Even during the horrors of the brutalizing industrialised slaughter of the First World War the Gallipoli campaign stands as a benchmark for the awful conditions and savage fighting that occurred. The narrow strips of land that the British, Australian, New Zealand and other Dominion troops tried to wrest from the dogged Turkish defenders was under constant shellfire and every item had to be dragged to the frontline under this hellish barrage. Captain (as at the time) Gillam was part of the supply service who risked their lives to get, food, clothing and ammunition up to the troops in the front-line. Gillam gives a clear, concise account not only of the dangers that he faced, but also the men that he served so ably in the front-line.
His diary covers his time on the Gallipoli Peninsula from his landing at Capes Helles (W Beach-Lancashire Landing) on April 25th 1915, and the landing at Suvla Bay, until the eventual evacuation of the troops in early 1916. There have been many
Author Major John Graham Gillam DSO d. June 1937
Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, George Allen & Unwin, ltd. 1918.