GALLIPOLI FIGHTING.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 290, 4 September 1915, Page 3

GALLIPOLI FIGHTING.

ENEMY GUNS ON AN3AC. A VARIETY OP SHELLS OUR OWN ARTILLERY. (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces.) ANZAC, Est July, 1915. For some few days there has been persistent shelling of the Anzac position by a variety of enemy guns, and recently a 4-inch gun has opened on u: from a new position in the south. It fires from south of Gaba Tepe on range of (5,000 yards. The shelis come very fast, some with a shrapnel charge and others bursting the shell into fragments with a high explosive. Then there is the gun that shells us from the direction of the village of Anafarta, on our left flank. Here there are two or three field guns firing at a range of 5,0000 yards. They are 15pounders, and their shells when coming give you plenty of warning, so that you generally have time to duck for cover. You hear the report of the firing, then in two or three seconds the whistling noise that the shell makes In coming through the air, and, in another two seconds or so, the explosion of the bursting shell. This gun has been doing far more damage than any of the other guns, because it cannot be located in the very difficult terrain in which it operates, and it is impossible to silence it. There are, away beyond our left flank, a lot of low ridges, behind any one of which it might be hdden, and searchng for it at present would be simply waste'Of ammunit'o;-.. Sometimes this gun moves round more to the north. From the south in the early days of the occupation of Anzac they used to get one or two big shel>> from the Asiatic side —shells of about 8 inches—and an 11-inch shell also fell in the bay quite close in. None or thes heavy gentlemen have, however been making 'their appearance for some, weeks past. They probably earn' from the guns of the Goebon. One portion of our left can be got in enfilade by the Anafarta guns; also by heavy guns from behind Hill 971 and th< summit of Sari-Bair in a north-easter-ly direction from a range of 4.sooydsand also by French "seventy-fives ? ' in the vicinity of Bat.tltesh.ip Hi]], :

subsidiary peak on the range threequarters of the way to Hill 871. These French guns have been engaged by our howitzers. With the exception of the Anafarta guns—which cannot be located—and the heavy guns, it only requires a very few rounds from our batteries to make the enemy guns cease fire. The Turks, spurred on by Germans, however, are very energetic in shifting their guns, and display a good deal of ingenuity in their methods. The result is that we generally get shelled two or three times a da; and often lose a few men. We, however, must maintain our position. Tlir Turks have a wide field in which to operate, and never stand being shelled in return. Under such circumstances.

they lie low or clear out, and, for fear of discovery, they never fire at night. One of our positions i 3 being shelled by a little mountain gun from pointblank range of from 600 to 1000 yartTs. We reply by howitzer fire, one round of which usually shuts the little fellow up. There are similar guns to these en Johnston's Jolly and Lonely Pine to the south, quite close to our fire trenches. The Turks have quite a lot of gun emplacements, and our gunners never know from which one they are going to fire. Somewhere in the Olive Grove to the south there is a field gun and at least one heavy howitzer which the Australians engage. The Kalid-Bahr guns arc 9,000 yards from us. , OUR OWN ARTILLERY. A walk round our position is a revelation of the wonderful ingenuity of our Engineers and the enormous amount of work done by our men in trench-digging. In places there is a perfect maze of trenches and communication trenches. Even "the oldest inhabitants '' —men who have been in residence at Anzac for nine weeks—are apt to lose their way in them when seeking a particular observation post or a particular gun. One day I had a look round our gun positions. Here again one could not fail to note the energy and the ingenuity displayed. The howitzers and field guns had been dragged to points that seemed almost inaccessible. One cannot, of coufcse, go into details about the position of our guns. We climbed a short slope, dived down into a valley past lines of mules in charge of Indians, and, came to a spot from which we could see the Turkish lines, and were in danger of being hit by an' enemy bullet. Then we climbed by a winding zig-zagging;path to the summit of a steep hi"l upon which was a perfect maze of trenches where Australians and New Zealandcrs were keeping their 24 hours' vigal until "nother lot of men should let them off for sleep. Some men were asleep in tiny covers scooped out of the trenchsides; others were cooking a meal, brewing their tea. cr frying a bit of bacon over a little brushwood fire. Two things impressed the stranger—the numberless flies and the smell of humanity that pervaded this overpopulous warren. But everybody seemed happy and ready for any emergency. It was the heat of the day and there was little doing. The Turk likes his siesta, and, except for th< outlooks, his was probably asleep all along the line. A few bullets hit the parapet or came whistling overhead. Our men scarcely troubled to reply. By devious ways we walked in the narrow trenches to the • observatior post of a battery that was going tr fire. Through the narrow, well-protec-ted and welil-screened peep-hole we could see just beyond our own line? and the Turkish trenches a scrub shelter, about which, earlier in the day some Turks had been seen. This had been christened by the Australian; "The Mi-Mi." The battery opened fire, the first shot going high and a little to the right. Corrections were duly made by the man in the observa-

