GALLIPOLI WEATHER

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2656, 30 December 1915, Page 5

GALLIPOLI WEATHER

TRYING ORIIEAL TOO FROZEN TO PULL TRIGGERS By Telegraph—Prew Association-Oopyrislit London, December 28. Mr. Ward Price, writing 011 December 13, says:—"The Turkish artillery firo, owing to the railway to Turkey, is increasing. The big guns have been drawn by bullocks along tho solitary road, .but are so slow in getting into position that the smaller guus, which are now manned by' expert Austrian-German artillerymen, aro bombarding tho beaches at Cape Helles daily at sis miles range, with six-inch explosive shells. It is surprising how little damage, is done, although they can bombard the Allies on three sides with absolute precision. "Tho weather, however, is more capable of giving trouble than the Turkish artillery. A recent storm caught some light vessels which were sheltering m Kophalos gay, in the Island of Imbros, ana also damaged the breakwaters which the British had constructed at Suvla, Cape Helles, and Kephalos Bay, by sinking ships filled with sand. "A hurricane on November 27 and 29 was a terrible trial to the British, Australian, and New Zealand troojis, penned in the narrow trenches on tno naked ridgee. First it rained in torrents for twelve hours, and then came a piercing frost. The men's drenched overcoats were so stiff that they stood up of themselves, "The water froze round the menlß feet as they slept from utter exhaustion. Somo were only kept alive- by working all night long with picks ana shovels. After the night there came a blizzard, and the men, frozen and buffeted by.the wind and sleet, were hardly able to m&ve and keep their circulation alive. They endured agonies. "Sentries watching the loopholes were found dead at thoir posts, frozen rigid, with their fingers still clutching their rifles in an iron grip, and their blackened faces still leaning under the sackcloth curtains against the loopholes. "Never since the Crimea have British troops endured such an ordeal. "Those who doubted that Australians can endure exposure may be reassured. Thev stood the trial well."The Turks suffered worse, for they were without blankets and waterproof sheets, and had to sleep in overcoats. "When tho twelve-hour cloud-burst turned the gullies into raging torrents, many dead Turkish bodies were washed down, with carcasses of mules and equipment. The Turkish trenches were so flooded that the men were forced to get out and lie in the open, where we shot them, though the fingers of some of our men were too frozen to pull the triggers. "As an officer said, 'Wo could only grin at the Turks.' "Fortunately tho weather has since set in fair, and now a spell of mud Riviera weather is enabling the flooded trenches to be repaired, the parapets to bo rebuilt, and the smashed jetties to bo mended."