That’s What We Did
We landed in ANZAC cove
Pew
Bullets skimmed our heads
Killing soldiers instantly
Their screams chilling our hearts
The other battalion landed
Wading through the cold water with mutters and curses
Some drowned by their packs
Died praying for hearses
Charged the beach like mad men
Screaming with excitement
We’re on the beach
We had joked about the bank
But it suddenly seemed so steep
We climbed up cursing Turks
Soggy clothes making it hard
Bullets raining down
Push on no matter what
Is what he said
Force the turks back up
Thats what we did
Up and over
Is what he said
Killing men in shallow trenches
Is what we did
By Jacob
Year Eight
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The bright starry night
Chunuk bair
steep and slippery
heavy breathing and big sighs
wounded soldiers knee deep.
BANG
shells spitting sparks and shrapnel
in the blue sky above
William Malone
BANG
shells came whizzing
through the air as fast as a machine gun fires
William Malone
fell back
into soldier’s arms
sticky blood
oozing down his face
Wellington battalion was devastated,
tired,
after a long day of violent
fighting soldiers were looking
at the beautiful, breathless, bright starry night.
By Izzy
year 7
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The landing
Large boats were led ahore,
Anzacs inside
all gazing
at the silhouette of rugged hills.
Heavy breathing filled the air...
When nearing land
the Turks started firing,
a brilliant display of sparks covered the hills
bullets surrounded the Anzacs,
who leapt into the icy sea.
Friends and family collapsed as they waded to shore.
Once on land they charged
towards the eroded banks.
Bullets whized past their faces like wasps
The Anzacs reached the hills,
took cover in divots and shrubs,
Then made their way up.
Bombs exploded above,
killing many.
The ships retaliated and sent shells into the hills.
By William, Year eight.
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The war that never ended
More jam tins, more explosives.
Men struggled to throw them back,
or pull out the short fuses.
You could hear stressed out soldiers
crying out warnings, to others,
and withdrawing from the smoke.
I hated how soldiers shouted
when their friends got hit by bombs.
The Anzacs don’t know exactly
where we are hiding.
And I’d liked to keep it that way
Artillery shells exploded
Ash grey smoke covered
muddy odious trenches
Stretcher-bearers fetched dead
Turks, for burial.
Soldiers watched the dead and dying
being carried away.
Their bodies soaked in scarlet blood
and their eyes gazing emptily,
at nothing.
Then the soldiers went to fill the gap.
The gap that dead men had left,
just minutes ago.
Soldiers moved to the firing line,
prayed if they couldn’t read the Koran.
Like their friends,
like other Turkish soldiers,
they knew they would be killed,
defeated.
But they kept going.
They kept fighting for their empire,
their dying empire,
in the war that never ended
And they never gave up.
by Kelly Ngan, year 7
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We lost
Cold whips my face.
Tobacco just gets stronger and stronger.
Cold tears run down faces of men.
We lost.
So many men should have made here.
So many men died for nothing.
Bang and someone falls.
Suddenly shattering the silence forever.
I pick up pace and break into the clearing of the beach.
I survived this long
I can’t die.
By Seraphine Ruch
Year 7
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The war
Soldiers calling for water and stretcher bearers,
wounded given morphine pills
under their tongue.
Some wounded an hour from the beach.
John simpson found a donkey
useful to carry injured soldiers.
The ships filled quickly,
Soldiers used life jackets for pillows, on one boat
the closest thing to a doctor was a vet.
By Zak
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Anzacs boots
heavy military boots
slip in mud
the Anzacs surprised
to find the British troops in a trench
they rush the turks
Turks machinguns were successful
by Ray - Y 7
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Days in hell
I woke up feeling glum,
better than yesterday.
Looked around my pozzie;
how I missed a proper bed.
Slowly, I got up
felt maggots and rat droppings
fall off my body.
I collected breakfast.
Six biscuits,
a slice of horrid cheese,
bacon,
jam and a cuppa tea.
I felt like porridge,
grated biscuits and water.
For you, gross,
for us,
all we had
not to starve.
Also, for you,
a beautiful day,
a beautiful day,
for us,
bad.
Torrential rain filled our trenches with water
and turned the ground into a deep, disgusting, dirty bog.
Intense heat,
made me sweat like hell.
Felt my shirt, soaking.
I walked back to my pozzie,
peeled off my shirt.
