DESPERATE FIGHTING

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2490, 17 June 1915, Page 7

DESPERATE FIGHTING

AT THE DARDANELLES GALLANT WORK BY COLONIAL TROOPS SOLDIERS' LETTERS HOME WELLINGTON PRIVATE'S EXPERIENCES

'A vivid description of the experiences of the Australasians on landing at the Dardanelles is given in a letter received by the Rev. A. B. Hunt, of Wellington, from his son, Private A. J. Hunt, of the Canterbury Battalion, who was badly wounded in the engagement, and is Bow in hospital at Malta. The letter May 6) is- as under: — "I will say I am getting on all right now. The wound is a beauty—just Delow my neck. It is about 6in. long and 4in. wide, and I don't know how deep. I was very lucky to come out <f it so lightly. I got hit five times'altogether, but there is only one of any importance.' -The otlifers were shrapnel hits. My haversack stopped two from going into my thigh, ana only left bruises. The entrenching tool stopped another from going into my lee;. _ The other got me on the head, and it knocked me senseless for about half an hour, and only made a lump as big as a tennis ball at tho back of my ear. I can|t hear out of my ear now, but that is a trifle. Australians Do Well, "I will just tell you what happened the day we landed. We arrived at GallipoH Peninsula about midnight. About an hour before dawn the Australians began to land. My word, they, did well. We .were taken off the transports by torpedo boats, and had to Wade up to our shoulders with all our pack on, and I can tell you it wasn't easy. The Australians fixed bayonets before they left the boat, then jumped out with a. yell and charged the Turks up a terribly high cliff. They scarcely fired a Bhot, but cut them to pieces Wth the bayonet. Capture of Machlne-Cuns. "The Turks had some machine-guns on the beach, and as each boat came up they opened fire. In one boat of 'Australians only two got out alive, and tho boat was covered in blood. However, the next boat was more fortunate, and when they got on dry land they charged down on three machine-guns and captured them. We could 6ee all this from our boat, and of course we were all dying to get ashore and give them a hand. , At last our turn came. We were about the first of the Now Zealanders to land. . We-got on'the torpedo boat from the port side, and tlio Turks conldir fc see ns, bat as we went round the bow of the transport three batteries opened fire on us. Of course when they started the warships all started to silence them, and you should have heard the row. You couldn't hear yourself speak, and when at last we landed we couldn't hear one another for about five minutes._ "We were lucky in not getting hit going over. Some of the shells landed five or ten_ yards from us, and didn't explode until they reached the water. Had tliov exploded in the air we should have been blown to pieces. "Straight into It." "Well, after we got ashore we at once took our packs off and went straight into it. It was something awful climbing that cliff. There was only a narrow path, and everyone had to keep to it because all the bushes were mined. At last we got over it, after continually ducking our heads to dodge the hail of shrapnel and bullets that were flying round. First of all we went into ono of the Turks' treuches. The first sight that met our eyes was a Turk with nis head blown off. He looked lovely, and it cheered us up a lot! A bit further on we saw another with both his legs lying beside him. We were in the trenches for about an hour and a half when the order came, 'Reinforcements wanted on the right flank.' Wo had to double out of the trenches and go for our lives across an open space that was being swept with shrapnel. We got across all right. Three of our chaps ■were killed, but wo kept on, and at last got behind the firing lino that was wanting more men. We were crawling along on our stomachs when one of our chaps saw three snipers hiding behind some bushes. We told the lieutenant, and he ordered four of us to fix bayoiiets and charge them. We couldn't fire because of our chaps in front, so we crept hack, fixed our bayonets, and waited till the shells stopped buzzing a bit, and then we 'up and at 'em.' We took them by surprise, and when we were oil top of them they dropped their rifles and yelled for mercy. They got a lot of it, too. Our bayonets went in up to the hilt about a dozen times. Then wo took the bolts out of their rifles, threw them away, and left them. They are the biggest cowards out. When, once they sea they are caught they won't make a fight for it; they want mercy. They know that word well enough. Bullets Flying Everywhere. "Well, we went to our own platoon after, and got up to the firing line. I had a surprise when I had a look up. I thought tho Turks were 300 or 400 yards away, but they were scarcely 100 yards off. We were going to make an advance, so we got up two at a time, ran forward about five yards, then dropped. Well, I had just got down when I was hit. A sniper caught me .sideways on. The bullet went in my left shoulder, then came up, made a hole in the middle of mv back, and dived across to my right shoulder. It was only taken out yesterday, and now I'vo got it ill ray pocket. The worst part of it all was getting back to the ] beach when ono was hit. Of course I was knocked senseless, and when I came to I was alone. All tho others had advanced. I crawled back as best I could, for I couldn't stand up. Tho bullets were flying about everywhere. When I rcach;d a little hollow 1 tried to stand np, but my head seemed too heavy for me. I couldn't hold it up. It seemed as if my neck was broken. I liad_ a bit of a rest, then I scrambled off a bit further. I came to a steep bank; and, just as I was going to slide down it, I heard » shell coming. I bobbed down, and, when I thought it had gone, I got up, and then I was knocked on the head, and I didn't remember any more. All I know is that I must have rolled down the hank, and in doing so I put my shoulder out. One of the ambulance men said he found me and carried me down to the beach. I don't know where I should have been if it hadn't been for him. My shoulder is all right now. It was lucky I didn't break my neck, for it was a steep bank, and I must have fallen heavily. However, it is done with now, and I only hope I shall soon bo able to get back to tho front again. I must get some of my own back again." j

