THE FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLI.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1441, 28 August 1915, Page 4

THE FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLI.

THE TURK AT BAY. NOTES FROM A DIARY. (By Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent, N.Z. Forces.) Imbros, July 6. Sir Charles Eliot, in his sketch of Byzantine history, states that in the composition of the Turkish Empire "there is little which has character or permanence except Constantinople herself, round whom, century after century, the subject territories expand and contract with an almost rhythmic movement.” In olden times no sooner was one enemy disposed of than another appeared. And so now. The Turk In Europe tor centuries has been able to stave off final defeat, and Constantinople has been saved. But to day the Turk realises that he is fighting a foe more powerful than any he has hitherto encountered, and that his beloved city is in danger. Under these circumstances it is scarce to be wondered at that he is putting up a great fight. Our antipodean friends, who write to us here, generally wind up their letters by expressing the opinion "by the time this reaches you, do doubt you will be in Constantinople.” These good people cannot realise the tremendous difficulties that He between us and Constantinople. It is well that the public should recognise these difficulties. Undoubtedly they were misled in the first Instance by the optimistic accounts that were published about the naval operations. The Navy, however, could not have got through to Constantinople unaided by the Army, and the fact that they tried to do so has made Sir lan Hamilton’s task all the harder. But that the Allies will win through to Constantinople, if necessary, no one doubts. That they have been able to effect two such landings—unique in warfare speaks volumes for the resources of the Empire and the valour of its men. That they have been able to advance so far in the south and that the colonials have held their ground so well at Anzac, also speaks well for the future of the campaign. In a former letter I mentioned that the complexion of the operations was iu a measure changed by the presence of enemy submarines in the Meditteranean. Nevertheless we have made progress, and shall continue to make progress. Though the Australians and New Zealanders could no doubt now push through the Turkish lines, they must for the time being possess their souls in patience. Since the big battle at Helles a few days ago there have been no movements of importance—none, certainly, that concern the New Zealanders. Nevertheless, the days have not been passed in idleness, nor without incident. A few notes from my diary will give the people of our country some idea of the current events. July opened with the usual morning shelling of the beach, but the Turks, bad they seen the result must have been disappointed with it. In the trenches also our men were proving more than a match for the Turks. Their greater intelligence and ingenuity made them a more effective force in trench warfate. Men are told off to watch a certain number of yards of enemy trench, and as each man is provided with a periscope he can do this in safety. Such men will observe the slightest alteration in an enemy trench—the removal of a sandbag or the withering of a branch that has been green. Behind such a branch there will occasionally be a Turk, and au accurate marksman may pick him off. Good shots are told off to fire at the loopholes in the Turkish trenches, and this shooting has been so effective that the Turk now, as a rule does not take careful aim through the loophole. He is afraid of getting one in the eye. Therefore he simply holds his rifle up above his bead and blazes away. Such shooting is, o; cruise, ineffective. By various

ruses our men stir the Turks up at all times ot the day and night. They have done this to such an extent that the somewhat raw and inexperienced troops that have recently been opposed to us have got "jumpy,’’ with the result that they waste a great deal of ammunition. The destroyers —one on the right flank, and one on the left —also make the life of the enemy trench holder miserable by flashing their searchlights and training their big guns upon his position at uncertain periods of .the night. The young commanders in the destroyers are fine fellows, who will take on anything. They have never had such shooting before in all their lives, and it is splendid practice for them. It has improved their gunnery to a degree that was not anticipated. Recent orders found on Turkish prisoners indicate that there are a considerable number of young and untrained troops in the field, or about to enter it, and that many of these do not know even the elementary principles of drill and musketry. At the same time there are quite a number of seasoned troops on the Peninsula, and as they are well entrenched, it would be a mistake to hold the position too cheaply. After a couple ot days’ partial immunity from shelling, our Iriend with the high explosive started in from the south again, and, considering the number of men who were about on the beach working and bathing, it was truly amazing to note the small amount of damage he did. While this shelling was on we watched some men coming ashore from a barge. A number grabbed their accoutrement and ran for it, but others calmly walked along the wharf as it they were strolling down Lambton Quay on a Sunday morning. On the whole, quite a number of us are beginning to think that such incidents add interest to what otherwise would be rather a monotonous existence. One day I went with the General to one of our outposts, where the men were putting in some excellent work on trenches, tunnels, and gun emplacements. Amongst the lot were six Australians, all well to do. Their time to be relieved had come, but they asked to be allowed to stay on and finish the job ! They wanted to say that that pariicular piece ot work was theirs. One was the son of a well-to-do Western newspaper proprietor, and the others also were wealthy men or the sons of wealthy men. "You saw that fellow with no shirt,” said the O.C. to the General. "Yes; what about him?’’ asked the General. " Well, he’s a millionaire,” replied the O.C. The shirlless millionaire just at that moment was at work on a bit of tunnelling that would have done credit to an experienced miner. Near this spot we crept warily along a shallow trench, because a head shown above the parapet would have drawn the Turkish fire from au adjacent trench, and looking across the slope we couid see a dead Turk hunched up as if he had been shot while running forward. A couple of yards away was his rifle. All this we could see through the branches of a bush growing on the edge of the trench. Much as either side would have liked to bury the man no one dare go out to do so, even under cover of the night.

As we were returning our guns opened fire upon some Turks who were seen moving, and a waterplane flew along the coast. A submarine had made its appearance in the Gulf, and our destroyers and trawlers were on the qui vive. On Monday, sth July, one of our sections reported being shelled by heavy guns, and we at Anzac had a new it-inch gun turned on us. The shells from the latter mostly hit the sea harmlessly, throwing up great geysers of water, which subsided into a great ring ot foam ; other shells that burst in air sent great chunks ot. iron hurtling through space over a wide area, and our men ran to gel them as trophies. I saw one man carrying a piece, still uncomfortably hot, on his shoulder, from the crest of a ridge where it bad landed. Some of our men thought they could see this gun firing from the Kild-Bahr plateau, but later and mote reliable information led to the conclusion that it was a naval gun. Some hundreds of pounds worth of ammunition were blazed away by this gun during the forenoon, but the results were practically nil, though we all agreed that the new shell was a nasty brute. At 6,45 a.m, on the 4th July, the e nem y opened fire on the left of Quinn’s Post with a mountain gun firing rounds without doing any damage. Three enemy 8-inch shells were also exploded on another position in the evening, but did little damage. Another Turkish gun on the north-western hills fired for two hours. There was very little rifle fire from Turkish trenches. Our guns, and also the destroyer Cbelmer, replied. During the week a determined attack was made on our left centre, but was repulsed with heavy loss to the enemy. In this attack practically none of the New Zealanders were engaged, it being met by the Australians attached to our division. The Turks commenced with heavy rifle fire and then charged with the bayonet. They also used bombs. Our men replied with cheers and fire from rifles and machine guns, Some Turks who broke through into our saps were soon despatched, and by 2 a.m. the remainder of the enemy who had left their

trenches turned and fled. In

places there were numbers of Turkish dead in front of our trenches, and the enemy losses must have been considerable, while ours were slight. Prisoners stated that the attack had been ordered by Enver Pasha, who visited the lines that night on his way south to Cape Helles.