At 2:05 A.M. the signal was given for the troops to embark in the boats which were lying alongside, and this was carried out with great rapidity, in absolute silence, and without a hitch or an accident of any kind.  Each one of the three ships which had embarked troops transferred them to four small boats apiece towed by a steam pinnace, and in this manner the men of the covering force were conveyed to the shore.  More of the Australian Brigade were carried in destroyers, which were to go close in shore and land them from boats as soon as those towed by the pinnaces had reached the beach.

At 3 A.M. it was quite dark and all was ready for the start.  The tows were cast off by the battleships and the ladders taken in and the decks cleared for action, the crews going to general quarters.  Then we steamed slowly toward the shore, each of the battleships being closely followed by her tows, which looked exactly like huge snakes gliding relentlessly after their prey.  I do not suppose the suppressed excitement of this last half hour will ever be forgotten by those who were present.  No one could tell at the last minute what would happen.  Would the enemy be surprised or would he be ready on the alert to pour a terrible fire on the boats as they approached the beach?

The whole operation had been timed to allow the pinnaces and boats to reach the beach just before daybreak so that the Turks, if they had been forewarned, would not be able to see to fire before the Australians had obtained a firm footing and, it was hoped, good cover on the foreshore.

Exactly at 4:10 A.M. the three battleships in line abreast four cables apart arrived about 2,500 yards from the shore, which was just discernible in the gloom.  The engines were stopped, guns were manned, and the powerful searchlights made ready for use if required.  The tows, which up to this time had followed astern, were ordered to advance to the shore.  The battleships took up positions somewhat further out on either flank, for to them was assigned the duty of supporting the attack with their guns as soon as light allowed.

Very slowly the snakes of boats steamed past the battleships, the gunwales almost flush with the water, so crowded were they with khaki figures.  Then each lot edged in toward one another so as to reach the beach four cables apart.  So anxious were we on board the battleships that it seemed as if the loads were too heavy for the pinnaces, or that some mysterious power was holding them back, and that they would never reach the shore before daybreak and thus lose the chance of a surprise.

The distance between the battleships and the boats did not seem to diminish, but only for the reason that we steamed very slowly in after them until the water gradually shallowed.  Every eye and every glass was fixed on that grim-looking line of hills in our front, so shapeless, yet so menacing, in the gloom.

At 4:50 A.M. the enemy suddenly showed an alarm light, which flashed for ten minutes and then disappeared.  The next three minutes after its first appearance passed in breathless anxiety.  We could just discern the dull outline of the boats which appeared to be almost on the beach.  Just previously to this seven destroyers conveying the other men of the brigade glided noiselessly through the intervals between the battleships and followed the boats in shore.