The Dardanelles

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 7, 8 May 1915, Page 2

The Dardanelles

ACCOUNT OF THE LANDING United Puitau Asbooiation. London, May 7. Mr Ashmead Bartlett, the war correspondent, was on board a warship with five hundred Australians, who formed a covering party for the landing at Gabe Tape. The correspondent says that splendid skill, organisation and leadership were required to get the huge Armada under weigh from Mudros Bay without (accidents. The warships and transports were divided into five divisions. (Never before has an attempt been made to land so large a force in face jof a well-prepared enemy. I At two o'clock on April 24th the flagship of the division. conveying the Australians, passed down the long line of slowly moving transports amidst tremendous cheering, and were played out of the bay by French warships. At four o'clock the ships' company and troops assembled to hear the Admiral's proclamation to the I combined forces. This was followed by a last service before battle, wherein the chaplain uttered prayers for victory. At dusk all lights were put „ut and the troops rested for the ordeal at dawn. '. It was a beautiful calm night. By one o'clock in the morning the ships reached the rendezvous five miles from the landing place. The soldiers Iwere aroused and served with their 'last hot meal. The Australasians, who were about to go into action for the first time under trying circumstances, were cheerful, quiet, and confiident There was no sign of nervous levcitement As the moon waned the boats swung out and the Australians received their last instructions. The men began to disembark. They did not know the shore of the strange land. Each boat was in charge of a midshipman, and was loaded with great rapidity and silence and without a hitch. The covering force was towed ashore by the ship's pinnaces, while more of Australia's brigade were carried aboard destroyers, who were able to go close inshore. As soon as the covering force landed at 3 a.m., when it was quite dark, a start was made shoreward. There was suppressed excitement as to whether the enemy would be surprised or be alert. At 4 o'clock three battleships abreast arrived 2500 yards from the shore. The guns were manned and searchlights placed in readiness. Very slowly the boats in tow moved inshore, each edged towards the other in order to reach the beach four cables apart. The battleships moved slowly in after them until the water became shallow. Every eye was fixed on the grim hills in front in the menacing gloom. Not a sound was heard or a light seen. It appeared as if the enemy was surprised. In our nervy state stars were often mistaken for lights ashore. On the dawn rapidly breaking at 4 50 B m i the enemy showed alarm. A light which flashed for ten minutes disappeared and the boats appeared almost on the beach. Seven destroyers glided noiselessly inshore, and at 4 53 a.m. there came a sharp burst of rifle fire from the beach. The sound relieved the prolonged suspense, which had become almost intolerable. The fire lasted a few moments, and then a faint British cheer came over the waters, telling of the first position W n. At 5.3 a.m. the fire was intensified, and by the sound we could tell our men were firing. It lasted twenty-five minutes and then died down somewhat. The boats returned, and a pinnace came alongside with two recumbent figures on deck and a small midshipman, cheerful and waving his hand, with a shot through the stomach and three wounds sustained in the first burst of musketry, lne boats had almost reached tho heach when a party of Turks entrenched ashore opened fire with a terrible fusilade from rifles and maxims fortunately most of the bullets went high. The Australians did not wait for orders or for the boats to reach the beach, but sprang into the sea, formed a sort of rough line, and rushed the/ enemy's trenches. Their magazines were unchanged, so they just went i„ with cold steel. The Turks m the first 'trench were either bayoneted or ran away, and their maxims were captured. The Australasians found themselves facing an almost perpendicular cliff. Half-way up the enemy had a second trench, which they strongly held and from which they poured a terrible fire on the troops below and on the destroyers which were going back for a 1 second landing party. It was a tough proposition to tackle in the darkness, but the colonials stopped a \ow minutes to pull themselves together, get rid of packs, and charge their magazines. They then proceeded to scale {the cliff without responding to the ;enemy's fire. They lost some men, but they did not worry. In less than a quarter of an hour the Turks were out of their second position, either bavoneted or fleeing.

• As daylight came it was seen that 'the landing had been effected rat Iter 'further north of Gabo Tepe than was originally intended, at a point where the cliffs rise very sheer for dressing disguise, because there were no glacis (down which the enemy could fire. The broken ground afforded good cover once they passed the forty yards of the beach. The country in the vicinity of the landing place was formidable and forbidding. To the sea it presents n steep front, broken into innumerable ridges, bluffs, valleys and sand-pits, and rising to a height of several hundred feet. The surface of the bar was a crumbly sandstone covered with thick shrubbery about six

feet in height, aii ideal pane for snipers, as the Australasians soon found (to their cost. On the otherhaud the ■ Australasians proved themselves adepts at this kind of warfare in the early part of their duty. Heavy casualties were suffered iAi the boats conveying the troops from the destroyers, tugs and transports. The enemy's sharpshooters were hidden everywhere, and they concentrated their tire on the boats when close in. At least three boats broke away from their tow and drifted down the coast controlless, sniped at the whole way and steadily losing men. The work of disembarkation proceeded mechanically under point-blank fire. The moment the boats touched the beach the troops jumped ashore and doubled for cove;-, but the gallant boat crews had to pull in and out under a galling fire from hundreds of points. All through the 25th this went on. landing troops, ammunition and stores. When daylight came the warships endeavored to support by heavy fire from their secondary armaments, but I not knowing the enemy's position the support was more moral than real

