26 September 1915

SUVLA - Second Lieutenant Cyril Lindley, 6th South Lancashire Regiment, 38th Brigade, 13th Division - Second Lieutenant John Lindley wrote a letter on 28 September which looked back to his activities on Sunday 26 September. Reading this one can see that the farmlands of the Suvla Plain are little changed to the present day.

"I had quite a pleasant time on Sunday. I had to go up to the firing line and discover where the 39th and 40th Brigade Headquarters were so that in case of having to reinforce I should know the way. There was practically no danger attached to it because as soon as I got within rifle fire there was a sap to shelter me. On the way I passed several farm buildings. Funny old places and several knocked about by shell fire. Consisted of two small rooms mostly, mud floors and wall, outside stone and mud, inside plain mud. Roofed with queer old native tiles. Outside one of the houses was a pile of straw and chaff and scraping this away I found about a quarter inch of wheat on the ground. Evidently the old farmer had been in the middle of threshing and had to leave it. Of course he would do it with a flail. Jolly good example of wheat as well. Outside another farm which was a rather larger building, was a small vineyard and several fig trees. Arriving at Brigade Headquarters I went right through the maze of trenches and saps till I got to the other one. It is like a bazaar with signs all over such as 'No.12 Section', 'No.16 Communication Sap' and 'To 40th Brigade HQ' and 'Quartermasters Stores Cheshire Regiment', 'To Washing Places' etc., etc.. Very interesting to people at home if they could see them. I at last found the place I wanted and returned home by another route. I never had a single shot fired at me the entire afternoon."

"

SOURCE:
J. C. Lindley, Captain Lindley MC: A hero of the Great War (John Lindley 2008), p.58.