THE BATTLE OF GULLY RAVINE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2510, 10 July 1915, Page 5

THE BATTLE OF GULLY RAVINE.

HOW THE TURKS WERE BEATEN A-yiVli) NARRATIVE''OP: RECENT PIGHTINGv.' ... -"--V''" , By. Telegraph—Press ABSociation-Cojiyrlgliti ~7T.' " , * i (Rec. July 9, 11.20 p.m.) ; > • London, July 9.. Mr. Ashinead Bartlett, tho war correspondent, reports"The fighting on June 28, called 'The Battle of' Gully Ravine,' was the most successful engagement yet fought on the peninsula. We made a good triangular wedge in the left wing, of which each side is a mile. Our losses were comparatively small. The success was mainly due to tho taotics'adopted and tho enormous improvement in the support which tho; artillery afforded. _ Instead of a, general advance, Sir lan Hamilton selected a section on which every available gun was concentrated. The works 1 chosen for assault were battered to pieces with high' explosives, while for twenty minutes shrapnel cut the wire entanglements to pieces. The success was most inspiring in its effect on the whole army, and opens the brightest prospects', if the gunners are. kept supplied with unlimitedammunition. .The French lent some trench mortars, which aro deadly weapons, dropping bombs with thirty or seventy pounds of melinite .vertically, into the enemy's tranches at short range, with terrible: effect. • The Brunt of the Fighting. . : "Tlio brunt of the fighting. was_ borno by the 29th Division, wliose .'deeds in Gallipoli assure them a place in history equal to. Wellington's Peninsula veterans. Some of the battalions were without a single officer who landed on; April 25, . but brought up their strength by drafts from the depots, and many young officers ; nevertheless the division attacked with unsurpassed dash „and vigour. The 156t1i. Lowland Brigade also.came out of its first battle with' flying colours. ' The Ist' Borderers' at 10.45 p.m. captured the Boomerang Fort almost .without opposition.' The survivors were dazed with .the bombardment. The artillery theii lengthened the rang,e to prevent the Turks rushing up reinforcements. Simultaneously the Scottish Borderers, Inuiskilling Fusiliers, South Borderers cf . the 87th Brigade rushed first two lines of trenches between the gully ra vine and. the sea. The Turks made an effort to check the advance, but the.B7th swept irresistably forward. Meanwhile on the right of the gully Tavine the ,4th and 7th Royal Scots by spirited attacks captured two lines of "the Turkish , trenches, though two other battalions of tho Lowland Division met with heavy .'opposition, suffered severe losses, and failed to make good their objective. At 11.30 the 86th Brigade, led by the 2nd Royal Fusiliers, passed through the trenches captured by the 87tJ>, and swept forward' upon two more lines of trenches. , A Magnificent Spectacle. • It was a magnificent spectacle, the men never wavering or losing formation under the hea,vy artillery and rifle fire. Meanwhile tho Indian Brigade on the extreme left moved along tho cliffs and reached the green knoll which wais our extreme objective. Several companies of the Lancashire Fusiliers advanced to the nullah, whicli runs near the gully ravine from tho north and dug themselves in, thus_ connecting up- the advanced positions with the 86th Brigade. This' the morning's work.' All the positions on tlio extreme right were captured under an hour and a half. The Turks showed no disposition to counter-attack, and their artillery was extremely sparing in ammunition. The British artillery throughout tho afternoon put a screen behind tlio Turkish firing lines to prevent reserves-coming up. We made a further attempt at 5.30 i>.m. to capture tho trenches on. the right facing tho Krithia village, but were unsuccessful. Difficulties of Night Attack. • The great difficulty in Gallipoli- is to hold the _ captured positions against night attacks.. The ground is so broken and provides so much natural cover that til© enemy, who. kriows every detail of the configuration, is al)l© to creep I up. The Turks reverted to these tactics on the night of June 28, hut without | success. Tliero was no fighting on the 29th, The enemy was exhausted, and ! our men were enabled to mako good their positions and to run connecting saps to the positions on tho right, thus forming a diagonal line facing the enemy. The Turks, on the night of June 30, attacked the Green, Knoll on the ; coast, but the .columns - were dispersed by tlio destroyers. Two battalions of Turks further to tlio right also met with no success, though some, by skilfully using cover, reached to witliin,3o yards of our, trenches, hut were annihilated." Mr. Bartlett is of opinion that tho enemy's powers of resistance have appreciably weakened recently, losing faitli in the German star. The infantry is dissatisfied, and the artillery support is afraid to movo in the daytime..

