THE ANZACS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1916, Page 3

THE ANZACS.

A SECRET WITHDRAWAL. A vivid" DESCRIPTION. The following dispatch has been received from Mr. Malcolm Ross, the New Zealand official war correspondent:— Anzac Bay, Dec. 10. Three miles away, across the grey, silky sea, lies the dark shape of the land. Eight months ago, just as the first lemon grey of dawn was breaking over that long, lizard-shaped mountain, I watched such signs as were visible of the landing of the Australian troops in HHH^HHHHIiHiJ^ffi But at present—although everyone* nerves are on edge with the proximity of the constant possibility of a great tragedy before to-morrow's daybreakyet there is nothing whatever in the grey shape of the land there to suggest that the. Turks have the least hint of what is going forward. I know that, as a matter of fact, certain movements of troops have been taking place during the last half hour, which, if carelessly carried out, would result in the discovery of our plan. But, looking on with all the apprehension in the world, one cannot make out the least difference in the scene. . The grey mountain is sleeping under the moon. The red pinpoints of the incinerator fires are winking exactly as usual on hill and valley all over our position. The grey smoke of the evening fires curls upwards from the gullies. From the crest of the ridges conies the lazy "pick, pock" of desultory yifle fire. It is an ordinary night's sniping, the Turks firing at our loopholes and we at theirs. From far to the south, at Helles, comes more than the usual rumble of guns; we made an attack at Helles this afternoon.

A MOMENT DREADED BY ALL. As everything is so silently quiet, I chose the moment for going down below to the cabin of this hospitable cruiser, in order to make a tentative start with this article. During the later stages of the night there will be no opportunity, For it can be stated without harm thai the movement which is at this moment going on was the one which from the day of landing everyone here most dreaded. I .heard it said on the day of landing, and it has been a commonplace ever since, that, though the experiences of landing were bad and rough, one thing would be worse, and that was if it ever fell to our lot to have to get off again. One reads in the papers speeches of members of Parliament, asking light-heartedly why the forces were not withdrawn from the Dardanelles, as if the process was merely one of picking up baggage and walking off.

TURKS ON VERGE OF BRITISH POSITIONS. People talking like that, one knew, could not have the faintest Conception of the conditions under which we have, been holding on for eight months at Anzac. Did they realise that the main beach, from which almost all the work of supplying Anzac had to be done, was within nine hundred yards of the main centre and pivot of the whole Turkish line; that if the Turks could fight their j way for three hundred yards they would reach the edge of the cliff, from which they would look down, as from the gallery of a theatre, upon the narrow ilat containing nearly all our stores, our ordnance depot, and all the paraphernalia for landing and embarkation?

Six hundred yards below them would be the north beach itself —that is the beach just north of Ari Burmi point—with three of our five landing stages and a solitary sunken tramp steamer, which served us for a breakwater. Just south of Ari Burnu point, in Anzac Cove, or the Soutli Beach, is Watson's Pier, built by the Australian signallers soon after the landing. But this socalled pier is within sight of the Gaba Tepe promontory, and the enemy can see it so well that the guns of his batteries to the south of us can put a shell on to any part of that beacli at any moment they wish, as easily as you can strike any letter on a typewriter. There are fourteen guns in those particular batteries, but they all go by the name of "Beachy Bill," and "Bcachy" has made Watson's Pier pnd Anzac Beach easily the most unsafe place on the Peninsula. SECRECY ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL. The only chance is to get the troops away without the enemy, of whom there are 85,000 at Anzac and Suvla, having a suspicion of it. North Beacli is bettei hidden than Watson's. The enemy cannot actually see from anywhere the ground round the landing-point, but there is an offshoot from the main ridge to the north, from which lie could look over our inner ridges on to Ari Burnu Point and half of North Beach. It was known as "Sniper's Nest," because he habitually sniped from there at night with a machine-gun. From Snipers' Nest lie can just see the tip of one of the landing steps, and all the boats moving to x ov from them. Indeed, he keeps a careful list of all the sea traffic. Those two little patches of beach, over which the whole of our supplies have come, are the only two portions of beach in Anzac protected from the direct view and rifle fire of the Turks.

Suvla is even more open to shell fire, but at several miles distance from the nearest Turkish observer. Complete secrecy is the only conditions which can prevent the most terrible conditions on the beach.

