A DARING NEW ZEALANDER.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1427, 22 July 1915, Page 4

A DARING NEW ZEALANDER.

SWIMS TO BULAIR AND LIGHTS FLARES. (By Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces.) Ist. June. One of the most extraordinary and during feats in the war has hoen accomplished by a young New Zealander, who, however, is not nerving with the New Zealand Forces. -Many people in the Dominion will remember “Tiny'” Freyberg, who, as a schoolboy, was a champion swimmer. He is now a full-blown major, has been wounded three limes, and has been twice mentioned in the despatches. lie was evidently born to bo a soldier. Some time ago he went out to .Mexico and offered his services to Huerta. Huerta did not want him, so lie went and fought with Villa, on the opposite side. Returning to England, he joined the Naval Brigade; fought at Antwerp; was wounded ; received his captaincy, and was mentioned in despatches. Afterwards he eamo out with the Brigade to the Dardanelles. When an attack was about to be delivered further down the peninsula, ir became necessary to make a demonstration opposite the Bulair lines, so that reinforcements would not he sent from that quarter. It was decided to despatch three boatloads of men ashore to light flares on the beach, so as to draw the tire of the enemy in the Bulair tine-*, and engage their attention while the marines landed at ('ape Holies. FreyUrrg was to command the landing party. He. however, pointed out to Major-tJen-eral Paris Unit this meant sacrificing the lives of (lie men, not one of whom would be likely to. return alive, and he suggested (hat he. himself, should be allowed to perform (lie mi-sinn by swimming ashore. II was therefore arranged that, on the 24th April lie w.i= to go in the destroyer Kennel and make a reconnaissance. This was done, the destroyer being fired at by (he Turkish field batteries and maxims. On the following evening three cutters and two picket boats were loaded with men as if for a night landing, and Freyberg. having had his skin painted khaki, got into I lie Kennel, w hich was to drop him in the sea about half a mile from the ,-hore. By this time night had fallen, but llure was faint anoonlight. Jn the uncertain light i| was not easy to judge distance, and young Freyberg found that he was jn for a =wim of two mills, with three oil flares and two Holmes' lights, which he carried in a waterproof bag, with sufficient ipr in il to support the weight in the water. He also varied, attached to a belt round his waist, a small revolver, and a sheath knife. He was put into the water sometime after midnight, and he judged that il took him an hour and a half to swim ashore. He had to (bulge Hi<; ordinary landing place, where there were bathed wire entanglements. and landed on a rugged bit of beach. From there he crawled inland for a, quarter of a mile to a place while ou the. previous day he had noticed some trenches. They proved to bo dummy trenches, and he could hear the Turks talking ami see them striking matches |o light (heir cigarettes in the lines higher up. The- water had been bitterly cold, and he now felt symptoms of cramp, so he crawled hack to the beach, lit one of his flares, and dived bad; info the sea. The alarm was at once given in the Turkish trenches, and firing commenced. He swam further along the beach, landed again, and lit a second flare. He repeated the Her formam-e a third time still further along the shore. ibe- Kennel meantime having opened lire over the other lights with her 12-pounder.s and maxims. Having safely accomplished his mission, -Major Freyberg started to swim back on a line due south, as arranged, steering by a enmpass on his wrist, to a spot where it l ad been arranged the Kenm-t would pick him up. The Kennel. however, was not there, and he had to float about for nearly an hour. The day before they had seen a shark following the destrover-several of these brutes having no doubt been attracted by the dead bodies from the transport Manitou, which met her fate in these waters—ami when a great porpoise rose beside him about half way across, he admits that, he got an awful fright. After floating around for about an hour, and alt tiring having by that time ceased, he started