WAR IMPRESSIONS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 161, 31 March 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

WAR IMPRESSIONS.

BACK FROM THE FRONT. C APT AIN-CH API, AIX BI.AMi I!ES INTERVIEWED. (From the "Wanganui Chronic'e.") After spending 18 months jn the war zone, Captain-C'liaplnin H. L. B la mi res is back in Wanganui where lie will spend a brief holiday before again returning on active service. "Just before I Left —— 1 was on a .seven c'.'ays' trek with the New Zealand Mounted Brigade to an advanced position, where we expected to meet i Turkish force." he said to a " Chronicle ' reporter yesterday. '' However, from the latest reports, there does not appear to be any likelihood of an attack. The troops, in the meantime, are going through vigorous training, and are very fit and in good heart. PRAISE FOR NEW ZEAI.ANDERS. " I saw General Bircwood on the railway platform at ,' the returned officer continued. " He expressed the highest admiration of the men who had served under him, and shook hands with many of those who were returning as invalids. We do not know what the summer has in store for the NewZealand troops, but they are held in such esteem, that they will be require./ for the pos.tions of honour. ABSENCE OF BADGES. Captain-Chaplain Blamires proceeded to give some general impressions on war matters. " \\ hat strikes one :n New Zealand after visiting England is the absence of badges on the arms of men who are not in uniform,' he said. " In the Old Country every man, whether lie is medically unfit or serving the Empire in other ways, is g'ad to wear a badge in order to save him from constant pestering by recruiting agents." TAKING IT SERIOUSLY. "With a quiet and calm feeling of confidence, the people of Englanc. 1 are now taking the war seriously," the Chaplain proceeded. " They realise that in order to overthrow oppression everv effort must be put forth. There, of course, thev are nearer to the scene of action. To-day there is little desire for national sport and pastimes. And. might I add, one of the great surprises on returning to New Zealand is to much attention being given to norsoracing and kindrecj sports. "I was in London just after one of the Zeppelin raids—visitations which have made the people realise more than anything else that a war was on, and on the other hand greatly stimulating the spirit of recruiting." CARE OF THE TROOPS. "Everything that skill and forethought can provide is being done for the sick and wounded troops." saic.' Captain-Chaplain Blamires in conclusion. " The work of the Red Cross and kindred organisations has been very much appreciated. There is no lack of comforts at present, but of course, with another campaign more will be required. For the men in the field the stanr.ard of living is now quite excellent." REMINISCENCES OF ANZAC. ITS PERILS AND PRIVATIONS. A PADRE S EXPERIENCES. Trinity Methodist Church was crowded at both morning and evening services yesterday, when Captain-Chap-lain Blamires occupied the pulpit. Captain Blamires. who for the past seventeen months, has !>een on active service in Egypt and Gallipoli, was cYtailec.l as padre of the troopship TaintL on which a numl>er of sick and wouncie'l officers and men returned to New Zealand last week. He reached anga ■ nui on Saturday last, being met at the station by a large number of friends and officers of the Church. His se.mons at yesterday's services partook of the nature of conversational i.arrrtives of his experiences at the front. At the morning service he dealt generally with the duti.es and experiences of army chaplains on active service, i i t in the evening lie spoke more partial larly of the noble deeds of our olc-Ters on the historic battlefields of Anzac. It was not his desire, h,e said, u> fay anything to create fear in the minds of those whose sons had gone forth to fight for King and country; but he thought it was desirable that the people at home should lie enabled to realise what the men who ha 6 been through the Gallipoli campaign had had to face. He had only been back a few days, but from what be had seen and heard even in that brief time it seemed to him that the people of this favoured land had not yet awakened to the great and vital issues which were at stake in this mighty conflict. He had' found ablebodied' men taking the tickets on trains and trams and doing other work which in the Mother Country was now being largely done by women, so that the men might be five to go to the firingline. Altogether it appeared as if, despite the very large number of men who had already gone out, and despite the many casualties which our troops had suffered 1 , the people here had not yet fully appreciated the need that there wa> for personal service and sacrifice on liehalf of the righteous cause tor which our Empire was at war. In referring to the memorable binding at Anzac on the 25th of April last, in which the New Zealand and Australian troops were allotted a place of honour. Captain Blamires graphically described the enormous difficulty of the ta.>k win' which they were faced by a local il ustration. Assuming the town and me' to represent the sea, he p'cture.l Dur.e Hill and' the hills running towards Wanganui Ea<t as the cliffs of Gallipoli. Behind those hills, he paid, were other line- of still higher lijlls( and on them, at ever\"f>oint of vantage, were the machine guns, the artillery, and the entrenched riflemen of the enemy. To effect a landing in the face of such conditions appeared to be humanly impossible, yet tlie world now knew how our gallant men had succeeded in accomplishing the impossible. After seeing what they had cone, one felt, when moving about among the sick and wounded in the hospitals of Egypt, that ho was in the presence of heroes. But there was no talk of heroism over

