Lady Dorothy Burrell, Near Blickling Hall, Norfolk.

Doris and Fred Smith, Bolton, Greater Manchester.

 

Sister Janice Pond, R.N., Norwich, Norfolk.

 

‘The landing of soldiers onto the Gallipoli Peninsula started on 25 April 1915. The day after that, we became overwhelmed with patients who had sustained bullet wounds, shrapnel wounds, and limbs torn off by grenades. Mostly, there were head, facial, and upper torso wounds, as many of the soldiers had climbed the cliffs to get at the Turkish enemy. We could just make out those cliffs in the hazy distance from our hospital ship.

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‘April and May became a blur. Many were wounded with sniper and machine-gun bullet wounds in their torso and limbs. All categories of wounds bled profusely, and many were infested with maggots. Some even showed signs of gangrene, and some of those needed amputation. A majority of those soldiers were sunburned and dehydrated from waiting on the beach without shelter for the ferries to bring them to us on the hospital ship.’