The Dardanelles

Taranaki Daily News, 26 July 1915, Page 6

The Dardanelles

(From .Malcolm OHieinL War (orrespondent with the New Zealand Forces, i. June -t.

Major Loach, of tin; Ist t'anti-rbuiy hij'amry, wiujiii t found in lied in tfl'e Anglo-American Hospital, had rathe.- a had wound in his leg behind the knee. Tile wound was, howew-r, healing gradually, and lie was quite eiiuerl'ul'. 'Ho -had gone with the ]-2th audi Kith O.inpnlrr, (,i the ltd (.'aiitc.-hun- Inl'antry on (Ik; Sunday niHit to i-ciiii'ni-c tl" left llai-.-li of the'Au.-.'t;-a;;aii.s ■whiuh was hcn.g .--evcely bandied liy the enemy. 'I he Cinteii'iiry men dn;: right in ami saved the position— a ridge running at right angles t 0 the sea.' If the Turks had got that ridge they would have, wiped everything off the beach. It was a razor-back, and tin- position was such that the Turkish shrapnel went right over it unless it landed absolutely on the razor-back. Major Loach said the landing was about a mile north of the actnal point of Caha Tope, because the Xavy people knew that there was barbed wire at the latter place. The heights fronting the 'beach wore so stern that, in p'aoos the troops had to haul their ammunition up with ropes. The whole army corps was situated in a narrow semi-circle. Colonel Stewart was killed while looking for two companies that had -ji'-eviously gene up about 3 o'clock on the Sunday afternoon, and that hail not come back. Major Loach went to find where the co7iipanios were, and to lead the others up to the position. Ikmet the corporal, who was badly woundi ed, coming down, and he tola him that ! the colonel had been killed. He also j learned from the corpora! that Major jfli-ant had died of a. bad wound, and I that Lieut. Barclay (son oE'Dr. Barclay. I of Tomuka) wa<? badly wounded and • missing.

(Nfbsequently the 12t)i and 13Hi ComP'lines had to vome back from tliis position to the beach, and thev were then ordered to occupy the extreme left, and to hold it at all costs. On the Monday thev consolidated that position, and made a road up which they could carry ammunition. On Tuesday, the 12th Company went to the top of the hill to reinforce the Australians, and scouts were sent out on a reconnaissance as far as the Fisherman's Hut. On the .Thursday the scouts made another reconnaissance, and the hills farther to tlic north were occupied. 'Ondo,- cover of darkness. '■Major Loach led the 12th Company to occupy n ridge running towards the sea and on Friday the position on the left wa« further consolidated. On Saturday he got 'badlv hit in the leg, and had to leave for Cairo. The feat of the Canterbury men in seizing the hills on the left and in holding them in the face of severe opposition was one that required initiative, daring and great tenacity, and it had a material influence upon the situation during the early days of the Peninsula occupation. Major Loach says they h<u\ an awful experience removing the wounded during those first davs. They had to get them first of nil on to the punts, and as there was no staging they had to rig up .planks. It -was rather an ordeal for such of the wounded as could do it to walk those planks. Others, of course, had to be carried Rnbsenuently flio>-c was the transference from the punts to the ships, trans-iorts in some instances having to do duty for hospital ships. "The people that'won my admiration," said Major Loach, "were the stretcher-bearers.' fly Jove!' J never thought they would work like that: -and they were under fire practically the whole time. Even when 1 came away the Turkish shells wee following us down to the shore, and not only one Shell at n time, hut « dozen Our comparative safety lav in the fact that they burst a little too high, and also in the fact that some of them, instead of being filled with shrapnel 'bullets, were filled with sawdust. Certain clips of cartridges wore also found with neither cordite nor iead in them. On the Canal our men found similar clips. They had an Arabic mark on thcin so apparently they were not 'made in Cermany.' There would usually be three or four such dips in nn abandoned box of cartridges. Sitting on the ridge we watched these shells bursting iii the water. You could, see the bits of broken shell and the bead as they dropped in j the water, but could not see any bullets, splashing.''

The numerous hospitals at Alexandria wore very full 0 f wounded, anil hero it was iljat one found the. worst cases. In tiio liwjiititl lmi-i'leill/ wtfibjished in the bi;; Victoria College 'building, about throe miles out of the town, I found an Otago man, Pte. IfctMieraon. A piece of shrapnel had ripped him down the bach-, 'but he was making good progress and was very bright. He .paid a Vigil tribute to the bravery of the Australians. On one occasion lie saw some •fifteen or twenty of them entrench in a position right over the hill. They went out of the trench for some distance to do a bit of sniping, and, while they were out two or three of their men were hit over. They, however, took no notice of this and kept on sniping. Some Turks who were just over the brow of the hill then charged with fixed bayonets; 'but instead of fcnnSSig and running for the shelter of their trench the whole lot of them walked calmly backwards, firing at the Turks as tliev charging on. Not only did they do that, but instead of leaving the two".men who had been knocked over four of the party got them 'by the arms and carried fhem*ri«lit into the trench. °

