GALLIPOLI HEROES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2776, 20 May 1916, Page 13

GALLIPOLI HEROES

INCIDENTS IN THE CAMPAIGN DESCRIBED BY THE LATE SERQT. OKEY. Mr. H. J. Okey, M.P., has just received the following letter from Lieut. K. Munro regarding tho death of Sergt. Sydney Okey, who was killed in Gallipoli in August last:— "Dear Mr. Okey—Although some 'time has elapsed since, tho fate of your son Sergt. Sydney has teen placed beyond all doubt, I liope you will allow mo now to place on record my very high appreciation of him as a -soldier and a man, "For two months, June and July, I was in chargo of No. 9 Platoon of the Taranaki Company, of tho AVellingtan Battalion, and he was my platoon sergeant. He .was such a capable and efficient N.C.0., and so reliable, that all I had to do'was just quietly to,supervise without interfering. He was simply untiring in his work, but I think his reliability was his quality, which I mo3t appreciated from a duty point of view. But there was another side. _ Ho was always of a most cheery disposition under all circumstances, however trying. .He was moro than a platoon sergeant to. me—he was a friend; and when ho' did not come off Chunuk Bair.' that night (August 8). I indeed felt I had lost a friend. I remember -thinking that night, that if it was good enough for the old colonel and Syd, and all the fino fellows who laid down .their lives there that day, well, it was good enough for me, and I wished I had fallen with them. I had teen sent down early in the day by the colonel with a message to the Brigadier, and left Syd. in cliarpre of "No. 9*' . Tliot wrts tlie Inst I saw of him. You know how few enmo off that night. / I have tried to collect evidence as to what happened 'to Syd. but 'with no result. Those who rauld have spoken, were silenced for ever themselves that day. Anyhow, Mr. Olcey, your pon. is in gTeat convoany, a company niauy of us would bo in, for a finer jtod was tevev made ihan that fateful one on Chunuk Bair. Svd was a grand,chap. . , 1 "Believe me, "Tours sincerelv, "K. MUNRO." From Training Camp to Active Service. Tlio following remarkably lucid account by Scrgfc Okey of incidents in the Gallipoli" campaign in April of last year, in which the Wellington and Taranaki men took a. prominent part, will be read with interest. It was written as a letter .to his parents, tut the letter went astray, and' did. not- reach its destination until a few days ago. April 9, 1915, saw the beginning of the change from, training. ,camp. to. active service conditions for 'the' Now Zealand Infantry Brigade, then in Egypt. We entrained at'Zeitun -at midnight, and arrived 'at Alexandria early on Saturday

morning. Our companies were soon embarked 011 the troopship Otinus, and about 4 o'clock she moved out ii'oni the wharf and anchored in the harbour, shortly afterwards standing out to sea tor an unknown destination. A steam tug and two barges were towed behind, and the second night out tliey broke Our skipper decided to hang around tut nest morning, but a heavy sea was running, and in trying to get 'them again the tug crashed into the ship and sank in a few minutes. So we abandoned the barges, and on Wednesday morning arrived at Lemnos, which boasts a beautiful harbour, at that time full of warships, destroyers, submarines, and troopships. Near us was anchored the already renowned Queen Elizabeth, which lias dono such useful work at the Dardanelles,_and many others, - including the Queen, London, and several French cruis--ers. Lemnos is only a few hours' .steam from the Dardanelles, and makes a useful base. The .island looked fresh and green, with.' quaint little villages, dotted here and there cn the slopes of the hills.

Booming of the Big Guns. English, French, and Colonial troops were aboard tho troopships, which included many fine liners, and numbered considerably over a -hundred. It brought homo to us the might of Britain and her immense resources. Wo spent several days here, and on Sunday morning (April 25, 1915) nearly all the transports moved out to sea, and we were soon certain of our destination- when, as we steamed along, we' could hear the booming of the big guns of our battleships coming closer, and closer. The battleships • had left Lemnos the day before,-and :were'bombarding the coast of the Gallipoli Peninsula, occupied by Turks, to assist our landing. As we got closer it was' tin awe-inspir-ing sight to watch the effect of our big shells • landing constantly on the- high cliffs. The Turks replied with their guns, but did not do nlucli damage. About 5 o'clock our-ship came to an anchorage, and we were ready to disembark to take part iii wliat turned out to be a very hot engagement. • Under Heavy Fire. The Australians and some New Zealanders had effected a landing early in the morning, and we soon knew that they had severe losses, as pinnaces, towing barges full of wounded, began to come alongside, looking for accommodation, as the hospital ship was' already full. It appears they landed under heavy fire from the enemy, entrenched 011 the cliffs, losing numbers in getting, ashore.. They threw off their equipment, filled pockets with ammunition, fixed , bayonets, anil scrambled up the cliff, cleared the. Turks out. of their trenches, and Chased them inland about. three miles. over • almost mountainous .country. They lost most of their officers and a .large .number of men,, and found they were not strong enough to hold their position, so had. to retire some distance. While rotiring the Turks inflicted severe losses, but tho .colonials mana-ged. eventually to hold a Tidge some distanco. inland, thus .. allowing more troops; to land without such losses. We assisted them in getting .numbers

