FIGHTING THE TURKS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 257, 9 April 1915, Page 6

FIGHTING THE TURKS.

THE TARAXAKI MUX'S DOINGS.

Sergeant Jennings, son of Taumarunui's M.l'., writes as follows to his parents concerning the doings of the Taranaki boys during the Turks' attack on Suez:—

lup most important piece of work jaranak. Company did was with the force that attacked the Turks. As only two 'platoons out of our company were to go, we drew for It, and mv platoon, \o. II (Lieutenant M'Collj, and Xo. 12 (Lieutenant -Morgan) were successful. Xext day. at 11 n .m the force, consisting of the two platoons of laranaki Company, two platoons of f.iirklias, 300 Indian Lancers and a batU P„ nf fn " r ,jmK > under the command ot General Meliss himself, moved out of the fort and advanced straight for the Turkish position. We went for about seven miles, when thev opened hro at us at about one mile distant. We extended and continued advancing over the flat ground with their billlets whizzing over our heads, till we" reached a ridge, where we lav down, and proceeded to have dinner, to the tune of hulle s Presently our guns opened fire, and the poor devils got "blazes." I had my glasses on them, and could see them plainly. The guns obtained the range, and it was not a pleasant sight. One of the Indian T.anccrs was shot dead in front of us. He got trapped between their patrol. Tt was fine to see his mates charge and secure" Mr body. I picked up one of the Turks* empty cartridge shells with the crescent and star mark, also flattened lead bullets that hit the ground in front of us The Turks retired behind the. hill and we were going after them, only the patrol reported that there were about 3000 of them waiting for us As we were only about 300,' it would have been the end had we proceeded. The general said that if they had been game they could have come out and collared the whole lot of us. We retried about 4 p.m.. and took it in turn to cover the retirement. Marched the whole seven miles without a stop in I the burnuiff sun and with 150 rounds or ammunition each.

Thp aeroplanes liover over us each day and drop bombs on tlie cnemv. Tliere arc over ten warships at. various points in the canal, and the Turks are learning to keep out of distance. The fi g htin" at Ismailia was severe, and the Turk's even got their l.oats in the eanal but our machine-suns played havoc, and for ilavs after their bodies were floating down the canal. We also secured over a thousand prisoners. We found 000 bodies lightly covered over with sand o.,p„s,(e the scene of the scrap, Besides the dead left behind.

We were later shifted to Xo. 5 Fort «t Shalufa. and occupied it for a woek 11"* is a dismal hole. Every second night I had a turn at sleeping <r, la rd at the observation post. We were' fe-vl ing on half a small loaf of drv bread" per day and strong tea minus milk and sugar. The bread woidd last for breakfast, and for dinner and tea we had nothing to eat. Many a time T'vo been only too glad to eat a dirtv (>,■„<(•, that 1 wouldn't look at in New Zealand. ■\nyhow. it's all in a lifetime. \- ow we are back we have butter fa lu wv >' jam. plenty of bread and sugar and milk, so we are quite happy. 'We are wearing short pants like the Inch school bovs. with puttees, instead of stockings and it's lovelv and cool. The general was greatly pleased with us and cabled to Kitchener telling fhat a smart mob we were.

TARANAKI BOYS UNDER FIRE.

"Writes a former mcm&er of the New staff now with the forces:- .

On January 25th (us per my diary) I received the sudden though not une:- J pccted news that the New Zealand i fantry were to fo to assist i:s the 111 fence of the Suez Canal against the attack of the Turks, who wen! advaucin;," over the Siliai desert. That ni«ht there were bands playing, men cheering' an.l men packing feverishly the regulation kit (which we earr v on our hacks), am' next (lay we entrained for the, canal. About 7 p.m. we reached our desUnaliim—a piece of desert twn miles north of Suez, on the western or ''safe" side of the canal, and hi 'ouacked just, oil' tiie railway linn. Wo liad no idea v. here the Turks wci'" or how strong they were, but we S'ot a ■sudden introduction t>, the proximity of war. In the sleepy small hours 1 wok.: to the sound of rifle and machine t»ui! fire away across the canal. A niidit attack on the fort opposite to us. It didn't seem jo worry us' much fhoujh, Jn'o one stirred from his blankets in i'n Taramiki Company, though I did lieai of Hiun." of tin' fellows in another company v.'h'i put oil their boots and outties.'

MARCHED TO THE CANAL,

Next day (January 28th) we were op betimes and marched down to the cina', with which we math! a close, and intimate acquaintance, in the next mo'.fh. Our boys used to call it the "creek" and the "rjtcr." The position at this time was this. The Turks with their (!erman oiiieers had by hook or bv crook brought into the desert to the east of Ilu canal a force of at toast 12,000 men (as far as we know) and had up to the due of our arrival confined themselves to night attacks on the forts held by Indian troops—merely for the sake of spoiling sleep. On 'the east bank of the canal there ware five of these ctitrencVd forts—one just at Sue-,;, and. (lie oth-.-rs at intervals of about a mile or so. These were held by (Inrkhas, Punjabis, -,.w\ other Indian troops. At Ismailia, a tu-.rn to the north of Suez, was a likely place to cross, and here the Turks made their

ORAND AND FUTILE ATTACK, when the Canterbury mid Auckland infantry got a bit mixed up with it. In the canal were four Knjjlisli cruisen with two searchlights playing across llie desert at night, aiding our patrols and blinding (lie Turks. On the western bank (when we. got there) were the Hyderahad Lancers (who came over and patrolled the desert ovvry day), th? liiukanccr Camel Corps (Tndia.ll), the Indian sappers and miners, an East Lancashire battery of artillery, machine gunners from the same place, New Zealand infantry and machine guns and two aeroplanes. Well, up to February 3rd we (that is. the Welliiurton infantry regiment) stayed at trch work on the western bank of the canal ready to ;ret into the forts, when the aeroplanes reported the TmVs •.viking a g( iicral advance.

