The Fight For the Dardanelles.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 October 1915, Page 2

The Fight For the Dardanelles.

._$ AN. UIUiUR LA.NDJLNG. Sh\\ IN A .NIGH! ATTACK. . (From Malculm Koss, Olliuial War Correspondent with the Js.Z Forces.) .X'o. 3 Outpost, 7th August. , For «sojiie"weekK now the armies at Cape Hollos have sat facing eadrothor iu the trenches. Since tho big battle on tho Achi Baba front at the end of June—when, at considerable cost, tho Allies gained a thousand yards—and the subsequent advance oi J OO yards, m movement of any importance has taken place. With the New Zealand and Australian forces facing tho Turk on the rugged cliffs and ridges of Sari Hair, the .same conditions have applied: Tho Australians on the right have sallied forth, and, in unimportant skirmishes, have taken u trench or two; but tlicrp have encounter!? except ol minor ini/™tanee. The threatened Turkish attack came lo nothing. N'ot even Ilamazan could induce the Turk to leave liis trendies. For once re ligious fervour had to take a back sent to German tactics. \et all the time . strategy and organisation "were marching stealthily but steadily towards h grand climacteric on tlie Peninsula of GallipoU. i\JiW PKEPAKAIKLWS , . Jiy tiie olid of July preparations were well in hand and things were happening up ami down the long Jino of comliiaiucMiioiis oAtending oil the one hand, trom iuigimui ami on me other lroiu -New Zealand and Australia. iMraxijs , --- looking crait like nothing ever seen uulore upon tiie luce oi ine waters entered tlie harbours ol the islands in tho Agean—that once were Turkish, i'hoso were the new monitors. Cruisers bristling with gunis stood olt shore and bombarded the Turkish position, not caring, apparently, about enemy submarine;, i-attlerships came more warily into action and sent their big shells hurlliuu to Asia, while our submarines rose gleaming like porpoises beside the vory quays of Constantinople. Troopships and supply rships came and went. The water that we drank and shaved with was fetched from London and Liverpool. "We washed in sea water. Tho Ark Royal with her seaplanes and balloon ships went bravely about their master's business, and tlie Gulf of Sams was dotted with destroyers and trawlers, and drifters and steam pinnaces. Day in and day out they braved the enemy's shot and shell. And high above all these—often with tho white lleecy pufLs of bursting bliraniiol (lotting their winding courses—Hew tiie graceful aeroplanes with their during pilots and observer, mapping out tlie Turkish positions and dropping bombs. It was interesting to watch seven ol them flying down the Dardanelles in the late evening, past Holier and on tlie island homo. With such aids and adventures did wo once more adjust our lar-iliiu{£ battle line. A SEW J'OKCb;. In the midst ot ail one day uivihioub ol the King's new annieti began to ar-rive--surfeited with a year's training; eager lor action. They looked a likely lot—not possessing tne. Herculean strength of the Australians and Uio New Zealandors, but sturdy and lit. None doubted Uiut they wuii'kl give a good account of themselves. With them came Gurkhas and Sikhs. The troops poured into Ansae Cove under the cover oi darkness and deployed u> the rijjlil and left. On the evening before the great advoniure Uiure wore some nervous burst* ol rule iire, as it the lurk* had a promoniLiuu ol coming danger. The do-sii-oyeie guarding 'our Hunks as usual diiecied tluir waving searchlight alUwait the Peninsula and scut in an occasional shell. Farther south the flaoli ol guns from the sea could be seen opposite the Krithian heights. A gouUo south wind blew and lightning played from an angry cloud above Samothrace Waking at 3 a.m. one noticed a waning crescent moon above the heights ot Anzac; the south wind had died down and the lightning had drifted from Samothrace to imliros. With dawu came pinnaces and drifters and trawloi's. bursts of rifle Tire, and tho occasional boom of a gun. The enemy had seen some Indian troops landing in the early dawn, and they commenced to shell tho little pier. Gurkhas and Sikhs came in two barges, waited for tho word to disembark, and then -walked calmly off the wharf wil-h riuVs, haversacks, and ull their other belonging*, one man trotting like a Chinaman with his bundles _~ slung at either end of a pole balanced across hie shoulder. A few Turkish shells fired from tho south foil short. Another gun from the north also failed to reach the mark. Their shells toil harmlessly into the sea, lashing 'Ho water into foam. Just above Uβ from our back trenches on the crest ot tue steep yellow cliff cJiiuc the cra<:kk ot intermittent rifle lire, and the Kuarper pointed Turkish bullete m reply v/ent with a melancholy whibdmj. ibead A gun in tho north with a high oxplosive shell began to get a-better range on the landing, but still without effect, On the right "another gun was just missing a trawler. The vessel moved away slowly. Quo shell almost got her on tho water-line. Finally, one hit her on the deck for-ard, and a little cloud of black smoke arose. b r lowly the trawler turned her nose to sea and steamed away out of range. She was not seriously damaged. As the forenoon wore on a howitzer opened on us from the centre of the Turkish position, one shell bursting on the Indian cemetery in front of my dug-, out and shaking tTTo earth "down *m .ny writins pad. Some Tmlinns digzing a grave escaped miraculously. One ol •fTTFV ,T -T. "*rtf fT '•Jf anyone oome* to nnr home vUr. a cold we immediately rwvmiiTiAnd Chamberlain's Coiieh Remedy." writes Mrs Eleanor H. Blunt, Princeee-elroet. Bulimba. Q. "I have used it in my family for over ten years and all tit married children have roared their children on it. We appreciate the reasonable price of OhamWrlAi'V* Cough Remedy, ite wonderful effectiveness and the ewr manner! in which the children f*W For «ftle we'TF'bsre, a