Wherson said he was sure that some explosive, -bullets 'were used. Tie. like everyone else, referred to the maguificeent heroism of the stretcher-bearers. They brought in even the hopeless eases. The sta.fT were nearly all the time under fire. When he was coming down wounded lie saw General Codley going up a gully where there was a 'great deal of sniping. A lot of the fellows, he added, got «hot going for water. Tn such rough country it was almost impossible to cret rid of the snipers. "While in Alexandria I drove out to see the convalescent home that Lady Codley has established thci' as the result of private subscriptions that she has gathi •■"<] and some assistance from the Xew Zealand (iovern'ment. It is in an excellent situation some dUhin >nt of the town, and it gets the : oof sea freeze. Tn these da vs. when the thermometer mounts to l'lisil'e«r. in fee. tents of the Cairo camps siir-li a lio»--e fonres an idea! place in which the N'r",v Zealand convflle*efn*-(i can .-*t and reereerate for a fortni"ht or th"ee wee'--. i-n'.-c going hack to (he I'irn" l'-e o- to ■■■'•"< ever fate,the pods <■■>• .*'•■' Medio; "'••••-' mav send thov. \ To'- el K.-w". w'\- •'■■

home on a satisfactory Iw-is. It cam, accommodate -about thirty men. A mini-1 ber of people ill England have siibscribed to the home. One donor gave .C!i>. another CIC'O. Lady Uodley, who wears j the uniform of a lied Cros-, nurse, lives j arrangement-, which seem U> 't o\ el- i lept. - i

On a balcony upstairs two young men 1 were piavhig draughts, and a third was] watehiir.g them. 'One had bc-n hit ill \ (lie foot, another (hrcugh (lie log ah .v, the ku<fe, and the third through the I shoulder. The corporal who belonged I to the Wellington hifantrv. said his lot lauded "ii the Monday im num.-, „b : ,ut -1- ~V!(.ek. They were held in n-ere.-all the Monday, but were under ~ltr;ijin.-i (ire until thev dug {hrniseho. in. On the IMomhiv night thev were shifted up s support•--. but the shrapnel sent them down a"aie that same night after two hours' work. On the 'Tuesday morning thev moved up on the extreme right, and th.e West Coast Company and two platoons of I! Company took a hill and held it in conjunction with the left think of the Australian's. This height 'was about tnOft she."- ir.i. !t was in ■: limbing it- that they ]o-,l" most of iheir men. The Turks were on K-p of the liili when they got there, but they drove .them out, at' the .point of the imyonet. It was just a olind, mad rush, but the Turks had to ijiiit. Ail that afternoon they were lighting anil digging in. "1)11 one occasion tile enemy -charged a nuin-

".".ml'they had to retire for ;i time. Thou we nude a ouiitcr-attiiok and drove them right oli' the hill. For two or three hours the p;,-itiim was ju-t hanging in the 'balance, but «e held it. We v.'eie. for four days like that, until we dug right in." On the Tuesday night the Turks attacked, blowing English bugle rails in an amusing 'manner. They were, however, repulsed, and for ten days the colonials 'held the position. Then tee corporal got hit in the foot and had to'be taken down to the beach. At Alexandria 1 had a long talk with ii New Zealand stall' olliror. who had gene through some intce-ting experiences, fie said that military experts

considered the landing isnil tin- taking and holding, of the positions by tin; Australians and New Zcalanders at J Gaba Tope as an almost impossible feat. At Cape Helios also tin* 'hritish wore given an exceeding'}- dillicnlt task to •pcrfni-'u. ami at their landing two bat-' talioiis were practically wiped out. "1 saw one tiling," he' said, "done by the Now Zealanders and Australians that will remain in mv niemorv as long as J live. Tt was at't.lie top'of tin- bill on Hie 'first day. There was a fight for fire superiority. Our fellows worked gradually closer anil c'oser, until they (rot within charging distance. Then through cur glasses we could see them rush with fixed bayonets across a little green patch into the Turkish trench. The Turks bolted, -hut. orr men leaped the trench and dashed after them into the scrub. Then all we could see was their 'bayonets gleaming in the sunlight anmmrst the bushes. They caitif hack —the bayonets not 'gleaming so brightly now—and occupied Hie Turkish trench, only to be siielled out a little later." •Tiofervins.' to "Suicide Oullv" o- "The Valley of Death." this ofliccr said that when he left tnV front a few (lavs ago (it was still rather an undertaking to get up there, and the stench of M, e ! dead was beyond- description. The snipers had certainly levied a heavy toll in that gully. It was the only way up to one iposition. The route had.' however, been made safer than it originally was by the construction of traverses in certain places. There were, however, still 'parts of till' route some 2<> yards across where you wee told to "wait till the coast was clear." and then do a. dash acros for all you were worth. He bTmself had seen one vcrv stately brigade stall' ollicer. who had never been known to hii'iy. doing a Sprint over a 2~> yards stretch as if he were out to break a record.

The Turkish guns, according to this ofliccr, iwce well served, their observation good, and their shooting really excellent, though some of their howitzer ajmmuniton did not explode, and at this time they seemed to be using it rather sparingly. For their -mall arms and their field guns they appeared to have plenty of ammiinitroii. On the point of some of the shells there was a little inscription in Ara'bii—"To the enemies of Turkey." When the men were well established in the trenches on (he heights they were really safer than they would be on the beach. One day a crowd of Australians came down for a spell from the lighting to do a little road-making. They said the beach was just as bad as the trenches, with the read-making thrown in. and they asked to be pent back! Tt was, however, not nn uncommon sight to see some of the Australians and New Zealanders enjoying a swim in tbe sea with the shrnflnel actually bursting above them.