THE ORIENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 October 1915, Page 5

THE ORIENT.

GERMAN'S FORCED TO DESIRE. Received Oct. 11, 12.50 a.m. Petrograd. Oct. 10. A communique stales that the battle which is iii progress at Oarlmnowka is resuming an extremely desperate character. The Germans, northward of I iarbunowka, being unable to withstand our maVhine-guns, were forced to desist in the attack at that point. The enemy, southward of Pripet, re-occupied iPojog. On the lower Stokhod we captured Konstantinova, north-west of Bilbao.

SLAUGHTER AT GALLIPOLI. FIGHT FOR HILL 971. ONLY TWO LEVT ALIVE IN FTFJXG LINE. HOW COLONEL MALONE DIED Writing on the Hospital Ship Dongola, under date August 12, to his brother, Charles, from iho Mediterranean, Trooper Tom Trask, of tile Wellington Battalion, Main Expeditionary Force, gives the following interesting account of the great light for Hill 971, where there were very heavy casualties on both sides:

''This is the iirsc time for four months or over that I have been able to write you a decent letter. 1 have all (he comforts 1 can wish for here, including all the paper and envelopes we want. For a start 1 will tell you about our groat fight for llill 071. This will only he a slight idea of what it was like. We ( Wellington Infantry Regimen!) and Canterbury were in charge of a post called 'Quinn's Post,' a very delicate part of (ho old firing line, and our colonel was the boss dog of it, and his good work made it into something like an old man's home after we had occupied it for about a month. \Xc. hail bomb-proof cover and tunnels galore, and our miners often got right under the Turks' trench and blew it up, often doing a good deal of damage. Well, we had only a few casualties in there, which were chiefly chaps being shot through our loopholes, but we had

TIIE SUPERIORITY OF FIRE, and would very seldom see a Turk. Things went en for a couple of months very slow, but we knew we would have have some work to do before long, and so the day came, August 7. We had to shift from our home (all New Zealand), about live miles out to our left flank, and drive the Turks back so that we could occupy this big Hill H7J. I can only tell you about our own regiment, as I did not know whej'B all the Other regiments were working. All 1

know about is whiio we were marching up a big gully on our way to 071 we heard the Maoris doing hakas and bullying Turks to throw down their rifles, etc. I mean the Turkish prisoners. The Maoris made a great name for themselves, and fought in great style in combination with the Otago Regiment. Well our march was dead silent, and we kept going until we reached the top of the gully and found ourselves at the foot of 071. It was then daybreak, and we were given our sections of ground, and took up our post. Then the little Ghurkas were seen crawling through our lines and went beyond us, but soon came back. Then we had to get into a small gully and dig ourselves in. Some other regiment (I think Auckland) took a small ridge on the slopes of 971. So we went to sleep that night without our coats, and were awakened at about 8 a.m. and had to go ahead and

TAKE THE HEIGHTS, . j which we did with little trouble. But (he trouble came with daylight, and before we had ourselves properly dug in we started to get knocked over. Despite this we went on with our trenching tools with heads down, for a few hours. This was anything' but a pleasant job, as chaps were being killed all round us. The line ran like this: —Front, Wellington, supported by half Taranaki and Hawke's Bay companies, were supposed to take the firing line, and lluahine and Wanganui to be support, but we all got mixed up, and all four companies were together. The Welsh Regiment came up and dug reserve trenches but got cut up badly. Then is was somewhere about 10 a.in, when we heard cries of 'Allah, Allah,' and saw the Turks about ten yards in front coming at us with the bayonet, but our boys just dropped them as fast as they came over the ridge and before long Turks were three deep in our front. But we suffered also, as when they charged us some more Turks got up on a rise oil our right and enfiladed us. So the Gluirkas were sent up to shift them, numbering about 60, but they did not get far. I only saw four come back. About mid-day or 1 p.m. came the second attack, which was something the same as the first. But we were only about 200 strong and holding back about 2000 Turks. Of course, if they had niaiied us in proper style I have no doubt about them shifting us off. We were ordered to the captured Turks' firing line after this, and about five of ua made a rush forward. I only got out of my place, and got a bullet in the foot, so dropped back in my nest. Then the word came back for Colonel Malone that there were only two alive in the firing line. .So I took the message to him and went straight on, and took the wrong Sully, and had to go about six miles to the beach with only a first field dressing on my foot, but I got there in due course. I will be able to tell you more when I sew you. I never said that we held the hill from an hour before daylight on the Stli till help came sometime late in the afternoon (I was not there later than 2 p.m., so do not know exactly how things went after that). But I heard that wtiat was left' of the .Wellington were taken out and relieved by new troops on Sunday night. All officers but about two were killed or wounded. Colonel Malone was killed by a shell. Good-bye and good luck, as I have no doubt now I will -seu old New Zealand again. There are very few of us left now. The stli Reinforcements just got here in time to get properly knocked about. lam sure we have now done our whack, and ought to got a good spell somewhere. lam now in Lemnos harbour, but I think we will bo put off at Alexandria,"