The Fighting on Gallipoli

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 August 1915, Page 2

The Fighting on Gallipoli

(Jjy .Malcolm Koss, Ollicia-L War Corre-

spondent, .\.Z. forces.)

feince the big battle at Jdellcs a few days ago tliere have been no movements ot importance—none certainly, that concern the -New Zealauders, Nevertheless, the days have not been passed in idleness, nor without incident. A few notes lrom my' diary will give the people oi our country some idea of the current ot events. July opened with the usual morning shelling of the beacu, li ut the lurks had they iseen the result, must have been disappointed with it. In .lie trenches also our men were proving more than a match for the Turks. Their greater intelligence and ingenuity make them a more eliective force in trench warfare. -Men are told off to watch a certain number of yards ot enemy trench, and as each man is provided wan ,*• perk cope he can uo this in safety. fetich men «dl observe the slightest alteration in an enemy trench —the removal of a sandbag or the withering ol a branch that has been green. Behind such a branch there will occasionally be a Turk, and an accurate marksman may pick him oh'. Good shots are told oil' to lire at the loopholes iu the Turkish trenches, and this shooting liars been so eliective that the Turk now, ars a rule, does not take careiul aim through the loopholes. He is afraid oi getting one ill the eye. Therefore he simply holds his rifle up above his head and blazes away. fetich shooting is. ol course, inelfective. JJy various ruses our men stir the Turks up at all times of the day and night. They have done this Lo such an extent that the somewhat raw and inexperienced troops that have recently been opposed to us have got "jumpy,'' with the result that they waste a great deal oi ammunition. The destroyers—one on tho right liank and one ot the left—also make tho life of the enemy trench-holder miserable by Hashing their searchlights and training their big gums upon his position at uncertain periods ol the night. Die young commanders in the destroyers arc line fellows, who will Lake on anything. They have never had such shooting before in all tneir lives, and it is splendid practice lor them. ft has improved their gunnery to a degree that was not anticipated.

Kccent orders found on Turkish prisoners indicate that there are a considerable number of young and unLrained troops in the lield, or about 10 outer it, and tliaL many of these do not know even the elementary principles of drill and musketry. At the same time there are quite a number ol seasoned troops on the Peninsula, and as they are well entrenched it would be a mistake to hold the position 100 cheaply. Alter a ample ol uays' partial immunity from shelling, our lriend with the nigh explosive started 111 from the •>oui-li again. and, considering the utwii■jer ol men nno were abouL on Lhe ueaen, woriang and bathing, II was uuiy amazing io nolo Llie aiuiill amount ol damage lie did. While iJiie shelling was 011 we watched some men coming asiioie liom a uarge. a number giabbed iiieir accoutrement and ran ior it out others cafmly wallied along jie whan as 11 they were strolling down liamoton-ipiay on a aunuay iiioriung. uii tne wnole, quite a liumuer ot us are beginning to think tnat sucli liieidents add intercut to What, otherwise nouid be rather a monotonous existence. Une day i went to llie General to one ol our outposts, unere Lhe men were puLting in muiie excellent work on treiicncs, tunnels, alia gun emplacements. Amongst the IoL were six Australians,. all well to do. Their tune to be relieved liad come, but they a»Kcd lo be allowed to stay oil and linish tne job! -they 'wanted Lo say tnat that particular bit of worli was theirs. One wai* the son ol a well-to-do Western newspaper proprietor, and tlie others also were wealthy men or Lhe sons ol wealthy men. A.3 we were returning our guns opeuel hre upon some lurks who were seen moving, and a wat-orplaiio Hew along Lhe coast. A submarine had made it<> appearance in the Gull, aiid our destroyers and trawlers were oil the qui vive.

Un Monday, oth July, one oi our suction!} reported, being shelled by heavy guiio, una we at Anzac had a new JLi-incli gun turned on us. ±lie snells Mojji tiie latter mostly iiii tho sea harmlessly, throwing up great geysers oi water, which subsided into a. great ring oi' t'oamother shells that burst in tiro air cent cnu>nkii oi' Iron hurling through space over a wide area and our men ran to-got them as tropiiiw>. 1 saw one man carrying a piece, still unconilortably hot, on ins shoulder, from the crest ui a ridge where it had landed. .Some oi our men thought they could see this gun Jiiuig iroiu the lvilid-Bahr plateau, but later ;\ud more reliable information led to the conclusion that it was a naval gu;< v 'ome hundreds <j1 pounds worth <>t .wi'.jiumtion were blazed away by this ing the forenoon, but tho results were practically nil, thougn we all agreed that tho now shell was a nasty brute. At 0.45 a.m. Un tho -itli July, tho enemy opened iire on the left ol (Juiim'ti Post with a mou/ntain gun firing nine rounds without doing any damage. There enemy S-inch shells were also exploded on another position in the evening, hut did little damage. Another Turkish gun on the northwestern hills fired, for two 'hours. There was very little rille firo lroni the Turkish trenches. Our guns, and also the destroyer Chelnier, replied.

During the week a determined attack was made 011 our lei 1 centre, but was repulsed with heavy l.oss to the enemy. In thi.s attack practically nono of the Noiv Zealanders were engaged, it being met by the Australians attached to our division. The Turks commenced with heavy rifle lire and then charged with the bayonet. They also used bombs. Our men replied with cheers and fire from rifles and machine guns. Some Turks who broke through into our saps were soon despatched, and by 2 a.m. the remainder of the enemy who had left their trenches turnpd and fled. In places there were numbers of Turkish dead in front of our trendies, and the losses must have been considerable while ours were slight. Prisoners stated that the attacks had been ordered by Euver Pasha, who visited the lines that night on his way sou tit to Cape Hellea. - - .