ENTANGLEMENTS IN SURF.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 July 1915, Page 9 (Supplement)

ENTANGLEMENTS IN SURF.

NEW ZEALAN.DEKS' CHARGE. LOSSES. Oli* WAIKATO MEN. One of the men who returned to Inyercargill by the Mokoia among a party invalided from Egypt saw the Australasians landing at the Dardanelles, lie was on board one of the vessels at' ijabc Tepe and met with an accident. Interviewed, he gave a description of the landing operations. "Wo didn't expect much opposition," he said, "but we got it. The Australians, commenced disembarkation at dawn, bit the enemy were prepared. Not only did the Aus-' tralians find the whole of the bay encompassed with wire entanglements under water, but floating mines were found, and trap-holes with spikes, after the style of Jack the Giant Killer. At first it seemed as though the Australianl-! Inn! fallen into a trap, but in the face of heavy rifle and machine-gun fire they struggled through, after trying again and again. Hundreds must have fallen. The lYVaikaios were the first New Zealanders to get it hot, and man after man went down in the surf and were never seen again. The men 'ind to jump out of the 'boats and get ashore through the surf that was waist-deep. When a man got into difficulties in the entanglements he was a sure target, but men who were able to keep moving fared better. The Australians paved the wayl, and they will never get enough credit for their performance. The Australians in Egypt never, as a whole, took kindly to discipline, and their officers hud a hard time of it. Thoy were not in the same street in the matter of discipline as the New Zealanders, hut thoy were terrors when they had their fighting blood up. They gave the Turks a lesson, though lots of the first Australians to land were almost wiped out. "I heard on board next day that only 28 Waikato boys came through out of about 200. The Bth, -Southland, and Otago Companies all landed together, and Major Price and Captain Spedding were killed just on landing. 1 heard that most of the officers were wounded, 'but, of course, cannot say for certain. The Canterbury men landed at the same time as the Otago boys, and Colonel Stewart, who led them, was shot almost immediately afterwards. The wonder was that the New Zealand troops made the progress they did. It took two days to get everything ashore. As soon as the men got on to the beach we could see them .rush up the beach witl fixed bayonets and dash for the Turkish trenches on the slope above the beach. It was glorious to watch them. We heard the Turks sound the retreat pretty soon, hut many of them wanted to stop and fight. They stopped in the trenches, some of them, until they were driven out. The cold steel was" too much for them in the end, and they turned and fled. The first night the colonials camped in the Turkish trenches, after making their advanced positions secure. Thev. continued the altnek next day, 'rtl'c'n they liruv.i (he Turks further hack. iW.hen the. base *ipa Ml, the Turks were still doggedly retreating."