FIGHTING AT THE DARDANELLES

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 290, 18 September 1915, Page 5

FIGHTING AT THE DARDANELLES

HOLDING THE GROUND AT ANZAC*

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

ANZAC COVE, 19th July.

Since I last wrote there has been little or no change in the position. We remain in statu quo, and, though each day has its incidents and incidences, there is necessarily a great deal that the wajr correspondent cannot at this juncture be permitted to discuss. W|e are all expectantly looking forward to approaching events. Meantime the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps is sue cess fully hanging on to it s (little bit of tbe Peninsula, the pjlies in Ike south are hammering away at Aohi Baba, which largely dominates the situaton, and cannot be taken without considerable losses 'on ou|r side as well as on the side of the Turks. THES NEW ZEALAND POSITIO/NT. New Zealanders will naturally bo anxious to know what their forcee hav® been doing of late and I may perhaps be allowed in a succeeding article to give a general narrative of the week's doings. The|y will already have gathered from the lists of killed and wounded cabled officially and published irt the newspapers long before this reaches the Dominion that, though as yet; no forward move is being made, there is nevertheless a fair amount of activity hieing displayed day by day and night by night in the firing line. Not (only is this the case, but the -whole position is dally under shell fire. Meantime m<r defences, though they are repeatedly shelled by the enemy, are being materially improved and strengthened. The rugged nature of the country on our front, however, gives the enemy great facilities in regard tothe disposition of his ajrtillery, and makes it extremely difficult, for us to locate his guns or to '.nock them out once they have been located. With his wider terrain also, he has ‘he a« "autage of moving his batter is rich-. -- binight c(r by day from one posVl-i another.

So far the Turk has p'a o d th© game, and the fighting has been clean. An exception may perhaps b e made in regard to the first few days of the campaign, but it tis certain that the tales one heard about atrocities vere exaggerated, The question we are now concerned about is whither, under German precept and example, the Turk will condescend to use, or be forced to use, those diabolical aids 1 to warfare that for the first time in the world’s history and in defiance of all convention, were used in Europe by the modern Hun. One feels almost certain that if left to his own devlcesthe Turk would not descend to the use of such methods. Note—The remainder of this article been out bodily out. by the censor.) ,■ ■ ; **=• H