A THRILLING NARRATIVE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 44, 22 February 1916, Page 3

A THRILLING NARRATIVE.

OF GALLIPOLI OPERATIONS,

BY ONE OF OUR BOYS,

The following interesting letter has been received by Mr. DuLrymplo, of Pukeokahu, from his brother, Roy Dalrymple, of Bulls, who left New Zealand with the Main Expeditionary Force, and is now in hospital at Epsom, England:—

On August Ist we moved from Walker 's Ridge out to No. 1 Outpost and bivouaeed there all night. We bad all left our tunics behind at Walker’s Ridge, but we had our oilshects with us and so put in a fairly good night. During the day of August 6th we piled all our oilsheets and generally put in time cleaning rifles and sewing on white patches to our sleeves and back of shirts. Towards evening we got in a good meal and a very good tot of rum. At dusk we moved out along the main sqp towards No. 3 Outpost and when we had gone some distance '■ found that they had cut away the side of the sap, and avc filed out into the gully that led up towards Table Top. Hero, we had a short halt, 1 must explain, that the Wellington Mounted Rifles had to take Table Top —the 6rh to go first and seize a communication trench leading- to it and clear that, the 2nd to take Table Top, and the 9th to hold it afterAvards.

We soon got under way again and presently came across some of onr Infantry, who had lost their track. They were to take a -hill on onr right. We were advancing in sections along the gully and presently wo started to get near the enemy. It being almost quite dark we could not see very far ahead.

After a short halt to see that the telephone communications were all right and coming along behind, we went round a •corner and bullets started to phizz and ping in all directions. I was in the front fonr and we got the order to double. The front lino teas Major Dick, Corporal Meads, lan Cruikshanks, Joker Smith, Dick Smith, and myself. We could see the flashes about 20yds ahead and we made for them. Meads was the first man down—very suddenly (shot through the head). Joker fell next and Dirk Smith fell over him but got up again. Meanwhile lan threw three bombs (concussion), one of which went off wit-h a good explosion, but I did not notice any damage done by it. Major Dick fell but managed to get out a "Go on, boys" when he was down. 'Next thing what I thougnt was a very large bomb hit me "biff" on the shoulder and down I went. "All up now, I wonder when it is going off?" But to ray surprise it did not go off. It turned out to be a huge stone. After discovering that I was not blown to bits. I wasted no time about getting up.

By tliis time it was a general mix-up and a few shouts and yells, etc. I rushed to wher Dick Smith and some others wore after some Turks in a little side trench. When I got there, there word two Turks left and one of our men on the ground wounded and about five of us. The Turks were soon

dispatched Avith the bayonet—not a

pleasant job, but a necessary one. On looking round we found there were about a dozen of No. 1 troop and no officers to be found. No Turks Avere in the A’icinity. We had had orders to advance Avit-h empty rifles, just using the bayonet, but by now most of us had got our magazines full. We found it Avas G. Chamberlain avlio Avas Avonndcd; poor felloAV. shot through both wrists and the stomach and consequently suffering a great deal. Me had turned into tire side trench by himself and had found three Turks against him. He got one and they got him. He had a very miserable time as the ambulance did not come along till next day. Ho died soon after they got him. Of course, avo had nothing avg could give him; he Avas calling out for morphia and was evidently in terrible pain. He bore it all very pluckily. Meanwhile a very fine enemy fire Avas being kept up from the ridge above and also a good deal of fir e from a nob on our right, which No. 2, under Lieut. Cotton, were to take. After a little look round we found a very Avell-cut track loading from the left ridge up to the nob on our right and so avc took up a position commanding the track. Here we accounted for several Turks, coming along the track. This time Ave used bullets as there was a good hot fire corning from all round us.

Sergeant-Major T.evien came along and we tried to find out where the 2nd and 9th were and also the rest of the 11th, but -he did not know, so we just held our position. After another wait Lieut. Mayo came along with some of the No, 4 Troop and he led us up to Table Top, which was*supposed to be occupied by onr men. We followed the telephone wire (they must have laid it while were clearing the trench). After a very slow zig-zag walk we got to the foot of Table Top. The telephone wire went up an apparent precipice. After trying for a while in vain. Mayo went to sec if he could find a track by himself and give ns the signal when he was up. No sooner had he gone then from the ridge where all the fire was j coming we saw a line of men coming. Were they ours or were they Turks? | Their track was leading along a very ' narrow ridge, so that t’uy would have j to pass directly above ns. They threw several bombs into the bushes j at the side of the track and still came on, but just anyhow. Wo soon learned I they were Turks. There we were, j about 40 of ns, all down in a very mr- I row defile with our only' retreat back I ths way we had come and very expos- J ed. .Luckily for us they wore on sur- I render bent and had no arms. About 400 filed past us. They were talking, laughing, and joking away and a lot of j then would look over and point at ns , and then go on. One picked up a I stone and heaved it. Well, it nearly j skinned my cheek but just missed me. \ It would have almost settled me. We j lay there’ like glue and if ever I was I thankful it was after the last of them I had passed above us. We should have been annihilated if they had been arm- i ed or had bombed ns.

