A CHARGE AT GALLIPOLI

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2698, 18 February 1916, Page 6

A CHARGE AT GALLIPOLI

IN DAYLIGHT OVEII 800 YARDS. The following is an extract from a letter ' writeu by Sergeant W. M. Gray, N.Z.M.Ii., Kxpeditionary Force, dato December 22: —"We had a general advance on August-6, and the N.Z.M.Ii. were mentioned in dispatches for the work they did. Wo advanced with empty rifles, and relied oil the bayonet alone. The utter silence of the advance scared the Turks more than any amount of rillc fire wonkl have done. They had no idea of our numbers, so in most cases they bolted when we reached their trenches. Of course, our casualties were heavy, as we had to advance under . machine-gun and rifle fire. By the end of the week we had lost over liftv per cent. P.ight through August we slept practically-every night under arms. It's jolly uncomfortable in the web-equipmcnt with a hundred and fifty rounds in the pouches, so that unless we were very tired we got no sleep, ft was impossible to sleep in the daytime owing to the flies and heat. On tho 21st wo had a, daylight charge at y.30 p.m., and it was regular murder. When I was hit, every man round mo was also knocked down. Fancy charging over about SOO yards of rough, scrub country in daylight. The ma-chine-guns made meat of 'us ; but we got to the trench, and the Turks did not wait for tho bayonet. My wound did not stop me from going on, but it was very painful, and took a month to heal. 1 We stayed in tho trenches for about sixty hours after we charged, and when we were relieved I was sent away to a hospital on Lemnos. Bullybeef stow was my special diet for' the first three days, and during the whole time they never gave mo any medicine, though my blood was thoroughly out of order. One Australian described tho Lomnos hospitals (East Mudros particularly) as 'flies, - fleas, famine, and' fatigues.' _ The description, though gotxl, is inadequate—he omitted lice, which swarm there. ' After three weeks is hospital they sent me to a convalescent camp, which was deadly. One had to close one's eyes while' eating— the food was so unappetising.. The day after I arrived the doctor came round, and I reported 'fit/ and was sent to join up with the remains of the regiment, which was resting on the other side of the island. We had rather a good time until the reinforcements arrived, when th'ey set to work on more strenuous training. "After a few w'eeks there we sailed for Anzac, where we have been until a fav days ago, when we evacuated the position, and came back here. I was one of 1 the rearguard of our regiment, and wo were the last to leave the left flank, and among tho last to leave Anzac. We don't know where we aro going to next, but we all, especially tho tew remaining men of the Main Body, felt having to evacuato the Peninsula, and leave so many of our comrades. Their lives surely cannot have been sacrificed for nothing. . Many of our fellows have had a trip back to Now Zealand, and fully deserve tho trip, but it hurts to think of a few gotting equal praiso, 'and being considered tiwr $juala I of the real men loft' dead on. tho Peninsula."