THE ATTACK ON KRITHIA

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2498, 26 June 1915, Page 6

THE ATTACK ON KRITHIA

A GALLANT CHARGE NEW ZEALANDERS UNDER HOT FIRE TURKISH TRENCHES CLEARED COMMANDING OFFICERS' BRAVERY (From tho Melbourne "Age's" Special Correspondent.) Lemnos, May 10. When the second attack was made on the village cf Kritliia and Aclii Baba, or Tree Hill, which lies at tho southern extremity of Gallipoli Peninsula, a fortnight after the troops landed, the Victorian brigade, under Colonel M'Cay, and the New Zealand brigado, under Colonel Johnston, were transferred from the Gaba Tepe front to this new situation, which was developing rapidly. On May 4 British and Indian troops, with French soldiers, who were on the inside of the straits, had already advanced up tho peninsula from Cape Hollas and Sedd cl Bahr, after meeting fearful opposition. Kiithia, which lies at the foot cf Tree Hill, had been burned several times, and was nothing but a heap of ruins. The village is now in our hands, and in talcing it the Australian troops played a glorious part with the New Zealanders and French, who regained their old position. It is the story of a oharge sustained over the whole front for 1000 metres in the face of a withering fire of shell and bullets. Hard handled as the brigado had been in the first week of the fighting in this second great action, it hud lost none of its daring and dash. Transport Work at Night. Colonel M'Cay, of the Third (Victorian) Brigade, and the New Zealand infantry, under Colonel Johnston, had orders to secretly embark on tlio sth for a destination unknown. The troops left, the trenches at dusk, and in absolute silence made their way to "Brighton" pier, where lighters were waiting to take them off to minesweepers, tugboats, and destroyers, in readiness to receive them. At S o'clock pinnaces and tugs began to tow the lighters with the silent troops aboard out to the destroyers. Two hours later the men were disembarking oil either side of the headland at Sedd el Bahr. AVhen day broke on the 6th tliey were safely in bivouac half a mile from the shore, and some four miles behind the firing line. Silent only as as there was necessity for silence, the troops soon showed they were eager for the new attack.

The country was very different from that they had just left. If was quite open, with isolated clumps of trees and very little scrub. The brambles and heavy sand to which the traps had grown ac-. customed were absent. It was evident they were in the midst of a considerable camp, which they had noticed ou landing. A landing stage bad been made by running ashore an old tramp steamer and sinking her, engineers having stripped her decks, and then cleverly built hor into a wharf. All day the men rested. On the 7th they moved up, passing the guns, dug in and hardly visible, to within a mile and a half of the firing line. Here they were exposed to a fearful shell fire from the Turkish guns. They "dug in" all that day, and finished only when darkness came on. At midnight they began to move forward, and next morning began a general attack all along the line. The Shelling of Krithia and Tree Hill. On the previous evening the warships and the French and Britisn guns on the penisula had commenced a terrible bombardment of the village of Krithia, where the Turks were entrenched, and of their positions around the front of Achi Baba. Lyddite was dropping among the houses, and soon the village was in flames. Tho French "seventy-fives" were putting fifteen shots a minute over the Turkish trenches, searching for their guns. The enemy was. replying with furious burst of firing. During the night the fire slackened, but in the morning it recommenced.- Every available gun— and the number ran into hundreds —was directed on the village and the Turkish position ahead. A Creat Charge. Under cover of , this fire the troops commenced their great charge. The Turkish bullets "came like a flood," one officer said to me, "it was just one continuous stream," another said. The Turks did not fire so much shrapnel as on the day of our landing. But now that the khaki line could be dimly Been in the smoke, they trained machine-guns on them and concentrated their rifle fire. Tho line of the Allies was stretched across the whole of the peninsula. The French, supported by the warships, were threatening the hill on the right, and they looked as if they would sweep into the village from that side or around the base of the hill. In the centre were the Australians, and on the left the New Zcalanders, supported by British and Indian regiments. Seeking for Cover. Tho sixth and seventh battalions were sent ahead while tho fifth and eighth were held as supports. There was no chance of firing at the enemy. Each man, besides his rifle, had 10 carry an entrenching tool—a pick or a siiovel. Our troops sought what corer they could in the beds of the creaics, and kept on steadily r cvinc Vorward with fixed bayonets. The nring line was pouring bullets on the hill some ciist'inw away. The Australians found the first trenches filled with Indian troops, evidently in reserve. As our lads came on at the double across that zone of death soma halted hero and there for a. breather before advancing again. The Indians signalled to them to keep down as they ran, but there was little chance of running low and fast as well, and men were dropping in dozens. It was noticeable that the Turkish fire was low—men fell were hit principally in the legs and feet. Describing the next trench reached, one of the Fifth Infantry said:—"Wo went ou up a creek for a bit and then over a rise, and came ou some move trenches. They were filled with English 'Commies and wounded, and there was no room for us. The.v sent us on with a cheer, and at length wo had to take a spell lying in tho open. We were almost up to the original line noiv, and tho Turks were getting back to the village. I ran on, puffed, and found I was doing little more than walking. I got about 20 yards beyond the desorted Turkish trenches, when a bullet got mo and I dropped. Fancy all that rush and never firing a blooming shot. Though we were not supposed at first to bo in the Trout, most of lis managed 'to get up there."

