The New Zealand Engineers

Horowhenua Chronicle, 7 February 1916, Page 2

The New Zealand Engineers

» SPLENDID WORK UNDER FIRE. MILES OF .SAPS, TRENCHES, AND TUININELS. A V.C. AND OTHER HONOURS. (From .Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspontlent with the N.Z. Forces.) General -Headquarters. 23rd Nov. The Field Troop came with the Mounted Infantry, on 10th May, and commenced work on Russell's Top. Ihoy put tile whole ot that position into a satisfactory condition, aud extended it forward by Kipping. No. 2 Company landed on 3rd June, and went into Quinn's Post, which 'l»y that time had got into a very unsatisfactory stato it having been bombed and shelled o.v the Turks until the position had become almost. untenable. There they did, magnificent work, often beng right out in the front line without any infantry to help or protect them. Gradually tlie'y retrieved the whqle of the fro.it trench, and made it habitable again. That was a really fine piece of work, which needed some training and skill. When they took on the joh there" vvas one bit of the salient, where it curved .found—known as "The Racecourse'' that could, 1 not be occupied at all. Tlu >- Continued their operations at Quinr Post for two months. The mining operations were chiefly at Quinn's, and in time the piltace became like a human warren. They had, of course, a 'ot of assistance from skilled" coal and gold miners; but tlte general drection of operations and the firing of the charges was entirely an engineer's joh. The whole front was gradually protected 'by mines, and/ underground warfare went on for three months continuously. It is still going on to-day—seven months from the time of landing! In all, thirty-three counter-mllnes were exploded, Turks not only were ■ ept of!, but pushed hack along the whole front, which, according to the books, is an impossibility. Protective systems have also been put out at Pope's, Courtney's and Russell's Top. On he latter position there is a good deal of mining audi counter-mining. Over and over again T have wandered through these positions, above ground and underground, and the more ore sees of them the more one marvels at the skill, the patience, the enterprise, nd the hard work of our splcndrid soldiers to whose lot this difficult task has fallen. These journeyings are somewhat dangerous, for, though you are safe from rifle fire, you never know when a siiell or a bomb may come along or when an enemy mine may send you hurtling into the nil'. In places you can hear the tapping of the Turkish picks on tlie other side of a thin wail of clav, only a few feet above oflbeloiw or in front of you. But it is a fascinating position, and one is diiawn thither Mgain and again. Yet, while we have done so much to strengthen our posiion and to damage that of the enemy by our many explosions, the Turk -

.-client digger though he is—has exploded only four mines at Quinn's, and only one of these has been effective. There have been times wJu'n the piok» have met underground, and when, by the flickering light .of the solitary candle, the miners have fired at one another through a little whole with revolvei-s. The Turks with the r one successful mine bagged three of our men, but that was really before w-s started our system. On occasions we have broken into the enemy's mines, and have had encounters underground with bombs." There was one Turk who used; to oome at us again end again. \ou could hear "hi m in tile dieathly mlence of our oiwn mine, tapping aiwiy industriously like a wood/pecker ip a hollow tree. Eventually we got the woodpecker. His industry deserved a better fate.

The lurlcs, as a "ivliolo were very I much afraid of our miners, and, according to the talc® of prisoners whom ive took, their men couldi only bo got to stay at the j oh by the promise that tliely 'H"oul<! bo ro\v;jr<3od by boin made corporals. One prisoner told us that he knew otf twenty men killed, and several wounded. NERVE-RACKING WORK. 'llie officer in charge oi the work at Quinn's, and who carriedi it out with extraoidinarj skill, is an .Englishman and a trained engineer—and Lieut* the Hon. li. P. JJutier, u'ho has been move than once mentioned in despatches. The work undertaken was not only of a lierre-ramking character, hut it also was accompanied by grave dangers, not only from the mine explosions, but also from the effects ot gas. The explosive that we generally employ is considered sale, while it is supposed to bo especially suitable for war-mining operations, in that its explosion does not develop poisonous gases. Once, after exploding a mine, two officers and a

private proceeded' to examine the result, when another explosion, presumably a Turkish mine detonated by our own look place. One officer was overcome by the fumes, and the other was also affected by the gas. The private went to the rescue, and undoubtedly saved the life of the tirst officer, tor lie managed* to drag him out by bis revolver lanyard, which was round his neck. He was nearly strangled by the cord, as well as asphyxiated by the gas, but subsequently he recovered. Both officers bad lost the use of their legs, as if they were drunk with liquor. BUILDING .JETTIES UNDER Flß''. One job that fell to the 'New Zealand Engineers was the making of piers At .Vuznc. This was very demoralising work, for not only were they in danger from dropping bullets, but they were