thorn picked up a eHuaik of tho burst casing from an adjacent mound, showed it to a companion, ami wont on digging tho grave! Another of these howitzer shells burst with a loud noise and much duet and smoke .amongst some mon lower down the slope. One expected to see arms and legs Hying and dead, and wounded carried away. StrangdTo say, not a man was hit, and one Now Zealander emerged from the cloud of smoivo and earth and laughingly called out to his startled comrades, "Bring me a field dressing to hind up my bloomin' nerves!" All this noise, however, -was out the prelude to the grond Wagnerian tumult of sound that later on was • o strike, terror into the heart of the Turk BATTERING THE ACHI-BABA TRENCHES Looking towards Achi Baba early on •the afternoon one saw that the Turkish trenches wcro getting a groat battering The wind was in the wrong direction, and we euukknot hear the bombardment, but we groat bursts from the explodeMklls rising high above tho summit oF» Baba iteoU. I The whole of the available artillery Boomed to bo in quick action. A long- ] thy curtain of yellowish grey smoke rose from over the Turkish position, and drifted across the Dardanelles. Against \ this dull back-ground the bursts <1 \ shrapnel with a bluish tinge in their whiter puffs weltf dearly seen. At intervals one of the huge shells from the new monitors would burst into a vast geyser-like column of blacker smoke and earth. This together with the shrapnel would be blown with the wind and gradually dissipated into the'common curtain. "Lord help the poor Turkl" I was a frequent expression among the watchers of this bombardment. Some ot the Turkish shells were bursting near the ecVe of the cliff above the Lancashire tending, but tlio enemy's guns were far fewer than ours, and his .supply of ammunition also, apparently, lett much to be desired. The line of ships i at Holies was silhouetted in the clear air , against the horizon., and above the line j soared the big balloon; spotting for tho j guns of the navy. ' j NEW BATTLE BEGINS- | It was the afternoon of I'Viday. litn ! August, and we had ascertained that i i "birr attack was contemplated on tne ; northern Turkish position. There wore j [also rumours of another landing on o i jlarw scale just to the north of our far- ! jthest position on tlio extreme loft-No j 3 outpost held l\v thp Otap;o Mounted j Rifles--who had "been for some time in the trenches—and a numher of the J Staoi'i Contingent. As the New Zealand- j ?rs were on the left wins: and that j corner of the field promised to he speoi- * illy interesting. T left Anzao in company ; * (vith a general and one ot Ins staff and , walked through the lons communication : trench to the outpost. I'unctually at 1 j p.m. a howitzer fired the first shot in the. ' pen oral bombardment that was to pre- : cede the attack. Battery after bnttevy , came into action, and the Turkish pun* j replied. Thp sheik from the French sev- : enty-fivos in thp possession of the Turks. , shrieked viciously over our head* nt high velocity on fhoirwny to Anzae. and { pome of the in t erven in <r positions. The ' bombardment continued furiously for , ilalf an hour, and then the eraokle if ■ rifle-fire on the ricrfft came as an intim- j ation that the Australian attnclc had he- j gun. Tho hanging or the guns, the raffle of rifle fire, and the intermittent popping of the machine-guns on both eides now made a great din. i At tho outpost the Otago colonel ; was preparing to lead his men into i battle as eoon a» tiie shades of night fell. He was, a,s ever, cheery an dbrave. In the dusk outside his dugout we sat anl j chatted of the prospects of the night \ attack. The men, he said, were eager | and in high spirits, though they knew j there was stiff work ahead. We listened to two of them soberly discussing, with n strong Scottish accent, the question ot j whether on the eve oi a battle a man j should shake hands with his chum or not. With the old Covenanter spirit, "ihi'y decided that there should be no such good-byes. With these words the gallant colonel buckled on his armour and went off with his regiment and '* platoon of the Maoris into the darkness. He succeeded in accomplishing the task j That had been sot him that night, and ; more. Sad to tell, lie was shot through j the head and spine after a dashing" j charge at the head of 150 of his men j into a Turkish trench.