A trend to cut
the legs off your pants.
My uniform; boots, socks, shorts.
The worst thing about trenches,
flies and lice;
they drove me crazy!
I stopped moving,
I could feel them crawling
all over me.
Corpse flies; horrid.
knock a bush,
a whole cloud would arise.
When we shot a dead’s belly,
flies from all areas
came towards us.
Toilets were horrible.
A plank of wood across a deep hole.
Flies swarmed around you
as your feces exited your body.
Some soldiers were too weak
to sit there; they fell down.
No one bothered to help them,
they were left, to die.
Jam-tin bombs.
All of us,
chatting away,
stuffing cartridges, nails, wire and
explosives into the tins,
using wire to hold the lids on,
and sticking a fuse in the top.
An hour later,
lunchtime.
I made my tea extra sweet for lunch;
it gave a boost of energy.
After gulping it down,
I was back to work.
We had just finished five hundred bombs when
I heard a gun fire.
A stupid soldier had started a game.
It was my shift on the frontline.
Cpt. Jones gave a quick briefing
made my spine shiver
with a coldness,
an uncertainty.
The death penalty,
Soldiers got for
falling asleep at their post,
these people meant business.
I stuck my rifle through a loophole.
A shattered periscope
half buried in the ground.
I made my move.
I dug my dark, dirty boots
into the solid clay below me.
After a bit of stealthy jiggling,
it came free.
I picked it up
and looked over the edge.
The trenches were close;
to close.
Maybe only 45 yards
kept us apart from the turks.
I felt nervous.
In that short distance
between us and the turks,
were dead bodies;
hundreds of them
Both Turkish and ANZAC.
I felt a sickness stir up inside me.
A hatred of these people.
It was slaughter,
going to war.
Also, illnesses
and diseases were everywhere.
I didn’t like this.
It was torture.
No ground had been made in months.
I just wanted them to arrange an evacuation,
so I could go home to my sweetheart
and see my first child
whom I had never met.
“Please God,
put an end to this.”
By Benson Yr 7
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The charge
I stand in a dirt trench.
The nek
My heart pounding a million
miles an hour.
I feel anxious.
I never wanted to be here,
Mates forced me into it, now
the only one left.
Rotting flesh reeks
buzzing flies,
firing rifles
ears ring.
No chance for survival.
The turks
four machine guns,
we had bayonets.
First wave steps up.
The whistle blows,
First wave drops like rag dolls.
Sky is clear,
ground dry,
so dry its got cracks
very little plant life.
I glance at the soldier
he glances back nervously.
The whistle blows,
we scramble out of the trench
the soldier falls,
I run harder,
faster.
Bang.
By Ella Murdoch
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The Armistice
An armistice arranged
24th of May
To bury both sides dead.
The smell was abhorrent
Shivers down their spines
All day
All night
Flies buzzing around dead
Sound of gun shots
Pierced their ears
Commanders came
7am wake up
Disgusted by the smell, Soldiers shivering
ANZACS had grown used to it.
Digging shallow holes
In the glaggy wet soil.
This made men realise.
They were Lucky To be Alive
Men from both sides
Used the rest of the time to exchange
Biscuits for turkish bread
ANZAC uniform buttons
For turkish coins
And then they smoked each others cigarettes.
As soon as 4:30 passed,
Bullets started raining down.
Stella McGuinness
Year 8
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The Turkish perspective
No bombs
Turk’s were wondering
where the Anzac’s were,
a jam tin bomb landed
Turk’s scrambled for cover,
a big roar of laughter
from the Anzac’s,
turks came out of their hiding places
finding the whole trench covered in jam.
The night after the Anzac stunt
Turk’s went into no man's land
finding new hiding places,
so they have a clearer shot
Anzac’s won’t know where the Turk’s are
they will shoot at the trenches
that's what the Turk’s wanted.
Turk’s had another idea
by pulling Anzac’s barbed wire down,
Turk’s got rope with a hook tied at the end
the other was tied to their strongest soldier
they threw the rope over it hooked on
the soldier started to walk
crack the barbed wire came off
they hooked up the second
but it wouldn’t budge
they got more men on the rope
they saw Anzac’s trying to unhook it
it was too late
Turk’s thought maybe we should start trying to win this war.
By Fraser Bagci
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Lone Pine
Gloomy, dark, stinky, tunnels, bodies.
