SONS or THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 87, 24 September 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

SONS or THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

WHAT NEW ZEALAND HAS DONE I' OK TUE EMPIRE.

GREAT RECORD

LONDON, July 16.

In the glorious record of the services rendered by the daughter-dominions to the British Empire in the great war, there is danger of the line work of one Colony being overlooked. This is New Zealand, who early in the war conquered German Samoa — the first time in the history of the* Empire that a force from one of the overseas dominions had sailed the seas and taken possession of a foreign territory. It was New Zealand, again, who contributed the jfamous cruiser ct that name, which was engaged in the historic "Battle of Sunday Morning'" when the Blucher was sent to the bottom of the North Sea. As if this was not enough, the New Zealand forces have helped 10 garrison Egypt, to guard the Suez Canal, and repel a Turkish invasion, and last, but by no means least, have p'ayed a truly magnificent part in the offensive operations in ihe Dardanelles.

The ''Daily Express" understands that captured Turco-German officers have freely boasted that had they possessed the slightest inkling of the tenacity and resource of the gallant New Zealanders, those men from under the Southern Cross would not have been permitted to effect a landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula —a landing which the enemy fondly believed would prove a death-trap for the New Zealand invaders.

WITHIN TWO WEEKS

New Zea'and had her soldiers ready for the capture of German Samoa within two weeks of. the declaration of war, and although the Pacific was still dominated by the two powerful enemy cruisers, the Scharnhorst and the Gneosenauj she fearlessly embarked her little expeditionary force of between 1,200 and 1.800 infantry in transports, with the third-o'.ass cruiser Pyramus as their only convoy until New Caledonia, was reached, when the Australia And the French cruiser Montcalm took the little force under their wing. The force, under C'alono' Logan, left Wellington. N.Z.. on August ]•">, escorted by the British cruisers in New Zealand waters, 'and fifteen days later, Apia, the capital of the German colony of Samoa, was occupied without resistance. and is now garrisoned by these sons of the Southern Cross. Although, at the outset of the war the Dominion only promised an expeditionary force of 8,000 men, she has now 10,000 on active service, and when the operations against the Dardanelles were resumed in April, Sir lan Hamilton had under his command a splendid brigade of Suez-seasoned New Zealand infantry, New Zealand artillery, Engineers, Army Service Corps, and Medical' Services. Later in the Gallipoli campaign the mounted infantry eagerly availed themselves of the chance offered to light on foot.

No history of the Dardanelles operations would be complete without special reference t.o the deeds o: the New Z.atander; at Gabn Tope and elsewhere. It wa- Lieut.-C'ommai;der_ I'Yeyberg, of the Royal Naval Division, a true son of the Southern Crow. who swam ashore from a transport on the eve of the landing on April 2~>. and lit flares on the beach to draw the Turks' fire ar.d revem' their positions. The lieutenant-commander received the Distinguished Service Order for his heroic action, and never has the

decoration been more richly deserved

The waiting in the lighters before landing and after the destroyers had moved away was the New Zealanders' fii'st ordeal, from which they emerged triumphantly. They had assiduously rehearsed climbing down the ships' sides and embarking in the tow-boats, and when the critical hour arrived effected their landing in splendid order, despite a perfect hurricane of shrapnel from the Turks at Gaba Tope Fort and the surrounding hills. The lighters had scarcely grounded before the New Zealeadera leapt into the water and impetuously waded ashore.

THRILLING DEEDS

The historic landing took place at about 9.30 a.m., the Auckland Battallion leading, and next Canterbury, Oixigo, and Wellington. The men, as they reached the beach, ignored the bursting shrapnel, mid quietly, coolly, deliberately deposited their packs on the ground and fixed bayonets. When the story of the Dardanelles operations comes to be written there will be few more thrilling pages in it than the record of the deeds of the New Zealanders on that first day—the bayonet fights on the scrub-sown ridges, the dashing advance to support the men of the sister dominion, the fight up Hell Gully under concentrated machine-gun fire, and the lying for hours under heavy shell tire without the power or the opportunity to retaliate. When night came and the New Zealanders were firmly entrenched, the Turks tried again and again their characteristic "creeping attacks, all to no avail. The bayonets of the New Zo.ilanders were always confronting them, and cverv attack failed, hong before noon the next day the position was conso'idated. The work of the New Zealand machine-gun sections also came in for special praise, and Captain J. A. A\a!lingford was decorated. Later in the operations, those who remained of the New Zea.land Brigade embarked on board destroyers and landed at Cape Helios, where they went forward to reinforce the 29th British Regular Division. Here the oversea '-Tommies," to their unbounded delight, exchanged scrub and rocks for rich meadow "grass thickened with buttercups, dairies; and bright-coloured flowers, and found themselves for the first time with British Regulars and French troops. While the casualties have been heavy, the spirit of the New Zealanders remains undaunted and unbroken, and the sons of the Southern Cross are about to add fresh lustre to their fame in the greatest of <VI wars. Lieutenant Rhodes-Moorhou.se, Y.C., the airman, was merely one of the host of New Zealanders who have gained individual distinction. The gallant lieutenini. although fatally wounded while bombing Courtnai Station, brought his machine back thirty-five miles to make his report.