; lion post, and presently a well-direct-ed shot planted right into the Mi-Mi. and it went up in a cloud of dust. It is all very wonderful this indirect fire, because the man who is doing the actual firing sees nothing of what he is firaing at. While we were watching, one of our howitzers, firing a* 100-pound sheil, also opened fire. We could see its shell from start to finish of the great, arc it described. It grounded near the Mi-Mi and sent a cloud of earth and smoke into the air. The Turkish guns replied with shrapnel and bursting shell. This shooting over, we went by tortuous ways to another post. Here we Avere under fire, and had to be careful. The Turkish trenches were but 200 yards away, and a head shown above the parapet was almost sure to be hit. Even as we observed the bullets were hitting the sandbags a couple of feet away from our heads. From some of these vantage points the views were so wonderfully beautiful that one could not help gazing in momentary forgetfulness of the bullets that were whistling past or hitting the protecting sandbags. The basy dells and glades of the Peninsula stretched north and south and east. Westward were headlands jutting into the sea with silvery, curving beaches in between; and still farther westward Imbros and Samothrace in the glorious calm blue of the Saros Sea. Prom the contemplation of this scene we descended to a battery in the lower lands, and an officer showed us chunks of shell that had been blown into it by high explosive a few minutes before, ovr arrival. ■We get back to the beach to find that things had been very merry there. Some me:had been killed and others wcunde'e by the shelling. I picked up a 4-inc» shrapnel shell that had landed wi-hii. a couple cf yards of the dug-cut that some Turkish prisoners were making for my own habitation! Still, one could not forget those beautiful viewF —charms in the midst of war—and looking down upon Anzac beach one saw the men bathing as nonchalantly as if sheJis had never been invented and there were no war in all the wid> world.

GREAT B£lTAlrf'3 C-IZZ-VTESr PIANOS! Of the celeuratec; English instruments stocked by The Bristol Piano Co., Ltd., done enjoys such an enviablfc reputation as the Broadwood piano. One might say that it is the **Gold standard" of the Piano Industry. Made by the oldest-established firm of piano manufacturers in the British Empire—John Broadwood and Sons, Ltd.—every model is the result of nearly 200 years' adherence to too highest ideals in piano constraetioH. During its long history the Broadwood 'ias been helped towards perfection by the World's Master Musicians. Taeir influence is found in its exquisitely delicate touch and sympathetic, resonant and perfectly modulated tone. Other British-built Pianos at "Tao Bristol" include the excellent and reliable Sames and the renowned Collard and Colla-rd. Th* famous Canadian Organs—The Bell and The Imperial—are also on view in a variety of models. All these superb instrnmerjts are offered o-\ attractive an* easy terms. The Bristol. Piano Ltd., Wellington. North Inland Manager, ?.!. J. Brookes Focal Representative, H. J. Dashwood.