"TINT'S" LONG SWIM

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2520, 22 July 1915, Page 7

"TINT'S" LONG SWIM

INCIDENT IN THE DARDANELLES

DARING FEAT BY MAJOR FREYBERG

(By Malcolm Ross,.Official'War Corres pondent with the New Zealand. Forces.) Juno 1. One of the most extraordinary and daring feats in the war has been accomplished by a young New Zealander, who, however, is not serving with the New Zealand Forces. Many people in the Dominion will remember "Tiny" Freyberg, who as a schoolboy was a champion swimmer. Ho is now a full-blown, major; has been wounded three times, and has been twice mentioned in dis-. patches. He ,was evidently born to bo a, soldier. Some time ago he went out to Mexico' and offered his services to Huerta. Huerta did not want him, so ho ivent and fought with Villa on the opposite side. Returning to England he joined the Naval Brigade; fought at Antwerp; was wounded; received his captaincy, and was mentioned in dispatches. Afterwards he came out with the Brigade to the Dardanelles. When an attack was about to be delivered further down the Peninsula, it became necessary to make a demonstration opposite the Bulair lines, so that reinforcements would' not be sent from that quarter. It was dcoided to dispatch three boatloads of men ashore to light flares on the beach, so as to draw the fire of the enemy in the Bulair lines, and engage their attention while the marines landed at Cape Helles. '

' The Lone Hand. Freyberg was to command the landing party. He,'however, pointed out to Major-Goneral Paris that this meant sacrificing the lives of the men, not one of whom "would be likely to return alive, and he suggested that he, himself, should bo allowed.- to perform the mission by swimming'ashore. It was therefore arranged that on April 24 he was to go in the destroyer Kennet and make a reconnaissance. This was dono, the destroyer being fired at by the Turkish field batteries and maxims. On the following evening three cutters and two picket boats were".landed with men as if for a night landing, and Freiberg, having had his skill painted khaki, got into-the Kennet, which was to <lrop him in the sea about half a mile, from the shore. By this time night had fallen, but thero was faint moonlight. In tlio •uncertain light it was not easy to judge distance,' and. young' Freyberg'; found that ho was .in for. a swim of two miles, with three oil flares and two Holmes's lights, which he carried in a waterproof. bag, with: sufficient air ih it, to support the weight in the water.' He also carried, attached to a belt round his waist, a-small revolver, and a sheath knife. ' • .. ,

Man-fish Reaches the Shore. Ho was put into the water some time after midnight, and ho judged that it took him an hour and a half ,to swim ashore.' He had to dodge the oidinary landing-place, where there were barbedwire. entanglements, and landed oil a .rugged bit .of beach. From there he crawled inland for a quarter of a mile to a place where cn the previous day he had noticed some trenches. They prored to ,be .dummy trenches, and he could hear the Turks talking and see them striking matches to light thencigarettes. in the lines higher up. The water had been bitterly cold, and lie now. felt symptoms of cramp, so he crawled back to the beach, lit one of his flares, and dived back into the ■ sea. The alarm was at once given in tho Turkish trenches, and firing commenced. He swam further along the beach, landed again,... and! .lit, a .second .flare..' He repeated the performance a: third time still further along the shore,..the Ken-, net meantime having opened fire over the other lights ■ with her 12-pounders and maxims. Having safely accomplished- his mission, Major Freyberg,'started to swim back on a > line due south, as arranged, steering by a compass on his wrist, to a spot where it Lad been arranged the Kennet would pick him up. Look for the Mother Ship.

TJie Kennet, however, was not there, and lie had to float about for nearly hour. The day bofore they had Been a shark following, the destroyer—several of these brutes having 110 doubt been attracted by the dead bodies from tlie 'transport Manitou, which, met her. fate in : these. waters—and when a great porpoise rose beside him about half-way across, he admits that he got an awful fright. After ; floating around for about an . hour, and all firing having by that time he started to Bwim in the direction in which . he thought the Kennet might bo, and, presently, in : answer to, his "cooees," the destroyer camo along and picked him up. This uncertain floating around in the dark—the moon having gone down —was the worst part of the whole adventure. Subsequently Major Freyberg was 'sent for by the General, who thanked him, and told him he would hear more about his very plucky action. In the fighting at Antwerp young Freybery was wounded in the right arm/ and after this last adventure ho was twice wounded at Capo Holies while leading his men. One bullet entered his forearm : and camo out near the elbow,: severing the medial nerve. Ho was also hit in the leg. "Sammy" Chrystal. Such' was his st-ory, quite modestly told. When I saw him he had lost the use. of his left hand, but he was off back to the Dardanelles by the first steamer. In company with him was "Sammy" Chrystal, whom recent Christ's College boysf will well remember. Chrystal was .out in Africa somewhere when the war broke out, but he promptly threw up his job, joined the Naval Brigade, and camo out to the Dardanelles. He also was wounded at Capo Helles. By all the ordinary laws of direction tho bullet should have gone through his stomach, but it cut a track from one side right round the front of his body, and came out at tho otter side. Chrystal also was convalescent and was again en route to the Dardanelles to look for more fighting. It was in this same "show" that young Lieutenant Asquith, the son of the I'rime' Minister of England, was wounded while fighting under Major Freyberg, tho young New Zealander. Cbloncl Richardson—formerly Master-Gunner Richardson, in Wellington—is tho D.A.Q.M.G, of tho Brigade, and has done splendid work. He has proved himself a clever organiser. He, also, has, been mentioned in dispatches,' and his promotion has been rapid.