MASTERTON MEN'S LETTERS SOME PERSONAL NOTES. ■ Writing to a friend in Masterton, Private C. W. M'Conchie, of Masterton, who was wounded in. the Dardanelles fighting, says; "I got my wound after 2i days' fighting. Host of our battalion is out up, so perhaps I was lucky, or else I may have been lying out there with the rest of my poor mates, having a long sleep. _ You cannot imagine what war is; it is just like —well, what one would imagine the depths of hell to be. I got my wounds at the same ■ time as 'Tressy' (LanceCorporal Tressider, of Masterton), in trying to get one of the wounded officers away. 'Tressy,' myself, and two others went to the officer's assistance. We managed to put him in an oil sheet and started back to cover, when three out of the four of us were hit. I was hit near the spine. "Poor old Wilson (Lieutenant E. K. Wilson) is gone. He was shot dead on Tuesday. April 27, after having been only a snort time in the firing line. He was a grand fellow, and we will miss him more than words can express. Poor old Wilson. "The Turks-are bravo enough, but • possess a very small heart. If they see us coming at them with the bayonet they fly in-all directions. The Turks have German officers, and these men arc ni> to all sorts of dirty tricks. Their tricks, however, very seldom succeed now. They even try the gam© of carrying a machine-gun on a stretcher covered with a blanket, and call out to lis, 'Don't fire; wounded men.' Then when we do not fire on them thoy suddenly down with the gun and open on us. Needless to say, when they try that game, they never have another opportunity. They might get a few of our men, but we make sure that they will never see another daylight—prisoners being 'off,' as the sa3*ing is '' Writing to a friend in Masterton, A. L. Tressider, who lias now returned to the firing line, said that he managed to dodge the Turks' bullets for some time, but eventually '-stopped one." Our boys, he says,' chased the enemy like rabbits for a time. When the Turks reached the scrub on the Peninsula, however, they were hard to shift, and their shrapnel did pretty deadly work. Tho Masterton lad received a bullet in the fleshy part of the leg, but the wound was not very serious, and he was only in hospital for a short while. Trooper Norman Miller, of Mastertoil, writes as follows from Heliopolis, Egypt, to relatives in Masterton "The mounteds are eff to-morrow (May A) to relieve our brave boys at the Dardanelles. These lads have _ fought a great battle, and the Dominion will be proud of them when they hear the story of their deeds. We are going to let the people of New Zealand see that the mounteds can fight in the trenches just as well as the infantry. Old 'Mac' (Private C. W. M'Conchie, who was wounded) is, getting on fine, and hopes to be un in a few days. He is at the Kasr El Hosnital at Cairo. According to reports, the other Masterton men who were wounded are doing well."