THE SPIRITS OF THE TURKS ARE DROOPING . v 'QUAYS OF CONSTANTINOPLE DESERTED, v London, July 8. ■ Tho '.'Daily ChronicleV Mitylene states that Turkish prisoners who have arrived at Mitylcno aro well fed. • They are jubilant at their rescuo from tho inferno on Gallipoli Peninsula. They declaro that tho spirits of tho Turks are drooping, necessitating the most frequent changing of tho first line troops to maintain the front continuously with fresh troops. Frontal attacks have been, discontinued, and the numbers of-prisoners taken form an excellent indication of tho wearing-down efforts of tho Allies. Prisoners relate that anti-Gorman fcoliiip; is more • intense than it was. Many German officers havo been shot in the back in revcngo for tho rovolvcring of hesitant' Turks. ; Tlio quays of Constantinople aro almost deserted; tho shipping is massed in tho Golden Horn, and will not venture seaward. The Anglo-Russian blockade has paralysed trade. Spying is rife, and terrorism is worse than in tho . Sultan Abdul Hamid's days. 'A' strong element is ready; for revolution and ; tlio overthrowing of tho military party and the Gorman overlords. Intense Fighting. Tliere havo been many anti-conscription riots. Intenso fighting continues on tho Gallipoli Peninsula. Tho trying heat 1 has not daunted tho Allies, who aro ditfßiug towurdii tho Impart.tutt, uudei'' : /ft s&»ft which tMa ta K»»cs»

The Turks introduced new strategy at Krithia. When tho Allies had by a dashing night attack captured the first two trenches facing the ruined village, tho Turks at dawn exploded mines, under tho crumbling parapets, thus exposing tho defenders, who wero raked with macliino guns. Tho Allies instantly jumped-up and stormed tho Turkish trenches. After ten minutes' desperate'hand-to-hand fighting they ejected the Turks, capturing macliino SUM. Aeroplanes on both sides have boon dropping pamphlets. Some intended for tho Allies wero carried by the wind and landed in tho Turks' linos. Tile Turks endorsed them: "Wrong address ; try Australian lines," and threw them to tho Australians, who threw them back, marked: "Returned to sender, as goods not up to sample of known truth." Tho Turks again returned them, and the Australians tied tliem to haaid-grenades and threw them back, finally silencing the Turks. It is. believed that Enver Pasha came under a hot New Zealand fire and narrowly escaped. : Surgeons remark on the slightness of tho Allies'-(.wounds; few . of • tho' wounded succumb. < - TURKEY'S MOST .WARLIKE TROOPS INVTHE FIGHTING. Athens, July 8. Turkish reinforcements during the latest fighting on Gallipoli Peninsula included tho Ist and 2nd Army Corps, tie most warlike troops of tho Turkish Empire. They are composed of Arabs, Kurds, and Albanians. It is estimated that they, lost twenty, thousand men killed and wounded during tho recent attacks, ■ ' . . , A . 'AN URGENT ORDER FOR HOSPITAL' ACCOMMODATION, (Rec. July. 9, 4 p.m.) t Athens, July 9. . The Turkish losses In the most recent fighting wero twenty-five thousand. . An urgent order has been sent to the Constantinople Hospital to prepare 15,000 beds. V ' DOMINIONS SHARED IN THE LAURELS."' OF: -THE' BATTLE-.-- • . FIELD., ■ " ■ ■ " ' ' i„"Times"- and 1 Sydney, "Sun."- Services.); v (Reo.. July, 9, 9.45 p.m.), • . , . , / ' London, July 8.The '"Daily Mail" comments on the desperate character of the undertaking at the Dardanelles, and says it stands out in every line of Sir lan Hamilton's dispatch. "The valour of the Australasians who dashed unhesitatingly on the Turkish trenches equalled that of our lieroio regulars. It is a welcome thought that all the Dominions have shared in the laurels of the. battlefield."