THRILLING NIGHT MARCH.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1915, Page 12

THRILLING NIGHT MARCH.

ENEMY'S RIDGES SEIZED. SCENES BEFORE BATTiLE. (Melbourne Argus Correspondent). At the Front.

The new road lias been used —the road that leads to the left. For weeks thousands oi A'istralians, stripped to the waist and with navvies' tools upon their shoulders, have been leaving camp under cover of darkness, to assist in its construction; but one niglit they marched out in fighting trial and did not return with the dawn. When the sun did peep over the distant ridges it found them dug in securely miles away, and Anzac, which, except on the side of the Aegean Sea, had very nearly resembled a beleaguered mining rush, -had a new way out. The story of that dash through the enemy's cordon will be one of the most interesting of the Gallipoli campaign; even the landing did not call for greater bravery or resource on the part of all ranks.

Everyone knew that some great move was in contemplation, and on August C the men were taken into the confidence of their leaders, and the annoiinetmieni was made that the task would be that of marching swiftly and silently through unknown and unexplored hostile territory right to the Turkish strongholds. A vigorous appeal was made to officers and men by tile Brigadier-General, and while he spoke, as if to make the situation more drastic, shrapnel and high explosive sheila were pouring into the valley from all directions, fortunately without doing much damage. The scene that followed was stirring in the extreme; litile knots of men gathered everywhere, discussing the coming adventure, and faces were aglow with animation. Around the dug-outs the more demonstrative veterans of the first fights began at once to show the rawer reinforcements the scientific principle of bayoneting the Turks, and steel edges were tossing comet tails from the grindstone for many hours.

i HAPPY WITH ANTICIPATION. Soldiers, after all, are only big boys, and they "jollied" each other good-hu-moredly as if they were preparing for a school treat instead of a desperate enterprise with an uncertain ending. T'lie troops Muld not have been happier had they been ordered to go for a swim or a cool drink. Rations were crammed into the haversacks, ammunition pouches were stuffed tight, and packs that had not been worn for a long time were stowed away until they might be sent for, as it had been decided not to take along even a blanket. In tile gloaming there was a buzz of conversation along the terraces that suggested a public meeting before the chairman takes his seat. One youth confided to a companion that the doctors wanted to send him to hospital with a sore knee, but he had pulled the bandage off. "My two cobbers are going, and so am I," was the last remark fit headquarters of a bronzed Hercules, who went out in defiance of orders to remain behind, and by a coincidence he was the first Australian killed, shot through the head. Heavy rifle fire sounded overhead, for it had been arranged that a demonstration should be made against one of the Turkish lines of trenches to divert attention from the departing column. The word "Assemble" passed quickly up and down the terraces, and in a minute soldiers were crawling out of the earth from all directions, hitching up the waistbuckle and adjusting their belts. Then, while salvo followed salvo of shell over their heads, the great mass of fighting men began to disentangle itself into a swaying line that measured three miles froiA tip to tail. Hhere was some handshaking at this stage, and a few grave farewells, but the buoyancy of spirits was marked as ever. Two brothers were parted; ■they both were smiling. 'Til see you at Constantinople, Joe," said the elder. "Make it Berlin," was the quick reply. Twenty-four hours afterwards they occupied adjoining stretcher; on the' beach, waiting to be taken off to the hospital ship. Each was still smiling. The Australians formed the centre of a huge column, led by two battalions of British infantry, and with an Indian brigade, made up of Gurkhas and Sikhs, behind them. The duty of the regulars was to protect the left flank while, the troops from the Commonwealth carried out the main work of the expedition. In the van were the ofßcers, who had pored over the contour maps for days, two interpreters, and a Turkish prisoner, who had been employed in carrying water to the enemy firing line.

GUNS BEGIN TO SEARCH. Scarcely had the beach road been reached than the enemy's big guns began to search for us, but their ranges were at fault, and, though the shells, which had formerly been directed on to the bivouacs, came whistling towards our liues with an alarming noise, they passed harmlessly overhead to churn up the sea where hundreds of men from other units were bathing. Then the Turks began to file star shells into the air; they illuminated the whole of the country in the vicinity of where tlie troops were moving, but by tucking in close to the undergrowth ail escaped detection until the farthest outpost of the Anzac position had been reached. Here t.he column was subjected to a severe lombardment, and there were a good many casualties from bullets; Out our own men kept steadily and silently on their way in close order, with their rilles slung over their shoulders. The fact that there was no reply to their fire seemed to puzzle the Turks, and for a while they diverted their projectiles in a more southerly direction, giving the i iaarching troops time to penetrate two farther out than any of the An/.ie gan?*® fl h a(l ever before. The country > n distinct contrast to that •n which t)i" "if" llad . living, and there were whispered coin men Is when it was discovered t !le . v were walking on grass, an a~ifflo.se forgotten growth that most of the troops iiad not trod on since leaving Australia. In places poppies brushed the soldiers' knees, and the more romantic decorated their caps with wild flowers Then the route suddenly turned at right angles inland, facing for the heart of Jhe enemy's position. . u