Every man knows this, and it can be imagined with what feelings they read the airy speeches and airier articles discussing the probability of our evacuation. The only consideration has been that the enemy would probably consider that not even the British would be fools enough to talk so much about evacua-

tion if they were really thinking of undertaking it. It is only a few days since we ourselves heard of the evacuation, although it had possibly been decided on after the visit of Lord Kitchener.

Suvla and Anzac are not, like Helles, of any value iu themselves. They arc only useful as stepping-stones for a further advance, and since the failure of the Suvla attack the only chance for a further advance was the landing of a very large additional force. As a concentration of forces, and not a further scattering, was clearly necessary, it was obvious that another army .was scarcely likely to he spared for Gallipoli. I have heard the chances of evacuation discussed amongst the' men for some weeks, so that when news of the decision spread it was not altogether unexpected. I have heard every sort of view expressed. A few were very depressed at leaving Anzac, but the majority were glad enough to accept fate as it comps to them, and get away from the peculiar difficulties and especial labors of this position, before the hardships are doubled by the winter.

THE LITTLE CEMETERIES, The uppermost thought in the mind of every man I have spoken to was regret at leaving the little mountain cemeteries which every valley and hillside contains. For a week past at any time of day you saw small parties of men carefully lettering-in the half obliterated name of some comrade on a rough wooden cross, or carefully raking a mound and bordering it neatly with the fuse caps from fallen shells. The demand on the Ordnance for wood for crosses has been extraordinary. I noticed some chaplains sowing wattle and manuka on the graves. The men believe the Turiks will respect these graveyards. Indeed, many Australian soldiers have 'been writing letters to leave in their dugouts for "Abdul," telling him what a clean fighter they think he has been and wishing him "Au revoir."

DID THE TURKS SUSPECT! It is difficult to say whether there has been any sign yet that the Turks have heard of our intention. One has been inclined to think that the action of his guns shows that he knows something is in the air. It has been noticeable that during the last three days "Beachy Bill" has left off shelling the south beach, and has been trying to get the exact range of the northern beach. The only man who can see it for him is the observer at Sniper's Nest, or on a part of the same ridge, who can sec the mast of the breakwater steamer, and probably the extreme end of the beach. Luckily, his practice has not been good, for thousand upon thousand of troops will have to pass this way. What may have given the enemy an inkling, and must certainly have made him think, is an occurrence of the night before last. About one o'clock in the morning, on looking out, one noticed to one's horror that the whole sky to the northward was flushed with orange with the reflection of a great fire.

LOOKED LIKE TRAGEDY. This fire was clearly within our lines, no't far from the North Beach, and was probably either an ordnance dump or a supply dump burning . \ As one knew that no stores were to be on any account returned till after everyone left, this occurrence looked like tragedy. But nothing important followed, and I doubt whether the fire has done any real harm. On marching to the place I found a huge supply stack flaming—biscuit boxes, meat tins, and oil drums exploding and being hurled through the air, and men, from Generals downwards, perspiring in an attempt to isolate the fire. The stack had been ignited by accident.

"Beachy Bill," who had been throwing shells into the sand nearby, clearly thought it his doing, for as soon as he saw the glow he began to throw in more shells, which fell about a hundred yards to one side of it in the sea. The accident seemed unfortunate at the time, but the enemy can hardly think we are such fools that we should deliberately burn stores two or three night before attempting a secret evacuation. He knows we have been using every artifice lately to trv to tempt him to attack-, and probably thinks this the end of them. Indeed, if he had attacked at any time up to now we should have been only too glad to receive him.

"THANK GOD, THAT'S SO MANY CLEAR." On deck again; ten minutes past eight. To the south of us there is stealing off through the night mist, which fortunately hangs low over the surface of the sea, a dark shape. From ashore come the ordinary sounds of rifles, quite normal. The moon is so bright that I can easily see what I write. 8.27: Another distant grey shape is passing outwards, far to the southward. They are clearly getting away without the 'least hitch, actually ahead of time. ThankGod, that's so many thousand clear, at any rate.