to swim in the direction in which he thought the Rennet might be, and. presently, in answer to his “coooes,” the -destroyer came along and picked him up. This uncertain floating around in the dark —the moon having gone- down—-was the worst part of (he whole adventure. Subsequently Major Freyberg was sent for by the (leneral. who thanked him, and (old I him he would hear more about bis very plucky action. in the lighting at Antwerp young Freyberg was wounded in the right arm, and alter this last adventure ho was twice wounded at t ape Hellos while leading his men. One bullet entered Ids forearm and came out near the elbow, severing the* medial nerve. He was also hit in the leg. Such was Ida story, quite modestly told. When I saw him he had lost the use of his left hand, but bo was oft' back to the Dardanelles by the first steamer. In company with turn was “Sammy” Chrystal. whom recent Christ's College boys wifi well remember. Chrystal was out in Africa somewhere when the war broke out, but he promptly threw up his job. joined the Naval Brigade, and ca.me out to the Dardanelles. lie also was wounded at Cape Holies. By all the ordinary laws of direction the bullet should have gone through bis stomach, but. it cut a track from one side right round flip front of iiis body, and came out af the other fide. Chrystal also was convalescent and was again en route to the Dardanelles to loop for more fighting. It was in this same “show" that young Lieut. Asquith, the sou of the Prime .Minister of England, was wounded while fighting under Major Freyberg. the young New Zealander. Colonel Richardson—formerly Master-Gunner Richardson, in Wellington —is the D.A.Q.M G. of (be Brigade, and has done splendid work. He has proved himself a clever organiser. He. also, has been mentioned in despatches, and his promotion has been rapid. JOURNALISM UNDER FIRE. 2nd June. Th ■> Britisher, in whatever part of the world he may be. must have Ids own newspaper press. Scarcely bad the New Zealand troopships left Wellington Harbour \ lieu The Tahiti Times and other journals began to appear. Some cranky old hand-press and typo of a more or less nondescript and dilapidated character were pressed into the sendee, and in the narrow (onlines of his cabin the editor, printer and publisher—three single gent,lemon rolled into one —in making a supreme ((fort to maintain bis equilibrium during rough weather, would find himself grabbing an inked roller or making “pie" out of his latest leading article. .Some of these troopship newspapers were illustrated, and well illustrated. It is, however, a far cry from Wi llington Harbour to the Dardanelles, and in' such, stirring times as (he presen*, one would think that our men would tint, bother about printing newspapers for (hem* elves. Yet the Gallipoli Peninsula lias ics own newspaper press. Coder (he fire of file Turkish shrapnel and high explosive shells at least three newspapers are pilbbshed in the vicinity of GabaTepe and Idape Helles. Ono of these is in French —“Trailuit a I* usage ties troupes fraiiouisr-s par oidre du General commandant en chef le Corps Kxpeditionairo Medilerraiieen. 1*:- is a small one-page double column sheet, and concerns itself mainly with the news of the day from Paris. Th ■ English newspapers are a little more ambitious, and, it may be added,a little mot"' humorous, not to say frivolous. The English nan can no move curb his senee of humour amid the grim realities of war tl an he can fail to drive home a bayonet charge against the enemy. And so it happens that we have the Dardanelles Driveller (price one drink), making its appearance on the 17th May, 1915, It has the usual births and deaths notices, for intsuncc : BIRTH. On 10th May, at Gladstone Villa, the wife of John Jones, of twin. sons. DEATH. Oil 10th May, at Gladstone Villa, Jehu Jones. Then there is a theatrical notice;—'“V Theatre; twice daily. ‘Annie from Asia, a screaming farce.” This, however, requires explanation. At regular periods, once a day, a Turkish gun used to hurl two shells right across the Peninsula from the Asiatic shore. These .shells made a lot , of noise, but seldom did any damage, and “Annie from Asia” became known as a screaming farce. They fell over a beach marked on the map as “V.” Another beach is known as “Y” Beach. It was a very touyli proposition for tho 29tri Ditision, us may be judged from the following poem; “Y” Beach the .Scottish Bordered cried, While punting up the steep hillside, ■ “Y” Beach! To call this thing a beach is stiff', It's nothing but a cliff, Why beach X