Flies everywhere .
Crack a grenade,
made the tunnel vibrate screeches echoed through the tunnel.
Kept limping,
to the trenches.
With seconds to spare.
The general yelled charge.
Half of them died even
before they jumped over the trench.
Lined up.
Finally the general yelled charge for the final time,
slipped, scampered, scraped up the trench side
two guys on his flank got shot.
Bullet whizzed past his head.
Sprinted over Turkish corpses as well as Anzacs corpses.
Bang as a gun fired.
By Lucas y8
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Afraid
The blizzard hit us like a gunshot
Cold , limping , but alive
Crying , screaming
Afraid
Souls escaping the dead of thousands
The soul vanished away from the corpse
The Weak will only be killed
but not me
I’m always on the winning side
I will never lose
But my consciousness was fading
No, please
I could see light dominating my existence
Death knocked on my door
Help me
This is the end
Heaven is near
Shanshan wei, yr 7
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Its Finally Over
Midnight
Walking along the track
Sneaking around.
Fear stops me
Sadness starts to surround me
Lack of success hits me
Regretting chances we didn’t take
Remembering dead bodies
My Soul left me like I lost something important
Saying goodbye to friends hurts me
Leaving war like this was a nightmare
It’s finally over
Charmaine, yr 7
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Armistice Day
Soldiers carry a Turkish Captain over no-man's land,
Hot sun beaming at their backs.
Stepping over Anzac corpses
Stepping over Turkish cOrpses
They’re arranging an armistice to bury the dead.
Bodies swelled up and turned black in the heat.
Flies buzzed from rotting bodies to soldiers’ bully beef.
Anzacs glimpsed no-man's land; It was murder.
7:30am to 4:30pm,
24 of May 1915
An armistice was arranged.
It was drizzling as operations ceased.
Not every soldier knew what was going on
The silence made them happy.
No-man's land was divided in half,
No one crossed to bury their own,
Anzacs weren’t allowed to collect relatives dog tags.
The soldier corpses were heavy.
Picks would be stuck into dead to let gas out.
Some exploded,
A shallow grave would be dug
20 corpses quickly pushed in
They would cover it quickly.
By Thomas Year 8
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The frozen people
More men froze, standing
in front of frozen friends
sad their friends had frozen to death.
Coldness blew from the black sea
soldiers crouched in front of them
paying their respects to the dead,
thinking they were all good men.
The smell of rotting flesh surrounded them.
Trench cloaks standing overnight because of ice
surprised soldiers, who smelled decaying bodies.
Given whale fat to prevent frost bite
Soldiers vomited at the smell of fat decaying
when rubbing their feet.
by Quincy year 8
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The Gallipoli Armistice
Turks fired their guns
as did the Anzacs
Both sides fought fiercely for man advantage
Turks defended their home
Kiwis and australians charged
Lines were closer than ever
Flies hovered around the fallen soldiers
An armistice was agreed to bury the dead
Rain started to cease
The stench grew greater
Bodies piled over one another
Soldiers retreated back to their side
The silence was strange
It reigned till
The clock hit 4:30
And rifles started to fire
The armistice had ended.
By Calvin Year 8
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RED DISTRICT
”Finish ‘em off this time!” Godley roared.
The pouring rain dampened, darkened, dirtied
the nervous and excited soldiers.
Godley planned a night attack to take out Turkish positions.
His troops weren’t up to it.
Battling fire from Turkish guns blared,
Battling fire from Australians gun rattled.
New Zealanders no where to be seen,
fault at the gully, crowded with the wounded.
“BANG BANG BANG!”
The deafening gunfire echoed around the dark,
tall hills down to the gully.
New Zealanders finally reach the Nek
shot before they could catch their breaths.
Bullets ricochet across heads and legs
“whizz vzoom”
No one could see a thing
“The Turks must be shootin’ like mad ‘eh?”
“Well, what else?” replied a tucked up soldier in the scrub.
Sunrise crept over the hills.
Survivors limped and crept back quietly
sobbing with joy but sadness.
Two soldiers, best mates, helped each other
talking casually like war never existed.
The hill renamed Dead Man’s ridge.
C.W Beans opinion,”It was doomed right from the start.
The New Zealanders were too tentative, but Australians, when he fights, he fights all in!”
Joshua Rania
Year 8