After they had passed wo got a whistle from Lieut. Mayo, who had somehow not been seen by the Turks.

and liad got up. It took ns about half an hour hard climbing to get up, using our bayonets to dig into the bank. All the time there was a constant flash

coming from some bushes quite close, but he must have been firing in the other direction as he did not trouble us. We found the 11th Squadron in the trenches at the top and also a fair number of prisoners. In the morning we got the prisoners together; some were still coming in and giving themselves up; and marched them off down to the base at the beach. W T e went along the ridge who---all the fire had been coming from the night before. The Turks from here had all given themselves up. There wer e dead Turks at various intervals along the ridge and some of our own dead at the far end. We had to .*•

past a lot of enemy bivouacs and they were very interesting - . All sorts of things in them and a lot of. Turkish tobacco. When we had handed over the prisoners we had something to cat and went to the tanks and had a drink.

Odd bullets were flying about all the time and the man standing beside me at the tank received one in the foot. You get casual of bullets and don r t take much notice till someone is hit. Just before time, Dick, lan and myself got a stretcher and carried Joker down to the beach and buried him there. There was no clergyman nut we did our best—a very sad job. Joker was hit in the cheek and the bullet came out by his temple. I don’t think he suffered at all.

When we got back we found that George Mayo bad just been hit in the stomach. Major Chambers was also shot through the mouth about the same time. He was dead in a few minutes. Men were continually' getting hit; bullets seemed to be coming from everywhere. The afternoon passed off nneventually and we put in half the next night improving the trenches. Xext morning Lieut. Cotton was hit through the right arm and into the chest. About 2.30 p.m. we got word that w 0 were to go up and reinforce Otago in the firing line. The 2nd and 6th went up,, having the 11th to hold Table Top. About 7.30 p.m. we came to a dressing-station with wounded by the hundred and lots of Tommies returning. Wo had a short halt and formed up into troops and advanced by short laps, taking our direction by a star. Soon we were near the line and met some other reinforements who had lost themselves temporarily. Soon we saw the spurts from the rifles and apparently there was a mix-up as every now and again one heard cries of “Don’t fire -upon

j your own men.” Anyway, we got j right up to our part of the line and | found a lot of infantry absolutely 1 done, lying down anywhere getting ; rest and sleep in spite of the fact that ! now and then huge shrapnel shells | broke just over them. Wo found a

very poor trench only half dug, a sun

port trench, and no communication trench. No. 1 Troop went straight into the firing line, our section gdinginto tho end of the trench about ten yards from the brow of the hill'. We had to (dear our trench of dead men and n.t the

; same time keep’a constant fire on anyj thing that showed up and. also hit any I cover, sucli as bushes. Now and again i a bomb would come up, and now and then someone would' retire hors-de-com- ! bat. One landed next to Dick and we I ail crowded out of the way as much as j possible. “Has it got you, Dick ?” j “Yes, in the foot.” He retired as he ! felt his boot filling with blood. We j would throw one and you’d hear the, j Turks stampeding. Unfortunately, we | did not have many. My barrel at times got so hot I could scarcely hold. | it. At last dawn came and we imme- \ diately signalled to show our position jto the Navy. The first' shells burst al- ; right and things looked better. lan i got a scalp wound shortly afterwards 1 and his "head bled copiously, so he had to retire. I was just watching an apparently whohe Turk ascending about 30ft. in the air and was thinking, “That will, shake him up.” when bang! and a smack in the face like a i ton weight (drew blood on my cheek) and a big shell (concussion) burst just | above our trench, killing several and j wounding others .and smashing the j trench. Then several, landed an our j right and tho men there had to retire lin consequence. Next, bombs started [to com e over at the rate of 0 a minute, j They lauded everywhere, but, thank I goodness, we had the sandbags in j front cf the trench, as several landed i short end would have rolled in but | stopped at the sandbags. Presently, , one landed between me and the next [man. I huddled up to the man next to 1 me and impolitely turned my back to : Mr. Bomb. Was it going off? Surely th e d- thing has been there about two hours. I'll have a look. No, there's the fuse fizzing. Where will it j hit me? What will it fool like? (I

j screwed up my face ami a]’ possible"

I portions of ray anatomy). Way docs lit not a:o off? Why the Bang! j Biff’! Fcmething hit nio a whack on I the side and along my log. ‘“'l’m j dom'd . No. I’m not. Bet *s have a 'look.’’ All my pants wore torn and j bloody. I had bettor got out while I i can. j I suppose the bomb only took about i a second to explode, but during my ' wait for it I went through all these I thoughts and more. 1 don’t think I’ll } ever forget it. Clutha Mackenzie had taken Joker’s

place in our section and was just about next to me. A moment after the concussion shell had exploded in our trench I heard him say something and looked down. He was trying to get past me. Both his eyes were blown out by the concussion. He was crawling along th 0 trench and got out. Apparently he did not have- much pain, but it was the most pitiful sight 1 have seen.

