BRAVE DEEDS BY MEN OF ANZAC

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2689, 8 February 1916, Page 5

BRAVE DEEDS BY MEN OF ANZAC

HOW BATTLE HONOURS WERE WON PACING DEATH FOR KING AND COUNTRY (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with N.Z. Forces.) ■ War Correspondents' Camp, November 27. The rewards for bravery and devotion to duty granted to the New Zealanders in connection with the last big battles will no doubt—together with ' brief 'accounts y of the deeds that won them— have long ere this been cabled to New I Zealand. Some time ago J. sent an / account of how the. New Zealand Force gained its first V.0., and in otner articles I' have referred to other bravo deeds that have won distinction. Since then I Have obtained reliaoie particulars of other deeds that have shed renown on the forces from the Dominion, and purpose mentioning them in detail in this letter. In the Division it must -not be forgotten that several honours have also fallen to our friends of .the Ith Australian Brigade who have jeen fighting side by side with us for so many months. Stirring Days and Deeds. In the stirring days of early August —from the'oth to the Uth inclusive— ;here was much difficult work for the medical men to do, and not infrequently it had to be done under fire, Even tlie casualty clearing station had its lose of shot and shell for weeks, even Months, at a time. It was not purposely shelled; but, tucked away as it »'as under the brow of a little hill near a provision depot on the flat that the Turus aimed at, it came in for its ihare, or more than its share, of what was going. The stretcher-bearers coming to it day and night with their heavy burdens, did noble work. Amongst those wliose efforts undoubtedly assisted in the saying of many lives was Captain B. S. Finn, dental surgeon of the New Zealand Medical Corps. With unceasing zeal and energy, and .without rest from the night ot August 6 to i), ho was indefatigablo in improvising means and assisting iu the' evacuation of the wounded 'from the dressing station - at the mouth of the Chailak Dere to the clearing station at No. 2 Posit, and thence to the boats at a. little improvised pier on tho sandy beach. For a time tue boats coming in for the wounded were played on by a Turk's machinegun—the Turks evidently thought they were carrying back troops—and finally the pier gave way altogether, some of the wounued being precipitated into the water. 1 From that on they had to be carried down the winding-sap, or along the beach road by. night, to another and a safer pier. I'or the work he did on that occasion Captain. Finn received the D.S.O. He was nearly all the time under fire, and on one day the dressing station at the Chailak Dere was heavily shelled for about an hour, many of the assistants and wounded being hit. U was largely owing to his efforts that these wounded were got to a place of greater safety. Tho Canterbury Battalion, which in ;he night attack on Chunuk Bair, for i time, lost their direction in conselueuce of uncertain guiding, came unier heavy fire. The night being dark, uid the country rugged and .involved, it was indeed surprising that our men did not get into more serious trouble >han they-did. On August 7 Sergeant i. A. Atkins, of the Canterbury Batialion, while the men were going up a gully under heavy fire, promptly rushed a 'Turkish position, with his section, wrested it from the enemy, and held it. For this he received the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Captain R, Eastwood, .who will' be well remembered in New Zealand as a popular member of the staff at Government House, and who has for some time been on' the Brigade Staff here, led and. guided the advance of the 4tb Australian Infantry Brigade, whicli is included in the N".Z. and A. Division, on the night of August 6-7 into enemy territory up the Aghyl Dore, having at his disposal Major Overton (Canterbury) and a small- party of Greek guides. The position was one of extreme danger, as may still be seen from the number of graves that dot the Dere. A Dere, by the way, is a valley with a stream in it, but during the whole of the summer and autumn months these Peninsular gullies are waterless. . On either side were low scrub-covered bills with higher hills ahead from which the Turkish machine guns fired and the Turkish snipers shot at our advancing columns. Captain Eastwood displayed great courage and much resource. Eventually, so hot was • the fire and so difficult the ground that the whole column came to a standstill. Captain Eastwood, however, busied himself, and succeeded in reorganising the defence and putting fresh impetus into it. For his bravery, resource, and energetic action he has received the Military . Cross. It was during this advance' that the plucky Major Overton was killed. He had don.e sorno difficult and dangerous reconnoitring before the advance, and his death was regretted by all who know him. He was buried on a little flat under the olive trees near the head of the gully. 'JTlie other day, in company with Colonel Rhodes, I went searching for the grave and endeavoured to get a photograph of it; but after crawling for a little way through the bushes we found wo were under the gaze of the Turkish snipers on a commanding ridge a few 1 hundred yards in front, and we were hailed back. Lance-Corporal H. B. Skinner, of the Olago Battalion, carried his D.C.M. by carrying ail important message from Chunuk Bair on the afternoon of August 9.. He came under heavy fire and was wounded; but he nevertheless succeeded in delivering Oil's message. Many daring deeds were performed an the slopes of Chunuk Bair in those iays of severe strain, and many a- man lies buried—numbers are still unburicd —in the fire-swept zone, men whose gallantry must remain for ever unrecorded. Private C. R. Barker was one of thoso who came through. He belongs to the Wellington Battalion, and has received a D.C.M. for carrying water 3nd ammunition to tho firing-line on Dhunuk Bair on the afternoon of August 8. That was at a tinie when water and ammunition—tho one was as important as the other—were worth almost their weight in gold. He also guided the Loyal North Lanes, to Chunuk Bair, and on his return brought out a wounded man. Two Distinguished Conduct Medals were earned by gunners of the N.Z.F.A. One of the recipients—Gunner J'. Rankin—belongs to the 4th Howitzer Battery. He was on duty as telephonist on August G, while the battery was bombarding Lone Pine, just before tho brilliant and brave attack by the Australians, who earned ho fewer than seven Victoria Crosses. Rankin went out, without request, under heavy and continuous fire, and relaid another wire over a broken section, thus enabling the battery commander to resume control within half an hour after the communication had been broken. Gunner 'J. Hill, of the 2nd Battery, N.Z.F.A., . got his D.C.M. for the way in which lie, a gunner, took charge of No. 1 £un and kept, it in action between August 8 and 12, in spite of casualties and troubles with couipment. All the time his gun was undor a crossfire from two machine-guns and also from rifle fire. Two bombardiers—Fitters D. C. Inglis and J. P. Thompson, of the 2nd Bs+.tery, N.Z.F.A.; —also earned their D.C.M. They displayed conspicuous ability and gallantry in strinmng. re-

