A Levin Soldier's Letter. THE DARDANELLES LAND FIGHT.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 18 June 1915, Page 2

A Levin Soldier's Letter. THE DARDANELLES LAND FIGHT.

A STiRUING ACCOUNT. A stirring and unstudied description of the first land attack on the Dardanelles i- given in a letter received by ilie mother of Private AV. P. Hanson, who was wounded during the engagement and is now in the hospital at lieliopolis. He writes: - "The excit.incut began at daylight, a beautiiul .Sunday morning on the 24th April. We could just hear the booming of the big guns a long distance away and ship alter ship gradually moved out of the harbour, massed with troops exchanging cheers as they passed by. Our ship mm ed off at eight o'clock with many brave lads that will never return. We had church service on deck and the roar of the guns sounded louder as we moved nearer our destination. We -aw land on both sides most of the way. and at 12 o'clock we passed a group of warships and .saw the troops landing ami the ships throwing huge shells miles out on the hills. A\ r o could

.see the flash a.id also see some burst. The noise was d< atoning. About fifteen miles further on we dropped anchor about one i.-iiie from. Kind. The . war.d i)>,s \v<;i<- shelling and the. Turkish' ba i lories K'.re reph ing with deadly shnipii'l. is was bursting all about u.s. We eoidd .seo the battle raging close to :be shore and also see boats lull oi' wounded going to the hospital ship and under fire the. whole time. Canterbury was the first to leave our .ship on a torpedo boat, and before we left some of the Canterbury men came back wounded; some were killed before they landed, and others just as they landed on the beach. Our company left at '.) p.m. We were under shrapnel lire, but landed safely, and took up our position in a trench the Turks had just left. The air was alive with bullets and "shrapnel bursting in all directions. Well, mother, although I .kept pretty cool, in my own mind 1 never expected to come out of it alive, but. we knew we had to hold the trench at all costs. They were carrying the dead and wounded down on the beach in hundreds. The Turks knew all the ranges. Every time we lined the ridges of the hills they poured out the shrapnel. but on and on our brave boys went. As soon as one lot got weakened reinforcements ?onn filled their places. On Tuesday morning we had guns placed near our trench and know they would draw fire from the Turkish batteries. It was quite true; they soon shelled us out. A sergeant and T were close together when a piece of wood we had across the trench was cut in two just above our heads. Another sergeant further along was killed. We left the trench just in time for half an hour later the .shells filled it in. The ground shook the whole two days and nighte I was there. Just fancy the battleship Queen Elizabeth, one of the most modern ships in the world, throwing shells iivei- our heads weighing one ton. She throws them over twelve miles. I saw one of her shells land in amongst some Turks, and I .saw them .with their fixed bayonets going up in all directions. We were shifted round to reinforce the left flank on Tuesday morning (26th April). AVe took shelter under a hill for a few minutes. -During those few minutes I saw the wounded coming down in dozens, ft was awful to hear the groans. The word came down for more ammunition and men. Another chap and 1 tarried a box up. The air was thick with bullets and a good many were killed going up this hill. 1. got up safely and lasted about six hours. I. had two narrow squeaks before they landed me. I was lying down and scratched out a bit of cover. Fellows were hit on both sides of me. It was awful to hear them. One fellow close to me was badly hit; he was calling for stret-cher-bearers and groaning, but I could do him, the bullets were like hail. I had to shift from that place: it was too hot. An order came along that they were coming at us with fixed bayonets. AVe ran through the .scrub to meet them and they soon got into their trenches again; they don't like the bayonet. 1 was lying down shortly after that aucT knew that I would be hit sooner or later. First, one bullet hit my rifle, another wen J ; through my trousers without totuching my skin, .but at last a sniper behind mc landed me one in the calf of the right leg with an explosive 'bullet. Luckily it is only a flesh wound and I am getting on well. The wound looks bad, it is ugly looking; either where it went in or wdiere came out the flesh is hurst open. Tt will be fully two months before I see the figuting line again. Tam not feeling any pain, and tell all whom I know that I am getting on well and wish to be remembered to them all."