THE WAR PICKS ON GALLIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2646, 17 December 1915, Page 4

THE WAR PICKS ON GALLIPOLI

j A SUBTERRANEAN WAR (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces.) Gallipoli, October 22, For some considerable time now— since the fight for Hill GO, in which the New Zealand mounted troops distinguished themselves by their brilliant charge aiid their sustained valour in holding the position gained—the operations along the entire front in the tlireo sectors have been on a minor scale, and the Now Zealanders, who havo' been earning a well-deserved rest, have taken no part in theiri; Generally speaking, the positions gained have been improved ana strengthened, and along the lines in other places sapping and mining have been carried on by both sides. The Turks, .who seem to have an army of diggers, have inado their positions on the heights at Chunuk Bair and also at Silvia very strong. Trenches seem to grow in a iiiglit, and the'hills and slopes are scarred and criss-crossed with yellow oarth thrown up from trench and sap. sandl)agg;ed parapets and barbed wire entanglements grow along the lines in spite of the fire from our guns both on .land and sea. . Our men have been equally busy, and in the sapping and mining, but-more especially the latter, tho honours have been with us. \ Top of the War Picks. ■ Hitherto the New Zealanders and the Australians, with picked mon who had spent most of thoir lives iu coal and gold fields, have done splendid work. Mining -in peace timo has its dangers and excitements; but in war time, instead of the "black diamonds" and the grey quartz, the-miner is out to circumvent and kill his fellow-man, his io_b is indeed a nerve-racking one. \\hen you have crawled on all fours into one of the dark "listening galleries," have heard the tap-tap of a Turkish pick only a few feet awaj',. and know that tho eiiemy has high oxplosive ready to. his hand, you realise thiJt'you may not be far from Kihgdomcome, and that the men who spend hours of their existence in these cramped and gloomy positions are indeed heroes. You never know the moment your, shattered, body may be hurtling heavenward, bruised and battered and bleeding, amidst a cloud of earth and stones and smoke and gas, or buried in the suffocating fumes and the debris of the tunnel itself. The British troops, also, have picked men for this work—men who have been accustomed to mining—and they, too, have been doing splendid work, and, generally, beating tho Turk at the game. Early in the month a mining company, at the eastern end of what is known as the Fusilier Bluff firing-line, successfully exploded a mine" which destroyed part of the enemy's trench and sent a number of Turks and a' machinegun hurtling into tho 'air. Such surprises are apt to bo rather nerve-sliat-tering even to the placid and fatalistic Turk, and to leave him little timo to call on Allah. On the following day. the troops in this instanco established a post on the . lip of the crater, thus denying it to the enemy. Next day (October 7) our indefatigable miners exploded another mine l near the former one, and on the Bth a further one between these two. Theso explosions damaged the enemy's firing-lino and wire, and buried one of their barricades. Again, at tho Lono Pine position the

Australians exploded a mine which damaged the enemy's gallery. During last week there was little of interest in connection with tho operations ahovt! ground, but on both sides tliere was considerable''mining activity. Tho inferiority of the Turk in this form of warfare was again exemplified, for at Hill 60 tho Turks exploded a mine with . disastrous results to" themselves. This was on tho 11th instant. When at the premeditated hour tho miner lit his fuse he found that be had irade' a slight mistake in his calculations, for -it was his own trench and entanglements and not ours that shot up into the air. In another part of our line, However, the enemy was more successful, for he succeeded in exploding a mine right under our trenches. Fortunately, for some time our miners had heard their rivals at work below them, and, expecting an explosion, the garrison had already been withdrawn. Five of our miners working underground were buried by this explosion, and given up as lost. Three days later, having dug themselves out, they reappeared, to the surprise and joy of their comrades, little the worse for their trying ordeal! Desultory Fights. At intervals desultory fighting breaks out at unexpected times in various places along the line. On Octobor 6 our guns attacked the Turkish position along the crest of Kiretcli Tepe Sirt, a 200-metre ridge due north from our left Wing trenches at Suvla. At 4 p.m. two battleships opened fire with their 12-inch, guns from Suvla Bay, and a monitor further up the coast chipped in with high explosive, fire being directed against tile enemy's support and communication trenches over a considerable area, as well as against thewmain trenches. The enemy replied with-their field guns mainly from the South of the ridge. The ships' fire was well directed, and it was evident that it did considerable damage. About a quarter of an hour later our field artillery joined in the bombardment. This combined effort evontiially drove the enemy from their trenches, and they came under effective fire from our machine-guns. Later tho Turks enueavoured to repair the shattered parapets, and again became a taget for our machine-guns. On October 7 a successful demonstration was also made in the First Australian, Division area, the warships coi operating with the troops. This commenced at 8.30 p.m., after dark, the enemy trenches being lighted up by parachute rockets, while fire was opened on any target disclosed.' This drew a heavy and Bustained fire from the enomy. ' Two nights ago the Turks were surprised in the Azmac Dove position, which lies to the eastward of Biyuk Anafarta and to the left and north of the ground held by -the New Zealand and Australian Division. Here a company of Lovat's' Scouts left their trenches and gallantly stormed' and seized a Turkish barricade. This' they ccnverted and strengthened to our own use, and dug trenches to connect up with, it from our own trenches. Their casualties wero only two killed and sis wounded. They, succeeded in killing fourteen Turks and taking two prison-