"LIKE GENTLEMEN."

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 150, 25 February 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

"LIKE GENTLEMEN."

HOW THE JTRKS FIGHT. I lie Turks light like gentlemen (writes the American war correspondent, Mr \\ . G. Shepherd, in a despatch from Salonika.) This is the testimony of every English officer and soldier who knows anything about tlie Dardanelles and Gallipoli lighting. The British camp at Saloniea contains large nuni ber.s of men who have been lighting at one time or another against the Turks in the pre-ent war, and 1 have ialked with many of them. Sitting in the tent ol an Irish regiment to-day at noon, i heard the Irish officers praise the Turks. "The Turks arc devilish lighters but alw ays gentlemen,'' said one Jnsh captain. "The Germans never grant a truce to bury the dead or pick up the wounded, but the Turks never refused our oiler of a truce. Fighting with the Turks always means hard but honourable and civilised lighting." "One day," spoke up another officer, •'we unwittingly pla'ed one of our batteries too near a hospital. It happened because of some mistake iti orders. The Turks were the firt-t to notice it, and they signalled to us with a heliograph, 'We'll he forced to Are very c'osc to your hospital if you do not move your battery from the neighbourhood.' Of course." continued the officer, "we saw that a mistake had been made, and we signalled back that wo would move the bat'.en , which we did." "I .saw them do ail interesting thing one day," said a third officer. "During a truce to bury the dead the Turks Hashed us a heliograph message in French. It read : 'Honour to all soldiers; confusion to all politicians!' Another time a Turkish rifle bullet hit one of our Royal Medical Corps officers in the leg. and he fell in sight of both the Turkish and British trenches. The lurks immediately gave us a chalice to gn out and get him, and then they sent us a heliograph mi ssage apologising for the fait thr*■ one of their men had stupidly m staken the medical n.nn for a regular soldier." "They apologised to out company, too," spoke up another officer. "One of their shells struck a motor ambulance. and when the Turks saw what they had done tliev flashed their regret to us, and said it had all been a mistake. and they were very sorry."