"THE WHITE GURKHAS."

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1915, Page 3

"THE WHITE GURKHAS."

DEARLY WON I'ITLK. , ■ AUCKLAN'II RlXil MINT'S L(ISSKS.|| "We are nicknamed 'The While »«urk- i has,' and get nothing but praise; every- ' where we turn, for we have made A name for ourselves," writes Corporal K. J. Martin, 3rd Auckland Infantry Regi-1 ment, from Alexandria hospital to his J sister, Mrs. Russell, 422 Queen Street. 1 Corporal Martin gained his stripes in | the strenuous fighting in the Darda- | nelles, and, although under fire for many I days, he had received no wounds, and ? was merely suffering from vertigo—giddi-. ness in the head —and hoping to be back in the trenches before his letter reached I the dominion. The letter, which is dated May 2:i, describes the historic landing of the. Australasian forces at (iallipoli. "Twelve men were shot in the boat 1 was in out of 30, so you can guess what it was j like," Corporal Martin related. "After three weeks of continuous lighting, there are only 47 of my regiment left out of 200. We are not the worst oil', so you will agree with me that I'm lucky to be alive. T got hit twice—once on the leg with shrapnel, but, though it made a mess of my puttees, it never touched the skin, and again with a bullet that passed through the leg of my trousers, f never noticed it until after the charge, so it will show you how excited one gets. (,)n May S we were charging over a daisy patch,' and half-way across I actually laughed, my nerves were so highly strung. The bullets were as thick as hailstones, the boys were dropping all around, and I was wondering how soon 1 would get it. I suppose waiting for a hit that never came made me laugh. You should have seen the boys after the charge. They were all talking at once, ami 1 don't suppose one of us knew what we were talking about. Every officer who went into that charge with the Auckland Battalion was either killed i or wounded. 1

"I was made a full corporal after the. charge, so 1 have, two stripes now. When you write, pift 'Corporal' instead of 'Private.' liy the time this reaches you, I will have been in it again.