Gaba Tepe - poem by Lewis F. East (1915)

Gaba Tepe and Anzac Cove with lone soldier.
Pencil sketch by William Kieth Eltham
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C169909?image=1

On the 4th on October 1915, The Argus published the following poem 162 days after the landing it describes. The text is heroic in tone and has the feel of a poem written from afar. Gaba Tepe (or Kabatepe) is a headland overlooking the Anzac Cove at Gallipoli.

GABA TEPE

Silent and dim in the murky dawn the ghost transports lay
Shepherded close by warships grim, at anchor in Anzac Bay,
Silently boats steal out, shoreward they swiftly fly,
Straight for the beach, where the berthing heights loom darkly against the sky,
Now the sleeping foe awakes, the shrapnel screams o'erhead,
And the boats as they touch the strand are met with a hail of lead
"Forward Australians!" With answering cheer bronzed warriors leap ashore,
Racing for death-grips, steel to steel, as their grandsires fought of yore.

Torrent-like, onward they charge, faster and faster still;
For the trench-torn slope where the rifle fire crashes across the hill,
Midst the cry and the gasp and the groan, as comrades join the dead,
And the crash and the scream of the bursting shell, ever they press ahead
Onward, and on, and up, and they whirl through the thick of the fight,
On through the trenches, with ringing cheer, and thrusting to left and right,
On to the crest, and the bayonets flash, the shattered foe rallies no more,
A new and a glorious page is writ in the book of the nations' war

Knowing not fear of death, ever they charged in the van
Soldiers and brothers and heroes all, colonel and captain and man,
For the testing time was on them, and they felt that the world looked on,
Knowing their deeds, for glory or shame, would live when themselves were gone
So they fought for her honour who gave them birth, holding their lives as cheap,
Smiling at hunger and death and pain, sowing that she might reap,
Fighting from sea to sea, with the graves upon either hand,
Fighting for Freedom and Righteousness, and the fame of their own dear land

The nations salute us now, God's champion of right against wrong,
Looking at us with respect, as men at a man who is strong
For our sons have been tested by fire. Right well have they answered the test,
Brothers in arms with the world's best men, and holding their own with the best
Crowned with their glorious deeds, wrought out where their life blood flowed,
Straighten the back with pride of them, our lads who have carried the load
Hail to them, heroes all! for they have been men among men
Here's to them, lads, with a three times three! And a tiger! Again! And again!

LEWIS F. EAST.

Notes:

This poem, consisting of four eight-line verses built of rhyming couplets, was published in at least three newspapers, all in 1915 (see the sources 1- 3 below). I have been unable to find any other poetry by the poet.

If the names match correctly, Lewis F. East was a clerk in the public service, having passed his 'ordinary clerical' entrance exam in 1888 [4]. He rose in the public service to become Chief Clerk of the Customs Department before becoming the Acting Director of Maritime Navigation [5]. He continued in federal leadership of maritime matters until his retirement. I could not find any evidence of military service on the Australian War Memorial database.

Sources:

[1] GABA TEPE. (1915, October 4). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 7. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1567364 

[2] Poetry. (1915, October 16). Western Star and Roma Advertiser (Qld. : 1875 - 1948), p. 5. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98166660

[3] Poets' Corner. (1915, November 2). Cootamundra Herald (NSW : 1877 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139531115

[4] PUBLIC SERVICE EXAMINATIONS. (1888, March 2). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article6106832

[5] DIRECTOR OF NAVIGATION (1919, May 6). The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 10. Retrieved April 25, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243472953