Letter from Gallipoli

Letter written in 1915 to FB Puckridge of Port Lincoln from A. Jamieson Miekle serving with the Medical Unit at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli.

A. Jamieson Miekle was a 46 year old medical practitioner when he served with the Medical Unit at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. His letter dated 7 July 1915 to FB Puckridge of Port Lincoln gives a first-hand account of conditions at Gallipoli.

'The first few days ashore was perfect Hell. The Turks did give us a hot reception - what with a constant downpour of shrapnel & snipers at work everywhere, you never knew when you'd be hit ...'

Miekle states confidently: We know we're going to win alright. So far as the Turks are concerned, we've got the upper hand ... He recognises: The Turks are d - d good soldiers and play the game. All those accounts you read regarding the mal-treatment of our wounded & prisoners are non - official.

The ANZACs first landed at Gallipoli in April 1915, and withdrew from the peninsula the following December. Steep terrain and the Turkish Army's strong defence of its homeland forced the ANZACs to conduct nine months of warfare from their network of trenches. The legend of ANZAC was forged with statements such as Miekle's: On the whole, we have nothing much to complain of - one doesn't expect too much comfort or any luxury in the firing line.

Dr Meikle had a distinguished medical career. The Advertiser of 17 October 1919 reported that: 'At a meeting of the Executive Council on Thursday, Dr. A.J. Meikle, L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S., M.B., C.B., and M.D., was appointed Deputy Superintendent of the Mental Hospital, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Lind. Dr. Meikle had been in practice in South Australia for 18 years before going to the war. He was for 12 years at Yankalilla, and then for six years at Port Lincoln, where he was the medical officer of the Government Hospital. For three years he was on military duty at the front, in command of the 4th Field Ambulance, and after he was invalided home he was on continuous home service, commanding No. 15 Australian General Hospital, first at North Adelaide, and then at Torrens Park. He remained at the Mitcham Hospital until it was disbanded. He has had considerable experience there in connection with shell shock and mental cases. Altogether he has had 18 months' practice principally connected with mental diseases. Dr. Meikle is 50 years of age, and is a married man with a family.'

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