GALLIPOLI.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 December 1915, Page 3

GALLIPOLI.

AND THE BALKANS.

QUESTION OF EGYPT. (Special Representative Melbourne Age). T-'ie recent attack by Turks on the British position at Suvla Bay and the demonstration at Anzac came to break a period of comparative quiet on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The attack was apparently launched on the belief that the British Army on the peninsula had been denuded to swell the forces landed at Salonika. To his cost the Turk discovered the mistake, and after suffering heavy casualties he once again settled into his trenches. None of the Australian or New Zealand army corps have been sent to Salonika, nor are they likely to be sent there while the position at Anzac remains as at present. The men of the first Australian division in reserve a t Mudros have been making the most of the rest which they so richly deserved. Sports, drill and good food have enabled the battalions to regain their old fighting strength, and it will be as veteran troops strengthened by reinforcements that they will return to the trenches. In fact, by the time this reaches you they will be once again in the firing line. Most of the leaders have paid hurried visits to Egypt on military busi- : ness, and have returned to assume command again, bringing with them many of the men who have recovered from wounds, and are eager to join up with those of their comrades who are left. FORMING WINTER QUARTERS. As far as possible efforts are being made to provide suitable quarters for the coming winter months. For this purpose timber and Bheet-iron have been landed by the Navy, but up to the present there has been no great call for urgency. One rain storm swept across the peninsula, and for a day the position was disagreeable, as the trenches were wet and the saps were drains for a short time, while the tracks were dangerously slippery. The water soon soaked in, but it gave the troops a taste of what is to be expected. Many trenches have been shored up where they are particularly exposed to the weather, and a system of drainage is being carried out by the engineers.

The Turks have confined their offensive to mining, which cannot be considered in any way successful. Though no longer held by Australian troops, Hill 60 was mined by the enemy. The crown of this point is covered with trenches running in all directions, which are partly occupied by Turks and partly by British troops. Evidently miscalculating their position, the Turks exploded a mine without doing any damage to us, but effecting considerable damage to their own trenches. On the Anzac front a mine entombed three Australians, who, however managed to dig themselves out, and Appeared safe and sound before their astonished cgjnrades. Otherwise the front has been quite quiet, the casualties at Anzac being negligible. GENERAL HAMILTON'S DEPARTURE. The departure of Sir lan Hamilton was the occasion for widespread regret throughout the army corps, although it had been foreshadowed for some little time. The personal acquaintance with him during his visit to Australia has bred deep confidence in General Hamilton as a leader. THE MEDICAL SITUATION 1 . At Anzac preparations have been completed for the care of the sick and wounded in tents (later huts will be built) on a site at the foot of Plugge Plateau, north of the present beach clearing station, which had to be evacuated owing to weather conditions. This station is situated at the foot of the cliffs, with a narrow strip of beach, not more than 30ft or 40ft wide, betwen it and the high-water mark.

The new site is at the mouth of the gully, where a low platpau forms an excellent situation for a clearing hospital, while an adjacent position is occupied for army service purposes. Both points are, unfortunately, still open to shell fire, but not to the same extent as those on Anzac beach were. Colonel arrived back from a visit to the front, and has left again for Malta and London, where he will finish his report on the medical situation. He spoke to me in terms of highest praise of the work done by the Australian division. As far as that branch of the service is concerned, all details of dressing and clearing stations were complete and adequate, and as far as I was able to judge, no alteration can be suggested there, whatever the recommendations may be in regard to the hospitals at the base and at Lemnos. At Malta he hopes to find the key to the situation as far as Australian care and treatment of wounded is concerned. Prominent above other considerations stands out the need for a proper ration for the troops and increases in the quantity of vegetables and fatty foods. Alterations, however, have been effected. THE BALKANS PROBLEM. The general opinion here regarding the Balkans upheaval is optimistic, and the prospect of the Kaiser expending his last effort on a futile attack on the Suez Canal and Egypt is regarded with no apprehension. That Egypt is the dream of the Germans may he gleaned from the magnificent promise of that territory and the North African coast as far as Morocco, which was given to Turkey. Meanwhile every effort is being made to push forward the railway on the (Sinai Peninsula, which will form the slender thread for the invading host to travel tp the canal. The moment for our attack will follow on the arrival of the German force (and very necessary ammunition supplies) at Constantinople; but German hopes are centred on the complete junction of the Bulgarians with the lAustro-German force that has crossed the Danube. The advent of Greece on the side of the Allies is anticipated. It is doubtful, also, if Bulgaria can rely on her troops to fight the Russians should a force invade Varna. Turkish troops, who can ill be spared from the Gallipoli Peninsula, have been sent to the Black Sea and Aegean coasts.

SUBMARINES IN THE AEGEAN. In view of the bombardment of the Bulgarian coast and the stream of transports between England, Alexandria, Mudros and Salonika, the German and Austrian submarine menace in Mediterranean waters seems to have grown less dangerous. A Greek steamer was recently stopped by an Austrian «übmarine under pecu-