IMPORTANT EVENTS IN GALLIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2507, 7 July 1915, Page 7

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN GALLIPOLI

. ATTACK,BY,LAND AND SEAFIGHT FOR KRITHIA DEVELOPS INTO A GREAT BATTLE •. N ' By'Telegrapi—Press Association—OopyrisM, London, July 5. A' delayed Exchange raessage'from Mityleno states"A general attack against the Straits by sea and-land opened on Sunday." , ' Athens, July 5. ; All agree; that the struggle around _ Krithia has developed into the (greatest land battle since the troops of 'the Allies landed. ■. The'concentratedarmies under General Sir lan Hamilton are sweeping the Turks back along the Peninsula iii a succession of slie,rt rushes, ! ' i\',.v ...-' SIR lAN HAMILTON'S NARRATIVE PLAN OF THE LANDING A THRILLING AND GRAPHIC ACCOUNT ' ' , 'iC~ . > • ' ,(Rec. -July 6, 10.35 p.m.)' ' s < ■ ' , , London, July 6. . Tlie dispatch of General Sir lan Hamilton, Commander of ; the British Expeditionary troops in the Dardanelles, tas Been published; '• The narrative covers tho history of the operations up till May 5, and.is prefaced by . the General's review of tho military factors in the.situation which induced him to adopt the plan of landing adopted,. • A Reluotant Deduotlon. . ' .. ■■ Sir lan Hamilton reached Tenedoa .on March 17,. and conferred with Admiral de Robcckj General D'Amade, and Admiral Guepratte. "I witnessed the battle between tho warship and the 'land fortresses on March 18, and it forced me to cable the reluctant deduction cooperation of my whole'force would bo required to force the Dardanelles. ./ i 1 . "Our. reconnaissances showed that only by flinging the whole-of my troops very rapidly ashore could, we meet with success. A tentative piccemeal programme was'bound to lead to disaster.: ■ Tho' landing of the army would involve difficulties for which there, was no precedent in military history, except in the' sinister legends of Xerxes. It was necessary,- therefore, to land at as many" points as possible, and threaten to. land at other points. The weather was sbdund to' ;play .a; vital part'. . *If : it had' been British weather the adventure must have been given, up. . - 1 ; "To l,\nd threo thousand men, and then break off and leave them exposed to.tho attacks of 34,000 regulars with a:hundred'guns was .impossible, but by delaying _ till rtho end of April; ive had a fair chance, of getting. several days of consccutivo calm. \ _ .' "An, inspection of tho ground showed that the dominating features were Sari Bair, a , mountain running in a succession of almost perpendicular escarpments to a height of '970 feet, and'a'whole mountain network of ravines," covered witlr thick jungle; the Kilid Bahr plateau,_700 feot high, which is a natural fortification artificially fortified with: covering forts at'tho Narrows ; and Achi/Baba, whereof the; peculiarity is that the land, from it to Cape Helles is hollowed out like a spoon, presenting only its outer to direct fire from the sea. -The inside of the spoon-seems to bo open and undulating,'but is really full of spurs, nullahs, and confused under features. " . . "There were two good landing-places pn either side of Gaba Tepe. Trenches and entanglements were plainly visible from on board ship, but the full extent of the defences could, only be judged by a practical test.'.' "Having mado our plan, we had to redistribute our troops upon tho transports to suit order of their disembarkation.. It was impossiblo to do this at Mudros, so we sent"all the transports, except those with the Australian Infantry and details at Leninos, back to Egypt, where I and the staff worked out the allocation of tho troops to the minutest detail between March 24 and April 7. Then tho staff returned ,to Lomnos." Sir lan Hamilton proceeds to describe the landings of tho Twenty-ninth Division on five beaches, and gives a dramatic account of the landing from tho River Clyde, the machino guns of which saved the situation by keeping down the enemy's fire and preventing tho Turks from launching a counter-attack. \ ■ [Note.