BATTLE DIARY FROM ANZAC

Taranaki Daily News, 2 September 1915, Page 6

BATTLE DIARY FROM ANZAC

Gaba Tape, August 7. The biggest battle yet fought in Gallipoli is now raging. During the last few days British troopa have been landing such as will make a considerable reserve to the Australians and llaoriianders at Anzac. The Turks apparently knew some movements were imminent, foT they shelled the troops landing at dead of night. But tile immense scenes show that they were absolutely surprised by the course which events took. The story is, perha-ps, best told by quoting my diary, compiled hourly as events proceeded. . August fi, 3.30 p.m.—'For the first time in two months ; lias reappeared in the offing off Anzac. , Away to the 6ou£h, opposite Helles, I can see another cruiser.

3.55 p.m.—Warships down .south are firing on Achi Baba, the crest of which 5 covered with pillars of dust thrown up by the huge shells. 4.5 p.m..—Moving in towarls her old familiar position opposite Gaba Tepe; Turkish shrapnel bursting over her from the guns in Olive Grove. 4-7 p.m.—Has fired. 4.30—0ur guns have mostly begun to fire.

4.50. —Another battery joins. At 5 o'clock, for live minutes, there was a curious lull in the bombardment. Then our field guns and howitzers opened a fairly heavy continuous fire, mainly on the strong lines of the Turkish ti'enehes which had grown up during the past three months of the southern lobe of the 'heart-shaped plateau, across which the centre of our Australian line also runs. This lobe is known by us as Lonesome Pine, on account of a solitary pine tree which used to be a landmark there, These trenches are of the most formidable opposite our lines. I oan see the black ptames of dust caused by our howitzer sheffls floating across. the ridge ahead ,of me. I up my position in the corner,'.of ~cse of our old rifle trenches. The trench at present is packed with men of the Ist Infantry Brigade. Those in my actual recess are the 3rd Battalion. Some aire crouching beside me under the parapet; others are in the body of the trench.,

"OVER THE PARAPET" 5.30.—Tw0 minutes ago the gunfire almost ceased, except on other more distant .parts of the British line. Word was passed by thfe officer touching with the men, "Prepare to go over the parapet." The officer placed a whistle between his teeth, and the next instant the whistle was blown, the men scrambling over sandbags in the dust. One poor fellow beside me immediately fell back into the trench bleeding at the mouth, shot through botJi cheeks. I can see through the periscope flocks of our men who are running forward from tiie trenches all along this part of the line, all racing at a good 'running 'pace through the scrub immediately in front of our trench, livery man during this aittack wears a square white patch on the back, and white am bands. I can see lie white patched uniforms running forward thickly all over the space in front of me. 5.45. —In front of our parapet, about 80 yards away, is a white thrown-up heap of gravel, the parapet forming the nearer side of the nearest Turkish trench. As our men reached tliis4hey did not jump in, but stood along the edge, looking down at something which I could not see. As others ran up they gradually spread out in a long line at the edge of the enemy's trencli, mostly standing up at first, presently lying down along this side of the parapet, firing steadily over the top. I saw one man standing up calmly taking aim, as if shooting .rabbits. The men were presently lying down in the Turkish trench. I can see several of our bayonets sticking up behind the parapet. I think a fair proportion ran over the first trewh and jumped into the trench beyond, which is just visible from here on the edge of the slope, but for the time being tlie first rush reminded one more than Anything else of a rush of spectators to the street kerb on seeing the approach of some procession. The men seemed to be picking tilieir places ali.ix; l !'c ,i:n .. pet, first running up behind their mates, tihen mpving further along till they found some interval where they could conveniently poke i". It v.-a- <i i ■<> vious that they iiad found the trench covered .by head-cover, and probably the intervals were so crowded with Turks that there was no room to jump in. Turkish shells are beginning to burst fiercely, not so much over the advancing ; men as over the trenches from which the J MJOmPdh)'/ I'M l '

As eaeli crowd bolts across, generally carrying their rifles with bayonets fixed in one hand, a certain number fall here and there, but often they got up and run on aga.in. These have been merely thrown down by our wi.re entanglements or tb'e enemy's. A few have thrown themselves down 'halfway to make the journey in two short rushes. Tt in ajways difficult to toll who merely falla or who is hit. A few little bundles of khaki and white 'patches are lying in the scrub: other crouching figures are crawling slowly back towards the trench. But I have not seen a single man coming back who obviously have been hit.