To continue. I scrambled out of the trench and crawled over some dead men and into the communication trench. Once there I thought I was not so badly hit after all and perhaps ought to be still in the front. Just then another bomb landed and I got a smack on the knee. It started to swell and bleed. I went on and found Glen

McLean in a little hollow, also bombed. Across another trench was where I had taken oft all my gear, including my haversack with rations in it, so I made off towards that, hobbling along as best I could. That was about 5 in

the morning. Poon a man came along carrying Noel Blackburn on his back. Noel was looking jnst about {waved out. He told me in a very shaky voice that he had got it through both knees. After a short spell, during which I bandaged my leg, I continued on and soon got into a regular golly. It was simply chock-a-block full of wounded and dead. I picked up a rifle and used it as a walking stick. I also had to take frequent spells as I was feeling very floppy. Presently, Tom Vile came along, also bombed in the legs. He and I got further down and 1 lieu he went on ahead. After a while I pulled him up near some water-holes and we sat down, or., rath w, got as

comfortable as possible, as whatever portion of ray body toucaod au.» th.i.g seemed to be bombed and was rem-uev* jililv sore. Also, I could not bend my*

knee-. Frank Cash also came along*. We had been told by some wound'*/!

further back that we could not get down to the beach by this gully, but a party decided to try it. About two hours after they came back, having decided it was impossible. One of them got three extra bullets in him for his trouble. Another lot said they were going to try to get over the ridge and get down by the proper gully and said they would let the dressing-stations know about us. Some of the men had been in the gully for two or three days doing as best they could. How much water I drank I don’t know. There was a continual stream of wounded coming for drinks. Water was fairly clean, only a few frogs in it.

The day passed very slowly First the heat and then cold again towards evening, th e only pleasant thing being that wo got word that the dressingstation knew of us and would send stretchers as soon as it was dark. As soon as dusk came all who conk! possibly walk set off to get over the ridge, and also word came along that the stretchers would be there soon. It -was a very weary wait and about 2 a.m. the stretcher-bearers came and about 50 cases were taken. They came in two’s and three’s and. nearly at the end Tom and I were picked up. Talk about a motor or an aeroplane. It could never be as good as that stretcher. By this time they had a very rough track cut over the hilk and we were pushed, pulled, and bumped over this. By Jove, it was a rough trip. The stretcher-bearers wore just about dead with fatigue going all night.

I arrived at the dressing-station at 9 -p.m. They looked at my knee but not my thigh, and I was labelled and ready to go down. Nearly everything was in darkness because several men had been shot by snipers. Presently they started to carry me down and about 5 a.m. got quite near the beach. If ever I have been nearly frozen, It was that night. My pants were half torn off and I had a very thin shirt on. At the bottom they gave me a comic of thick blankets, hot bovrir, and morphia, and then it was an hour before I got warm. After about two hours wo started on the final trip to the beach and got about half-way and found the beach was being shelled and snip.d and impassable. We were put under cover as best as possible, but still exposed to shell-fire. After a time I got two orderlies to help me and we went by a narrow sap very slowly. Then they got a stretcher and took mo up to the dressing-station.

Ther e - were hundreds of men lying in lines and I was put down about 10 yards from the entrance to the main sap at Anzac. Through this sap was a constant stream of mules. Each mule raied a cloud of very fine dust that spread gently over everything. There was no cover at all from the sun and onl ya limited supply of water, which ran out. Moans and groans all round, and it was a sort of nightmare at times. Luckily, I was next to a very decent fellow who turned out to bo an English officer (from Guernsey) in the "Kents.” He was shot through the lung but took it all very well. Some of his men (walking cases) came down and waited on him hand and foot. He got me and the next man everything he could in the way of coffee, tea, biscuits, etc. He also sent the card to you. In the morning Alec Howard nne along and he got some of my things from Anzac, and then they carried me down to the beach.

The scene on the beach was beyond description. Ho water, very badly wounded men, Turks sniping, wounding and killing both stretcher-bearers and wounded. A more miserable picture ’could not be imagined. They had parties routing out the snipers ; they were very hard to find, but it was short work when they were found. There was an improvised pier from which they loaded th e boats, and by good luck Alee managed to £et me right np close to it. There were two hospital ships which had just come in. Major Grant (chaplain) came along and got me moved np to where Dick McDcnell, of Taihape, was, and also gave me a drink of wine. After a long wait, a string of boats came in. Luckily, most of the sniping had ceased. They picked out th e worst 'cases. I was very thankful' to get awaj*. Some poor fellows had been on the shore for days, and scores had died; they buried them in a patch close by. Dick Tv.feDonell was bombed in both legs rather badly. I saw him again at Malta but not since. Major Grant turned out trumps in regard to looking after cur wounded. He went everywhere. Ho said he was going to complain about the state of things, on the beach. It was simply beyond description.

We were aboard the hospital ship by 2 p.m. In the evening we left for Imbros, then to Mudros, and then in Malta, a very slow and hot trip. I think I have given you a fair account of what happened.