FROM ANZAG TO ACH BABA

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2564, 11 September 1915, Page 14

FROM ANZAG TO ACH BABA

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

WATCHING A MONITOR

(From Malcolm Ross, War Correspon* 'dent with tho N.Z. Forces.) Though !Achi Baba is distant only some nine or ten miles from our position,at Anzac, the character of the operations and of the country there are altogether different. Yesterday we left for• the. scene of the fighting, getting in a' pinnace through a choppy sea into a trawler. Tivo hours' steam brings the trawler to Lancashire Landing, the scenei of one of the most thrilling episodes in'the war. In the offing two or three hospital ships ride at anchor, and draft' of various kinds, from battleship to. destroyer, and. from ocean liner to North Sea trawler, como and go. Close ih-shore a vessel's mast and top hamper indicate a wreck of some weeks ago. A bit of a. hull awash is all that can be seen of the Majestic. It is quite close in-shore, an indication that if the vessel could have" floated a little longer she might have been beached.

' ■ Their Resting Place. 'At the top \of. the rise many crosses 1 of wood mark' the last resting place of many of our gallant soldiers, and as wo pass-it by a padre and an army doctor are giving, decent burial to such of our men 1 as have died from wounds in the recent battle. As the stretcher-bearers convey . their grey-blanketed burdens from the Ambulance' Corps to the deepdug trench ,' you recognise that you are very close to the' grim, realities of war. The whole place, wnicli but a few weeks ago wa sa beautiful garden of wild ilowers, iriterspersed : with small fir._ and olive: and shade trees, and an occasional farm-house, is how an arid desert littered with the aftermath of war. Telegraph and telephone lines criss-cross along your pathway. Wlien we como upon the headquarters of ttie Naval Division we meet a New Zealand colonel, who has distinguished himself both at Antwerp Mid here, in' charge. They, are duo to make an attack either that evening or nest day. to straighten up a bit of the line .in..the centre, so that it may .'come up with the advance of the French on the right and the British oil the left made during the last two days. ■ Proceeding further towards the firing line; we' gained a group of trees, under which some horses were tethered, and there, out, of the dust, we got a splendid new of the battlefield, with the gentle slopes of Achi Baba rising to a: low rounded top, continued.on the Tight by the lino of a slightly lower ridge, which,'' one you wore on top of It, would probably 1 develop into a narrow ' plateau. On the left all was quiet, hut on the right the rattle of rifle-fire came down the' wind,* On the left wo saw clearly Krithia, somewhat damaged by bombardment. About:'halfway betwen that and our position was the spot where the son of the' New Zealand Minister of Defence fell gallantly fighting for his country. War-worn soldiers and somes lightly wounded were returning alon" the dusty road to , the base; : We walked awhile with a youngster of the Highland Light Infantry; and a. chum severely though linscratched, by a bursting, shell. The youngster was ful of the charge they:had made,-and' proud of the deeds •of his regiment,' which he detailed to us in a strong Glasgow accent. His friend's shirt had been torn te tatters by the bursting shell, and a hit of the shell had gone through his trousers. He fell forward on his knees exhausted. We, picked, him up, and gave him a drink'from our water-bottle. "Oh, I'm all right," he said. "I'll get there."

Monitor In Action. As we steamed out in the little pinnaco from Lancashire landing, a strange-loking craft came down and took up a position just off the cliffs to the norths of ! Lancashire • landing. There must have been many a Turkish telescope, from Achi: Baba along the.coast to Gaba Tepe, turned on her, with her great beam, her tripod mast, her 1 Early Victorian' skirt of steel just awash, and tho-two'long, 4 American-looking guns', pointing, from a barbette over an unobstructed, forward gun platform. Such of "our party, as had seen her for the' first time were nearly as much surprised as the wondering Turk. Presently one ofthe ' long black fingers sticking out from tho barbette was elevated a few degrees, there was a great blast of flame, a cloud of. brownish smoke, and a tremendous report, as a shell of large calibre went tearing through the air to a- Turkish gun position on the Asia coast. After seconds that seemed minutes, we saw it bursting miles away. Certainly, if it had got on to that Turkish battery the result must liavo been disastrous.. After firing about ten ■rounds the monitor headed for her harbour, and steamed slowly and Eomewhat contemptuously out of range of the Turkish guns. .