From The Colonel

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 64, 15 July 1915, Page 5

From T he Colonel

WITH OUR BOYS AT DARDANELLES. INTERESTING EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER.

Mr T. Harry IVim has received an interesting letter from Colonel W. (;. Maloue, written at the Dardanelles «nd dated May 14th. With Mr Perm's kind permission the following extracts from the letter are given : 1 am under censor rule, but 1 must tell you that the Wellington Infantry Regiment has turned out all that one could wish. The men are splendid—as brave as they make 'ern—cool, enduring—no better soldiers in the world. They have proved it. The Regulars here have dubbed the. Regiment "The White Glmrkas." We arc proud of the soubriquet. I cannot tell you all of the great work they have done. L cannnot tell you of the losses. The hardships are solid—really solid. They have been fighting night and day ever since April 27th last up to midnight of. the 12th inst. (We are now having a spell in the rear lines). On the 27th two half company's were detached by higher authority from me, and sent to reinforce another unit, and they were plunged into a jungle and mowed down, still they went on, getting the crest of a ridge dugfin. I then got the other troops and their officer sent away and put the other one and a-half Company in. Dig, dig, dig, night and day—as we dug our losses became less. We made the place—the head of a ridge—a veritable maze of trenches—but impregnable. The Turks shot at and shelled us night and day—but after the second day our losses were only two or three a day. The Turks were onlysome 300 or 400 yards away in scrub—they could see our trenches, but we couldn't see them. They used to shell us with lead, continually sweeping the crests of our fire trenches. If you put your finger up they would shoot it off. They have crowds of snipers who are dead shots. On two days T got howitzer fire on their position and stopped their shooting. Our boys then got a look in and paid back what we owed them. "When tey turned on a volume of fire our men sat down and let them blaze away. Once 1000 of them got up and attacked, across our front, the Australians. Our chaps got right on to them at 450 yards and killed hundreds. On the afternoon of 9th when we left for the rear, we managed to get the Majestic with her 12-in guns on to some new trenches we had discoverd just clear of our left flank. We arranged to put lip a small flag- at the extreme end of our positin on that flank so as to enable the big guns to keep clear of us. About 4 p.m. the performance began—a big 12in shell landed point blank, then four more right up the trenches. Earth and Turks in pieces flew everywhere. Then a cloud of Turks got out of the trenches and started running thro' the scrub. We poured "rapid" into them. It was great! I vowed to got two Turks for everv one of our men hit and I thor-

oughly believe we got it. . . . Oar men are wonderful—their endurance ;l nd coolness and cleverness is Splendid. 1 am proud of them. All our ammunition, water and food had to be carried up a steep ridge, 500 feet "to the top and nearly a mile under rifle fire all day. . . . No groaning or

noise whatever—more often than not a -smile. The first day most of them passed me "Well Colonel, "I've got it. I hope you're .satisfied with us" this with a smile,often with a pathetic attempt to laugh, if only a very little one. I love them: such heroes. All their nerve is wonderful. Officers and men have turned out trumps. . . .

From our old position we were moved to a new position by a destroyer some 2i miles away under shrapnel, and bivouacked for the night. Next (lav the Brigade attacked. It enabled the New Zealand Infantry Brigade to demonstrate that it is a splendid one—but the gain was some 200 or 300 yards ol ground which could have been got by sap or night advance at much less cost. My battalion was on the left and they put up a mighty line performance. They finished about 1250 yards from where they started. Their advance was under the Turks shrapnel, machine gun and rifle lire from the very start. They had to cross three lines of trenches held by British Regulars (tempting havens of safety). On they went as though on a parade, steadily, no lying down, no .stopping, no firing—one long splendid steady advance and many of them killed and wounded. At last they got within about -100 yards of the Turkish trenches and then were pulled up 'by the burst of our own shell fire, the enfilade lire of Turkish machine guns from both flanks and the centre by intense rifle tire. Down they threw themselves and dug in—losing men all the time. The troops on our left had been told not to attack—so that in any case we could go no further as a strong Turkish position was on our left Hank. By dark we were easily held off. Then through the night shrapnel was slashed in to the trenches intermittently, also machine gun fire, rifle fire and hand grenades. (The men-without greatcoats, blankets or oil sheets. only cold food and water. spent the night without a whimper. By morning they were safely dug in and the Turks would have to come right up to put them out and that the Turk as we know isn't keen on. The Wellington Battalion alone of the Brigade had Urtined and held oil to new ground, for four thus and nights i! stuck in

the trendies it had made, getting in food and water in the dark, losing men in so doing. No Hies exeept shrapnel. Cold nights, very little sleep. solid plodding Resistance against an almost invisible foe who cuuldik't miss the new earthwork, The wounded men could only be got out ;., the darkness, and then with the stretcher-bearers under lire. Then without asking we were relieved. We

>vm . not sorry, lor the strain, yon

in imagine was great

Harrv! 1 love these men of mine. Heroes'all as brave as brave can be. Hai-dv. enduring, patient. cheerful, clever soldiers. No better soldiers 11, the world. New Zealand has reason to be'proud of her sous. The regulars, too. have done splendid work. Scores of ray men, on past precedents, have earned the V.C. As for D.C.M s, every other man almost ought to get

I am verv lit and well myself and ,„, enjoying life as I "ever enjoyed it Viore. Von must not think me brut;(| o| . callous. But though many things are dreadful and horrid, yet there is no dread or horror. This very paper was taken out of a dead Turks haversack and he had been dead for fourteen days. You may be able to imagine what he looked like. He was one out of about a hundred. all on about an acre of ground, stricken down in lines and heaps. They ,vore within 300 yards of where 1 had my Headquarters for four days. We couldn't bury them owing to snipers. Large numbers of our own dead lie and must lie unburied. We tried to bury a lot of twelve, but three of our burial party were killed and two wounded. Night and day bullets are flying about over the fighting ground. It seems unkind but the cost is too oreat. Even in the maze of trenches we dug in the first plate and action I toldfyou about, there were scores of our own and Turkish dead within a few feet of our trenches and well 'within our own lines, but it was impossible to get to them when we had to leave. That was a trial to nerves, but our men seem nerveless.

You may wonder what I am doing ,vith a dead man's haversack. Well, the General Intelligence Staff want .ill the information they can get, and we look for papers in every dead man's kit we come across, and so I rften have a search myself. Moreover, we ought to get the dead men's pay hook, so as to let the Turk know wlio is dead. They don't carry identity discs.

The Turks carry, or carried, an enormous quantity of ammunition. One man had 800 rounds of ammunition on him. say 481hs. Four hundred rounds is quite common : very little food, however, or anything else. Our food is all right—biscuit, bully, beef, cheese, bacon, jam, tea and sugar. The biscuits are awfully hard, but develop jaw muscle. The Taranaki Company, is holding a concert to-night—so are a lot of frogs who croak in .Turkish I suppose.

Would you try and see the Stratford and Taranaki people who have suffered through their sons' or relatives' death or wounds. Tell them what I have told you of my men which, of course, includes the Stratford lads. litis*.. .. . . ■