OUR GUNNERS IN GALLIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2619, 15 November 1915, Page 6

OUR GUNNERS IN GALLIPOLI

SOMETHING ABOUT THEIR GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS

SPLENDID HELP TO THE

INFANTRY

(By Malcolm Ross, Official Correspondone with the N.Z. Forces.) Callipoli Peninsula, September 3. Now that the campaign in Gallipoli has been in operation for some nineteen weeks, and our positions have materially changed, it becomes possible to givo New Zealand readers some general idea of the extent and effectiveness of too work dono by the New Zealand Field Artillery. The brigade received extra training in Egypt, and did well in practice- there with the New Zealand Infantry and New Zealand Mounted Rifles. The right type of men had been selected, and officers, non-commissioned oincers, gunners, and drivers could not have been greatly improved upon for the work they had to do. Tho drivers were mostly men from the country used to handling horses.

Howitzers to the Front. Tho first battery to land on the Peninsula was the howitzer battery, on tho night of April 25. It should bo explained that tho configuration of this country is eminently suited to the modern howitzer, and it is a little strange that Whilo in the western area the Germans should have been using this arm with effect and in such numbers, their allies in the Near East should have been so sparingly provided with it. Placed below the crest of a hill or in a gully it can bo effectively fired upon enemy guns, trenches, or troops that cannot be reached by the flat trajectory ship or field guns, its fire being directed by an observer stationed, as far away as-2000 or 3000 yards, the directions being conveved to the gunners by means of a field telephone quickly run out by tho linesmen. At the outbreak of war New Zealand was tho only one of the Overseas Dominions in possession of these guns, and early in tho operations the policy adopted was proved to be a wise one. This w;as tho only howitzer battery landed with the force at Anzac, and from that day to this it has continued to do good work, daily giving assistance to the Australian Division as well as to tho New Zealand Division. In. all' this time' there was only one day on which the battery has not shot. Officers and men, often when ill, have stuck to their work in the most plucky manner. . ;

A day or two after' landing the battery destroyed the "fisherman's hut," which during the early stages of the desperate fighting harboured Turkish snipers. Shortly afterwards the howitzers did good work in repulsing an. attack by the enemy on the left flank. In the engagement of May 19 they did excellent shooting, slaughtering largo numbers of Turks as they came forward to tho attack in. the endeavour to fulfil von Sanders' boast to drive the Australian and New Zealand troops into the sea. This, it will be remembered, was a night attack, but the enemy's positions had been previously registered by our guns, so that their fire oven in the darkness was effective. They fired both shrapnel and high explosive. The' New_ Zealand howitzers continued daily doing useful work in any direction called upon until relieved by a Lowland battery. _ During the attack on tho Sari Bair position, when there were few guns on the now front, the Now Zealand, howitzers continued shooting from tljoir old posi'tions at Anzac. In twenty-six hours, the New Zealand howitzer battery fired 1600 rounds. Our howitzers also played a prominent part in the attacks in August on ouV extreme left. In conjunction with the heavy batteries of the 69th Brigade they took part in a fierce bombardment of the Turkish tremches, our one battery firing 300 rounds in an hour. Their shooting on this occasion was most effective, and. the Turkish trenches were piled with dead. Unfortunately, tho battery did not know of two flank trenches which the Turks had constructed, otherwise the attack might have been still further supported. One instance of tho accuracy of fire and the confidence of the gunners in their work may be given. It occurred only a few days ago, when a major of infantry telephoned calling attention to ',tho fact that our howitzers were dronphig shells-into a Turkish trench only five yards in front of the position occupied by his men. Hothereforo asked I tho battery to coaw firing at that particular trench. The reply was that this was being done purposely, ft s the battery commander fully trusted his men and his guns even with a margin of only five ya.rds! One certainly could\not wish for more accurate fire than that. It was done because the men in our forward trench had-appar-ently run out of bombs, and were being severely dealt with by the enemy. Field Cunners in Action. The first field battery of 18-pounders lauded on Wednesday, April 28, and at once sent two guns to the'extreme left flank. ■ Owing to the configuration of the country tho field of action was, however, very circumscribed. In addition to this, tho proximity .of Turkish snipers made tho position somewhat untenable. One. man was killed and several wounded, so eventually the section was withdrawn, and the whole battery placed in a more commanding position. This was a feat in which the engineers, the'infantry, and the artillery participated, and it was accomplished with conspicuous success. 'A Toad was mado and the whole battery shifted up in ono night up a gully and on to the top of a steep hill that was practical.lv a cliff. There wore no horsps available, and 100 men with ropes silently dragged each gun up, under cover of the darkness, to its high emplacement, 500 ft above tho level of the sea. The weight if a gun is over two tons. _ It was the N.Z. Mounted Rifles, their own horses also in Egypt, who_ helped the..gunners to manhandle their beloved guns up the sft. track the engineers had made.

