Illustration of Turkish quarters in the Dardanelles from 'Ambassador Morgenthau's Story' by Henry Morgenthau, American Ambassador to Turkey, 1913 to 1916.
Turkish quarters at the DardanellesThese dugouts, for the most part, were well protected. The Turks defended their batteries with great heroism and skill
"18.00 hrs. Heavy rain, driven by violent wind, drenches everything. My dugout is leaking. Would love to see those people who say 'soldiering is easy, the military are overpaid!' spend one night sleeping in the mud. Would they say such things ever again? I don't think so. I'm 21 years old. My hair and beard are already grey. My moustache is white. My face is wrinkled and my body is rotting. I can't bear these hardships and privations any more. Being an Ottoman officer just means putting up with shells and bombs."
Turkish Second Lieutenant Mehmed Fasih writing on the Gallipoli Peninsula, November 17, 1915. Some French and British Empire troops had been withdrawn from the Peninsula for deployment to Salonica in a failed attempt to aid Serbia. With fewer troops on the ground, Allied ships had shelled the Turkish positions more heavily.
Intimate Voices from the First World War by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, page 141, copyright © 2003 by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis, publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, publication date: 2003
1915-11-17, November, 1915, Gallipoli, Turkish officer