A big monitor has just been stealing in past' us—a ship I have never seen before. She must be in there to enfilade the Suvla trenches if anything goes wrong. On the forecastle, below me, I can see the white tops of the caps of about twenty-five sailors, gazing intently. Tboy are intensely interested in and hospitable to any soldier, of whom there are two or three aboard. The ship's officers are straining in the leash to be of any use they can. This ship has for some time watched over the interests of Anzac on the sea, and the whole company is only eager to help the Army to-night. "If anything goes wrong, well, we can go in and pick them oil, lr it comes to that," says someone. Hie only thing that corses hard is evidently that as long as everything goes well there is to be no call upon them, except in the actual arranging of the transports. Otherwise, they can only lire the few normal rounds on the flanks.

"What's that fellow up to down there?" says the officer of the watch, looking critically at a rival. "I can scarcely see the beggar's searchlight. Why doesn't he ginger it up a bit?"

FIRING TO THE LAST. Some gun lias flashed down near our beach. Probably it is one we are leaving behind, so that they can be firing up to the very last moment. The old Anzac position is so small that a field gun, if placed in the valleys where it would, be hidden from the enemy, cannot lire at the enemy's front trenches. They could fire at positions four thousand yards away, but from the first, in order to enable the Australian field guns to fire on the enemy's trenches, it has been necessary to place them right on top of the hill. The men dragged them there by solid muscle in the earlv days. Eight of them were actually in the old firing line, almost all the remainder on the hill crests, in full view of the Turks, also two old howitzers, with sights so shaky that they were nearly as to us as to the enemy, will be left till the Uwt, and

possibly the mounted guns on. the very exposed positions. A 4.7 in. naval gun, made in 1800, reputed to have been at Ladysmith (though I cannot vouch for this) was blown up some days ago.

HOT ACTION AT HELLES. It is half-past nine. Very heavy lire has suddenly broken out down there. It is ten miles away, at the least, from where the cruiser lies, and yet I can distinctly hear the ripple of rifle fire and machine-guns, punctuated by the thud of bombs. It is the first time that I personally have ever heard ride lire at Holies from Anzac, although I have twice heard others say they did. But there is no mistaking it now. It gave one a very big heart thump at first, because it sounded almost like an attack on the Anzac right. But there is the casual "pick, pock" of our rifles on the right, audible" clearly above it, and quite distinct.

The British made an attack this afternoon at Holies. The 42nd and, 52nd Divisions, that is the Manchester and Lowlands Divisions, made a charge—we could see the Turkish shrapnel bursting over them—navy and land guns helping the British by one of the most tremendous short bombardments I ever listened to. I wonder if this riflo lire means that we took trenches down there, and the Turks are counterattacking. Everything ashore is quite normal. Now anil then a bomb flashes at places/where the lines are verv close, such as Hill CO in the north, or The Apex, or The Neck, or Lone Pine, ov far south, where the 2nd Light Horse Brigade are holding Chatham's Post on the extreme right.

WHOLE PLAN WORKING SPLENDIDLY. 9.5 a p.m.—A message lias just been received by our captain in charge, to say that the whole plan is working splendidly. A lighter is moving in toward the shore, about half a mile from us. We can hear the voice of its captain from here, asking for instructions. The officer of the watch stamps impatiently on the bridge. 10.5 p.m.—There, is a sound of very heavy firing down south. I can distinctly hear their machine-guns, first one, then two together, then the continuous rattle of rifles.

I know that the troops wbo are coming off are using not only l the North Beach, but also the beach in Anzae Cove, on to which "Bcachy Hill" can •put a shell whenever he likes. He can make that beach almost impassable any moment he likes. Occasionally, when some small increase in sniping from trenches makes one hold one's breath for a moment, I remember that "Beachy'' lias so far only fired four or five shots during the whole night. And that is ' certain proof that be cannot even suspect that there is any unusual movement on.

ENEMY MAKING TRENCHES. 11.40.—A bright light shows for a fewmoments down near the south of the line, at Brighton Beach. A naval officer says it is the flare from the funnel of some steamboat. A collection of a few cutters, with a steamboat, is to gather at Brighton Beach in order to bring off the latest party. We often land stores at Brighton Beach, so "Beachy" will notice nothing unusual in this. Inshore of us there is,just about the usual numibcr of trawlers and small craft lying. Bright Hashes of occasional bombs, casual firing all along the line, the occasional rattle of anchor chains, sparks of incinerator fires every now and then fanned. into a bigger ilare — everything is exactly as usual. A message has been received from the officer commanding the remaining troops to say that the enemy has actually been seen strenuously employed making trenches and putting up barbed wire. He must surely think that our activity means an attack by ua.