pairing, and keeping in action, between August 8 and 12, the guns of the battery. At one time no fewer than three of the guns were out of action from machine-gun bullets, breaks, and damage to equipment. These artificers not only managed to got them into action again, but kept them going. Standlsh's D.S.O. Major J. T.'Standish, N.Z.F.A., who has distinguished himself on several occasions, has been awarded the D.S.O. During tho operations that lesulted in. the talcing ol the Turkish trenches on Hill (iO towards tho end of August he personally controlled the iire of a very exposed section of guns that were daringly pushed out on the left ilank to assist tho assault. During August 27 and 2S ho, displaying much ability and great'gallantry, stuck to his work of observation from a station in tho infantry trendies, being frequently, for lengthy periods, under heavy fire. On tho 28th his guns were shelled by high explosive. One gun was put out of action and a fire started round a pit containing high explosive shells belonging to his own battery. On receipt of this information he at once left his observing station, hurried doiVn to the battery, and saw to the putting out of tho fire. Second-Lieutenant R.. M'Phcrson, N.Z.F.A., gained a Military Cross for his bravery in connection with the extinction of the above-mentioned fire After one small explosion had already taken place, he went into the pit and continued his efforts in putting out the fire. Corporal C. J. K. Edwards, of the New Zealand Artillery, was awarded the D.C.M. in connection with the same incident, as was also Titter N. Clark. They carried water to put OTt tho fire while the gun section was being heavily and accurately shelled. Trooper B. S. O'Connor, of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, earned his D.O.M. for gallantry and devotion in returning to his regiment after being slightly woujj'led while in .the Aehyl Dere on August 22. While the 19th Australian Battalion was being heavily shelled, O'Connor 'entered the shellswept zone and br.ought in two wounded men. He then went out a .third time and helped a wounded officer to a place of comparative safety. These acts of gallantry were' quite outside the duty upon which he was at the time engaged. Sapper A. L. Casplberg, of the Signal Troop attached to .the New Zealand Mounted Rifles was awarded tho D.C.M. for gallant conduct. He went out under heavy fire and guiclcd troops that had become detached a'nd were en. deavouring to join their companv in a forward trench on the night of August 2'i. This lie did six or seven times. Trooper H. Pidgeon, of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, during the operations at Hill 60 on August 21, displayed great bravery, and, although wounded, he refused to retire until wounded a second time. He also rescued a wounded man under heavy fire.