FIGHTING AT THE DARDANELLES

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 263, 26 July 1915, Page 3

FIGHTING AT THE DARDANELLES

(From Malcolm Ross, .Official War Correspondent ■with the New Zealand Forces).

RIFLE AND SHOVEL,

Private Wakeham, an Aucklander, who also in the home, had been shot through the arm. The bullet had cut flesh, but had not done any serious damage. “In Suicide Gully on the Sunday,” he said, “only ten of us cut of fifty got back.” About midday on the first Sunday the shrapnel fire was very hot. He and some of his mates got up the cliffs and found themselves with about fifty Australians of the 3rd Brigade. It was a case of fighting ail day wih no tim e todig in. That night they took alternate spells with rifle and shovel, and next day were f uT.y well entrenches. The stretcher-bearers kept coming up for the wounded, and their bravery was beyond praise. One man —he did not know his name —was supporting a wounded comrade down the gully when they mot with heavy lire. He promptly lay down on his back, put the wounded man on his chest, and in that way slid down the gully into safety. “You must remember,” said this man, “that the stret-cher-bearers had to walk straight up, while we, in dangerous places, could generally crawl on hands and knees. We used to laugh at them in camp/and caD them 'bullet-dodgers.’ My word, there was no bullet-dodging when it came to the time for action. Thej r picked up some awful wrecks, to.”

A STAFF OFFICER’S EX PERIENCES.

At Alexandria I had a long talk With a New Zealand staff officer, who had gone through some interesting experiences. He said that military experts considered the landing and . the taking and holding of the positions by the Australians and New Zealanders as Gaba Tepe as an almost impossible feat. At Cape Helles also the British Avorc given an exceedingly difficult task to perform, and at their landing two battalions were practically Aviped out. “I saw one thing,” he added, “done by the New r Zealanders and Australians that will rpmain in my memory as long as I live. It was at the top of the hill on the first day. There was a fight for fire superiority. Our fellows worked gradually closer and closer, until they got within charging distance. Then through our glasses we could see them rush with fixed bayonets across a little green patch into the Turkish trench. The Turks bolted, but our men leaped the. trench and dashed after them into the scrub. Then alii we 1 could see Avas their bayonets gleaming in the sunlight amongst the bushes. They came back—the bayonets not gleaming so brightly now—and occupied the Turkish trench, only to be shelled out a little later. ”

As a rule the Turkish trenches were always cleverly placed, so that in the event of their being occupied by the enemy they could be ( enfiladed by machine-guns placed in hidden positions, or by artillery fire, dr both. “1 heard officers asking for the names O'" men who behaved with gallantry that day,” said the staff officer. “Bv Jove!” he added, “I would not like

to discriminate, because I think thgre wore dozens of Victoria Crosses won that day. Despite the gruelling they had got the morale of the Australians and New Zealanders was absolutely unaffected. At the end of the day they were just as cheery as when they started. On one occasion I was close to a man who was cooking his tea in his mess-tin. A shell burst and knocked his little fire into bits and riddled his tin. He did not stop to offer up a prayer of thankfulness at his narrow escape, but promptly commenced to curse the ‘bally Boer’ who had done for his cooker.”

THE VALE Cr DEATH. Referring to “Suicide Gully” or “The Valley of Death,” this officer said that when he left the front a few days ago it was still rather an undertaking to get up there, and the stench of the dead was beyond description. The snipers had certainly levied a heavy toll in that gully. It was the only way up to one position. The route had, however, been made safer than it orginally was by the construction of traverses in certain places. There were, however, sitll parts of the route some 25 yards across where you were told to “wait till the coast was clear,” and then do a dash across for all you Avere worth. He himself had seen one very stately brigade staff officer, who had never been known to hurry, doing a sprint -ever a 25 yards stretch as if he were out to break a record. The last time my friend went up he was warned as he got to one corner of the danger. “You’d better be careful, sir.” a man said to himj' “the snipers have been pretty busy to-day: they’ve just got five of us.” Sure enough, a little further on,, my friend saw the five — two dead and thre e wounded. THE TURKISH FIRE.

The Turkish guns, according, to this officer, were well served, observation good, and their shooting really excellent, though some of their howitzer ammunition did not explode, and at this time they seemed to be using it rather sparingly. For their small arms and their field guns they .appeared to have plenty of ammunition. On the point of some of the shells there was a little inscription in Arabic — “To the enemies of Turkey.’’ When the men were well established in the trenches on the heights they were really safer than they would be on the beach. One' day a crowd of Australians came down for a spell from the fighting to do a little road-making. They said the beach was just as bad as the trenches, with the road-making thrown in, and they asked to be sent back- It was, however, not an uncommon sight to se e some of the Australians and New Zealanders enjoying a swim in the sea with the shrapnel actually bursting above them. The men were well fed, and each man seemed better : pleased doing his own bit of cooking than when he was in a comfortable camp cursing the regimental cook! They got by way of luxuries tobacco, , a little rum, and bacon. The latter was a substitute for butter. All the water had to be taken ashore in lighters and conveyed to' the men in their dug-outs and in the trenches. THE MULE AND THE MULETEER. In this work the Indians with their mules were doing good service. Both

Indian and American mules were being use-d. The mules could be harnessed to small carts, and if the carts got smashed up other carts could be fixed up out of the remains—the parts being interchangeable—or the mules could go cn with th e saddles, which were adapted for packing. As a rule, the mules are docile, but when they do start to kick they make no error about it. Another good point about th e mule is that he will go on feeding unconcernedly while the shrapnel is bursting about him. Under such circumstances horses would stampede. On on occasion a group of thirty mules were knocked down by a bursting shell. The few that were left out of the bunch did not seem in the least concerned. The temperament of the mule is evidently a valuable asset in battle. The Indians are very fond of their mules, and they did not like to see the Trkish shells or bullets getting in amongst them. Once during the first days of heavy fire one of a group of mules in charge of an Australian was hit by a Turkish sniper. Two Indians who happened to be near at hand in the direction from which they thought the bullet had come. They jabbered excitedly to one another for a few moments and then disappeared up the sid e of the hill in the scrub. In seven finutes hey returned with a broad grin on their faces and carrying with them the rifle, ammunition, and hat of the sniper! Undoubtedly, that particular Turk would never kill another mule. “By Jove!” said a wounded soldier. “I’m glad those Indians are fighting with us and not against us.” The Indians did great work with th e mules in carrying ammunition into the ‘firing line. On one occasion a laden.j mule in charge of an Indian was shot | down; but th e Indian calmly unstrap- j ped the two cases of ammunition (weighing about 2001 b) and himself dragged them one after another through the fire zone and over the brow of a hill to one of our trenches. Throughout the whole operation he was as cool as a cucumber. Another incident worthy of mention occurred at the beginning of the first week. A moutain battery had taken up its position on our right front, very close —indeed, too close —to the Turktish lines. Suddenly they deemed it wise to retire, and the guns melted into sparate parts and were being repacked on the mules. Each mule as h e got his quota of the battery Avas hurried off down the slope. This proceeding Avent on until there was only one Eglish office, one Indian, and | one piece of a gun left —the shield. 1 But the mule to carry this piece had ‘ disappeared. He ad got on to a ledge j down below, Avhere neither, the officer nor the Indian could see him. With i the help of the officer the Indian hoisted the heavy shield on his back and ran stumbling through the scrub after the rest of the battery.