TOLD BY THE MEN

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2515, 16 July 1915, Page 6

TOLD BY THE MEN

FIRST TIME UNDER FIRE INTERESTING STORIES. Strangely different accounts are. given by tho men of their own feelings in warfare. Some speak of the fighting with feelings of horror that they cun not disguise, some regard it as just a queer experience;. and some speak eagerly about it as a splendid adventure. The slaughter made some men sick, others it mado angry, and.some simply didn't care. Private C. E. Lee, of Masterton, is one of those who didn't care. That awful eighth of May, when most of the men got their wounds, is vividly enough impressed on liis mind, but he'speaks of it without excitement. "It's very rough, • and very hard, and very dangerous, but I didn't mind it much. Honestly, I didn't. Going over oil the ship was worse than the fighting. In tho ngiht you know what you've got to do, and you do it, and that's about all there is to it. The New Zealanders fought all rigM out there. I don't think there were many amongst them that were afraid. There were a few that. were a bit weak in the heart at first, but afterwards when they got over this they were often better than the rest. Of course, if you turn' back you'll get shot, and that's no good to any man. I thought at first it was a terrible thing to be killed, but'l've seen fellows killed out there, and when you see them it seems nothing very bad at all. A mail says, 'I think I'm done for, mates,' and he lays down his head and goes out. Dying doesn't seem to me such a bad thing after all."

Another impression is given by Private C. V. Wallace, of Headquarters Medical Corps. He looked ill, he went on crutches, because he ivas slowly recovering from paralysis, his nerves were shattered, but ho was wondrously cheerful. "I was lucky, I reckon. Yes," ho insisted, "I was lucky compared to some of the others. I landed on Sunday morning and I only hung out till Tuesday. I got-two slirapnel wounds in tho abdomen, ]ust punctures, aud -a couple of ambulance men. Jind just "bandaged me up nicely and put mo 011 a'stretcher when a high explosive shell came and blew the two ambulance men. me and tho stretcher over a bank. When I camo to- I was paralysed, but I'm getting all right now. A month or two at liotorua and I'll bo doing tho hundred in ton and a fifth" again. As 6oon as I get myself patchcd up I'm going to volunteer again. I think it's sport. Some of. the fellows don't care for it, but .1 think it's great. But tho next time I go I'm going in tho infantry. Hang tho Medical! I want a bayonet! I want to get some of my own back." •

Pretty Uncomfortable. "It was pretty uncomfortable, especially ivlien advancing across tlie open," said Private Scrivcns, of the Wellington Infantry, when speaking of his feelings the first time under fire. "We were act-, vanoing. at the start .when seven shrapnel shells seemed to burst- overhead alt at once.- At the same time a machine-gun was peppering ms, and three bullets went through my boot. My word, it was exciting. When we.got the word to fix bayonets and go for. the Turks. w« were attacking Hill Killibar. It was pretty warm for . us, but we stuck to it and got two lines of trenches." Sergeant Wild, Hokitika, South Canterbury Infantry, was eight days in the firing line, when a bullet struck him in the thigh. He 6tood up and immediately his thigh was. broken. At the time he was about 300 yards out in front of the trenches, and had to crawl back. "The only fear is while you are waiting," said the sergeant. ■ "Once you begin firing away you are as cool as a cucumber." "Being under rifle fire is not too good at first," said Private Paynter, of tho 12th Nelson Company, who was wounded in the head on May 8. "But like everything else," he added, "you got used to it in time." It felt like a kick from a horse when he got bit. Afterwards he was paralysed all down the side, but retovered later. Private- Paynter helped an Australian who was wounded in the leg down to tho beach, amd • it took them about six hours to go five miles. ■ In the trenches under fire they felt all the time as if they wore likely to go at any time, and there was a big strain cn their 'nerves. Wounded Soldier's Ordeal. A narrow escape from death by the bullet, and then a narrow escape from death at the hands of a prowling Turk, was the experience of Corporal J. R. Sullivan, South' Canterbury Infantry, and formerly Methodist Minister at Timaru. Relating how lie came by his wound, Corporal Sullivan said that he landed at tho front at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 25, and at 1.30 p.m. lie got a bullet through' tie corner of his mouth. it went down his throat, and was rxtracted from .the back of his collarbone. Corporal Sullivan lias almost lost the u=e of his voice as the result of his wonnd, and it was only in a husky whisper that ho could tell his story. He has been without the use of his voice since. April 25, and does not know whether he will ever regain control of it, but hones that an operation will set it right. "The bullet knocked me unconscious, and I don't know how Ion? I was there. Then an Australian tied mo up, and I Tested under a shrub and went to sltep. When I woke up a Turk was «t my feet, and I 'shammed' dead. He cut the laces of my boots with a long knife, and made oif with my boots. No doubt he would have killed me had he thought I was alive. One Tu.rk dTovo a bayonet through tho tunic of one of our regiment, but his pockets were so full that the .bayonet only grazed' his chest. He 'shammed' dead just as I did, and that is how lie escaped. We didn't realise the danger at the start of the fighting. I think the shrapnel caused the most worry, because of tho uncertainty as to whero they were bursting. It was a feeling of suspense, coupled with one of real humour at the start; that was before the bullets did serious business. "The conduct of the boys was wonderful. The plateau which wo hold was covered with thick scrub, and exposed to a strong artillery fire. We could scarcely sco anything twelve yards in front of us, so acting on the orders of an Australian brigadier, wo simply clung like limpet 3 to our position. Tho orders given us were: "No advance, no retirement. Hold the ridge at all costs.' We did this until wo hadn't a man left to 'iold it any longer. The stretcher-bearers particularly deserve every credit and honour for their work, tt is a pity honour is not measured in V.C.'s, for every stretcher-bearer deserved one." Corporal Sullivan was asked why he left the ranks of tho ministry to loin, the wnlwtui't ranks In the iVm* V,ealfiiu( JCozott, EAj£slMji#liL&i£hb fAmdskkt