—The River Clyde, mentioned in Sir lan dispatch, was run' asiioro and used as a landing pier from wliioh a covering firo was directed.] Sir lan Hamilton pays a high tribute to Col. Doughty Wylie, to whose inspiring examplo and intropid courage the capture of Old Castle (Hill 141) was largely due. The astonishing success'at the beach was due to the daring of the First. Lancashire Fusiliers, who literally hurled themselves ashor«and commenced to hack their way through the wire. A long line of men was at onco mown £own, as by a scythe, but tho remainder stormed the Turkish entrenchments. . v\ ' Landing of the Colonials. : "The Australians and New Zealaiulers sailed out of Mudros Bay on April 24, and reached tho rendezvous at 1.30 on the. morning of April 25. Fifteen hundred men.were transferred in boats and 2500 men of a covering force were placed in six destroyers and-boats in tow and directed to land at 5.30 a.m. There was not a breath of wind. _ Every condition was _ favourable except the moon, which silhouetted the ships against the orb as it went down. "I chose a rugged'and difficult part of tlio' coast, as tho Turks wero unlikely to anticipate a descent there. In consequence of the tows failing to maintain the exact direction, tho actual disembarkation was mado rather more than a mile north of the spot selected at a place moro closely overhung by steeper cliffs. This proved a blessing in disguise.,. The boats wero closo inshore before the enemy stirred. Then a battalion of Turks was seen running down to tho beach to intercept the boats. The conduct of all ranks was most praiseworthy. Not a word was spoken. Everybody , wno pcrffotly orderly aud quiet, awaiting tho enemy's fire, u'Jjkk Qconed sure enoiigb, cjvuyjig W»g fi«awlUM» - " '

' The moment the boats touched land the 'Australians' turn came. Like lightning they lept ashore. Each man went straight as his bayonet at the enemy. So vicious was tho onslaught that the Turks mado no attempt to withstand it, but lied from ridge to ridge, pursued by tho Australians. The Third Australian Brigade, under Major Sinclair-Maclagan, carried out tho attack. Tho First and Second Brigades followed promptly. All were disembarked "by two in tlio afternoon, when twelvo thousand men and two batteries of Indian mountain-artillery were landed." The disembarkation of further artillery. was delayed by tho enemy's heavy guns opening upon the' anchorage, forcing the transports to stand out to sea. A Mixed-up Business. Broken ground, thick scrub, the necessity of sending any formed detachment, post-haste as it landed,'to tho critical point of the moment, and tho headlong valour of scattered groups of men, who pressed far further into the peninsula than was intended, all led to confusion anfl mixing up of tho units. Eventually a mixed crowd of fighting men, some advancing from tho beach, and others falling back before the oncoming Turkish supports, wcro solidified into a semi-circular position, with its right about a milo north of Gaba Tepo, and its left On high ground over a. fisherman's hut. "During this period parties of tho Ninth and Tenttli Battalions charged, Mid_ put out of action three of tho enemy's Krupp guns. Meanwhilo the Australian Division, followed by two brigades of tho New Zealand and Australian Division, were disembarking. Tho' enemy, between 11 and 3, were reinforced to twonty thousand, and attempted anattack on the whole line, making a specially strong effort against the Third Brigade and the left of the Second Brigade. This was handsomely repulsed with tho help of the guns of the warships. ■ "A third most determined countcr-attack was mado against tho Third Brigade, between 5 and 6.30, the brigado holding ground with more than equivalent stubbornness. * . The Line Holds Firm. ■ "The Turks made constant attacks during the night; the Eighth Battalion repelling a bayonet charge. . Despite everything the lino held firm. The troops had practically no rest on_ the night of April '24, and on April 25 were fighting hard all day,'over most difficult country, and subjected to heavy shrapnel fire in the open. v The casualties were deplorably heavy, but despite losses and fatigue, the morning of April 26 found them still in good heart, and full of fight as ever. It was some consolation to know that the Turks suffered still more severely. Out machine guns several timeß got them in close formation.. . '■ "The whole of the surrounding country is still strewn with Turkish' dead at,this date. Owing to incessant attacks, and.tlie impossibility of reorganising the units, an advance was