all the time under firo from Turkish shrapnel and high explosive shell fire. On more than one occasion I have seon men killed find woimdedi wiiile watching this operation. The Turkish batteries would open on lite beadh, and there would have to bo a temporary cessation of work. but always tfio men went back to their jotb, and needless ti say, the pier was completed in spile of tho efforts of the or German gunners. The Engineers also did a lot of useful work in connection with the laying of water pipe lines, and the installliaibion of onyines for .pumping ifroini the water barges up to the tanks on shore. Nearly a mxlo of piping was out along the beach north and south. 'Mea-nwhiile the Signal Company had carried out its job extremely Well. They maintained almost constant communication through to every post. The lines had to bo pint out through the scrub-covered hills audi dales and ticross positions that, wore constantly sniped and often swept by heavy lire from ihe enenny batteries and machine guns. Time after time the wires were e.it by bullets. by shrapnel and by the bursting of and ordinary explosive shells, and time after time the men, with devoted' heroism, went out and mended the breaks. On suoli expeditions each -mail took Ins life in his hands. WATER. IN AN AT! ID LAND. In the August advance the tiou. Companies and tile FieJLu Troops were allotted to various columns, and tliair thiol job was to sink wells and to searcu for water in every possible place Uuiung the first Two dlays of tho operations that was a water laiiniuo, ami there is no douibt that, but lor t. c ( Hplendid work tliey dlid, backotl up by the Q .Department and tJie mule transport, the operations up tne Aghyl I)ere iwould have been in danger of breaking down.

In the first week of this lighting the brave Engineers Buffered forty casualties. As soon as positions were taken the Engineers went forward! and helped to consolidate them, as they haa done before, improving hastily-dug trenches,* opening up eomnninieiitio.il trenches, arul making trac'ks up waterworn gullies and steep lull slopes, so that mule trains could carry up food and water and ammunition with greater ease. When the inhintry and' mounted finally took up their stand on the' Apex and R-hotlodendron Bpur, the Engineers found themselves confronted with a situation tnait it was very dil' icullt to plan or do anything with, it was exposed from the tront nndi on both flanks. The front trench wa.s only two feet deep. On the spur along the right flank there was no protection a.t all. The two sections had to be joined u.p. When tho Now Zealand ers were on the crest of Ohanuk Bail - the Engineers had started a communienitiion trench, but ttiat had to oe abandoned when HT'e British Company had to retbire from tho front posi' : - in which they hndi relieved the iNew - Zealnndei-s. ' By dint ot great ingeuiiiiby and much hard work both the apex and the spur were made secure, and the pouts a.re daily being improveii, though the Turks right and left, and in front on the heights above, pi'aotioajly dtominate the position. STIRRING EPISODES. IKiring the first wonderful bayoneting rudh on the night of the Gth-7 t!i August, in which the Mounted Brigade so distinguised itself, tlie Engineers, with tlie Maoris assisting had to pull away the bai J bed wire entanglement ■that went rigjht across the Ohail.ik Dere. They took with them grappling irons, fixed them to the stakes ami wires, and under hot lire pulledi tin: entanglement down, so that our troops oouJd speedily proceed on their onquering 111 arch up the valley.

Of many episodes that occurred i shall mention only two. On one *<jcoaston two 6f the sappers went out <u nighit from Quiinn's Post, and, wiCli a gun cotton charge, demolished a Turkish blooklionse. This action was not otily.ii gaJl-ant one, ; bu-t it. was most carefully carriedi out the utmos: precautions. They were out tor 35 minutes groping albout in the Jarknese. For tlliat plucky act, these men —Hodges and Fen—were awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The other episode is one that is probably uinqiie in war. During the fighting in August two sappers wer& told off to a brigade to assist in trench work. After three weeto of splendid service they received an ovation, tlie men loudly cheering them as they departed for their ti'enohes. Needless to say the Engineers received the greatest assistance, -hot' from the coal and gold miners of Australia. and New Zealand. The wort; which tihese men have done, and aio Btill doing, must for ever redound o their credit. -One dan wander tor days in and oat among 'the maze of saps and troneues that have been dug in Anzac zone. They run in thousands of zig-zagging Z's and (bendiing S's across gully -i'i ridge, and along the crest of hills, where in places the edge ie all too n i ■■ raw. If you mflftfyly tlie line ff.l* front by four you will probably get'an idea of the length of digging that has been done. There must bo well over teen miles of saps and trenches. It is worthy of mention that in Wie New Zen-land and Australian Dvisijn there ie a water diviner—himself a practical engineer—whose services ill this capacity have been ot great val'ie.