THE BIG FIGHT ON GALLIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2572, 21 September 1915, Page 5

THE BIG FIGHT ON GALLIPOLI

HOW THE COLONIALS MET THE RUSH WALLINGFORD'3 MACHINEGUN MEN By Telegraph—Press Association—Convrirtt London, September 19. Renter's correspondent with the British Headquarters on Gallipoli Peninsula, under' date Soptember 4, gives a vivid description of' the situation at Anzac during the last week of August. He The gallant Australians and New Zealanders were called on for yet another effort, and responded' with their wented courage and devotion.. As a.result Knoll 60 passed finally into our hands, four hundred acres of gtound Icing added to ■ Anzac. Tlie knoll is tho last crest of tho last ridge separating Anzac from Northward Plain'. The Turks clung to tho knoll with the ut-. most determination. When flung out of a trench by an irresistible rush of Australians' and New Zealanders, the enemy would bomb his way back again, accepting terrible loss unflinchingly. When the trenches were finally captured they wero full of tho enemy's dead.

It took three days of hard fighting tq turn out the Turks, and the ground over which we charged is still thickly strewn with bodies of tho onemy's and our own slain. It is computed that tlie Turks lost 5000. The Indians and' the Connaught Rangers shared in the-fighting. The Australians and Now Zealanders have since been expecting a Turkish general attack, hut it has not materialised* Tho Turks liavo not forgotten tho Lone Pino trenches, and the result of their descent from the towering ridge ofClnumk Bail- on August 10, when, the New Zealanders did all they were asked to do. When the British battalions were later swept off tho ridge by twolvo battalions, tlip enemy charged into a tremendous ravine below.' Coming down the steep side they came under the firo of ten machine-guns under Captain Wallingford. Tho'machine gunners claim, that,'five thousand wero killed. A New, Zealand staff officer, describing tho fight, said the Turks came down ir. thousands and went back in hundreds. Tho Salt of the Earth. Router's correspondent continues: In any case tho Turks must have realised that they wore courting death if they made a. general attack on Anzac defences, as tho men behind them are tho salt of the earth, equal in courage to any troops, superior in physique to any but tlie picked men of oilier countries, and in intelligence, self-reliance, and endurance the best soldiers in the, world. Danger at Anzac can only come through physical overstrain and bodily weariness of the troops The world realises now Jjflu- juuLUew

fought, but it does not know how they dug iri, heaved, and carried when not fighting. Innumerable saps, communication trenches, and covered trenches have been dug on the lower levels where mule transport can be used, but on the higher every cartridge, biscuit, or mouthful of water must be hiimped on tho men's u ticks. Approach to the valleys can now- be made m perfect safety . through saps. Tlie Army lives in dug-outs along the sides of gullies ascending - the upper ridges. A month ago one seemed to bo watching some vast anthill; the ants issued from tho mouths of-innumerable dug-outs and scurried along every path i i OWP population of tho anthill seenis to have diminished twothirds. Half • the dug-outs . are now empty; visitors can have their choice of a whole terrace of commodious shelters.. A Winter Campaign? It is difficult to say how Anzao will faro in the winter time. When the gicat rains come vast quantities of water will stream down the hillsides and deep gullies will bo converted into torrentbeds, the water washing two or three feet- deep over the present ground. The angles of the ground, however, are so steep that the Engineers should bo able to devise a practical drainage system. Iho trenches and dug-outs will necessarily bo soaking wet. Herein lies the danger to tho health of ' tlie. troops, which will only be averted by flooring, roofing, and riveting the sides of the trenches. Great quantities of material will bo necessary, which cannot be supplied on the spot, but the commanders, with an oxperieneb of Flanders in trenches, will leavo nothing undone to spare Anzac avoidable suffering from the rigors of winter.