In a previous article I referred to Anzao Beach, which the Australians and New Zealand Army Corps took and held in tho face of tremendous odds, and to Iho coining of the name out of the initial letters of the corps. Apropos, tho following advertisement from the Dardanelles Driveller is worthy of a wider circulation: Anzac ! Anzac ! ! Anzac I! ! The Groat Stickfast! Liman von Sanders writes; —“Its glutinous powers exceeded all my expectations. Enver Pasha writes: “The bottle you kindly sent mo suffices all my needs. 1 do Not, waul any more. I find a little goes a long way.” No Army Should be Without it ! Try it To-day. Anzac I Anzac ! ! There is a new song advertised: —“Itchy Koo.” To anyone who lias been in a campaign—especially in the East —the advertisement conveys a little world of meaning. The Dardanelles Driveller no doubt fulfils its mission. The Peninsula Press adopts a more serious style, and. incidental^. *t •rives somo interesting extracts from a Turkish newspaper. The Tanine, seized in a captured french. In these one can see the crocked hand of the German diplomat ist. For instance, it is reported that our troops have been driven into the sea, ami that the beach near Sedd rTßahr lias been purged of their presence. The following paragraph, translated from the Turkish, will ‘interest, and no doubt ammo New Zealanders ; —“The enemy having suffered u complete defeat, cannot make any B'esii attempt He can neither bring up Iresh troops nor try to accomplish anything wuh his demoralised soldiers. In a word, another similar decisive deteat Will close 111" ouest ion ol the ."Trails for good. 1h ■ Gieeks will congratulate themselves on hay i;m escaped this disaster. Information is mill lacking as to the composition ol the enemy's i'oices ; but il appeals, I com millcations received from Europe, that they mu e, consist chiefly ol black men Irom Africa and Australia. Tims the Straits, for (he first lime in history, have had to endure an attack by cannibals.’’ This was written presumably before Hie Turks asked for an armistice to bury between 4000 and 5000 dead in front of the Australian-New Zealand trendies. Tim Taiiiim. however, seems to have rlnmged ibtune a few days later. “The obstinate Bri lj<l, " il sacs, “have not. admitted their deCea* in spile of Ihe blows limy have ivreived. They have come on again. In this we recognise some ol the peculiarities which have been noted by the Germans in Flanders. 'The .British, when fighting, show an astonishing per sisteiic- and obstinacy which tire_ pec-iilar to (Imm lu (he most desperate ..itnations llmv will not allow that they are beaten, ami persist to the end, 'lbis useless ohs(iuae/ has usually caused Ihcm such terrible 'losses in Fland.-rs, dial the English newspapers from lime to time utter coin plaint.-. As for the present useless persist cnee, i* is not for us to complain ol u. The’ more obstinate they are the worse blows limy well receive, and that will assn r* Hu* iiual result. lu its lirsl leading article the Driveller editor anticipates his critics by giving cer lain reasons why he should be allowed to runiaii* aliw. Hu iliu literary supjMUnmnt. will be ou a level never yet- attained in S. dd e! Bahr. ami (hat (ho poetry will be sm b as can only be inspired by the Aegean or I In- I’lain <d Troy. dim paragraph announces (he reason Hie Turks had no rearguards during Hie re treat from Sedd-eTßahr was because (hey could not trust them! Then- is abo as a mailer of course a priming pres* at work at- General Head quaileis. lu the issue of Geimra| Routine (fillers bv General Sir lan Hamilton appears Hu- following : --“Im order to mark Ibe .rood work ilium bv (he lst;6th Battalion Gurkha Rifles in capluriug the bluff' mi Hie coast- west of Krilhia, the General Collimuii'lnif; lias ‘.inluivkl tliui this hlull "ijj m future be known as ‘Gurkha. Bluff. Other new names are cmislanHy appearing ou llie map iu eemmcliou with these op ,, r at it.us.