RED CROSS FIRED ON

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2545, 20 August 1915, Page 5

RED CROSS FIRED ON

WHAT HAPPENED A BURIAL PARTY.

Mr. F. J. Fear, of Willis Street, has received an interesting letter from his son, Sergeant Reginald Fear, who at last advices was acting as medical ofiit? 1 ' , " r K e ,°f a- transport engaged in the Mediterranean. In the latest letter he is still on transport duty, and writes from his vessel, then anchored off Uaba 'iepe:—''This morning," he says, 'quite a number of refugees from Gallipoli were brought on board. They are a queer lot. and I snapped them, also Uie mtorDroter who was with them. I uought this writing paper from them. J.110.V are peasants, and cannot speak a word oi l English. - ,*: All our wounded are being treated oii" board lirst, then the serious cases are sent to Alexandriaand mild cases _are kept on board a hospital ship specially detailed for convalescents. Oil my last ship I had quite a number of eases of illness to deal with, including measles, mumps, dysentery, influenza, poisoning, etc., and I managed all right—fixed every case, up without outside assistance , (Sergeant I'ear is a cliemist by profession); When 1 was on the tug (a mine-sweeper) on my way to . this boat,.l met a major of the Australian Medical Corns, Dr. Carter. He was in Dannevirke when I was there, Mid, of course, wo became great, pals for 1 the tune being. I have met quite a lot ot people 1 know from all over the place, sometimes in,a or transport * or ashore in a shop."' It's great the friends you meet jn the force. Whilst J-, au l. writing I caii hear the booming of. the big battleships' guns that are bombarding the Narrows in the Dardanelles. 1 got a good 'snap of the "Lizzie" (Queen Elizabeth) firing a broadside at the forts the other day. i "Everybody is praising the New Zealand Medical Corps for the work they have done out here. Eighteen of them have stopped bullets, but only one has been killed so 'far, and he'was knocked out in the first day or two, when tilings were absolutely hellish. One of the Australians was recohimcndcd for tho V.C., but I am sorry to say ho is now dead. Ho was _ standing on the shoro talking to a friend who was congratulating him, when the V.C. man was shot dead. After having gone through all the perils,. and then to be shot on the shore was rpl hard luck. "The. Turks are always trying the white-flag ruse, but it doesn't wash in those days. , Tliey have.no respect for tho Armv Medical Corps or'hospitals, and continually drop shells all about our field hospital. The other day'one of tlw New_ Zealand parsons was along with. the New Zealand Medical Corps men, reading the last-rites over several of our men who had been killed, when All of a sudden the Turks opened fire on them. Tho Medical lads were all wounded, and tho parson had to iump into a trench to save himself, leaving the bodies of the dead meu where they were until after dark."

"Since writing the first part of this lefcer I liavo been transferred to another troopship, the .Osninieh, which used to run between Alexandria and Constantinople. This is a kind of depot boat used for treating slightly and moderately wounded men. Wo have had beautiful weather nearly all the time. It rains a little at night sometimes, but otherwise the weather is perfect."

In a most remarkable fashion a Turkish soldier's letter from the battle front 911 the Gallipoli Peninsula, has como into the hands of a Christcliurcli lady, Mrs. P. C. Fenwick. Its intended destination was somewhere' much nearer the Dardanelles than Now Zealand. Lieuteimiit-Colonol Fenwick, R.A.M.C., who is with the Now Zealandors at the front, has been in the habit of forwarding to his wife from time to time interesting trophies from Gallipoli. For instance, he sent her a Turkish soldier's bandolier, containing cartridges. Tho bandolier is a tawdry article, made, of canvas and string roughly sewn together, fully demonstrating the poor equipment of the enemy. Mrs. Fenwick has also received from her husband a Turkish officer's sword, on which.' is stamped the crescent. Thero also arrived a Turkish bugle. While the bugle was being examined. some_ Turkish fielddressings fell out, and with them fluttered a tiny piece of paper, on -which were inscribed some Turkish hieroglyphics. The paper was lent by.Mrs. Fenwick to a reporter, and he was successful in seeking out a couple of Syrian residents of Chrisichurch, who supplied the following free translation: ''With God's help we aro safe. Thero is nothing serious. We have been three days under liot gun and. rifle .fire. It is*a hard straggle, but ive hold our own. 5 1 tiothjnu can happen