The Fight for Chunuk Bair

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 October 1915, Page 2

The Fight for Chunuk Bair

1 NJjjW ZEALANDERS (STORM THE HEIGHTS. I'IERCE FIGHTL\~G ON THE ItLDGE ONSLAUGHT BY BRAVE TUIIKS (From .\lalcolni Ross, Official Correspondent with the Now Zealand Forces.) .No. 3 Outpost, tith Augus't. -- By o.io a.m. on Saturday, the fth August, the Otago, Wellington, and Auckland Regiments had joined up ou Rhododendron Ridge, and were about lo attack their objective, Ohuuuk Bair, the curving outline of which we could s-ee clear out against the eastern sky, some distance back, and several hundred feet above.

A slight diversion was caused by the appearance of two aeroplanes, one a Tail bo and one an English machine. Foi • Ib.'.v ne 11 civ thrilled with the expectat i-m of a duel in the air overhead. out the speedy German machine made oil' in a great hurry, with a tfiui bluish line of vapour streaming from his exhaust!' The English pilot followed him for a while, and then turned and went" on with his observations. Oil shore the balloon was up above its mother ship, and a vessel was shelling in the direction of Anafartft-,- Searching, no doubt, lor a four-gun battery that had come into action against the landing. Our wounded were toeing brought into a dressing station not liu from the beach. Turkish'wounded were also being carried in and attended to, and by this timo tliero were 2 III) prisunem within our lines. Hie Turkish prisoners were given foor and water. Three hospital ships stood i'ut iu the oiling. About ( J a.m. there was a lull in the firing and sometimes •i lull second would pass without a rifle ..hot being fired. The ships' guns were Silent. Hall an hour later, howover, I,He bombardment was resumed with an ear-straining noise. By this timo the New Zealand JLulantjry Brigado pad advanced well up the slope ol the hill, but, as they had to run the gauntlet of fire from the Turkish trenches, and also from a mountain gun, they were held up for the time being. They were being enfiladed from Battleship IJill on their right, Meantime, tho Turks, had appeared on the crest of iho hill, and we could see tliein yuito plainly against the skyline. One big man came bravely out into tho open and waved his men on. Some of them came over the crest of.,tho ridge ami down the slope for about 100 yards towards our troops; but thoy were met with burets of shrapnel from our howitzers, and Ave saw several drop. The officer bravely ufrgid thorn < n again and again, but finally they gave ii up, and retreated over the ridge top. The .ships were signalled, and they soon were searching the ridge with shrapnel and high explosive. We saw some Turks drop, but oncc they hud retreated over the skyline and ou to the reverse slopes tdiey were comparatively sale.' THE VrCHTING ON SUNDAY. Another dawn—that of Sunday, tho bth August—saw the ships again shelling. and after the preliminary bombardment we saw the Now Zealanders advancing through the stunted scrufr towards the crest of Chunuk Bair. They at first cautiously, and then mado a dash and gained the ridge. It was an inspiriting moment. Could the few men who had reached the s i'idge hold ; t against the Turks, who had the advantages of trenches on the right and the loft? Our men were shot at from several points of vantage, and we saw several drop. But always tliero were others to take tho places of those who had been put out of action. A number of the Turks advanced boldly and 'bravely in the open. Three ol them rushing up to a man on fhe extreme right of our line, bayoneted lnm, and lie fell to the ground; They passed on. Two of them were shot down. The third vanished over the crest of the ridge. There- was fighting at close quarters for a time, but our men, for the time bring, had. won tlio <ky, iihrl room two flags fluttered out at' either olid of our abort lino, a few yards short of the actual BHiiunit, to indicate the posit" ion and guide the guns in regard to future shelling. It was most interesting to Avatch the operations. Our men began to dig themselves in vigorously, and gradually against the skyline we could see that their bodies were getting lower and lower down. There was a great crackle of rlflo lire and the machine-guns began to pour out their streams of bullets. A Turkish gun burst some shrapnel over the position we had gained, and a smaller gun endeavoured to reach our reserves. On the left our guns wero shelling vigorously, and other sheila fell on the deep enfilading Titrkisli trenches on tho right. Opposition from the latter quarter was soon silenced, or at all events greatly minimised, but on the right the Turks dashed up boldly on- to and sometimes over the crest of tho ridge. As a rule, however they did not come far down our slope, allji those who did soon turned tail and run hack, for one of our Maxims was soon flaying ol them. Quite close to the victorious New Zealanders and a few yards from the actual summit of the ridge, we picked up a Turkish trench filled •with men. As thoy rose to fire voUeya we could see the sun gleaming on,their bayonets. They fired hurriedly without

;;iin, and ihrcked down again. At 0.30 a.m. the sun rose over the northern end of the ridge and made observation difficult. All this time the tiring never ceased, but our men had. now made themselves some protection, and wtre not to be shifted without a struggle. Some exposed themselves; fearlessly as they gained the ridge, and every now and then one would fall. The. bursts of great explosions from one of the cruiser's shells made vast clouds

of smoke and shattered eartli along tho ridge, and in one of these we could clearly see' a Turk hurled in the air. Moet of the Turks had, however, retreated over the tWge, and so our guns lengthened their rangs. The shraipnel seemed to burst in good positions, and no doubt it accounted for quite a number of the enemy. Tho Turks appeared to be reinforced, ibut they gained no ground. Night foil witli tho Now Zcalandere still holding tho highest point of the whole battlefield on the Gallipoli Peninsula, but holding it precariously. THE EVENING SCENE Next evening the scene in the vicinity ot the clearing station was ono of enthralling interest. Eroni flie stoop knolls above, now dotted with dugouts and sandbagged bivouacs, wo could note the mule-trains coming and going along the sap and the now beach road. Tho ■wounded were coming in—some walking others carried by the heroic stretcherbearers. Most were cheerful though tired, and as they limped along they i'ad tales to tell of brave deeds and Jicroie endurance. , Coining in under a guard were numbers Turkish prisoners, with an occasional German -amongst them. Our men had captured a whole machine gun section, and at their head w;is a Gern.an gunner. He was just getting his gun into action when a Gurkha cut off hiii noee. Another moment and it would have been the Gurkha who would have been out ot" action. The Gurkha is at his best when bringing in a prisoner. There is an air of conscious pride about liiin that is decidedly amusing, and as he looks at you and you at him you both smile as if there was a thorough understanding between you. Of all the fighting men with whom our colonials have come in contact they admire the Gurkha the most. His sturdy build, his light quick stop cn the march, and. above all, his bravery ami dash in the fiijlit, combined with a cheerful disopsition, have earned him a unique place in the estimation of our soldiers fighting in Gallipoli.

In the fighting we have captured between 000 and (iOO~ prisoners. Occasionally a dozen Turkish prisoners 'would be marched in in charge of three or four Indians. They are .a strong-looking lot, and they seem to have been better led in this than in some other of their campaigns. No doubt the Germans are seeing to this very important detail. .For the rest, they have a slouch ,v ivalk. with bent knives and rounded backs. , (Continuod on page 4 )