Back From War

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 308, 7 June 1915, Page 4

Back From War

THE GALLIPOLI FIGHT, i STORY OF THE LANDING. •BY ONK WHO WAS THERE. ♦ "A RAIN ,01.' SI I MIL AND MACHINE<3UX FlitE." Wellington, Saturday. "I'm going back. I'm determined to go back, if they will have m«, and I hope they will. I want to do my share and make up for the tees our men suffered at that landing." Thus Serjjt. (fabric 1 !, of l'etone, who fought with thfl Canterbury Battalion on that morning of April '25, when the colonial troops covered themselycs with glory in that brilliant landing, and in the splendid charge which followed it. He returned to New Zealand by the IWimmera with other invalided men. Sergeant Gabriel was Jhe only man of the party to set foot on Gallipoli, and he was only five hours in the fighting- lino before he collapsed; exhausted and sick. He ha« seen service before with tlie East Lancashire Regiment, and he has the medal for the Soinaliland campaign. "I've been soldiering; I've been on' active servica before," lie said to a Dominion reporter last night, "and I saj that the New Zealand soldiers are good enough to.light alongside of, or against, any troops in the world."

OFF TO THE FRONT. Then he went on to describe the great expedition and the landing. "On April 12," he said, "we all had orders to parade in lull marching order, with our rations, kits packed and ' stacked, all ready to go to the front. The sain* night we left Zeitoun station for Alexandria. There, were something under 100 transports, mostly German prize ships and British vessels, waiting to take as across to Lemnos Island, and to accompany 113 there was a strong escort of British and French ships at war. The mn across ocoupicd two days. All, of our fellows had a look at the famous Queen Elizabeth, and we afterwards saw a good deal of her. At Lemnos the roar of the heavy guns of the Allied Fleet firing at the Turkish batteries waa deafening. "We landed at dilfersnt points on the Galiipoli Peninsula 011 Sunday, April 2ff< The 'British landed pract.caily unopposed, the French also were practically nil* opposed, but the Australians and New Zealandcrg met trouble. The first of tlx? Australians were put ashore at 4.30 a.m. amid a rain of shell, and machinegun fire, and the difficulty of the landing waa increased by uarted-wirc entanglements on the shore, reaching down actually into the water. Manv men fell killed or wounded in that first onset. The Australians were pressed back after effecting a most difficult landing, and the New Zealandcrs were sent to reinforce them. From 8.30 till 10.30 a.m. our men were ferried ashore in the ships' Iboats. Then, with a brilliant charge, the Australasians carried a bill some . r >(X) feet in height. The 3rd Auck- • land and the 16th Waikato landed first, with them the 13tli North Canterbury and the 2nd South Canterbury companies. All these units lost heavily. The Waikato were the worst sufferers. Only iU men answered the roll-call out of about •270 of fiis company:. The Canterbury Regiment lost their colonel, who died in the firing-line, almost before lie had given an order. We didn't know bow many were wounded or how many were killed. We were all mad with the excitement of the fight. FIRING AT THE RED CROSS. "The Turks fired at our Red Cross men at every opportunity, but tlicy paid dearly for it. Turks were afterward# seen stripping Australian and New Zealand dead, and they were picked ofl ' in considerable numbers by our snipers. The Turkish losses during'the operation in prisoners, killed and wounded must have been '20,000 men. Sixteen machineguns and two Krupps were captured. On our side the Wellington machinegun section was smashed up, nearly every man being put out of action. The Otago machine-gun section was also smashed up, their gun being put out of action. The Canterbury and Auoklaml maehinc-gun sections did marvellous work. The prisoners that were captured 'by the New Zealanders were set to work dragging the heavy guns of th« artillery up the clitf 'into position to cover the advance of the New Zealand infantry. One section of the N.Z.F-A. unfortunately met with disaster, their gun being put out of action 'by a direct hit. THE QUEEN ELIZABETH.

"Covering our advance, the Queen Elizabeth played havoc with the enemy batteries, tiring her 15-incli guns. These demolished the Turkish forts, and the explosions of hf:r shells were so terrific as to cause some distress amongst our men by the awful concussion. The fire was particularly effective against a hidden fort, which the fire control had some dif« Acuity in picking up. As soon as it was discovered, about half-a-dozen shells fired in quick succession demolished the fort and Exploded the magazine. , "The Australasian troops drove the Turks back a distance of ab>ut three and a half miles in all in thirty-eight hours' fighting. The fighting continued with less intensity for some three days, but that was all I sawof it. Tho operations had progressed favorably up till tlmt time. Now Zealand reinforcements were being sent rapidly across from Egypt, a ■number of the mounted inen being transferred from the their units into infantry. All the available artillery has been sent to the Dardanelles. The ambulance strength proved quite inadequate, and we had a number of our men in J,his service put out of action. Our wounded were all being taken to hospitals in Egypt and England, and I believe they are being well eared for. There was, 1 understand, a shortage of nurses, and nur wounded were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the New Zealand nurses. ABOUT THE ENEMY.

"'l'll.- Turks opposed to lis nre all bi£; strong "if". but llicy are absolutely rotton shots. ft in tlio shrapnel that is kiilin« our men, and the machine-Willis. The Turkish artillery and the machine-guns arn boiiif,' served by Germans. All the prisoners taken are sent to T.emnos, where there are 80,00(1 of them, including 1 many (ierman officers.