eousness, every man lias some share surely, heucc I was anxious to do my bit."

Wounded in Three Places. Private A. E. Arcns, of Carterton (of the Itua'hine ltegiment) experienced more thaii the ordinary I*llll of lxid luck. Jto bears on lii.s left check bene a brown patch where one bullet smashed its way ill, and being in it parted in two pieces, both of which are still ill his head, one below the right ear and the other on. the other side of his head altogether, though two operations have already been performed. He was also shot in tho middle of tho back and also lower down. All three wounds are believed to have been caused by machine-gun fire, and were inflicted whilst Private Arcus was lying down on the ground in semi-cover. Explosive Bullets. Private W. 11. Keast, of the ith Regiment, Otago Battalion, met his bit of trouble 011 April 28, only three days after landing. Ho received an explosive bullet in the side of his right foot, and shows the bullet as evidence that it was of the kind barred by tho international rules of warfare. Private Nyliane, of Petonc, got a bullet through his. right hand in the rush ou Achi Saba 011 May 8. ■ After Two Operations, Private F. Oswald, of tho Canterbury Infantry, is a Russian Pole, who enlisted in the Main Expeditionary Force in Weilington. He was looking pale'and wan, and with plenty of reason. Ho had been shot in the back of the left shoulder. The bone had been chipped, and the wound had turned septic. The result liad been that he had had to undergo two operations, and he may yet have to face the surgeons once more. Private Oswald has friends but no relatives in Wellington. Legs Partly Paralysed. .Private W. H. Dunn, of the Third Auckland Regiment, was shot' in the spine in the first rush on the day of landing—April 25.- The wound itself was not so bad, the brave chap related, but it had partially paralysed both legs. Since the voyage commenced lie had got back the usb of one leg, but tho other was obdurate so. far, and ho could not walk without the aid of crutches. "It's pretty bail luck, isn't it," ho said. "I feel so well, too. There was a girl coming down,to see me, but she won't be able to pick me out, as I can't get out to see the show!" The doctors are hopeful that Dunn will get back the uso of both legs. . . "Ise the Orderly Sergeant!" "Don't run ■ away with itlie idea that the Turk is not a good fighter," said one of the wounded men. "He is every bit as brave a man as the Britisher, and he fights with the idea that if he goes out in the scrap' he goes to Paradise. Tiino after time they charged right up to our ■trenches and gave us all we knew to keep them off. On one occasion a singlo Turk came right up to our trenches, and, thinking to gull us, said 111 broken English.: 'Ise the orderly sergeant!' But his tongue gave him away, and wo pumped him full of lead. To take Krithia will bo a tough proposition—it is another Gibraltar, and if the Turks get an ample supply of ammunition there is going to bo. a lot of dirty work before it is all over, take my word!"