BAYONETS AT WORK. o.4B.—llanv men who remained lying down behind the parapet have just stood up and jumped down into tlie Turkish trenc.li. They appear busy at someIhing. I think I can occasionally see the butt end of the rifles over the parapet, but whether they are 1>«vo«h»!" the Turks or what they are doing is impossible to say. The Turks' shrapnel is now bursting thick and low over the space between the trenches, livery now and then T can hear two Turkish machine guns firing overhead. This always means that some party of our men is making the crossing again and again. I follow in the periscope some man who doubles like a rabbit across that patch of fire-swept scrub. One watches with his heart in his mouth, but the majority get safely over the further parapet. The -2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions have made their rush, and the Ist Battalion is now filing into the fire trench Tiehiiml me. o.3o.—Turkish sliolls have teen simply lathering this line of trennahes, Every man in them lraa been drenched from head to foot with showers of sandy pn.ra.pet thrown up by the explosion.

GRAPHIC RECORD OF THE FIGHTING. CHARGING THE TURKISH TRENCHES. CAPTAIN C. E. W. BEAX'S KOTE9.

Big smoke puffs of rich old gold in ] glorious war irays of the setting sun are. continually floajting low overhead, often shutting out nil views. The space before toe trendies lhas been whipped up into diust haze by the lather of shells, bullets and the rushing feet, and through this is sti'H occasionally rushed white patched khaki uniforms, all bathed in the reddening light of the evening. An officer an the recess by me 19 attempting to signal the captured trench wiith a small calico apparatus. Presently an answering signal appears ill the opposite trench. "The men there," begins the message, but all we tan make out ia the word "Urgent." A signaller tries to make the signal clearer, but possibly the enemy notices, for three shrapnel shells burst immediately over him, and the dust completely obscures the signals. Three shells almost simultaneously burst within a few feet of our recess, but I think they are only firing on mother line, which happens to be advancing.

TRENCHES TAKEN. 7 p.m.—Some message must have returned, for the Ist Battalion has received notice that reinforcements are wanted on the Tight. Looking forward on the right we see men clustered in two bunches behind the parapet, which makes the message difficult to understand, became,, apparently, there are men already there. Someone looking long through the periscope notices that not one of those white-patched uniforms has stirred; they have fought their last brave fight. I suppose some machine-gun caught them lying exposed. Companies of the let Battalion are now crossing occasionally. Presently two men- come racing back, carrying a reel between them. One drops suddenly out of sight .below the scrub; the other, who overran him, drops in also. They had hit a concealed pit in our front line of trenches. They were signallers. They carried the telephone at least five times across that space, but the line was generally cut by .shrapnel. 1 can see a few bayonets sticking out from the Turkish' trench immediately north. A report comes along that the Turks will soon be massing for a coun-ter-attack. Messengers occasionally arrive. One is a man who was signalling to us. He says those three shells hit several men around him. Messengers say the headcorer of the Turkish j trenches consisted of beams, nine by four.

7.3o—Messages have eome back from all the commanders in the captured trenches. Every position is satisfactory. Seventy Turkish prisoners are waiting an opportunity of being sent across. We have taken three trenches, about two to three hundred yards ahead. Thp, fire is quietening, but the shells are still falling thickly. Some .surprises are In store fer the Turks. HEAVY FIRING. 9.3o.—The Ist Australian Brigade made its splendid attack not far from the right of our line. For the past halfhour our guns have been bombarding a position far to the left. At 0.30 exactly there has broken out a prolonged buret of distant rifle fire. We know well what that noise is. Whilst the Turks are preparing to counter-attack our right the New Zealanders have begun the great movement to the north, which is still unfinished. That firing means that the Mounted Rifles have moved out in an easterly direction from their "post at the extreme north of our line against tlie Turks' trenches oil the western spurs of the main ridge opposite them. The Turks have here several strong outlying trenches. When these are cleared the Fourth Australian Brigade, with several other brigades, will advance north; then turn up against the slopes of the main ridge. The best place for seeing this is the left or north, so I shall go to a position there.

