1915:11 An Icy Blizzard

An Icy Blizzard

 

The Gallipoli that the men returned to in October and November was very different from the one they had sailed from just weeks before. Snow covered the peninsula and icy cold mud lay in the trenches.

 

The weather was bitter and the conditions harsh, but the soldiers, both old hands and new, quickly adapted. They dug tunnels and watched and waited.

 

There were few casualties for the New Zealanders in the following weeks but the Australians were coming under heavy fire from stronger Turkish Artillery.

 

One bonus of the cold weather was that the cold killed the flies and with the flies gone, there was less chance of disease. The number of sick men dropped during this period.

 

Where singlets and shorts were worn before, now balaclavas and greatcoats were the order of the day.