ITEMS FROM ANZAC

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2630, 27 November 1915, Page 6

ITEMS FROM ANZAC

OB THEREABOUTS

NEWS OF THE FIGHTING MEN

SUNDRY SIDELIGHTS

. An assurance to those that liave not already enlisted that they do not k'now wliat they are missing- is contained in a letter received by Mr. A. G. Lunn, of Auckland, from Bugler 11. Davies, who recently went into camp nt'Trentham with the Auckland Battalion of the Tenth Reinforcements. "Wo had a tram journey of nearly -twenty-four hours," lie writes, "and when wc arrived, at camp ive were very, tired. The people at the various stations treated'us a's if we were returning heroes, which we expect to be if it. is our luck. If not, we will try and do our little part in this war.. The officers-treat us just as if wo were brothers, and their motto is: 'Men first, officers second,' and I can tell you they stick to it well. I am sure no one can growl at our treatment. Every ablebodied single young man ought_ to enlist. Ho does not know what he is missing. This is the life for me and all the boys." Wltfi the Signallers. A statement of the casualties suffered by the Divisional Signal Service of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forco is given by Sapper B. L. Dignan, of Auckland, in- a letter written on September 23 from the Now Zealand Rest Camp at Lsmnos. He complainß that official casualty lists have not indicated the full extent of tho losses suffered by the company, as many of the casualties have been shown under the general heading Engineers, • instead of the particular branch of that service.

"The roll for my eection' for fivo mcnthsis 31, including regimental signallers attached," he ■ says.' "The casualties are: Killed 3, died 1, wounded 3, sick'l9, leaving five ' remaining for duty." Speaking of tlio company as a whole, lie says:—"Everybody else .had gone—lieutenant, sergeants, and aIL The company has had 23 wounded, 5 killed, 2 died, and 70 sick, and only 35 are left, not counting attacfed. / It would not bo. a bad idea to let people concerned know, for anybody would think we never got near a bullet to look at our reported casualty list."

Tribute From General Coiiley, The work of the Canterbury Battalion at the Dardanelles has called forth, unstirtted praise from General Godloy, who (says the Christchurch "Press"), in a personal letter to Lieut-.-Colonel A. E. Loach, who 'has recently returned to Now Zealand, says :— -

•'Headquarters, New Zealaad Expeditionary Force, 'September 9. ■"My Dear Loach, —I was very glad t.i get your letter from. England, but very sorry to hear that' you are • not coming, back to lis. ' I hope that you ■ will soon get back tho-full'iise of .your foot, and get off your crutches.. "I was, of course, only too glad to promote ?ou to command of the Canterbury Battalion. It was no more than your due, after the excellent work you had done with it. I have written to the Minister, recommending him to employ you in instructional work at Trentham camp. "Tho Canterbury Battalion is sadly reduoed in 1 numbers now, as is the whole of tho Infantry Brigade, and they fought like heroes in the great battle for the Sari Bair between the 6th and' the- 10th, and have earned for themselves undying _ fame. _ Both they and the Mounted Rifles Brigade have really been magnificent, and I cannot t-elf you how proud I am to command, such troops. ... : .;.T

"You will be interested to know that the country which you reconnoitred, and where you _wero hit. is now entirely in our possession, and that our line extends from Walker's Ridge, across what wo now call Happy Valley; and Malone's Gully; then up the long spur to within 400 yards of Sari Bair, and thence along the foothills almost to Suvla Bay. —Yours sincerely. "(Sgd.) ALEX. GODLEY." "A Dinkum War." That the torpedoing of the transport Southland was not unexpected-is revealed. by a letter received this week from one of tlie soldiers on board. There must have been reason to fear a submarine attack, says the writer, a-, Ohristchurch boy, 'as guards were strongly posted , round the decks and two machine-guns wore manned day and night, as was also a 4.7 gun at the stern. _ We had, however, no naval oscort—in fact I never saw a war vessel at ' close quarters. from. New. Zealand until tho disaster. ' . When the vessel was torpedoed there .was a rush for .the boats. Our party of 40 New Zealanders had been allotted a boat, but there was the same old trouble of launching you read of in every wreck. One end was let go, and we pitched "into the water like sacks. The boat 6waniped and defied efforts to right it, so I struck out for another. I clambered aboard one, but immediately it turned turtle,. and I found -myself groping underneath. I presently saw the light shining through the water, and after what seemed a very long time I came to the surface. . My impulse then was to swim away from the 6hip, but I was handicapped by my heavy boots and no lifebelt. Well, I [ kept afloat by every means I could, but the agony became fearful, and I thought I was really doomed, as no boats seemed near. I remember lying on liiy back,, my throat gurgling,' and_ about fairly done, when I heard a voice,. I looked and saw a boat with a sailor "Reckoning to me. I made one last desperate effort, caught an oar, and was dragged on board. 1 To Anzao In the Dark. ' I was unconscious for a while, he con- ; timies/and came to 6tretohod across an Australian's knees, but thankful enough at' being rescued so opportunely from Davy Jones's locker. . . . Even after getting into the boats we hardly felt safe) and we did not know >that the savages would not open* up machineguns on us. . . It needs an experience like this to make one Tealiso poignantly tho cold-blooded savage nature of a people who would sink a'liner like tho Lusitania. and drown screaming women and children. . Of courso we were fair game for a submarine, and I have nothing to complain about on that scotb. but.no morel I feel more comfortable here with shells and bullets screaming and whirling over my head, practically day and night, than aboard a vessel in these seas.

Describing later' experiences, tho writer says:—We approached' 'Anzac under complete darkness, and very soon heard the popping of Tides and ma-chine-guns. A stray hullet swished into the water ajongside now and then. It's a' "dinkum war, all right," relosrked one man. It is, without doubt. A "Lone Pino" story. 'An 'Australian soldier, Pto. W. Evans, in recounting an experience in tho Lone Pine attack, says: "I and another fellow had a dozen or 30 Turks ontrapned in a tunnel. These cunning dogs had bombs in tho tunnel. We used to stand aver the tunnel; now and thou wo would put a shot up it, and hear a squeal. No sooner did we firo a. shot than a bomb would come out. You should see us scatter, and when the bomb had gone off we would como back to tho entranco and firo another shot. Then another bomb would come out, and wo would go for our lives" for a few yards. Well, wo kept this up till wo had killed all the Turks in tho tunnel. When wo had p.ado suro that there were 110 morn there we ontered tho tunnol. mid found flbout fiva beds (it botnbe. Tlicso came m useful for tho firing-lino afterwards.".