Hit by Shell-cap. Corporal T. .W. Bourke of the 15th Nortli Auckland Eegiment, met his stock of trouble 011 the day the AustralianZealand Forces landed. "We had just reached the top of a hill in a hail of bullet iind shrapnel fire," said Bourke, "when the cap of a shell struck mo in my right thigh. It was lucky it did r.ot smash 1110 up altogether, but at the time I thought my leg was gone, and felt very sick about it." In 1 explaining, Corporal Bonrko said that the shrapnel shell consisted of three parts, tho cap, tho magazine, which was full of bullets, and scrap iron, and the charge section. Some of the shells fired by the Turks were noit too good. While they lost their eap3, the magazine was not shattered as it should have been. That was the case with the shell-cap thaifc had struck him. Had the shell done its duty Corporal Bonrko would not have had a. story to tell. Ho declares ha is doing splendidly and hones yet Ito have another bang at tho enemy. "Ho Died Game." Almost everyone will remember that the first Wellington officer of whose death we received news was Lieut. L. H. Hugo, formerly officer commanding the Technical School Cadets, and a crack shot of the Ivarori Rifle Club.. Private H. V.'Falk, of Masterton (of the Euahiiie Eegiment), who was invalided home by the Willochra, was serving under Lieut. Hugo in' the attack made 011 April 25. . "Wo were all sorry to lose him," sajd Private Falk, "for ho was a good soldierand a good chap. He was shot whilst leading a charge un a hill—shot in the leg and in tho abdomen. It was a hot corner, with a perfect rain of bullets, and men could not stand up to it. Four men tried to gelt his body, and three of them were shot (all in the thigh) 1 ' by machine-gun fire. At lost we were able to get his body, and he was honoured with a military funeral. He lies burial on the hill on.which he died—and he died game!" Other Incidents. "My trouble was a dnm-dum bullet, which entered between- the first and second knuckles of the left hand, and took the whole of the palm away with it, said Torporal Twecdic, of Napier. "I got it whilst we wore tryipg to take the second hill at Gaba Tepe on April 27. It's pretty well right now-a new palm has grown, and I think I Will bo Tight again in a. few weeks." "I was with the ammunition column on 'May 21 when I got settled," said Private F. B. Carson, of Woodville. "I was standing with one hand over tho other crossed in front of me. The bullet went right through the right, hand and stopped in the left. ''It was a good job I was standing as I was. If it hadrit been for my hands being crossed, I would have got it fair in the. abdomen; and it would have beeu good-bye!" Private A. Kyle, 'of Greymouth, returns -with half of his Tight thumb amputated, the result of a poisoned hand sustained at- Leninos just prior to the landing at Gallipoli. , Pipei- A. D. M'Phereon, of Wellington, who was a member of the Otago Eegiment with- the Main Expeditionary Force, had the misfortune to get shot in tho foot during an advance made from Cape Ilelles ou May 8. He is still unable, to ■walk without crutches, as the bones above the instep are shattered,' and there is still a big hole in the top of his foot which declines to fill up. Corporal Eowe, of Wanganui, of the Wellington-West Coast Eegiment of the Main Expeditionary Force, was shot in tho shoulder with a machine-gun bullet, which tore a wound eight inches in length from the round of the shoulder down the outside of the arm. This hurt, which had given a deal of trouble and had been the cause of two operations, was sustained on April 27—two days after the landing at Gallipoli. Private Muldrock, of Waverley, a member of the Taranaki Company, had the bad luck to stop a bullet with his chest. It entered the right side, touched the lung, aud left under his right arm. Private Muldrock thinks his lung is healed pretty well, and is one of the "fairly fit"-on board.

Lance-Corporal J. Menzies, of the 2nd Canterbury Regiment, had particularly bad luck on the day his company landed. Iu tho big hill rush, a bullet from a machine-gun fractured his left arm and carried away- two fingers from hi 3 right hand. Ho is now' in splendid fettle, and reports that his wounds are mending beautifully. At the same time he was being assisted to dress by a good-natured 1 ifctlo Welshman with his arm in a sling. They were both as bright as new pins, a characteristic of every man on tho ship. Private W. D. Gibbon, of Rawhene, a member of the 15th North of Auckland Regiment, was shot, in tho arm <n Jfay 8. His injured limb is. mending rapidly, and should be all right in time.