12.20.—M0re heavy firing to the north. At midnight there is a dull sound of an explosion near the centre. This i-s clearly the mine which we were to explode at midnight. 12.43.—An outburst of heavy firing to the southwards. We are probably rushing a trench centre. f am now Hearing the north of the >me. A continuous stream of our troops is going the same way, and out to the north Yipyond our lines. The 4th Australian >!rigads must have gone on already ahead of me. for I am with the New Zealand Infantry. 1 understand the 'Mounted Rifles are held up before the trenches of the spurs of our right front. A distant uheer lias gone up in the darkness, I believe the mounted? must have taken the trench. THE MOUNTED RTFLES. 12,49, —A message has come through that the •Mounted Rifles have taken the spurs. A rumor reaches us that they have captured a machine-gun, and a French seventy-five gun, which was shelling the beach from here lately. 1 a.m. —A messenger from the Mounted Rifles reports that they got into one trench with the bayonet; but the working party which followed was blown up by the inine. This wa.s the first and only time we found a mined trench. The troops are still filing out north in continuous column amongst the sandhills. On the beach -are a few wounded from the 4th Australian Brigade, hit by strays occasionally from the spurs. About a mile north-east some isolated outbursts of firing are heard—clearly the.head of the Australian and other columns are meeting with some small parties of tlie enemy iti the hills, possibl.v those driven out from the other spurs by the mounted rifles. 3 a.m. —A column i.s still filing very slowly past. Of course its head cannot go rapidly through the narrow, windin? valleys where the front must now be" without some delay. I walked out across the flat, open country for the first time at Anzac. The column beside me was always moving slowly forward through the dark, with continual halts like those of a theatre queue. Suddenly, from far ahead, and slightly to the left, that is, seaward, broke out a distant ripple of very rapid fire. This i's something quite* different from tlie nearer firing. It was tlie first sign we j lieard to-nigilit of the new landing of a British force at Suvla Bay, five miles to the north. This force was to have begun its landing a.t midnight. So it seems to liave met no opposition on landing. A small moon was now up. 4 a.in,—A tremendous fire has started against the TuTki®h trenches oppoiWe

the angle at the centre of pur position. The warships are pouring in broadsides as fast as they can fire, All tftio guns at Anzac appear to be lathering that smaiU. space aa fast as 'possible. The uuAveree ia simjily in uproar.

IPBiOGKESS OF TKJ3 BATTLE. 4.<J),—The gun-fire has suddenly ceased. About a minute Mer an enormous rifle-fire burst out from tlhe trenches in this space. I have seldom heard anything so intense. Clearly our Australian light Horse are attempting to rush the trenches opposite Quinn's and the angle of cur position. After about half a minute the heavy thud of bombs da ■ heard. The Light Horse must have charged the trenches and aire endeavoring to bomb the enemy out of the trenches. One stands, heart in mouth, but the terrific fire is not ceasing. Our men must (have readied, the trench, but clearly could not stay before It in a fire like that.

6.30. —This fire lasted till 5, and broke out again at 5.15, 5.30 and 6.10. Clearly the light Horse must have charged the trendies again and again. It is now daylight. Off the point of land northwards where yesterday there were no human beings possible, we saw, in the growing light, a crowd of warships, reminding one of the old days at Anzac. The British troops could be seen advancing in short 'rushes a mile or so inland across the high ground, the Turkish shrapnel bursting over them. The warships are firing on the surrounding hills. A short time ago a German aeroplane appeared northwards. A British aeroplane sailed over towards it. The German descended beliind the hills at a very steep angle, and the Australians at Anzac beheld a mueh-ionged-for air duel. The warships are Shelling the top of the main ridge, therefore wo cannot get possession of it. At midday the 4th Australian Brigade, vnitih other troops next them, li&ve reached a line slightly below the crestline of the main ridge. A line of troops, with fixed bayonets, which I believe to bo the New ZeaJand infantry, can also be seen in the scrub a little below the main ridge. I Ifear that the attack on the trench at midnight failed, and also the extraordinary gallant attempts of the Light Itase on the' trenches opposite them. Fighting has been tremendously intense, charge after charge being made since <5 p.m. here. The First Brigade captured seven machine-guns at Lonesome Pine, and turned them on the enemy. Our men all day long axe watching the English advancing beside Suvla Bay. One staff officer rode round there to-day on a fine horse captured from a Turk. Strings of prisoners have been coming in all day. -One hundred were captured at Lonesome Pine, and the rest, about four hundred, mostly in the northern gullies. The shelling of the beach has almost stopped. Yesterday a barge containing 250 bags of mails sank. The barge drifted ashore, but the mails were lost at midnight. Tremendous outbursts of firing have occurred opposite the Light Horse at 8.45, 9 and 10.15, and as I write this cable uneasy firing is proceeding all along the ridge to the far north.

