the canal
allowed them to throw pontoon across.
When they were all gathered at this spo,
the warships let fly. They had to retire
after losing several Of their guns. This
place was Kintara, few miles from the
Bitter Lakes. The battle occurred on
the previous day.
4On arrival at the Lakes we anchored
for the night with all lights out and
among about 90 other ships.
Fighting was going on all night 2
thought We should be held up in the
Lakes, but we started Off the next morn
ing. with our bridge and deck protected
by sand bags.
From here to Suez we passed camp
after camp Of soldiers. Most of them
had been in action. The Turks were
about eight miles away.
"A little further on we heard the gins
and saw the British troops moving off to
the attack. The battle was quite a dis
lance inland. / could see the smoke
from the guns through my glasses.
There were some low sandhiIls about
five miles away, and could see men ON
this ridge. The British had several
thousand men and six guns marching
over the fiat ground for this ridge.
I don't suppose many people have
had or will have the chance that we
had to go straight through the middle of
a battlefield. before they have even had
a chance to bury the dead. The effect OF
these naval guns must be awful, and
from the curious position Of the killed
they must have been dead almost before
they reached the ground. Occasionally
you would notice a man who appeared
to have struggled, but most lay evidently
where they FELL"