Sunday May 5th, 1915
I have been in the Gallipoli campaign for a week and I miss mother England. I wish I never joined the army and that I was home in York working at the clinic instead of worrying about having my head blown off every 2 seconds. The conditions here are barely livable. We don't have enough food coming through due to it being almost impossible to land and move supplies to us. The bombardments of mortar fire from the Ottomans and the smell of rotting flesh is unbearable. Usually in the trenches, I am able do some medical work on the wounded or those sick from dysentery. However, sadly most of the time I can't do much about them dying even with recent advancements in medicine. Unfortunately, I believe we are fighting a losing battle; we have no knowledge of terrain and where the enemy have artillery units stationed.
Sunday May 12th, 1915
We are suffering heavy casualties from assaults by the axis troops. They continue shooting at us from planes and land ships; our new weapons such as the light machine gun like the Madsen M1896 and semi-automatic rifles like the Mauser 1916 don't do much good against the land ships we go up against and the planes are very hard to hit. The most stress full thing about this isn't that we might get our heads shot off or something, its that when we get shelled. What if we get buried alive and no one remembers us? Today I was getting to my post as a medic and I noticed how many people seem to be just waiting be shot; they gave up on life and on the war. This is just so sad and heart breaking. Why are they ready to just die; they must believe we cant win this fight no matter what. We need to keep pushing on and maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A few days ago there was a assault on Ottoman defenses but we didn't make it very far before being pushed back to where we started.
Sunday May 18th, 1915
Today I couldn't save commander William Bridges when he died of wounds from sniper fire. A devastating day and reminder of the horrific reality we are in. I wonder who shall take his place; when I can be done in this hell and go home. Currently reports are coming in that we have Ottomans preparing to attack in the distance. This is one of most stressful experiences of all my life and may be my last. There looks to be at least 2,000 soldiers over there but I can't get a clear view. This is going to be the busiest day in my life helping wounded is my first priority. I know I will do some fighting myself. If I die, I'm determined to go down in a blaze of glory and fighting until the bitter finish. I believe the Ottomans will start the attack soon and I am preparing my guns and my medical equipment. This is the first time I will see combat first hand, up close and real. I pray it goes well and we don't sustain heavy casualties during this battle, but I know I will be very busy all night long.
Monday May 19th, 1915
It is early evening and the fighting has stopped finally and we drove the opposing forces back; for now. The opposing forces have sustained many casualties. The Ottomans came with more than expected; roughly 42,000 soldiers and last estimate they have lost 13,000 men. We only lost roughly 630 men, I fear that number will climb as the hours drag on; some will recover easily but others I worry about. The other allied troops have had a slight moral boost since the battle. They believe things might begin going our way finally. I too believe this; that we might end up winning this fight after all. If we do I will be the happiest most relieved man in the whole world.
May 29th, 1915
The Ottomans are preparing for another attack. I believe we can win this fight again with enough work and determination. We are all preparing our posts and making sure the weapons are ready. Today will be even busier than last; we've lost many of our medics in battle. The closer we get to the start of another violent clash the more nervous I get. I am overwhelmingly nervous. I keep remembering that I am not fighting for my country and my people I'm now fighting for my life. I pray I will be able to save the others on the battlefield before this is over. This fight is going to be a large one. I have come to realize that when a hero sacrifices himself, they are never able to see if it was worth it, if it worked they though, of it any of the sacrifices were able to make a differe
Major Jack Bates, Royal Army Medical Corps, was confirmed K.I.A on May 30th, in 1915 during the Gallipoli campaign. It was confirmed he was shot to the head by a marksman and died instantly.
Over 130,000 lives were lost in the Gallipoli campaign including at least 87,000 Ottoman soldiers and 44,000 allied soldiers. Gallipoli was one of the bloodiest conflicts in ww1. After 8 months, the allied forces pulled out of Gallipoli, giving a hard-fought victory to the ottomans. The day ANZAC troops landed was named after them and is a national holiday in New Zealand and Australia