THE COST OF SUCCESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8202, 27 July 1915, Page 5

THE COST OF SUCCESS.

DESPERATE FIGHTING! UNDER

' ■■•■ (Received' July 27, 2.10 :p>,) •- ■ LONDON, July 26, Mr Ashmead Bartlott reports that the Dardanelles success on July 12 and 13 was achieved by desperate fighting. Anyone who has not seen the ground have no conception of the obstacles the heroic infantry have to face in fining even a few yards of fresh soil. St the bombardment lasts. Our infcmtry is thus able to occupy two or oT^casualties occur after the* trenches are won The enemy, knowing trenches, attack with bombs tniou o n *BS' fighting at close quarters, some

parties get over-far forward and are frequently lost for hours. It is a common occurrence for our men to gain possession of an advanced tronch whilst the Turks were still holding sections behind them. The cost of this type of warfare can be worked out with mathematical exactness, on the basis that so many men must be sacrificed and so many shells and grenades used every hundred yards. It is bludgeon work, with brutal and unattractive victories.

Achi Baba cannot be won in a day. Even more than before Ypres and Souchez, sections of the enemy's line must first be pounded to pulp, then stormed, and finally held against counter-attacks.