THE SHIPS ASSIST. August S, 3.30.—1 can heSr tremendous sounds of bombardment, evidently directed against part of the main ridge. So our men cannot yet have obtained the Whole, if any, part of it. I can hear the rifle firing, as far as the ridge to the north. 5.55.—Has opened fire with her big bow gun. s.sß.—She is rolliug off broadsides as fast as can be served. Clearly the ships are bombarding the crest of the main ridge, previous to an assault by our troops. Stray rifle bullets, which are lisping past as I write, are obviously from a great distance. 6.30. —The bombardment has ceased. Our troops have taken the main Turkish communication trench—a huge covered way, whkh runs from north down towards the angle of our position. The Turks can be seen jumping in this trench. Lower down our ships are placing shells into the trench. I hear also that the trench which was attacked by the Bth Battalion after the mine was blown up at midnight on August 6 was not taken that night, tliomgb the battalion charged twice, if not three times. The Turks have counter-at-tacked on the main ridge. Since 8.4,) the ships have been shelling the ridge heavily, and at a little after 9 rifle firing beoamo general. The beach for two days has been almost quiet. For a long time onlv one Turkish gnn appeared to be slie'ling the Australian position. On the others a mysterious silence ha.s fallen. The banging of our own warships in the ofi'nig, and the continuous firing along the distant ridges, sound extraordinarily familinr. being reminiscent of the first days at AnZac.

The position at the moment of writing is—we have given the Turks a heavy blow. Opposite part of the Australian line the battle is still raging.

A GENERAL SURVEY. EFFECTING A LANDING. TERRIFIC 1' lIITIXO AND A BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENT. Gaba Tepe, August 9. Since Friday night the battle which started on the Australian right at Anzac. with the magnificent capture of Lonsome Pine trenches by our Ist Infantry Brigade, has rolled away far to the north. The battle actually started with the bombardment of Achi Baba ,nwl the attack at ITelles about 4 o'clock ,I'riiiiy afternoon. Then came the magnific nt assault of the Ist infantry Brigade on Lonesome Pine at 5.30. This was practically finished by 7.30. Two. hours later our blow first began to be felt to the north. The New Zealand monnteds and the Maoris were moving out from the extreme north of our line against strongly entrenched spurs opposite them. Some of these trendies were stubbornly held, but by 11 o'clock the troops had cleared most of them with the bayonet alone. The Maoris are said to have fought excellently. As these reached certain points they turend inland, plunged into dark, deep, narrow foothill gullies. Each column had scouts working a little ahead of it. Every now and then these f-conts came across small bodies of the enemy, often fleeing from the attack of the mounteds earlier in the night, or occupying a small outpost from which the Turks used to annoy us during the past months. COLD STEEL VERSUS BULLET. ■Shots constantly rang out through the gullies ahead. These were almost all Turkish, as we used the bayonet almost exclusively during the night. further north of these columns, axce.pt the British flanking outpost, was the Fourth Australian Infantry Brigade; next, southwards, were some Indian troops, and the southernmost position was occupied by tlie New Zealand Infantry, wffiich last turned not very far north of

our position. Tlie narrowness of the vailleys, where sometimes only one could wailk at a time, and the contorted slia.pt; of the hills, made progress slow. When the moon rose in the small hours, the hemk of the columns were in -the hills and the tails were just clearing the flats. Just at dawn, after one of the mast concentrated bombardments ever seen here from ships' guns and land guns, the First and Third Light Horse Brigades made a most gaillant attack from an angle of our .position against the Turks immediately north of our position, in order to •help the New Zealand infantry to get a footing further.north. Daybreak found our troops—the Fourth Australian Infantry Brigade—digging In in the deep guffiea between tlieni and tlhe Indians. The Turks had managed to bring shrapnel on to the troops as they worked lip the valleys. That was the position practically all Saturday.

