BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2934, 21 August 1882, Page 2

BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

PULL PAmOULASfcS.

(Per Zealandia at Auckland.)

[“ Nbw Yoke Hbeald ” Special.] (Dated on Board H.M.S. Invincible.)

[Bt Telbgbaph.J

Auckland, August 21.

At hal£ past six the order was passed round the deck to load with common shell, and a gleam of satisfaction shone on the men’s faces. At 7 o’clock the signal was made to the Alexandra to open the ball by firing one gun. . A heavy boom came over the water ; then there was an anxious pause :—would the Egyptians answer, or would they evacuate the forts? At the batteries opposite, we could see the men loading their guns. They would, and the first order was given to commence indepen* dent firing, and a signal was run up for the fleet to begin a general engagement. A deafening salvo from five ten-inch guns went off from the side of the Invincible, while ten Nordenfeldt guns in the tops swelled the din which burst from all the ships. A bank of smoke which at once arose like a wall, from our ships, prevented me from seeing the result of our fire, but from the town it was seen that the shells had struck rather low, and the sights were raised from 1350 to 2500 yards. The Monarch and Penelope had both been at work close to band ; and the roar of the heavy guns, the ceaseless rattle of Gatlings and Nordenfelt machines, and shrieks of the rockets which the Monarch was discharging, added to the sounds of our own guns, made up a deep continuous din, impossible to describe and bewildering to hear. la any momentary interval the sonnd r of guns from the other division of the fleet, told that they also were hard at work. A hardy midshipman posted in the maintop, signalled the direction of the shells, and accuracy of the fire as it improved. Meanwhile the enemy’s shots were coming thick and fast, their aim being directed chiefly against H.M.S.s Penelope and Inflexible. They were firing principally round shot. Twenty minutes after the first gun was fired from the fort, the royal braces were shot away and immediately aftor, a shot penetrated her forward, a splinter wounding a stoker severely. At this time they happened to get our range pretty accurately, and round and conical shot whistled thickly between the masts. I went round the ship and found the men fighting at the main-deck guns, all stripped to the waist. Between each shot they had to sit down and wait till the smoke cleared ; they were anxious to kn<jw the result of their work and asked eager questions of me as to what could be seen above, but I could tell them little, for the smoke bung like a veil between us and the shore. The event of the day shows that the determination expressed by Arabi and his party to oppose the fleets to the death has not, so far, been a vain boost. They fought their guns to the lost, but the fire of the fleet was so crushing, and the metal so superior os to make their resistance ineffective. They appeared to possess no shells, which was fortunate for us, for had they used shell instead of round shot, our casualties would have been much larger; as it is our success, although not bloodless, has been achieved at a much smaller cost than could have been expested from the formidable nature of the forts which we had to attack. A most interesting incident was a fight between the gunboat Condor (Commander, Lord Ohas, Beresford), with Agarui fort. This little vessel wont close under the guns of the fort and opened a tremendous fire, but was unable to silence it. The Admiral then signalled the other gunboats to assist in the engagement. A correspondent, who was aboard the Condon, sends the following aoconnt of the plucky feat performed by that little gunboat. At 8 o’clock theTemerairegot afloat, and the Condor made straight at the second strongest fort, that is the Marabout. The Condor only carries three guns, two 64-powder, and one 7-inch Woolwich rifle-gun. The fort had at least four very heavy pieces of artillery, which were annoying the Penelope, the Monarch, and the Invincible. Running in, within 1200 yards of these guns, a single shot from which would have sunk her, the Condor managed before the signal was given to cease _ firing at 11 o’clock, to silence two if not three of these guns. The Admiral ran up the signal, “ Well done, Condor,” and sent the Bittern and Beacon to assist at the work. The fire from the Marabout fort was by no means contemptible, but our vessel was a small object on the water and was only hit once by it. The Inflexible was enabled to shell Fort Mex with one of her turrets, while she pounded Fort Baseltin with the other. The accurate practice which she was making with her four monster guns at one time called forth repeated burst of applause from everyone about this vessel. Every shell seemed either to burst right over Rasoltin fort, or to pitch on the very parapet of the Mex tort. Upon the hill the lighthouse has not escaped unsoratched, one shell burst halt way up the tower and two large holes are now visible to the naked eye at (wo miles distance* The ranges.

at which the Inflexible was fired varied from 6000 to 3000 yards. According to some accounts of persons who remained in the city, bands of murderers, during and after the bombardment of the forts, made their way into almost every house, plundering ; and the burning began on the 12th. Scarcely any European dwelling was spared. Stores of petroleum wore seat to Alexandria a week before the bombardment, specially to set fire to the town. The incendiaries state that they received instructions to fire the bouses. A second visit to the town showed that many houses which yesterday were intact, are to-day in ashes, among them the British Consulate. An eye witness relates that the soldiers and others after plundering the houses, heaped up bedding, and set fire to them with petroleum. A sister of the Khedive’s wife died from premature confinement during the bombardment. During the massacre the soldiers set fire to the honse of a timber merchant, the maid servant escaped to the garden, where she remained surronnded by fire, the soldiers laughing at her agony and firing at her, bat they purposely avoided inflicting any fatal injury, preferring to see her burn to death. Finally she rushed through the flames, and wounded by bayonet thrusts, succeeded in securing refuge in the ruins, where she was discovered by some marines and handed over to the Americans. Along the line of Arabi Pasha’s flight from Alexandria are several villages, the people: in which were starving; the soldiers robbed them of everything. The entire route was lined with dead horses and carriages. It is reported that the Bednins harassed the soldiers during their retreat, killing 200 of them. Several huge piles had been dug as graves, and into these most of the dead had been thrown as they fell. It is estimated that in the forts alone 400 of Arabi’s troops have been killed. All sorts of reports were in circulation as to the number of Christians killed ; from 200 to 2000 were said to be massacred, but there does not appear any reliable data, as the forts were in a complete state of ruin. The effect of the .explosion of the great guns must have been terrible. The strongest walls had crumbled and it is marvellous how the Egyptians fought their gnns so long. The Khedlve[s palace, lying behind fort Isabi, is much knocked about; and several rooms destroyed, while fragments of shells were scattered broadcast. In the courtyard near the entrance of the gate of a fort, whose magazine bad first exploded we found a sentry lying dead. The first battery we entered contained 10-inch rifled guns, which were dismounted by oar fire; the ground was torn up, the walls shattered, and the whole place dismantled, The gan which bad been dismounted had been tilted backwards and had made a complete somersault, falling upon and crushing the gunners who still lay beneath it.