The battery is now so placed as to afford ■ a good cross-fire to . the Australian front with ono section and totho New "Zealand and Australian 'Division with the other section. 'Phis battery had a very .wide field of fire, and it was in a covered position which the enemy never exactly located. Consequently tho casualties were few. and such as there were must bo attributed moro .to good luck than to good observation and good shooting on the part of tho enemy. "Searching," it should bo explained to tho uninitiated, is permissible in areas where the fall of the shell cannot bo seen by the observer, the battery commander," or the man in an aeroplane or balloon. This battery was repeatedly thanked by tho Australian infantry for tho excellent supporting fire it afforded thorn, and osnccially 'on the occasion when our trallnnt comrades from tho island continent, with groat dash and heroism, attacked and oaptured the Turkish trenches at Lonesome Pine, on the right wing, mi the nMit of August G. During this fight tho battery fired some 500 rounds at a formidable'. wire entniiglemeiit, outtin<i it to bite and enabling tho assaulting party to cross a locality where but for this feat thoy must inevitably have been shot to piece's with machine-gun and rifle fire. It also, during this assault, prevented tho Turkish vMorvos from oommp vm to counter-

plosivo it drove them out of a communication trench in a valley on the left, and with the other gun firing shrapnel smashed them in the open. The other section'of this battery, during the big tight from August 6 to 10, took part in the operations of the Sari Bair force, doing good work by enfilading tho ridge, and by shooting into localities that could not he seen by tlio other guns supporting this force.

An Implacable Eye-Class. Tlio second battery of 18-pounders lauded on April 29. It's field of firo was circumscribed, but very important. Tho O.C. guarded' his observation station as if it were tlio jewel of all Asia, and with one look through an eyeglass, which with masterly muscular control hn seemed to maintain as immovable as bis- own guns, be lias been known to frcesso up intruders who from this vantage point were'only too often desirous of scanning tho surrounding country. He was especially desirous that they .should not "give away" his particular observation station, and in spito of all temptations he maintained it almost inviolate to the end. His battery covered the famous Quinn's Post, and was the only one that could bring fire to bear on tlio Turkish trenches immediately to tho north. 1 have in a previous article written of the wonderful work dono by'the battery on the night of May 19, when the Turkish host swept forward in a desperate counter-attack.

On tin's occasion, between midnight and davligbt, it fired 611 rounds of shrr-nel at enemy trenches only 20yds. distant from our ,own. The shells shrieked, cdhtiiiiiously over the heads of our men crouching in their trenches, and throughout the night there was only ono premature burst. As it was a dark ni'gbt and tho range only 1000 yards, giving necessarily a very flat trajectory, this, it will be 6een, was at once a very daring and a very brilliant accomplishment. The feat involved accurate previous registration and accurate and careful "laying" on-the part of the gunners. The slightest error, such as the short setting of a fuse, would have been serious under 6uch circumstances. Infantry, who on occasions are wont to complain that thev do not get enough support from artillery and at other times to growl because the guns are snooting too close, must for ever remember this fine performance to the credit of _ the N.Z.F.A. This battery_ continued doing very good work, in tho same position till about the middle of August, when, owing to the extension of our linos, it was shifted to a position that shall be nameless, and by which time the major had become a colonel. Suffice it to say that in its new position it did excellent work in the recent bombardments of Hill 60 and the Knbak Ku'yu position. It also did good shooting when recently the N.Z. Artillery came to the assistance of the 9tli Army Corps in ono of its attacks. Having concluded its part in the preliminary bombardment on that occasion, it switched on to Hill 60 and the valley beyond preparatory to the attack by the Australians and New Zoalanders and a section of K.'s Army. It was afterwards split into sections and helped in the second attack of Hill 60.

Fine Shooting, - Our third field gun battery landed at Helles in the t beginning of May. Its work may be Judged from a letter that reached Divisional .Headquarters l .from the 0.0. infantry brigade, of the famous ,29th Division. "The officers in the firing lino on July 5," ho wrote, "when tho enemy made their last attack on the Royal Fusiliers' Bhif and trenches near it, all report the excellent shooting of tho N.Z. field battery.. They describe tho shrapnel fire as most accurate from this, battery, bursting just beyond' our •trenches'and. sweeping ground and slopes over which the enemy advanced." This battery returned to Anzac about August 20, landed in the :night, and hurried out into the field o;r action. Notwithstanding the distanoj, the difficulties of transhipment, and the roughness of the country over which [he guns had to be taken;' by daybreak the battery was entrenched in its now position.and registering on the Turkish trenches. One section was firing ut a 600 yds. range during tho attack on Hill 60. This was a daring and succensful bit of work, though the Turks, course, quickly spotted a battery firing so close to their own lines. The fifth brigade recently arrived from Cairo, landed, entrenched, and came into action in a night. Since its arrival it has been engaged in firing principally at enemy guns', and has done useful work.

In this brief and simply told story of the work of the N.Z. Field Artillery enough has perhaps .been said to prove that our small Dominion has not been lacking in the material for the making of efficient artillery, any more than it has been lacking in the efficiency of their training, but if further evidence of efficiency were required it might be found in some further letters that have reached the officer commanding the brigade. The'first, dated Slay 16, is from-Major-General Godley, commanding tho New Zealand and Australian Division. "Please convey to all your batteries now here," he writes, "my high appreciation of the excellent shooting theyhave made while in action here. All commanders of all positions aro loud in their praises of the support they have had from tho howitzers arid No. 2 battery, and on behalf of the whole division I wish to express to them our thanks for the good work that led to such substantial results." On Miy '16 the general .officer commandine the 29th Division wrote: "The 3rd N.Z. Field Artillery Battery has done excellont work, both in reconnaissance, occupation of ground, and'.in action. Their selection and registration of targets has been thoroughly done, and their shooting in sunport of the infantry attack has been uniformly good."