WITH THE ANZAC REARGUARD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5388, 15 February 1929, Page 1

WITH THE ANZAC REARGUARD.

WITHDRAWAL FROM GALLIPOLI. (By the late Licut.-Colmwl C. E. Andrews, N.Z. Staff Corps). THE N.Z. INFANTRY BRIGADE. As my narrative deals more particularly with the wor,k of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade in tihe lastmentioned' sector, it will be necessary to describe lb® l*e of. the ground. Imagine a conventional “broad arrow with the point towards the enemy. The rjght blade is the Rhododrendron Spur, held by the Auckland battalion Te left blade is the Canterbury slope, held by the Canterbury battalion. The point is Apex Post, held by the Well' ington battalion reinforced with two companies of the Otago battaliop. The shaft otf the arrpw prolonged: right, back to the’sea is Chailak Dere, thq main line of communication common to aU three posts. The Brigade headquarters, with the Otago battalon, less twej companies, as Brigade re-, serve, was stationed at a centre point on this line. Both sides or blades, of the arrow each had l another “dere with military tracks down to the sea, but the Chailak Dere was the wily practical line of retirement from the Apex. All three deres jvere winding water-torn gullies, more or less dominated by the Turkish machine-, gunners and s.nipers on the slopes of Sari Bahr. THE ORDER FOR SILENCE. The first intimation that something unusual was afoot came; in the form of a mysterious order for forty-eight hours’ silence, an order which puzzled us as much as its execution did the Turks. No shot was to be fired unless the enemy patrols actually approached the trenches, in which case they were to be driven off. No visible work was to be undertaken, and the men were to keep out of sight. It was generally understood that the; ruse was intended to deceive the

Turk into believing that the positions were weakly held, andl to induce

him to .attack, in which case it was hoped to inflict a heavy defeat upon him.

Our men accepted .the order with delight, and. most of t.hem made up seme arrears in the matter of sleep. Apparently the Turk .was of the same mind, for the devil a one did we see, and the silence was as deep as we cared to make it. The time was ex-, •tended, but the wily Turk was not to be dr,awn, and the ruse was abandoned at. three o’clock one afternoon with a spiteful fusilade, jyhich no doubt caused “Jacky” to smile and t a thank Allah that he had been taught to be cautious.,

I’ r,emember that we regimental officers were very peevish about the whole thing, but if it were really ip*, tended as a preliminary to the evaluation it was a stroke of genius, for there is no doubt tjiat the Turk, having this experience in mind, thought, when similar conditions prevailed as the direct result of the withdrawal of o.ur troops, that these were yet another, attempt on 'Our part to bluff him to an attack to his certain disc.omforture, and! he gave us a >ride berth accordingly..

Early in December, flejfinite orders for. the evacuation were communG cated secretly to senior officers, and were received with .very mixed feelings. We werej all reluctant to abandon the great enterprise and 1 to give up ground which so many brave comrades had died to win. (We appreciated the danger to which we would! be exposed should the Turks correctly appreciate our intentions, or should a storm arise after the bulk of our, forces had been embarked, but? bn the other hand we werp well swans that to remain was but to court absolute, disaster, and we accordingly set to work to prepare local plans for th® execution of the order, sadly enough, but with, a certain feeling of relief. The general scheme provided' for the gradual removal of all sick a«nd f° r the clearance of certain bodfies troops on various pretexts, such as rest and refitment for winter conditions. By these means the forces at Anzac were reduced to 20,'000, and large quantities of stores, and aU but the very worm guns were removed. A RUSE OF RUMOURS-

At the same tiwie rumours weffe set going to the eiffec.t that Lord Kitchener was bringing, a large force to Gallipoli, and was. himself going to lead us in a fresh stiart. for Constantinople, -which we we>re sworn to take on Christmas Day., With the Turkish trenches so cjo.se, it was reasonable to suppose they would soon get wind of this joyful newjs, and I have n 0 doubt from what T have myself observed in those laslt tense hours in the deserted trenches„ that the crowded offing, the busy barges, and the silbnce of our gu?as, were accepted' as the heralils cif a great effort, and sent the einenfiy to feverish work, on: his ; defened 8.