UNDER EIR1;

On February 2nd our company (wll'i whom 1 shall deal from now on) -sent 11)1) men (two platoons) over to El Kulri for the night, hut peace reigned. Then on February 3rd I got under fire, strange though the paradox be, by b.'l.-ig left behind with a bad''vaccination arm'' which has since healed nicely. I went down to sleep with the rest of the ;ompany while my platoon and others went over to one of the forts. At midnight 1 woke to find that the whole of the company had been ordered over the cam], that big'guns were firing at Ismailia, that an attack was being mad,-; on the fort opposite (the next as it turned out. to the one whore our fellows were) ant that Mauser bullets were whistling over me as I lay behind a big embankment, tucked up in my blankets. And though those bullets (aimed at a searchlight «n a boat in the canal) were flying too Irgli to be dangerous, I ducked with gro-it abandon as I ran with, my rifle to ihe jetty. Here the bullets were whistling very close, and a former pacific bank clerk who was on guard was calmly perched on the top of the trench bulling down sandbags to make a protection for himself on the jetty! A bullet lauded about three feet away, and as tlnre was no chance of getting over the canal, ■I went back behind my embankment and for two hours listened to the bullets as they flew away over our ambulance caino and into the sand beyond. Then ih'e Turks got tired of wasting lead and retired. I have to say that when the Indicts first began to fly I was in the biggest kind of a blue funk that ever was, hut thank goodness that soon passes ofl'. It's a sickly feeling. THE TURKS LOSE HEART.

Xext day we all went over to El Kubri fort and slept in the trenches, standing to arms in the cold at i a.'u. and spending the day in improving (he trenches, etc. But the Turks lost heart after being beaten off at Isiuailia, and but for a few stray shots at night we heard no more of them except the details, per aeroplane, as to ti - distance they had covered each day in their retirement, and of course it was not our game to chase them over the sands. But there is no disputing tiie fact that they did well to get over the desert at rl'l, much more so to bring the big pontoons which they tried to use at lsmaili.i. They came alright, but their cosmopolitan army soon ;:aw the hopelessness of its tusk, and was easily beaten oIV. On February 11 I wrote a P.S. to a letter but afterwards decided to keep it for fear of the awful censor. Here it is now.

Our regiment since we left camp :ms been stationed along the Suez canal, and our company for the past week has Wu assisting Indian troops to hold a fort against the Turks, but taking it f,!l round has had a mighty stale time. \V<> have not yet fired a shot at them, as we don't waste lead unless thev come within our wire entanglements! Sivc February 4th the only Turks we have sc-pn have been prisoners who have walked into our post and given themselves up, and some 50 whom a re:-i>i-noitring party on February f> (Ifio „f our men with (lurkhas, English artillery and Hyderabad Lancers) frightened away. That day some of our fellows wee under fire at lung range and an Imperial

lt was their nrst'expeneitce of fire, birt ho was "hanged if the beggars didn't keep straight on as if nothing were happening." The only casualty on our Mile ,vns an Indian lancer whom the Turkish •mipors shot through the head.

A MORE DETERMINED ATTACK. Then at Ismailia the Turks made a more determined attack, but were severely repulsed, leaving kindreds of dead, wounded, and prisoners. This seems to have been enough for the Turks, -.viio were over 20 miles away yesterday. Tie 'lorman oiiieers used a white flag once, and l-;y lids means shot an English effierr of the (inrkhas, who now swear tiicy will take no more Turkish prisoners. That posteript just about sums (he position up, and after it became apparent that the. Turks were retiring w were rested all day, but still kept up a'l night.

AFTER THE TURKS. On February 18th our company niovel out of the fort to give place to anot.icr company, and we were moved back or■•>■ the canal to the camp next to the t':uporary base. Here the work was miv-iiv guards and fatigues, but 1 was attaeicd to headquarters and took over the military telephone exchange I have mentioned in previous letters. We staved here till February 2flth, when the aeroplanes having reported the enemy to ) " 70 miles away all the New Zeahmd troops were brought back to camp. We have at least gained some experience! of work in the trenches and seen enough of the Indian troops to appreciate a little of their worth. A separate sc.-ved would be necessary in order to refer v.' more fully to them. From all accounts we are not likel" to be liere long, but in a few days will be off after the Turks in'another direction —what direction it would not be wise to say. Wo will welcome the time when we again get away Jvrom the monotony of camp routine and get a chai.cn of real work.