impossible on April 26 and- 27, and it only remained to entrench the-position gained, and perfect our arrangements for bringing up water, and ammunition supplies to the ridge itself, a most difficult' undertaking. Four battalions of the Naval Division were sent to reinforce the Australians'on April 28 and' 29." HOW THE COLONIALS BEAT THE TURKS STORY OF ENVER PASHA'S BLUNDER. (Rec. July 6, 8 p.m.), , . London, July 6. The Press Bureau has issued the following report by General Sir lan Hamil-' ten, Commander of the British Expeditionary Troops in the Dardanelles, on the part played by the Australians and Nesv Zealanders in the battlo of June 29; — "Reports'from the Australian and Now Zealand corps state that the attack commenced with a very heavy fire from midnight till 1.30 a.m., to which the Australians and-New Zealanders .only replied with a series of . cheers. The Turks then camo right on with bayonets and bombs. Those who got into our saps were instantaneously killed, and the remainder were dealt witli by bombs and rifle fire from the Seventh and Eighth Australian Light Horse (operating as infantry). *. • . " Attack Broken. "The onemy was by vwo o'clock in the moVning, many being killed during the. withdrawal.. Tho enemy's attack was strongest on his right. > The Turks were completely taken aback by a concealed sap which had been constructed well ahead of our main line. Their dead are now lying thickly in front of the sap. Some of them had crossed the sap, but were wiped out by the fire ..from our main parapet. , , "The enemy re-attacked our left at three in the morning. Thirty who crossed the parapets at Quinn's Post were pushed off. . Enver Pasha's Indisoretlon, v "Prisoners state that three fresh battalions' were employed in the main attack, .which was made on Enver Pasha's personal order. Armenian 'prisoners stated that Enver Pasha' reached the trenches on June 29, and learnt that he was not to attack again, as this would compel a British attack. Enver Pasha immediately over-rode these instructions, aid ordered the Australians to be .driven into the sea. v ' More Attacks, \ "The enemy simultaneously attacked a knoll which we captured due west of Krithia. They, reached within forty'yards of the parapet, but few returned, i "At 5.20 p.m. 'two, thousand Turks moved from Krithia into a ravine, but were scattered by machine-gun'fire. The Turks at ten o'clock in the evening again attacked our northerly trenches, wliere a Gurka officer Was wounded. The Gurkas, infuriated, charged with their kukris for the firßt time, with excellent results. The enemy's attacks were continued till dawn, but the attackers, numbering half a battalion, were shot down, and the_ attack failed utterly.' . "After a heavy bombardment with high explosives and shrapnel on our advanced positionsi.on,July 2, the Turkish infantry advanced, but were driven back to their main nullah, by the Scorpion's fire, and our rifles and machineguns. ■ . _ "Two battalions emerged at seven o'clock in the ovening from a nullah to ■the north-east of our most advanoed trerich, and commenced ari'&ttack across the open, advancing in two regular lines. Our' shrapnel caused great execution. The Gurka supports then advanced, and there being insufficient room in the trenches, took up a-position behind some excavated earth in tho rear, whence a deadly fire was poured on the attackers. _ "The Turkish officers were unable to make their men face tho fire, and tho -Turks retreated in disorder, after heavy, casualties." ; - - "Tho ground in front of our trenches in every direction is covered with Turkish dead, and, the patrols report that the ravines are full. An estimate of the Turkish casualties between June 28 and July. 2 gives 5750 killed and 15,000 wounded. _ i Sir lan Hamilton includes a copy of a Turkish order, signed by Colonel Fifaat. commander of tho 11th Division, referring to the loss of tho Turkish trenches, and adding.: ' ... . ."Henceforth commanders who surrender before the last man is killedl ... will be punished as if they, ran awaj'. I shall_ hold'responsible all officers who do not shoot with their revolver all privates who try to escape ' 'from the trenches on .any pretext." .This order was countersigned by tho regimental commander: -"I"promise to carry out-the order until the last drop of blood is shed."