THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 February 1916, Page 6

THE WAR.

THE GREAT ADVENTURE. ' ANZAC-SUVLA EVACUATION. TURCO-GERMAN FORCES OUTWITTED. AN HISTORIC OPERATION. (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces). December 25. With the mud of the Gallipoli trenches still clinging to their boots, some of the New Zealanders, who but a few days ago were in the firing-line Braving shot and shell and bombs, and the 'bitter blasts of the Dardanelles, are onee again treading the sands of Egypt, and basking in the warm sunshine of its peaceful skies. Where the Main Force i 9 or where it is going to it is perhaps not advisable at the moment to state; but the chances are that some little time must elapse before it is again in the firing-line. Meantime the" evacuation of the Anzac-Snvla zone without the loss of a single man in the final operation must be filling the whole military world with wonder. The excavation from the Anzac position was a particularly brilliant feat, for, at Anzac, there was no harbor, and it meant getting off from a most difficult situation, dominated by the enemy, and by way of an open shore swept by she'll fire. If in storming and holding the original position at Anzac the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps won golden laurels, they have undoubtedly added to their renown by their manner of leaving it. The operation will probably stand out in military history for all time as a tri,umph of strategy, secrecy, and organisation. Up to this date it is unique in history. If a month ago anyone should have said we could have got off from Anzac and Suvla without loss, he would have been scouted as a madman. Some authorities thought evacuation an impossibility. Others who thought it possible estimated the loss at from ten to fifteen thousand men. The greatest optimists even were prepared to leave behind certain field ambulances to attend to our wounded, knowing that the Red Cross men would be well treated by the Turks. Even the field ambulances that were to be left were safely evacuated with the rest of the troops! SAVING THE GUNS.

On the night of Friday, December 10,- some seventeen guns from the New Zealand batteries rumbled past the No. 2 Outpost, and on along the beach road to the piers at Walker's Ridge. These little wharves constituted the one and only landing-place wo possessed that could not be observed by the Turkish gunners, but they made desperate attempts to get them, and in the end almost succeeded. The observers could probably see the masts of a sunken steamer that formed a part of our,''harbor," and, taking this as his line, "Beachy Bill" got a few shells almost on to the wharf. As a general rule, he was short, and his shells dropped harmlessly on to a point between the pier and Anzac, or plumped into the open sea. The Anzac wharf, however, came under a deadly hail of shrapnel and high explosive," and, of late, "Beachy" had inconsiderately taken it into his head to_ fire in the night time. That same night a number of the Australian guns also were parked under the shelter of Walter's Pudge. The New Zealand guns were covered with 120 blankets, but the Australian guns remained uncovered. During the following night a ship arrived and took away these guns. The men did not know where they were going, c.v what the movement meant. They might have been bound for Salonika! Next day there was a furious bombardment by" the remaining guns of the NewZealand batteries. Gradually we got nearly al! our guns away, under cover of tlie darkness, until, by Friday, December 17, there were only three New Zealand guns left. Two of these were to be got off on the following night, ami a team of four horses left behind to gallop the last gun in after darkness fell on the last night, and no further effective shooting was possible. The General in charge of our artillery wac determined, as far as was humanly possible, that no effort should be spared to prevent a single New Zealand gun from ever being shown in Constantinople. OPERATIONS QUIETLY PROCEEDING. Sunday, December 12, was a quiet day. General Sir A. Russell, who was in charge of our division, had a conference with his brigadiers and principal staff officers. The proceedings were kept secret, but the brigadiers were serious-faced as they left the meeting, and it was evident that momentous issues had been discussed. The weather was now fine and warm, and these would have been ideal days for the final evacuation; but the thing could not be hurried. We had to march, unseen, with. Savin, and the Navy also had to be considered. Two field ambulances, like the Arabs, silently folded their tents and stole away in the night time. The Field Cashier, with his great bundles of ten-shilling notes—with the strange Arabic writing in black, over-printed on the red —vanished into the unknown. The all-important question now was, had the enemy got wind of our intentions, and, if so, would he attack? Wc were still ready for him, and had he come on even up to the last day he would have had a very warm reception. The men were eager to have ft final "go" at him. If, by any chance, he knew what was happening he still thought discretion the better part of valor, remembering, no doubt, the disastrous ending to his former efforts in the direction of attack. The chances were that hp was still in ignorance. In any case, he could never tell how many men we had in the trenches, nor what we had decided upon as our "last days."

On the evening of Monday, -December 13, various units and details for embarkation began to assemble after dark on the little bit of flat- near the cemetery and the ordnance and provision depot at No. 2 Outpost. As the troop.; were likely to be separated from their regimental baggage for some days, they had to carry essential articles, including rations ,on the person. Amongst those embarking from the X.Z. and A. Division were Australian Infantry and Light Horse. Otago Infantry. Auckland Mounted Rifles, the Maori Contingent and Divisional Artillery and Engineers. There had been a bit of a blow during the afternoon, causing some delay to tlf ships, so that it was not till 11 •j-'-. instead of 8 p.m., tljat the long i.-.-.liiiiiii began to move into the sap kadingjo Williams' Pier. Meantime, along tlie beach night road went mule trains and carts carrying the camp baggage of various unit*-

THE SCENE ON THE BEACH. Tlie scene on the beach about the little wooden piers, recently constructed, ami one still under construction, seemed to be one of inextricable confusion; hut a patient and long-suffering M.L.0., who went about with a hurricane lamp, was straightening tilings out all the time, resolving the seeming chaos into order. The mules, with spicUlng bundles, were jambc-l amongst men and carts laden with much of the paraphernalia of war along'the narrow beach road. But ever the column was pushed on and on, and the mules with carts, ;ind those without carts, disappeared further along tin; beach. Meantime the long column of men with rifles and packs had arrived, and bad begun to disgorge itself from the mouth of the sap. The men were packed like matches in a box into two lighters—or, rather, on to one lighter and a water-boat, which w.is all tiie available transport betwoM the '•hole and the ships. Tin. lighter held just 400, the water-boat abj-.it half that number. There was no room for sitt'ng down, and a man '.iventhed into his neighbor's month or down the back of his neck, according as he happened to be standing. The lighter was one of the "beetle"' type that had been u.-:ed for the Suvla landing, with some space below a shrapnel-proof decking, and room on top of this decking for a considerable number. The air below, never very sweet, became almost unbearable as the dense mass of humanity was crowded into the narrow space, and began to breathe it over and over again; but the troops bore it all uncomplainingly. There was a shower of rain, and a growing moon showed her ;.^ ; , a £ intervals in breaks betw.t!i- sl ., K i. ding clouds that came :•;.'.': ;.i «; the Dardanelles and the wsjde.; j ./.-uia. The clouds were rather a ■<■. ■ ..' «'';. as they dimmed the light of the mu.;.;j. and prevented the enemy from seeing what was afoot. The wind, fortunately, was an off-shore one. A northerly] or a south-westerly one would have made the operation an impossibility. For hour after hour the packing process went on, and barge-load after bareplead pushed off from the pier, and headed westward toward the dim shapes of ships in the offing, lint dawn war, rapidly approaching, and the movement had ,to be stopped while the sap was still gorged w ith troops. It was essential, however, that the ships should get awav under cover of the night, and the troop's should not he seen on the move during daylight. Thus the Otago Infantrv. a pumber of the Auckland Mounted*,'and the Maoris, after being all night in the eap, had reluctantly, with the eomiii" dawn, to march back the wav they came. They went into bivouac, tired and sleepy, at Waterfall finllv, on the end of Bauehop's Ridge. On the following night they got safeiv awav.