Commander Leighton Bracegirdle: Australians at Gallipoli

They're quite cut off from their own force. They scarcely come into the category of the Australian force and scarcely into that of the British. They are scarcely army and scarcely navy. If you want to see the work, you only have to go to Kangaroo Beach, Suvla Bay, and look about you. They made a harbour.' These are the words of official war correspondent, Charles Bean, describing a little-known but important Australian unit, the Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train. The Naval Bridging Train was formed in February 1915 and sailed for overseas service in June, with a strength of 300 men, mostly naval reservists, and more than 400 horses. The men had taken riding lessons before departing as it was expected the work of the Bridging Train on the Western Front would focus on pulling horse-drawn wagons laden with engineering equipment and building materials. But plans changed. The unit was instead destined for Gallipoli. The horses were offloaded en route at Bombay. And at Imbros, the men received just 5 days training on building and constructing pontoons before they took on their new role. The unit was led by a 32-year-old Lieutenant Commander Leighton Bracegirdle, a career military man who had served in the Boxer Rebellion and the Boer War and had been part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in German New Guinea in 1914. The Naval Bridging Train landed under fire at Suvla on the 7th of August in support of a British offensive. Once ashore, their skills were in high demand. Their first major task was to build a pier. Casualties at Suvla were mounting quickly, and lifeboats could not get within 100 yards of the shore. The Naval Bridging Train swung into action. Rowing pontoons ashore, they constructed a pier within 20 minutes. It was in use just 5 minutes later. Soon their role expanded to include a wide range of activities, from distributing stores to erecting dugouts and cookhouses. One of the most vital tasks was managing the supply of water to troops on shore. In the midst of a scorching summer, this was potentially life-saving work. The unit constructed a pipeline supported by trestles, and the water was eagerly awaited by troops on shore. The Naval Bridging Train's base was known as Kangaroo Beach, and it was dangerous ground. The men were subjected to shelling and aerial bombardment. Bracegirdle joked in a letter back to friends in Australia, 'I'm hoping that the bully beef and biscuits will keep me so thin they won't be able to hit me'. But he admitted, 'It's hard work. Very hard. And one has to get used to shells and bombs all day.' As summer gave way to autumn and winter approached, storms engulfed Gallipoli, which made working and living even more challenging. Fierce gales smashed boats onto rocks, sickness rose in the unit and a rising swell even threatened to overwhelm Bracegirdle's dugout. In December, the Naval Bridging Train had an important role to play in ensuring the smooth evacuation of British troops from Suvla. The men worked day and night constructing piers, assembling and disassembling huts, and destroying pontoons and stores, until finally, the last group of the unit left Suvla at 2 am on the 18th of December. Bracegirdle was awarded a Mention in Despatches. He was proud of his men and the work they had done. He wrote, 'These men in most instances had excellent training as apprentices to various trades in civil life, and, by reason of their years of training, both as senior naval cadets and as adults naval trainees, took pride in the fact that they were the only Australian naval unit serving in a European theatre of war. They were, therefore, bent on proving both to the Royal Navy and the British Army that they could overcome any difficulties.