GENERAL WAR NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 3, 5 January 1916, Page 3

GENERAL WAR NEWS.

GREAT MILITARY FEAT.

WITHDRAWAL FROM ANZAC

BIGGEST BLUFF IN HISTORY.

LONDON, January 1

Mr. Ward Price, writing from off Suvla Bay en the morning of December 20, says.—"lt is over at last. Only six guns were left, which was done intentionally in order that they should fire until the List minute. They were then destroyed. The British army and navy, working hand in Wand, achieved a triumph in joint organisation which will become historic. Every preparation was made for fighting a I desperate rearguard action; but nevertheless everything was beliberately carried out under the unsuspecting gaze of the Turks. Masses of men and material were brought down from Anzac and Suvla in an extraordinarily short sp'ace of time. When the tally was taken, the only loss was found to be a relatively small quantity of bully-beef, biscuits, and rice. Not a single messroom cat was missing. Several battleships then smashed the breakwaters (which were built of old hulks), with shellfire at short range*. Though! (the matching and embarking of the troops was stealthily done, every Turk on the peninsula must have seen the stores burning •and the piers smashed. Yet even then they were puzzled. The Turks never realised that anything unusual was happening, and it was only when the ships were steaming away that the gunners in an erratic fashion shelled the beaches and places like Hill No. 10. The final decision to evacuate Suvla and Anzac was due to Lord Kitchener, who visited the whole of the lines and climbed the observation posts at every point, until the whole geographical and military problem lay before hi s eyes. He found it a front that twisted and turned in all sorts of awkward angles, making a bewildering series of unscientific salients, with re-entrants almost 'all along the whole line. The advantage of the artillery position lay with the Turks. Suvla. was a place of broad spaces commanding long range 'artillery, while Anzac was cramped and small and under the fire of snipers. The necessity for the evacuation Avas therefore apparent. Reauter's correspondent at the Dardanelles says the withdrawal from Anzac and Suvla was the most difficult and dangerous operation yet undertaken in this campaign of extraordinary hazards. The infantry, dismounted cavalry, guns, horses, mules, motor lorries, Indian transport carts, the entire reserves of ammunition, and almost all the stores were removed under the gun s of 'the most powerful Turkish Army,' which did not realise that the operation had begun until some hours after the last of the officers of the naval beach parties had slipped into the picket boats and j steamed away. I

Eye-Avitnesses of the Anzac evacua-

tion state that the calmness of the weather contributed immensely toAvards the success of the undertaking. '.When the order was received from Home Avhich set the evacuation machinery in motion, the moon was within two days of the full. The only fighting in connection with the embarkation occurred between the Australian Brigade in order to determine who would have the privilege of staying to the last. Many paraded before their officers and protested against

boarding the transports while the men who had arrive don the peninsula after themselves were allowed to stay an hour or two longer. Two hundred men who formed the ultimate rearguard at Suvla were the first to land 'in August last, at the very spot where they held the final barrier until the embarkation of the last details was completed. Eightyfive thousand Turks Avere so ignorant of the true position that they shelled Lalla Baba and Chocolate Hill, where there Avas not a soul. They Avere still plastering the hill Avith high explosives Avhen the battleships left the bay at nine o'clock. They did not realise the painful truth about Suvla until 11. The Turks Avere a little spryer at Anzac, Avhere they climbed cut of the trenches and peeped into ours soon after daylight, 'but a feAV shells from the ships sent them back. Our casualties Avere one officer and tAvo men Avounded at Suvla, and tAvo men Avounded at Anzac. A tremendous southerly gale sprang up on Monday night, flooding the trenches, and the landing stage at Anzac Avas Avashed aAvay. Our heritage to the Turks consisted of a few picks and shovels 'and a number of hospital tents; but these Avere so conspicuous on the landscape that it A\ r as impossible to remove them Avithout exciting suspicion. The guns destroyed Avere three field guns, and two worn-out hoAvitzers.

The trccps at 2.30 in the morning, at Anzac, exploded a huge mine between themselves and the Turks.: On Russell's Top, the neck between the two ridgeg along which it was not desirable that the Turks should follow. The Turks thought the Australians were attacking, and kept up a furious rifie fire for forty minutes. Soon after a tongue of flame shot up from G B'each, to the south of Suvla, where a great pile of food stores, which had been soaked in petrol, was fired. Then more flames appeared on the West Beach. During the last two hours of the night huge waves of flame reddened the sky and sea for miles around, while columns of thick black smoke towered hundreds of feet high in the windless air. Surely, we thought, this would wake the Turks. However, it did not matter, 'and the Turks are welcome to make any discovery now. Standing on the be'ach one had a splendid view of the | five great fires springing up one after another at four in the morning, when the stores leapt into flames, and \ soon became a mighty .bonfire. Two '

! hundred yard s further along the coast j the Anzacs had forsaken their bully I beef, Avhich was burning fiercely. A j sudden spurt of flame and a violent j explosion on the crest of the ridge ■j came from a giant Australian mine i 45 feet under the Turkish trenches, i This Avas the Australians' final act of • hostility. It Avas fired by electric contact Avhen the last Australian Avas j leaving the beach. It is believed to have killed a hundred Turks. ! Mr. Ward Price says the I'ast Avas 'the greatest thing of the kind the Bri- '■ tish Army had ever attempted Avith I the !Navy co-operating magnificently. | The King telegraphed his congratuj lations to General Bird wood, Avho conI stantly visited Anzac, directing the preparations. He remained on the spot the Avhole of the last day and I night in the staff-ship. It is a misj take to regard the AA'ithdrawal as a ! confession of entire failure. It is not I a defeat, 'although the German flag j was the next morning flying on top of | La:la Baba. Anzac Avill take a proud ; place in the list of battles and honJ ours. There the widely-separated Empire troops fought not only the TurcoiGermans, but disease, thirst and heat i in summer, but also the de'idly winj ter blizzards. The arrival of the new Germans guns has not yet bothered ug. We consistently dominated the Avhole Turkish front, and have not been driven off; therefoe the evacuation means pulling ourselves together and enabling the concentration to be made on sure ground, which is vitally important here at the crossroads of the Empire, and the most dangerous strategy at th eDardanelles and in the I Balkans, involving the fate of India and Egypt. It would be practically opportunism operating Avith small detachments, permitting the • initiative to the enemy. By cutting out our losses at Gallipoli Ave have done something toAvards acting with greater deliberation and better • organised strength elseAvhere. At Anzac the biggest bluff in history was brought off. Everyone expected desperate rearguard actions, but the masses of men and stores were brought doAvn with extraordinary quickness. When the tally Avas made, not a man Avas left behind. The Turks Avere puzzled, but did not fire a gun until the ships I had steamed away. j