TERRIFIC OPPOSITION. Instantly a terrific opposition was met. While the South Wales Borderers kept the Turks employed on the left, the Fourth Brigade of Australians formed into two lines, the 13tli Battalion (Jf.S.W.) leading, the 14th (Victorian) on the left, .and tiie lfltli (Queensland and Tasmania) marching ahead of the Kith (W.A. and S.A.) on the right. From this time the Australians had to fight every inch of the way, and all the time with the bayonet. Whenever a burst of ure came from left or right, small par-

ties were detached to clear the heights. The men would move out without saying a word, vanishing into the darkness. For a few minutes the sound of tlie enemy's rifles and the tramp of the column would be the only sounds; then suddenly would come screams, moans and sighs from the scrub and the tlrad of falling bodies, the 'crumpling of brushwood, frantic appeals to Allah, and finally stillness. Then the wandering soldiers, perhaps one or two short, would creep back again to their positions, and it would be noticed that their bayonets no longer gleamed. These little excursions into the undergrowth became more and more frequent as the brigade advanced, and great numbers of prisoners were brought in, scared and trembling. There were two batches of twenty-three collected by the men of the J3th Battalion in one swoop, and the loth were also kept busily engaged in passing over captives to the Indian units, who detailed men to escort them bavk to ramp. At this time there was great difficulty in restraining the Australians from charging in a body to where the fire was thickest. The country was very dense with scrub and bramble. So the march went along the small defile, each ridge appearing to be strongly held, and tile resistance becoming more "violent at every yard. At one stage it was so obstinate that the column came to a hj.lt, choked up in a bottle-neck, and it was not until tho Brigadier-General himself pushed his way to the front that tho . momentum was restored. Some of the troops had beliome impatient of marching without firing a shot while the enemy teemed around them; but events proved that the policy of charging every fiash with the silent bayonet was the proper one, because as soon as the exchange of shots commenced progress almost ceased.

ENEMY STOREHOUSE. About this time the troops came upon a bam on the edge of a ploughed field, i and examination in the darkness indicated that it was a storehouse for the enemy, as large quantities of cigarettes, jams, tinned milk and other necessities of an army were discovered. It was abided to make a closer inspection in the morning; but one of the first sliots from a cruiser's big guns just before dawn set the building on fire, and before noon all that remained was a heap of ashes. A quarter of a mile farther along the deserted Turkish bivouac was discovered. The position 'had been left in wild haste ; as clothing and' equipment were strewn ever/where, and the complete furnishings of a rest camp were collected. Next morning some of the officers, who had been hurriedly summoned from their stretchers, did not bother to put on their uniforms, but were seen at dawn directing operations in all kinds of mixed attire. Two who surrendered later on were still in "their pyjamas. All this time severe fighting was going on in front, the 13th and loth Battalions bearing the brunt of it, though, of course, not yet using a single cartridge. It was not until just after 4 o'clock that the advancing party declared its position to either friend or foe; the first intimation that it had entered the ridges was the burning of a green flare, and the light which was a signal to the warships not to shoot too close, brought the first burst of cheering from our men, who up till then had been grimly quiet. After that, however, cheer followed cheer in each successive charge. During the day red and yellow flags indicated to the naval gunners the positions thai had been cleared of the enemy, and from the most elevated position inside Ansae's defence the bunting could be seen waving away to the north, as far as the horizon.