When the sun had fully risen we [could see that the Australians had actually established themselves on a ridge and were trying to work a way northward along it. The fighting was so confused and occurred on such broken ground that it was difficult to follow exactly what happened on the 25th, hut the covering force's task was so splendidly carried out that it jdlowed the disembarkation of ,the remainder of the troops to proceed uninterruptedly, except for the never-ceasing sniping. The Australians, whose hlood was up, instead of entrenching, rushed northward : and eastward, searching, with the French, the enemy to bayonet them. It' was difficult country in which to entrench, and they therefore preferred to advance. The Turks only had a weak force actually holding the heach, hut fchey relied on the difficult ground and snipers to delay the advance until reinforcements came up. Some Australians who pushed inland met a counter-attack and were outflanked by the oncoming reserves. They had to fall hack after suffering heavy losses. The Turks continued to counter-at-tack during the whole afternoon, hut the Australians did not yield a foot on the main ridge. Reinforcements poured up from the heach, hut the Turks enfiladed the heach with two field guns from Gaha Tepe. This shrapnel fire was incessant and deadIv, and the warships vainly for some hours tried to silence the majority. There were heavy casualties during the dav from shrapnel, which swept the heach and the ridge where the Australasians were established. Later in the day the guns were silenced or forced to withdraw, and a cruiser, moving close inshore, plastered Gaha Tepe with a hail of shell'. Towards dusk the attacks became vigorous. The enemy was supported by powerful artillery inland, which the slaps' guns were powerless to deal with, and the pressure on the Australasians became heavier and their line' had to he contracted.

General Birdwood and staff landed in the afternoon and devoted their energies to securing the position so .is to hold firm until next morning, when they hoped to get the field guns into position. Some idea of the difficulty of landing may be gathered when it is remembered that every round of ammunition and all water and stores had to he landed on a narrow beach and carried up pathless hills and a valley several hundred feet high to the firing line. The whole mass of troops were concentrated on a very small • area, and were unable to repay the relentless and incessant shrapnel fire which swept every yard of the ground. Fortunately much of it was badly aimed and burst too high.

A serious problem was getting the vounded from the shore. All those ■mable. to hobble had to be carried Tom the hills in stretchers and then hastily dressed and carried to a "boat. Boat parties worked unceasingly throughout the entire day and night. The courage displayed by the wwind>d Australasians will never lie forgotten, They were hastily placed in \rawlers, lighters, and boats and then towed to the ships. In spite |of their sufferings they cheered the hip from which they had set out hat morning.

Mr. Bartlett lias never seen anything like these wounded Australians n war before. Though many were shot to bits without hope of recovery their cheers resounded throughout the night. You could sec midst 1 mass of suffering humanity arms vaving in greeting to the crews of the varships. They were happy because they knew they were being tried for the first time and had not been 'ound wanting. For fifteen hours the Australians occupied the heights •inder incessant shell-fire without uoral or material support from a single gun ashore. They were snbject>d the whole time to a violent count-s-attack by i* brave enemy skilfully 'erl with snipers deliberately picking nil' every officer who endeavored to give a command or lead the men. There has been no liner feat in ibis war than the sudden landing in I,he dark and the storming of the 'leights. Above all, by holding on whilst reinforcements were landing. 'law colonial troops in these desperite hours proved worthy to fight side >y side with the heros of Mons, Liege, Aisne, Ypres, and Neuve Dhapelle. Early on the morning of the 26th the Turks repeatedly tried to drive the colonials from their position, i'he colonials made local counter-at-tacks, and drove off the enemy with the bayonet. The Turks, largely roiuforced over-night, had prepared a

big assault from the northeast. % The movement began at 1.30 o'clock. From the ships we could see the enemy creeping along the hill-Lops 'and endeavouring to approach under 'cover. He also brought more guns and 'plastered our positions with shrapnel while rifle and machine-gun lire became unceasing. I At 7 o'clock the warships crept close in with the Queen Elizabeth further out as a kind of chaperone. Each I warship covered a, section and opened 'a terrific bombardment on the heights 'and valley beyond. As the Turkish infantry advanced they met every kind of shell. Our warships carry from the Queen Elizabeth loin, shrapnel to 12-pou'iders. The shooting was excellent, yet the Turks advanced gallantly, the artillery not only shelling 'our positions, but trying to drive off ■ our ships. The scene of the engageIment on the heights was sombre and 'magnificent. We could see down the 'coast as far as Sedd-el-Bahr. Three warships were, blazing away on the shore, while the rattle of rifle and

machine-guns was incessant on the hills, which were ablaze with shells, while masses of troops were on the beaches waiting to take their places in- the trenches. The great attack lasted two hours.

We received messages that the ships' fire was inflicting awful losses on the enemy amidst flash of the bayonets and the sudden charge of the colonials, before which the Turks broke and fled amidst a perfect tornado of shells from the ships. They fell back, sullen and checked. They kept up an incessant fire throughout the day, but the colonials were now "dug in." Some prisoners were captured, including officers, who said the Turks were becoming demoralised by gunfire, and the Germans had difficulty in getting them to attack.