Commander Leighton Bracegirdle: Australians at Gallipoli
Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs
[{'start': '10.640', 'end': '13.120', 'text': "'They're quite cut off from their own force."}, {'start': '13.120', 'end': '19.120', 'text': 'They\xa0scarcely come into the category of the Australian\xa0\nforce and scarcely into that of the British.'}, {'start': '19.120', 'end': '21.800', 'text': 'They are scarcely army and scarcely navy.'}, {'start': '21.800', 'end': '27.200', 'text': 'If you want to see the work, you only have to go\xa0to\nKangaroo Beach, Suvla Bay, and look about\xa0you'}, {'start': '27.200', 'end': '29.400', 'text': 'They made a harbour.’'}, {'start': '29.400', 'end': '33.440', 'text': 'These are the words\xa0of official war \ncorrespondent, Charles Bean,'}, {'start': '33.440', 'end': '39.360', 'text': 'describing a little-known but important Australian\xa0\nunit, the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train.'}, {'start': '39.360', 'end': '45.400', 'text': 'The Naval Bridging Train was formed in February\xa0\n1915 and sailed for overseas service in June,'}, {'start': '45.400', 'end': '51.200', 'text': 'with a strength of 300 men, mostly naval\xa0\nreservists, and more than 400 horses.'}, {'start': '51.200', 'end': '56.840', 'text': 'The men\xa0had taken riding lessons before departing as it\xa0\nwas expected the work of the Bridging Train on the'}, {'start': '56.840', 'end': '63.800', 'text': 'Western Front would focus on pulling horse-drawn\xa0wagons \nladen with engineering equipment and\xa0building materials.'}, {'start': '63.800', 'end': '65.040', 'text': 'But plans changed.'}, {'start': '65.040', 'end': '68.040', 'text': 'The unit\xa0was instead destined for Gallipoli.'}, {'start': '68.040', 'end': '71.000', 'text': 'The horses\xa0were offloaded en route at Bombay.'}, {'start': '71.000', 'end': '76.800', 'text': 'And at Imbros,\xa0the men received just 5 days training\non building\xa0and constructing pontoons'}, {'start': '76.800', 'end': '78.400', 'text': 'before they took on\xa0their new role.'}, {'start': '78.800', 'end': '83.240', 'text': 'The unit was led by a 32-year-old\xa0Lieutenant Commander Leighton Bracegirdle,'}, {'start': '83.240', 'end': '88.520', 'text': 'a\xa0career military man who had served in\nthe Boxer\xa0Rebellion and the Boer War'}, {'start': '88.520', 'end': '95.000', 'text': 'and had been part of\xa0the Australian Naval and Military\nExpeditionary\xa0Force in German New Guinea in 1914.'}, {'start': '95.200', 'end': '102.520', 'text': 'The Naval\xa0Bridging Train landed under fire at Suvla on\nthe\xa07th of August in support of a British offensive.'}, {'start': '102.520', 'end': '105.560', 'text': 'Once ashore, their skills were in high demand.'}, {'start': '105.560', 'end': '108.200', 'text': 'Their first major task was to build a pier.'}, {'start': '108.200', 'end': '114.760', 'text': 'Casualties at Suvla were mounting quickly, and lifeboats\ncould not get within 100 yards\xa0of the shore.'}, {'start': '114.760', 'end': '117.400', 'text': 'The Naval Bridging Train swung\xa0into action.'}, {'start': '117.400', 'end': '122.080', 'text': 'Rowing pontoons ashore, they\xa0constructed\na pier within 20 minutes.'}, {'start': '122.080', 'end': '124.520', 'text': 'It\xa0was in use just 5 minutes later.'}, {'start': '124.520', 'end': '128.520', 'text': 'Soon their role\xa0expanded to include\na wide range of activities,'}, {'start': '128.520', 'end': '132.400', 'text': 'from distributing stores to erecting\ndugouts\xa0and cookhouses.'}, {'start': '133.000', 'end': '138.160', 'text': 'One of the most vital tasks\xa0was managing \nthe supply of water to troops\xa0on shore.'}, {'start': '138.160', 'end': '143.000', 'text': 'In the midst of a scorching summer,\xa0\nthis was potentially life-saving work.'}, {'start': '143.000', 'end': '149.000', 'text': 'The unit\xa0constructed a pipeline supported by trestles,\xa0and\nthe water was eagerly awaited by troops\xa0on shore.'}, {'start': '149.000', 'end': '155.200', 'text': "The Naval Bridging Train's base was\xa0known as \nKangaroo Beach, and it was dangerous\xa0ground."}, {'start': '155.200', 'end': '158.400', 'text': 'The men were subjected to shelling and\xa0aerial bombardment.'}, {'start': '158.400', 'end': '161.080', 'text': 'Bracegirdle joked in a letter\xa0back to friends in Australia,'}, {'start': '161.080', 'end': '166.480', 'text': "‘I'm hoping that\xa0the bully beef and biscuits will\nkeep me so thin\xa0they won't be able to hit me’."}, {'start': '166.480', 'end': '167.480', 'text': 'But he admitted,'}, {'start': '167.480', 'end': '172.760', 'text': "‘It's hard work. Very hard. And one has to\nget\xa0used to shells and bombs all day.’"}, {'start': '172.760', 'end': '178.200', 'text': 'As summer\xa0gave way to autumn and winter \napproached, storms\xa0engulfed Gallipoli,'}, {'start': '178.200', 'end': '181.200', 'text': 'which made working and living\xa0even more challenging.'}, {'start': '181.200', 'end': '186.480', 'text': 'Fierce gales smashed boats\xa0onto rocks, \nsickness rose in the unit and a rising'}, {'start': '186.480', 'end': '190.320', 'text': "swell even threatened to overwhelm Bracegirdle's\xa0dugout."}, {'start': '190.320', 'end': '192.320', 'text': 'In December, the Naval Bridging Train'}, {'start': '192.320', 'end': '198.520', 'text': 'had an important role to play in ensuring the\xa0\nsmooth evacuation of British troops from Suvla.'}, {'start': '198.520', 'end': '203.360', 'text': 'The men worked day and night constructing\xa0\npiers, assembling and disassembling huts,'}, {'start': '203.360', 'end': '212.200', 'text': 'and destroying pontoons and stores, until finally,\xa0the last group\nof the unit left Suvla at 2 am on\xa0the 18th of December.'}, {'start': '212.200', 'end': '215.200', 'text': 'Bracegirdle was awarded a\xa0Mention in Despatches.'}, {'start': '215.200', 'end': '219.000', 'text': 'He was proud of his men and the\nwork they had done. He wrote,'}, {'start': '219.000', 'end': '225.040', 'text': '‘These\xa0men in most instances had excellent training\xa0\nas apprentices to various trades in civil life,'}, {'start': '225.040', 'end': '231.200', 'text': 'and, by reason of their years of training, both as\nsenior naval cadets and as adults naval trainees,'}, {'start': '231.200', 'end': '237.000', 'text': 'took pride in the fact that they were the only Australian\nnaval unit serving in a European\xa0theatre of war.'}, {'start': '237.000', 'end': '241.040', 'text': 'They were, therefore, bent on\xa0proving both\nto the Royal Navy and the British\xa0Army'}, {'start': '241.040', 'end': '244.000', 'text': 'that they could overcome any difficulties.’'}]