TERRIFIC GUN FIRE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2403, 8 March 1915, Page 5

TERRIFIC GUN FIRE

AT CLOSE QUARTERS I THE DARDANELLES 1 SUBMARINE PIRATES . SUNK < HEAVY FIGHTING 1 GALICIA AUSTRIANS EVACUATE CZERNOWITZ

The terrifio duel between the 'Allied Fleets in the Dardanelles and the Turkish forts is growing hotter, and the warships are now getting to close quarters. The 15-inch shells from the British Dreadnought Queen Elizabeth have wrought amazing destruction, and various stories are abroad to the effect that the Turks are preparing to 'leave the Straits and defend the positions in the Sea of Marmora which command the gate of Constantinople. Smyrna, incidentally, has been heavily bombarded by the warships.' It is also rumoured that the Turkish troops aie being withdrawn from Syria, in order to meet the new danger nearer home, and that the war-cloud over Egypt now darkens the situation no longer. Progress reports of the operations on the Eastern and Western fronts disclose steady progress in both theatres. There has- been severe fighting in the Roims-Argonne region, while in Galicia the Russian operations have compelled the Austrians to evacuate Czernowitz, the capital of Bukowina (recently held by the Russians, but abandoned again in the face of greatly superior numbers). The sea war on the German submarine pirates, is being sternly waged, and the latest success is accredited to France, whose warships claim to-hfw>.scnt a submarine to the bottom. Daring exploits by airmen are a feature of the liews to-day. The Zeppelin L 8 has been brought down and seriously damaged.