The Dardanelles Conspiracy by Alan Bardos (best ereader for pc TXT) 📗

any news on covers for the men’s rifles?’ Willis called to a hard faced Captain striding towards them at full pelt. ‘They are still getting jammed in the sand.’

‘I’m afraid not, Willis, I’ll let you know when I hear something.’ The Captain looked at Johnny. ‘So this is where you’ve been skulking, Swift. Why the hell didn’t you report to me once the exercise had finished?’

‘I was just on my way to find you, sir,’ Johnny said. Captain Cuthbert Bromley was the regiment’s adjutant and to ensure Johnny earned his keep had made him his deputy.

‘Yes, so it would seem, swilling rum and playing up the war hero. I understand you were late cutting the wire. You weren’t issued with cutters so you could manicure your nails.’

‘Yes, sir, but the men –’ Johnny began to protest and was silenced with a stern look from the adjutant.

‘Have you even organised transport back to the ship?’

‘No, was I supposed to?’ Johnny asked. Bromley had shouted a lot of orders at him before the exercise.

Bromley’s face contorted with rage. ‘Good God man, who else is going to do it?’

‘I assumed you would, sir,’ Johnny said, the rum making him reckless.

‘You did what?’ Bromley was a former PT instructor and even by the army’s standards a forceful character. Johnny thought it better not to antagonise him any further.

‘I’m sorry, Captain Bromley, it must have slipped my mind. I’ll organise one of the signallers to contact the ship.’

‘The fleet is due to leave at 17:30 and I swear Swift if you make us late I’ll swing for you.’

‘Boil where the hell are you?’ Johnny turned shouting for the HQ signaller.

‘Excuse me Mr Swift the boats are waiting to take the battalion back to the ship.’ A melancholy Welsh voice cut into Johnny’s panic.

‘What?’ Johnny asked looking at Williams, ‘what are you talking about?’

‘I’ve organised transport.’ Williams replied.

Johnny gave Williams a relieved wink and turned back to Bromley, ‘sorry sir, I instructed my servant to organise the boats.’

‘Very good, carry on Williams.’ Bromley, pulled Johnny aside. ‘We’re going to war Swift. Get your act together man.’

Johnny followed the officers of the Lancashire Fusiliers into the stateroom of their transport ship and waited for the briefing to start. He saw Crassus strut past with the officers of the Royal Fusiliers. Johnny waved, but Crassus’s response was lost with the arrival of Brigadier General Hare, the commander of the 86th Brigade and his second in command Brigade Major Franklin.

‘Gentlemen, I come from a conference with General Hamilton and it now falls on me to brief you. Tomorrow we assault the Gallipoli peninsula,’ Hare announced to the hushed room. He took a swagger stick out from under his arm and signalled to Franklin, who placed a large map of the Gallipoli peninsula onto an easel.

‘The landings will be a pincer movement designed to envelop the enemy force in the south of the peninsula. The Australian and New Zealand Corps will make up the first pincer, landing in the northwest around Gaba Tepe; codenamed Z beach.’ He pointed at a slight bulge in the coast at the middle of the Gallipoli peninsula. ‘They will then seize the mountain range at the centre of Gallipoli, cutting it in two.

‘Meanwhile the 29th Division will land at Cape Helles, in the second pincer.’ Hare hit the bottom of the peninsula with the swagger stick and then faced the assembled officers. ‘Our brigade will have the honour of covering the landings for the entire Division.’

A cheer erupted around the room and Johnny was swept up in the enthusiasm, glad to be part of something again. Hare held his hands up for them to be silent and then continued.

‘The brigade will be split between three adjacent landing sites. The Royal Fusiliers will land at the western side of Cape Helles, at X Beach.’ Hare indicated a thin strip of land on the bottom left hand side of the peninsula, behind a jutting piece of land marked as Tekke Burnu, the most western point of Helles. Hare moved his swagger stick to a small inlet next to Tekke Burnu, surrounded by overhanging cliffs. ‘The Lancashire Fusiliers and myself will land here, at the centre, on W beach.

‘The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and the Royal Munster Fusiliers will land at V beach.’ He moved his stick to the bottom right hand side of the peninsula to a small semi-circular beach. It was flanked on the right by one of the entrance forts to the Straits and, like W beach, overhanging cliffs on its left.

Hare tapped at a strong point in the gap between V and W beach, marked as Hill 138. ‘Once bridgeheads have been established you will link up with the rest of the brigade. The Lancashires will anchor the centre of the line pushing to the right through Hill 138, joining up with the Munsters and the Dubliners coming through from V beach.’

Hare banged his stick onto the left hand cliff of W beach and followed the rising slope of Tekke Burnu to a redoubt at the summit, marked as Hill 114. ‘Elements of the Lancashires will also move left over Hill 114 linking up with the Royal Fusiliers who will be flanking Hill 114 from X beach.

‘With the landing area thus secured the 87th Brigade will move through us, spearheading the advance, taking the village of Krithia and then onto the high ground of Achi Baba Mountain, a few miles north of Cape Helles. These are our first day’s objectives.

That achieved, we will continue to advance north, pushing the Turks back onto the Australian and New Zealand troops, who would have by then secured the Kilid Bahr Plateau, cutting the Turkish line of retreat and trapping them between the two pincers.’ Hare studied the men in front of him, for a moment.

‘Gentlemen, what faces us is