ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2489, 16 June 1915, Page 11

ACHIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE

LETTER FROM ONE OF THE WOUNDED. Lieutenant Macfarlane, the son of Mr. Edward Macfarlane, of • Challis House, Sydney, who waß wounded at tho Dardanelles, writing to his father from the hospital at Alexandria, gives an I interesting account of the landing i»d tho fighting following it. He says:— AVe started landing on Sunday morning at 4 o'clock, under a heavy hail of fire from everything the Turks could bring to bear on us. AVe lauded at about 4.30 on Gallipoli Peninsula. T!;e Turks brought their and ™ rifles right to the water's edge, just inside tlie scrub, where tliey entrenched. AVhen the boats reached the beach * the Turks brought such a .heavy firo on them from the trenches, whilst a hail of shrapnel pourel down from the forts, that m some of the boats every man was killed or wounded before ho got to the shore. • Some of the third brigade were so close when they reached tho shore that they jumped from the boats and made a bayonet charge. The Turks, however, did not wait for them, but cleared as hard as they could go. When I landed it was fairly dark, and I was told to go up to the firing line at once. In fact, I think I was one of the first <-f the 3rd Battalion that was sent to the firing line. I was acting second in command of my company, and I took the company less one platoon, and was going to the centre of the firing line when a staff officer told mo to reinforce tlie right of our position as they had had a lot of casualties, and were likoly to be pushed back at any moment. The rest of tho 3rd went to the left, so I saw no more of that battalion. I was never so tired in Is my life as when we were going to - the right. AVe had hills and gullies to climb, and the hills were steep. I kept my men at it as hard as I could go, aided by my sergeant-major, a man m splendid condition. AVe had a couple of slight halts before we got into position. By this time we had all dropped our packs—it was absolutely osßenial that, we should get into the firing line as quickly «s possible. AATien we got there the enemy's firing lino was only 200 yards from us; but wo could not see them because they were entrenched. A\'e woro on a poifectly flat piece of ground without any cover, and with low scrub about 18 inches high between us. AVe could not entrench, because we would have been shot doing it. All we could, do wa6 to lie flat on the ground as possible and keep our fire, under at times clouds of. rifle bullets and shells. That was the worst of 'it —being fired at and not being able to firo back at anything. On our left our men were entrenched. At 2 p.m. some New Zealand troops coming to reinforce us lost all their officers. I ran back to bring them to the firing line. I brought them up and was just falling to my face 'when a bullet hit me an tho left shoulder, coining out in the small of the back. At 4 p.m. was the first we saw of the Turks. They came within 100 yards of us, in tlire different parties, to make a bayonet charge. AVhen they got to within 100 yards we could see them plainly, and fired as hard as we could. They 'got up to charge, and got up to meet them, firing. They charged to within 50 yards of us and then turned and bolted—that was when we got some firing in. I was firing my revolver and pistol as hard as I could go. Just then the shrapnel opened on us. I was hit in tlie side, but it did not go deep. At 9 p.m. some soldiers cut my equipment off and got me down to the beach. At 1 n.m. on Monday I was dressed and sent here. I am doing well, and liope 10 bo back soon. 1