The Dardanelles.
RUMORED DEATH OF SULTAN. Received July 0, 1.30 a.m. Athens, July ">. It is rumored that the Sultan is dead. TREATMENT OF THE WOUNDED. A "MOST DISCREDITABLE" MATTER. THE INADEQUATE ARRANGEMENTS (Times and .Sydney Sun Services.) ■ Received July 5, 8.30 p.m. ' London, July 4. The Times, in a leader, suya tlw story of the experiences of the earlier batches of wounded men from the Dardanelles represents one of the most discreditable phases in our participation in the war. Three ships were first sent to transport wounded from Gallipoli, and the total accommodation was less than a thousand. Thevj were not properly equipped, and there were very few doctors and orderlies and no nurses, and they were crammed. The wounded, were sent to Alexandria, where they found no accommodation provided. The ships were left lying at Alexandria for three days, during which time the unhappy i woundedi .received 'no attention from those ashore. They were not even i washed, nor did they receive clean clothes. The ships were then sent to Malta, where better preparations were made, though they were inadequate for some time. When the authorities in England realised What had happened they' made swift amendment's, and' th'e' wounded are now' well cared for. ALLIES' POSITION IMPROVED'. FINE FRENCH ARTILLERY. THE SULTAN'S HEALTH. Mitylene, July 4. Operations during the past week have materially improved the Allies' positions. The advance posts of our lines are in a position seriously to threaten the Turkish occupation of Achi Baba. No munitions have reached Turkey through the Balkans for a month and the production of the two Turkish factories i» practically zero, owing to the lack of material and the Bcarcity of skilled labor. The Turkish artillery is limited to a score of shells in the morningl and a score in the evening. Ta« spirits of the soldiers are drooping. Prisoners state that their comrades would willingly surrender, but the strong measures of the Germans make it difficult. Machine-guns under picked men are placed in commanding positions behind the trenches and there is no hesitation about firing on their comrades if they show the slightest inclination to stop fighting. The spirits of the Turks are only sustained ibyj bringing oip entirely fresh troops, which cannot last long.
The French artillery is magnificent. One bombardment poured ten thousand shells upon four lines of trenches 430 yards long. When tho infantry advanced there was not the 6%'itest opposition. They rushed up a slope without a shot being fired, and found the defenders annihilated and the trenches a mass of wreckage. It is estimated that, ten French shells fell on each square yard.
It is reported that Field-Marshal von der Golta has asked the Turkish Government for an additional 300,000 men before ho accepts any responsibility for the defence of Constantinople. Paris, July 4. General Gouraud, in an army order ,on June 4, said: "You must' remember in advancing against our enemy on Turkish soil that it is yet our hateful enemy Germany you are fighting. She lias stirred up against us the Turks, formerly our friends, therefore show mercy to the Turks who surrender." Official: General Gouraud was struck 'by fragments of a shell near the ambulance station, to which he had gone to visit the wounded. His life is not in danger, but he has been invalided home, and General Bailloud haa provisionally assumed the command.
London, July 4. A New Zealand officer, who was recently at the Dardanelles, has arrived in London. He says the Turks are clean fighters, and never, bo far as ho Is aware, firftl on the Red Cross. He added: "We want plenty of machineguns and an unlimited supply of high explosive shells to put us on an equality with the enemy." The Berlin Pressi Bureau states that the Sultan's condition is grave. Th<s latest reports show that developments are expected. WOUNDED COLONIALS. CASES ON THE WILLDOHRA. PECULIAR CASK OF PARALYSIS. Received July 5, 8.40 p.m. Frcmantle, July 5. Although many, of the New Zealand wounded troops on board the hospital ship are gravely injured none are permanently incapacitated. The most serious case is Lieutenant Peake, who has lost an arm.
Others who are not wounded are. suffering from a kind of paralysis caused through concussion. One man explained a bullet struck a lifted barrel with such forco that the impact utterlvi shattered his nerves, leaving him a shaking and half paralysed mass. Another trooper bears a long black line like a bruise across his stomach, and is paralysed from the hips down. He does not know what struck him. The doctors anticipate complete recovery. Many are suffering from bullet and shrapnel wounds, and will remain partial cripples. All pay a tribute to the coolness and gallantry of the landing parties, who fought like old campaigners. They confirm tho reports that Turkish women participated in the fighting. One man saw the bodies of three women equipped with ammunition belts.
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Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1915, Page 5
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820The Dardanelles. Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1915, Page 5
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