Private H. Trcsedor, of the Hutt, returns with an eye wound. He had the ill-luck to rim his eye against one of lik- comrade's bayonets. It is not at all certain yet whether tho eye can be saved. A merry care youth is Lance-Cor-poral Samuel, of Auckland, full of stories about pranks in Cairo, and on the voyages to and from tho front; yet lie is suffering from nerves! "A bullet hit mo in the ann and did some damage to nerves there," lie relates. "I thought it wiia n hfcjife at flt'sti and I. wM It hud lwti. Plus iisi'vn tvqublp is tnt'. versa, JEaaa .jtaL. .whan,. A jJomJlujUk* I AmUm.

if I had had ail electric shock. What worried mo most of all at the front was tho noise. The hills echo and re-echo tho sound and the roar and rattle is frightful. You can't bo sent back behind tho lines for a rest, because there is nowhere to go. Thero is uo 'behind tho lines/ We aro just holding on, and you cau't get away from the row anywhere." Ifp had stories about Turkish fighters and snipers. The Turks, lie said, hate tho bayonet, and as a rule they don't wait for it now. At sniping they are amazingly clover. And cheeky! They get through our lines somehow, hiile in the scrub or somewhere else, and shcot our men from the back-. Some have been in tho scrub with their faces painted green to avoid being seen. Others have been can gilt with a full Australian uniform with identification disc and pay. book complete." "The first time I was hit," said Sergt. Whitley, of Carterton, "was by. a bullet which got mo iu the chest. ' It 'must havo been nearly spent, because the bundle of letters and my pay book that I liad in my pocket stopped it, and the bullet just penetrated below the shoulder. The hurt was nothing, but it destroyed my nerve. Up till that time I had had no fear, but after that my nerves were all gone. What sent me back was not exactly a wound, lite point of a burst shrapnel shell hit my rille, smashed it to pieces in my hands and crashed the butt against my hip. I had a bad bruise there, but the skill was hardly broken. It must. have damaged the sciatic nerve, and now they say I have sciatica." ' .

Private G. Bell, of Palmerston North (a member of the Nelson Company), is one of thoso still in a Tather serious condition. He was shot through the lunijs, and as a result his breathing powers are materially affected.

, ,^ c ,-^ ur ks were not the direct cause of 'the injuries to Private Dixon, of Wliangarei. He was a shoemaker in the A.S.C., but along with motor transport men, farriers, cooks, and all the others he had to help with the' ammunition supply, per mule pack. This is about how he tells tho story:—"At that time our men were just holding on. The line on our left wing—you could hardly call it a line— was so scarce that if the Turks had had tho courage to charge they would have wiped our men out.' We had just gono up to the line through a place we called Iho \ alley of Death/ because oi tho number of dead men and mules there—no time to bury them. . The first time wo took biscuits, but an officer said:.' What are you bringing that stuff tor? Go back for ammunition. We'ro short. Gallop like !' Going back again with the ammunition I. had three mules on a leading chain, land I got into a valley I had never been in before. It was night, and I fell into a well. Tho chain.tvas round my wrist,, and tho fall smashed up soriiethiiig in my shoulder. I havo not been able to use my. arm since. I lay in the foul water all night, before the ambulance men found me, and then ia hospital I had a bad attack of rheumatic fever." Dixon is still very far from well generally, and his shoulder is by no means cured.

. PAYMENT OF THE MEN. Before they left the Willochra yesterday every man who was leaving the ship was given ,£5 on account of moneys due to him. , AUCKLAND MEN LEAVE. The North Island invalided and wounded men were examined by the Medical Board yesterday morning in order that the Auckland men could get away by the special train provided for them last evening. The South Island men will be examined this morning, and the Willochra will probably lcavo for Lyttelton and Duncdin thisevening with the southern drafts. THE SHIP'S STAFF.. The staff of the ship is as follows:— Officer commanding, Major D. B. M.'Kenzis, 0.M.K.; Assistant, Sergeant J. Pillow (Ordnance Corps). Medical staff: Captains 6. J. Mitchcll and Withers. Nurses (given elsewhere). Personnel N.Z.M.C.: Sergt.-Major B. Finlayson; Sergeants' C. W. Brandon, Fitzgerald-Eager, W. Wheeler, J. Perry, Corporate O'Kane, Privates 11. B. Manthaii, C. F. Butler, H. Braithwaite, and W.J, White.. A KINDLY ACTiON. A concert party, representative of the New Zealand Natives' Association visited the Willochra last night, and entertained' those of the returned soldiers whose injuries were too seirious to permit of their being brought ashore earlier in the day. There were about 40 men present, including over 20 less serious cases, who had no relatives or friends .in Wellington,, and the nurses and officers. Needless to say the men thoroughly enjoyed the evening's pleasure, and the thoughtfulness of the party was much appreciated. The following contributed to tho programme:— Misses Betty Purdom, Bouttell, West, Mrs. Mentiplny, Messrs, J. Culford Bell, Smith, and Master Winston M'Parthy.