New Zealanders Advance. Tlio Canterbury and Auckland Battalions were in the leading line of the New Zealanders, with Iho Wellington men on the extreme left, their flank resting on the beach. They were supported by liritish troops with the Otago Regiment in reserve. Major ll.ynowcll. of the Auckland H.'il.Lalinn. describing (ho advance, said: —"The Turks' machine-gun fire was sustained and deadly. We just went on and on, sninc nl us going out at every .>top. Quickly the reserves and support oume up, siul joined tlir &ruic luifu bui tliA «*>ack weni an. J.

don't know for how long—it seemed ages." Courageous Officers Wounded. In tho great charge Colonel M'Cay, brigadier, was up among his men, urging them to fresh efforts, reckless of his own life. If words and invective could do anything to rouse the men further, his furiously expressed opinion of tho enemy should liavo sufficed. It is told of him that, smoking a cigar and twirling his cane, he was keeping the troops cvor on the advance, always urging his men to keep down and take cover, he himself watching the enemy's wavering lino ahead, and refusing to tako the advico which he had given to the soldiers. In other parts of the advancing line Major Cass and Lieutenant Hastio were passing from unit to unit, helping the men in a score of ways to advance. All three were wounded in that glorious charge. The wounded soldiers, who got back as best they could to the tions. recounted the terrible anguish of Colonel Bolton when he found his regiment disappearing before his eyes—tlio men seemed to melt away before that levelling hail of bullets. It is impossible to give any description of the hardships which the wounded endured before reaching the shore, four miles away. Many received further wounds as they crawled buck from the firing line. In order to copc with the casualties doctors from warships had been sent on shore; still they were not enough. Tho Turks' plan, both here and at Gebe Tepe, was to keep the stream of bullets pouring just over the top of the trenches, so .that if any man tried to look out he would be struck, but the men who were coming' up into the firing line were hit mostly in the legs. The Turks soenied to have an almost inexhaustible supply of men and ammunition. It was more difficult for snipers to work in this country, but some were found in the trees. When the officers went down the noncoms. and men led on their parties. A Corporal Brester gathered up a handful of the Eighth Infantry, who were joined by some marines, and they pushed oil, holding consultations here and there as to the best way to proceed. Just as tho corporal reachcd the advanced firing line he went, down, and he is cursing now that ho had his run for nothing. The Germans try to get the Turks to come to close grips with tho Allies, but they will not themselves face the bayonet charges. Our line of gallant mon • came on on a front of fivo miles without a break. The Turks remained in their trenches till the leading men were within a few hundred yards. _ Our men were not firing—just rushing on, and they could see the Turks dodging about and scuttling along amidst the exploding shells from our guns, which were inflicting fearful losses. We occupied their deserted trenches and waited there to strengthen our line, but the respite was all too short, and the troops again faced the fire from tho trenches on the hill above the village and from among the ruins of the village itself. The line reached to within 200 yards of the outskirts of Krithia, and there the troopa hastily began to entrench. The New Zealnnders were threatening to get around and take the village from tho left. The French had already taken with magnificent gallantry a. hill to the right of Achi Baba. The Villaga Entered. On the night'of the 9th or the 10th, in a final grand charge, the Alii® entered the village. The details have not yet reached me, but the sacrifice was great and tho cost to bo reckoned more than even that of the first days of fighting. Generals in the Firing Line. On all fronts General Birdwood has been constantly in the firing line. He takes a rifle, .'and, inquiring for the enemy's trenches, sets an example to the troops. Ho has had many narrow escapes. On one occasion he, General Bridges, and General Walker were talkwith Major Burgess (of Tasmania) in a battery, when two shells penetrated a gun shield, and buried themselves in the sand without bursting. General Bridges is found in a khaki shirt with 'his sleeves rolled up, walking along the trenches or inspecting preparations for getting up supplies from tne beach. Colonel Rosenthal and Major. Burgess were studying a plan in a dugout bombproof shelter, when a shell crashed through and exploded, and both wero wounded. Turkish Tricks. It is generally recognised that the enemy has some system of bonuses for the men, for the Turks take the identification discs from our wounded and dead, and presumably present these to their officers. One man we captured had forty of these discs. The Turks are terrible plunderers, many who were taken prisoner had their pockets full of coin. There is every reason to believe that the Turkish losses far exceed those of the Allies. Our gun fire, both from the ships and the field batteries, was particularly accurate, and shells bursting in Turkish trenches wiped out whole lines of men. In their efforts to retake the position we had so dearly won they sustained appalling losses from our machine-gun and rifle fire. Our men stand steady until the Turks come within twenty yards of tho trenches, and then they sweep their lines with fierce bursts of fire. ground in front of our trenches was thickly strewn with their dead. It has been impossible to bury the bodies, and the battlefield is becoming horrible in the extreme. A correspondent of a neutral country estimates the enemy's killed and "wounded at 50,000. Our total losses, including those of the French troops, may be set down at 20,000 men. The enemy has certainly lost 30,000, and probably 40,000. Over 60 per cent, of the Australian wounded will.be fit to return to the firing line; in fact, a large draft is leaving Egypt this week. The officers are hurrying back to their companies. "I have trained them from the start, seven months ago, and I want to take them into action. I only had a few hours .of it. I know it's a terrible proposition, but that was why wa came." Thus an officer spoke. The Light Horse units have volunteered for '-ervice as infantry troops. It was not without pangs at leaving their horses that tho Light Horse volunteered to go dismounted to the Dardanelles, but rather than wait they wont eagerly, and by this time tho first brigade, under Colonel Chauvel, has reached the trenches. They hope that their 'horses will soon be sent after them.