AT DAYBREAK. At the first suggestion of dawn tlie Australian Brigade had commenced to climb from the dere, and with it came bursts of rifle fire from our lines. This was the kind of fighting the Turks were used to. Those who had been in terror all night now began to make some show of holding their ground. In the midst of the aetion that followed the troops were able to view from the heights one of the heaviest bombardments by the Kavy that has so far marked the operations in Gallipoli, and the play of the searchlights along tile headlands revealed great columns of grey and blaek smoke shooting up into the air from the points where danger might have been expected. Then, when night dissolved into day, the guns began to pound the ridges in front of the Australian advance, in the effort to make the way easier for them. While this operation lasted, the men were able to rest for haU'-an-hour jn comparative security, and to wonder > at the great fleet of transports that was steadily discharging battlion after battalion of British troops on the shores of Suvla Bay. Those who were fortunate enough to view that panorama on the Saturday morning wer,e well repad for their night's fatigue. But the brigade were not in the enemy's territory with the purpose of admiring the surrounding.?. The column was quickly on the move again, and almost immediately succeeded in seizing a ridge overlooking the valley of Asmailere, which forms a conspicuous feature :'n the rugged landscape. The brigadier then ordered them to dig i)i, and strengthen their position, so that they could recover energy for the remainder of the work ahead. Before tfie sun was well over the Hellespont not a soldier could be seen, and the tired men lay down behind' their earthworks, alert, but enjoying some measure of repose. ' All the time, however, they were under artillery and ride fire. The British flank party at about the same time established itself on the left, and the Indians were away to the right with the New Zealanders, who had come by a different route, forming part of the new front more distant still.

Portion of tho 14th and Battalions before coming 1,0 a standstill had been engaged upon scouring the rearward country, and in doing so had come upon the gun position from which a Turkish "To" had caused so much trouble in the Auzac are. The enemy had managed to drug the piece away under cover of darkness, but a huge mass of ammunition was seized. This and the other spoil collected en route became a serious embarrassment subsequently, and special guards had to be detailed to convey it back to a plaice of safety. The New Zealanders had also taken prisoners on the way, and capturing two machineguns with large supplies of cartridges ready in the belts had turned them upon their former owners. Tho Australian casualties up to this time did not exceed 300. MIGHT ATTACK.

All Saturday was occupied in securing the line, and in sorting out units that had become mixed up during the night, There was more work, however, for the iired troops. As soon as darkness set in, with tho British, and Indian brigades oa the right, a determined assault was delivered on the main spur, which had been marked as the brigade's final stopping place. It was a young Duntroon onicer who led the way by compass, the 15th, 14th and 16th Battalion, in that order, forming the attacking force, with

the New South Wales unit in reserve. Immediate opposition was met, and a fierce fight following, in whieli Queens■and troops were the most hca.vily engaged. Their duty was to make a reconnaissance in force to the north, with a view to distracting as many of the Turks as possible from the main attack. The battle necessitated an advance of about two miles into terribly rough country, teeming ■with the enemy, and an enormous number of machineguns were brought into play from the Turkish flanks. The brigade, 'however, maintained the fight in the darkness for over three hours, while the Gurkhas scaled the neighboring heights. When the task set the Australians had been achieved, they withdrew to a defensive position on the main spur of Abd-el-lahman Bair, where I left them, snug and we'll dug in, prepared to resist any force the enemy can put into the field. Tho position, almost within l-ifle range of the Dardanelles, uppears to be nmeh stronger than any other within the Anzac zone, and complete communications have Been established with thij main base. Provisions, water, ammunition and stores of all kinds are being carried forward without opposition across four miles of country that only a few days ago was entirely in the hands of the enenr,. Telephone and telegraph wires reach tu all points, and constant touch is kept up with the lateral units, which make up the. continuous line from the old Anzac right, near Gaba Tepe, away to the Gulf cf Saros. Splendid fresh water wells had been discovered within the former Turkish position, and the camping equip--ment they left behind, together with the enemy's stocks, has helped to promote the comfort of our troops. In all, tho casualties of the 4th Brigade in its desperate adventure did not exceed 1300, and it is reported .that over 80 per cent, of the ( injuries afe very slight, mostly in the Itegs and arms.

As I walked back to watch other operations, I >had an opportunity of inspecting by daylight the country over which the night march had been carried out. 3-xcopi that a trail of dead Turks made the route unmistakable, it seemed impossible that any body of troops rould ever have passed that way in the dark. The scrub appeared to be almost Impenetrable, and for the most part shoulder high, fringing small ridges and ravines that an ordinary tourist would hesitate to face, yet our men had plunged through without any hesitation, never knowing what lay in wait for them inside. No wonder the Turks ran. It was the story of the landing over again —a rush that neither nature nor armed force could obstruct. Approaching the beach there were evidences that the Australians had a narrow escape. They had passed through Syxnhyd Dere just in time. The ravine was cut up as if prospectors had been at work, high explosive sheila 'having torn sections of it to pieces. The latest iequest from Abd-el-rahman Bair is for cigarettes and sweets, and there is a notice stuck up on one of the outposts which reads: "Ladies admitted free."