Grim Fight for a Tren

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 August 1915, Page 2

Grim Fight for a Tren

"MAY GOD FOllUiVJfi US!" Auckland, August 1. A Wa-ilii boy bugler, U. J. Coutit;, who was erroneously reported as having been killed in action, writing iroiu No 1 Australian Hospital, Hepiopolis, gives a graphic description of an attack on a Turkish trench ill whic.li u party of the 6th liauraki took part. He says

"On Friday, the -Ith June, about eight in the morning we came back from the firing line into the reserve trenches for ;i couple of days' ".spoil.' About 11 a.m. a message came to oiii' captain from headquarters asking tor 70 men from the Auckland Battalion to volunteer to charge a I'urkisli titnch. About 20 of our good old llatiraki Company volunteered ana lined up before the capt: 1 '" get particulars. The captain was very lrank with, lie us ii we were 'juilc sure tf the seriousness ot the attack and said it was going to be a danger oils undertaking. before we leli headquarters we were each given twi hand grenades and were told Ave wen not to retire under any consideration We were told that our signal l< charge would be a bomb fired into tin Turkish trench at three minutes t( eleven. 1 must say the -worst part o the whole business the let

was minutes wo were liuddled in out* trench waiting and watching far the bomb and the word "go." TJiey were minutes of torture. At last after we had trembled, ourselves tired and given our hearts <*i gentle push down our necks with our fingers we neurd the dreadful bomb and also, "Come on, lads." Almost immediately we .jumped out of our trendies and dashed where—straight lor what looked

like a red hot fence. The rifles ol the Turks (seeming as close together as the pickets of a fence. The moment i put mv head above the trench 1 saw the most dreadful sight-one I shall never forget. The flashes of lTfles and explosion of shells and bombs were terrific and the noise was deafening "When at last we did reach the Turks' trench there were only seven of us alive and six of these were wo.mded. The front of the trench was built up ■with sandbags and the Turks were filing through little portholes that had been left between the bags, so that they could not see us until we put our heads up over the trench. Unt wo did not show our heads, until wo had thrown our bombs 111 and whilo t!i • confusion caused by the explosion was goiusc on amongst tliom we ,pimped into the trench and then got to work hack to back with the muoh dreaded cold steel. One oi our seven had his head blown off by the Turks and another was shot through ihe heart while getting into the trench S.) it left five of us not only to fight for our country but for our lives. All live ol us were Haurakis. We were .soon in command of about litty yards of trench which we held until our engineers had slipped through and our supports came to our relief. The five ol us were Ossy Delaney (Waihi) Norman Campbell (WaiKino), Charles -\ield (Karangahaki.) Jack Harris (i'aeioa) and myself. A'll of us Willi the exception of Delaney are in hospital. Here we stood nring back to back and stabbing continuously and at last we gradually got them 011 tho move both ways. A mate and 1 had hardly moved two paces away* li'um the others when 011 glancing a bit to one side we saw two lurks crawling out of a hole in the side oi the trench with theii hands up and pleading for mercy. But it was not a position 111 which we could take prisoners and there was 110 time for thinking. So may (Jud forgive and I lor killing undefended lurks in such cold blood. H the Turks had known there were only five British 111 the trench what would our tale iiave been. We two kept up a continuous fire in front oi the trench towards Canterbury, out it seemed ages before 1 got an answer to my incessant calling lor "New Zealand." At last after about half an hour of shooting, bayoneting aid yelling and floundering over dead we got an answer. How my heart heaved, but only lor one second because ■. the next second a Turk and 1 met lace tj face on equal defence. 1 don't know whether I pulled the trigger ol n:y rifle, but we both lunged forward with the bayonet at the .same time, and 1 had the pleasure of seeing something glittering going past my right side." Coiitts then describes how they took 21 prisoners and joined the Canterbury men. He concludes as follows: "For an hour we worked taking the dead out of the trench and changing bags to our new front. An officer came along in a little while ami tli.; wounded were helped to the dressing station."