GALLIPOLI PENINSULA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 31, 7 June 1915, Page 7

GALLIPOLI PENINSULA.

STORY OF THE LANDING. Pkb Pukss Association. Welington, June 5. “I’m going back. I’m determuifu to go back, if they will have me, and I hope they will. 1 want to do my 'share and make up for the losses our (men suffered at that landing.” Thus Sergt. Gabriel, of Petone, who fought with the Canterbury Battalion on tnat (morning of April 25, when the colonial troops covered themselves with 'glory in that brilliant landing, and in the splendid charge which followed it. He returned to New Zealand by the Wimmera with other invalided imen. .Sergeant Gabriel was the only man of the party to set loot on Gallipoli, and he was only five hours in the fighting line before he collapsed, exhausted and sick. He has seen service before with the East Lancashire Begiment, and he has the medal tor the Somaliland campaign. ‘Tve been soldiering; I’ve been on active service before,” be said to a Dominion reporter last night, “and 1 say that the New Zealand soldiers are good enough to fight alongside of, oi' against, any troops in the world.”

OFF TO THE FRONT. Then he went on to describe the groat expedition and the landing. “On April 12,” he said, “we all had orders to parade in full marching order, with our rations, kits packed and stacked, all ready to go to the trout. The same night we left Zeitoun station for Alexandria. There were something under 100 transports, mostly German prize ships and British vessels, waiting to take us across to Lemnos Island, and to accompany us there was u strong escort of British and French ships of war. The run across occupied two days. All of our fellows had a look at the famous Queen Elizabeth, and we afterwards saw a good deal of her. At Lemnos the roar of the heavy guns of the Allied Fleet firing at the Turkish batteries was deafening. “We landed at different points on tlie Gallipoli Peninsula on Sunday, April 25. The British landed practically unopposed, the French also were practically unopposed, but the Australians and New Zealanders met trouble. The first of the Australians were put ashore at 4.30 a.m. amid a rain of shell and machine gun fire, and the difficulty of the landing was increased by barbed-wire entanglements on the shore, reaching down actually into the water. Many men fell killed or wounded in that first onset. The Australians were pressed back after effecting a most difficult landing, and the New Zealanders were sent to reinforce them. From 8.50 till 10.30 a.m. our men were ferried ashore in the ships’ boats. Then, with a brilliant charge, the Australasians carried a hill some 500 foot in height. The 3rd Auckland and the 16th Waikato landed first, with them the 13th North Canterbury and the 2nd South Canterbury companies. All these units lost heavily. The Waikato wore the worst sufferers. Only 16 men answered the roll-call out of about 270 of this company. The Canterbury Begiment lost their colonel, woo died in the firing-line, almost neforo he had given an order. We “idn t know how many were wounded or how many were killed. We were ..11 mad with the excitement of the fight. FIRING AT THE RED CROSS.

“The Turks tired at our Red Cross men at every opportunity, hut tiny paid dearly for it. Turks were .dcorwards seen stripping Australian and New Zealand dead, and they weye picked off in considerable numbers by our snipers. The Turkish los-i-s during the operation in prisone.s, K. : bu and wounded must have been 20,000 men. Sixteen machine guns and Io Krupps were captured. On on- sn’e the Wellington machine gun -cct’oii was smashed up, nearly every mar, being put out of action. The Otago machine gun section was also .■.mashed up, their gun being put of action. The Canterbury and Auckland ma ne gun sections did marvellous work. The prisoners that were captured by the New Zealanders were set (o work dragging th heavy guns of the artillery up the cliff into position to cover the advance of the New Zealand infantry. One section of the N.Z.K.A. unfortunately met with o s aster, their gun being put out of action by a direct hit. !

THE QUEEN ELIZABETH.

“Covering our advance, the (Queen Elizabeth played ha v nc with .he enemy batteries, firing her 15-ir.ch guns. These demolished the Turkish foils, and the explosions of her shells were so terrifice ns to cause some distress amongst our men by 11 * o awful concussion. The fire was particularly effective against a hidden fort, which the fire control had some difficulty in picking up. As soon as it was discovered, about half-a-dozen shells fired in quick succession demolished the fort and exploded, the magazine. “I'lie Australasian troops drove the Turks hack a distance of about three and a-half miles in all in thirty-eight hours’ fighting. The fighting continued with less intensity for some three days, hut that was all 1 saw of it. The operations had progressed favourably up till that time. Now Zealand reinforcements were being sent rapidly aero is from Egypt, a number of the mounted men being transferred from

the their units into infantry. All the available artillery has been sent to tiie Dardanelles. The ambulance strength proved quite inadequate, and we had a number of our men in this service put out of action. Our wounded were all being token to hospitals

in Egypt and England, and I believe they are being well cared for. There was, I understand, a shortage of nurses. and our wounded were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the New Zealand nurses. ABOUT THE ENEMY. “The Turks opposed to us are all big, strong men. but they are absolutely rotten shots. It is the shrapnel that is killing our men, and the machine guns. The Turkish artillery and the machine guns are being reeved by Germans. All the prisoners taken ire sent to Lemnos, where there are >O,OOO of them, including many German officers.