BRITISH LAND AT SUVLA. Meantime the battle had extended much further north still. In the early hours of Saturday morning, about eight hours after the battle first began tof .spread from the south, the British force made a fresh landing at Suvla Bay, about four miles north of Anzac. About 3 o'clock on Saturday morning the sound of their rifles could be heard from t'he north of our lines. AH that day the troops could be seen landing. The Turkish shrapnel was bursting over the beach and the low hills near it. By next morning, however, we noticed the Turkish shells bursting over the hill on the plain to the northward from which a battery of Turkish guns had for nearly four months played on Anzac. That was the position yesterday. Early this morning, after another bombardment lasting about an hour, all directed to the jiortfowards, another fierce battle began which, to judge by the firing, has continued freely ever since. The warships are firing constantly, and the rattle of musketry is absolutely continuous. AFTER THE LANDING. Gaba Tepe, August 11. This morning, the sixth day of the figiht, there was no sound of gun or even .rifle firing. The perfect silky glassiness of the sea opposite Suvfa was broken this morning by two fountains of white foam, where the enemy's guns from behind the ridges were blindly feeling for the ships. Otherwise, the scene reminds one of the French Riviera on some perfect spring day, or when some local watering-place up the coast ib celebrating its regatta. So appears to be drawing to a close one of the most magnificently-fought battles wherein the British race has ever taken part. The story of the desperate attacks by which the New Zealander fought their way during two nights up intricate ■ valleys, through trenches and redoubts, will, when history can be fully written, make as glorious a page as is found in the annals of I any country. The whole operation was one such as, I am told, was never previously attempted in the history of the war. The moving out of a number of separate columns , through the dark into the wild bush and mountain country. sprinkled with trenches and redoubts. against a civilised enemy, is a feat which was never done before. The history of this attack, as far as is yet known, is as follows:

MAORILAXDF.RS' DESPERATE WORK. Ou the night of August C, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, advancing about 9.30, crept through the scrub against the Turkish trenches opposing them on the seaward spurs. Around some of these trendies the fighting was very fierce, but the mounteds, by desperate attacks, cleared one after another, till their work was completed. The Xew Zealand infantry advanced through them by daylight and reac-hed a position further northwards. The Indians and Fourth Australian Brigade, working up other gullies, readied a. somewhat similar position. The troops dug in, and held on there, leaving us in possession of our line along the lower slopes of the main ridge, which we won during the first night's fighting. The British force, which 'landed at Suvla, to judge from here, and by the bursts, have advanced several miles inland to a line about northward of our own. Suvla Bay, which they have taken, is an invaluable harbor during the wild weather which rules here ill autumn and winter.

This bald account is nil tliat is possible at present to obtain of the battle to the northward from Anzae. The desperate fi^'htins' by which tlio First and Third Light Horse Brigades, from tlie apex of the position at Anzac. endeavored to assi.'t. is a story hv itself. Further south stiH the first Infantry Brigade, whose splendid charge captured the Turkish trendies at Lonesome 'Pane, was counter-atta. ked day and night by Turkish reserves, the battle resolving itself almost entirely into one of bombs. The Turkish trenches were extraordinarily elaborate, consisting of a perfect maze of tunnels, with ledges whereon some troops cold lie whilst others passed through, and where troops could retire from artillery fire.

DID ALL THAT MEN C'OCLI) IX)." After the fight the Turks naturally knew the exact position of the, trenches they had just lost, and were able to drop in bombs from other trencher whose direction we could only guess at. They also managed to retake some small portions of the trench, but wci's driven out again every time, and a small party of tlie Ist Battalion took ail additional 40 yards of a certain main communication trench. During the later stages the Ist Brigade was veini'mved by the 7th and 12th Battalions. The water and food supply from the first has bocu splendidly carried rait. One great difficulty was the manner in which the trenches were blocked by Turkish dead. Needless to say, the stretcher-bearers worked throughout under a heavy lire, absolutely regardless of danger, i'ossihly the most harassing work of all hns been that of the artillery, From Friday morning till Tuesday the gun crews and ammunition-car-riers have been working all the time without, relief. Observers .havo to be incessantly watchful, One day for a, few minutes two Turkish guna turned up at Gaba Tepe. Our guns poured ill 20 rounds, and the Turkish guns had to bo Immediately withdrawn, but it can be understood what this sort of watchfulness: night and day for the best part of a week means. From the whole history of this fierce fighting one thing stands elcar, and that, is the force did all that men could do. Tlie troops wi-re lungnilVentiy led, and when the full history eoines to be written T have not the slightest doubt it will fiffurc as one of the most glorious episodes in the history of this or nnv nrmr