OUR SOLDIER BOYS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1437, 17 August 1915, Page 4

OUR SOLDIER BOYS.

ANOTHER letter from ghabL ALN-M AJDU LIXFOL’D. Wntinf; In |lu> vv j, c. siden( nf tin- Mnlhnili'f- ( 'onb'iTii.'C (Rev. S. J. S.M'in■!l), Chap-lain-Major Envfni'il sav.i;--TURKEV. .Jnn.' -L 1915. My Di'.'.i' S.-rpnll.—All it an I'Vpi'i icnc.' of 7,8 days' inci'ssanf lint liyhliny (nine li.itii's' ;inm>(ivi' r\c.'|ilv.l) l I am .-r.'i\ For a few lionr.v pcaci'. Tlinm air blrssinys «hicli ut ran only appreciatr by (heir ini, rrnplioty a pracrlnl .lay is onr. I am uilhin 400' yards of Ihr livurhi's uhrrr onr Nru /rahm.lr, s .akr their lorn -rrnrrallv 48 hours m anil 96 nip. 1,, snme places the Turks' Iren-'h.'s are only tv,, ami seven yard;- apart: Inmi ours, llaml };rt>nailes an, thrnun from both sides. The Amhalians fell me they used to pick up the canister and quickly .ut the fuse, then re-light it. and throw it bark Since 11, rn the fuses have ben, shorter, and immediately the grenade mmes they either make for cover nr thrnu their overcoats nver it. ll seems that. Hot I■ sides are so near each nil,.-,’ (hat baynnel charges ainne can shift, and Midi an attack seems in, possible, because machine gm,s mow down (he 'attacking parly. THIRTY-EIGHT DAYS' FIGHTING u i11,.ml a base in' any place nf security either on land or hay. Torpedoes in the harbour, often panic among the des,-foyers uhi", J say panic t mean intense activity -shells bursting' among dngouts, snipers (licking iip-n oil in any exposed (dace, aeroplanes dm),ping bombs- Indy ue can ■ay “Dangers stand thick on all 'ivoimil.’’ ('amp life, with its marches, ceremonial parades, and inspect ions, is as dillerent Iron, the battlefield as light from darkness. 1 have referred in a former letter to |||o PILGRIMAGES OF BAIN. The procession i s conii,,nous. Australians and .Sew Zealanders are aluays represented. Many eases an indescribable, 100 sad to give details, amputations are occasional, sligt.i eases predominate, generally the re suit, ot hi diets from shrapnel. Lad night m\ own son was a. Mctmi —he uas ,-hol m 111. leg uhpe ip hi: .Ingo'p in ihe Auckland Mounted Regiment's lines (lb re are no horses lime; we are either infantry or artilielVl. 1 am thankful the wound is slight. 1 .saw him oil in a slip) to one ol the base hospitals. B all the shells Ilia, haw burst, had elainisd one victim each Die casualty list would have been alarming, (if the shells ninety out ol a hundred tall, into the water or are inelleelmil. The list e. now far beyond the anticipations of the iiiii-t, pessimistic. I ollen wonder what Am, Zealand will say when the lull list is. I evolved I an, sure IHE WILLOW WILk BE GDNtUMI'(>L’S AMONG THE BALM. Foitilude, endmanee, biavmy, haw been the chin act ere lies ol our comrades, hip the le-ull-. have beep live,-, limbs, and sufferPIC- such a- New Zealand never anticipated. IP temng to the missing, it is currently repo,tod that some are piisoners at ( on-lan linople, and are being kindly Healed. Dn t lie a rnpsl lee. Hr. liawnel pieiiel up a paper |,(mod on a tree by lie enein\, written in English, apparent l> by a Herman, staling t hoi si mio oi our men taken by them hail said (lad ii was believed the 'I ink,- killed dieii prisoners. This was denied, and it was averted that "all prisoners were treated m a. lonhinet- with the national regulations id civilised warelare," BRIHO.NKRS TAKEN BY US ARE I R EaTEU 111 .MA.VELI . 1 have seen wounded ’lurks receiving the same attention as onr own. They nave I>, cn carried on onr si reteheis, wounds lioinid l,y our doctors, bd by our A.AI.S. min, and handled as can-tuny as P lh‘ - \ were our own. Referring again to onr missing, 1 think that m the early battles ol tills peninsula, some ol them advanced too tar and without artillery to .support diem. WEIIK KILLED DN THE ENEMY’S GROUND AND HAVE BEEN ULRIKH THERE. The '‘missing Id is the most distressing. Too many quest ions uni be asked, n ue lel.urn, llial ue shad be unable to answer. All regillieips anil ranks are m good heart, 'there is all ahsepee ol complaint. The gnm real Pies a list hardship.' are eheerlully en I I ll red, and a. del erminiit mu to go through is universal. What tins "going through' may mean no one knows, bid die response to die Empire’s call was not for an Egyptifiii campaign only--it was lor God, limn, and righteousness, and OL'R MEN WILL BE TRUE TO DEATH. The chaplain's work here is not to be tatiuhiled. Due man came and said, "Tins has changed my life; after this 1 shall he a different man.’’ Another said : "Fear bad nothing to do with it, but on die imiicli last night f resolved that henceforth I shall Jive, as my father lived.” -Many are the testimonies similar. Much as tue men like to see the chaplain at their dugouts, they BREFER TO SEE HIM WITH THE WOUNDED, and will go out of their way to help him. Officers wear no distinct ive badges of rank, or if they do it is hardly deciphei;able. All are m the same sort of iinilorm. .1 his is done partly to prevent the enemy making special targets of officers. J cannot write yf our position here. Particulars of the battles will be made (ml,lie long before this reaches you, J know this, that the enemy is so well entrenched, the country is so rough, the hills are so steep, that, as the German., say, to attack the force is like attempting to lake Gibraltar. The steep ravines remind me of the Manawatu Gorge. With kind regards, —Yours truly, JOHN A. ULINFORD,