there: the men dal what they had to do, and endured what they had to, as 'their s'mp'e c.uty as soldiers. Captain Blamires said lie had not been privileged to participate in the original landing: it was not until some weeks later that he reached the peninsula, l.ut his predecessor at Trinity Church. Chaplain Major Luxford, was there and played his part nobly. It was on the L'-lth .Mav. on wiiat was known as "Armistice 1 jay,"' that ho (Captain Blamires) landed at Anzac. Their transport reached her appointed anchorage at mic'.'-night, and they were put ashore in small craft, and although the landing operations were carried out in total darkness —no man being permitted to light even a pipe or a cigarette —they had scarcely reached the security of the first big trench, right on the l>each, before' the shells began to burst over them. Incidentally Captain Blamires mentioned that the transport on which lie crossed was lying close to the Triumph when that vessel was torpedoed, so close that they distinctly felt the concussion caused' by the explosion, and they had the thrilling but unpleasant experience of seeing the big warship go to her doom. All on hoard the transport were pleased and thankful to learn that so many of the brave men aboard the Triumph had been saved. Captain Blamires went on to speak of the great "push"' which was made in August, by which, though at terrible cost, our troops succeeded in gaining three t : nics as much territory ns they had held up to that time. The severity of the fighting at that time could' best be instanced by the case of his own reg'ment. After the first big fight six out of thirty-five officers were left, while after the next engagement the only officers remaining were the signal officer and himself, and out of a roll of i>oo men only 30 were able to answer the call, the principal squadron being represented by four survivors. Our men, though thin and worn, were full of grit and courage, and were ready to face any danger. He instanced the bayonet charge by which our men, wk.i the Australians, won their way to an important position, which, however, they were unable to hold owing to ''somebody's blunder" in connection with the Suvla Bay landing. It was a night attack, and the men were ordered to keep their cartridges until the morning and to use only their bayonets. Each unit was allotted a definite object, tive, and every man was provided with white badges, one for the back and one for the arm, the order being to bayonet every man who was not protected by these distinguishing marks. The men moved off in silence, and how well they performed their deadly work was evidenced by the fact that they won their way to the very top of the liil'. Captain Blamires went on to describe the conditions of trench life, with its dangers and hardships. One of their great troubles, he said, was the poorness in quantity and quality of the water they had to use —his own allowance for shaving and washing purposes was one pannikin-full per day. Another trouble was the flies —flies bred m the bodies of dead Turks, afterwards swarming over their fooc. 1 . it was no wonder that disease became rife. But our men endured these things with the same courageous fortitude as thy faced the shells and bullets of the enemy. In the hospita's, among the sick and wounded, it was the came — there was no complaining, but a'.ways cheerful courage and heroic endurance. He did not think that our troops would ever again be called upon to endure what tho>e who had served on Gallipoli had been through. Captain Blamires descirbed the death and burial of Cap-tain-Chaplain Grant. He, with Captain Grant and another padre, had gone out to look for wounded. Each had crawled away through the scrub in d'f. ferent directions, but only two returned. When going out, and Itefore they separated, Captain Grant remarked,'"This is the valley of the shadow of death," to which one of his comrades replied that " there might be worse ways of passing out.'' Captain Grant agreed. "This, ' lie said, "is the very best way," and he (Captain Blamires) bel'eved that these were the last words Captain Grant was heard to utter. Captain Blamires paid a warm tribute to the heroic work of the medical corps and the stretcher-bearers, and concluded by an appreciative reference to the Turks as clean fighters. " I have never known or heard of any occasion on which they deliberately fired on our Bed Cross or hospital thips, but 1 have known them to take water to our wounded when we ourselves were unable to reach them. '1 hatthere may have been isolated deeds ot savagery and brutality was possible; ' but such deeds, committee.' in the heat of battle, were not peculiar to their side only. Chaplain Blamires frequently alluded to the religious aspect of warfare, and to its effect upon the lives and characters of men, his experience clearly indicating that most men, even those who were most sceptical under ordinary circumstances, were inclined to be much moiv tieriouslv thoughtful :n reference to religion when faced with the perils and hardships of active service.