of wounded aboard our ship, and -then we were taken aboard a destroyer. Sho took us in shore some distance, and from her wo got into rowing boats and landed 011 the beach rather wet. AVe learned that our right half company, which had landed before us, had gono straight into the firing line on the ridge, and that we wero to be held in reserve. So we took up a position in a trench on the first Tiage, and 'were there one day. When our battalion assembled on'the bench, we found that the men in the firing lino had suffered many losses. "Made us Think a Bit." 11l the afternoon we had to go into action on another ridge, on the. left flank. We climbed up steep paths until wo were close to. the top of the ridge, and awaited orders to move 021. The fire 011 .top was very hot, and soon stretcher-bearers were carrying down, streams of wounded men. It made us think a bit, seeing fellows we were talking to only a few minutes before, being carried away bleedipg on stretchers. The Red Cross men had a hard . task getting the wounded out, and did great. work. The from the warships und some of our artillery which had lauded kept up a constant fire, and when we reached the top we found that the enemy had retreated to a further ridge. Wo stayed where we were until midnight,. when. we. advanced aoross rough country, through.shrubs and into the firing; line, composed of Australians and New Zealanders. The- enemy's position could be seen on the opposite ridge by the flashes from their rifles. We returned the fire all along -the line, and dug ourselves in. They made all sorts of uncanny noises, blew bugles, and gave orders in English to their troops to fix bayonets and charge. When the day dawned we could see them moving about amongst tliß shrub about 300 yards from us, and they kept up a steady fire. At night we improved our trench, working in the rain ' It was bitterly cold, and we were without greatcoats, and were glad when the sun rose bright next day. In the Trenches. ' ' We wero in these trenches for four days and nights without a rest, and a wash was not possible, as water had to be carried up to us from the beach, and was too precious. During thei day the enemy's snipers were continually firing, and would get a man now and then,' and at night their whole line would keep up a steady fire, wasting much ammunition. AVe did Dot try to advance as we had to hang on to our position, but the Australians and. some other New Zealanders on our right pushed ahead some distance. We could see the Turks entrenching, and the big guns soon got on to them. ' Their funs kept up a steady fire, "but their shells burst high towards the beach, and did not give much trouble. •' After nearly a week in these trenched wo were relieved and returned to ■ the .beocli for a swim and a clean up. .Communication trenches and dugouts had been dug, so that troops could get right Into our firing, line wider cover. Our 'brigade after several days was Telioved' by the Kelson Naval Brigade, aad ive got orders to go south to Cape Hellea

and assist the English and French troops, ivho were working up towards our first position. We were not sorry for the change. Ou,r losses included a large proportion of officers and men. The Machine Gun Section had been very unfortunate, losing nearly all their n.c.o.'s Tho'New Zealand Infantry Brigade was sadly reduced in strength. Equipment and Tides' were lying about the ridges in disorderly heaps, whilo wo were unable to bury many-, of our fallen comrades owing to the fire of the Turks. Near Cape Helles, . On the night of May 5 the brigade w«s takes, aboard destroyers, and we landed early next morning near Cape Helles. Wa marched inland for three miles and dug shelter trenches just behind the French artillery, which was shelling the Turks. Tho country hero was altogether different to that we had operated on before, being rolling country, very pretty with, fields of green grass, poppies, etc., while the entrance to the Dardanelles, quite close, made a pretty scene. Wo stayed one day, and then advanced' towards the Turks on their right, and bivouacked in a ravine handy to the Regulars' rear trenches. The Turks were in a strong position, backing towards the. hill Achi Babij and had checked tho advance of our troops coming up the Peninsula ; from tho southern end. - - A Great Day for the Colonials, The next , day, Saturday, was to be a great day for tho colonials, and especially our troops, as we were to advance rightthrough the trenches held by the Eegu-■ lai'4 and endeavour to take tho village of Krithia, and the hill they had been trying to take for some time. We had to advance over country that the Turks could sweep with shrapel, and machinegun arid rifle fire. We moved out from cover about 10.30, and began a steady advance in open qrder, under the eyes of the Regular troops! Immediately a shower of snrap- • nel and bullets was screaming around us, and men began : to fall in places. Somewounded, some killed. But our fellows ' just moved 011 steadily, keeping theii line and distances, now advancing, now taking cover. . Line followed line, in per--feet order, and the' English' troops wondered at their ■ coolness. When thej reached a trench they did not jump in with the Regulars, but sheltered behind the earth thrown up, until the next advance. In this way they passed- right ahead of the front trench and established new firing lines, and by dusk- had gained much ground. But wo suffered severely, as was to be' expected in suich open coun. try. I was put out of action about; mid--day,' so cannot tell what really happened after that, Trot am.satisfied that -New. Zealand may be proud of the men she has sent to do her little bit to assist the Mother Country.

' Sergeant Okey wrote, the above while in hospital in Egypt, suffering".from a wound In the arm. He subsequently returned to the frput, and was kUled on August 8, 1915.