MAORIS IN ACTION.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8270, 15 October 1915, Page 7

MAORIS IN ACTION.

DASHINC WORK BY NEW ZEALANDERS. (From Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the N.Z. Forces.) No. 3 OUTPOST, August 8. All night long the bombardment and the crackle of the Turkish fire contin- j ued. The staff' worked throughout the J night, and scarcely anyono got to j sleep. At 4 a.m. the guns of the ] navy were firing rapidly on the Turkish ! positions. I-had heen asleep for two hours, and woke to find a figure, apparently dead, in front of my bivouac. Presently ho moved, sat up, and rubbed his eyes, and I saw that he was. wounded. "My word! that's quick-j firing," he said; "they are rocking it j in, aren't they?" As dawn came I saw that it was his arm that was injured. He was in some pain, arid very grimy, with blood on his bare knees, between the putties and the shorts; but he waß cheeiful and talkative. He had been out on the left with three squadions of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles. Thsey majched along the Hat toi 000 jards and then mlAnd for anothei 300 yaids, when the Ttirkfi opened' 1 file. 'ihe Canterbury mop. dioye off th« enemy at/ this point, 'but on idaching a. j»ciubby knoll about 150 \aids fuicuer on a Turkish machine-gun opened j lire on their right flank. The New! Zoalariders charged, and took-the gun, I though the Turks met them with the j bayonet. Finally the Canterbury J "Mounteds" got into the Turkish trenches at the point of th,e bayonet. It was here that my newfylmade acquaintance was wounded/? "That," he said, "was where I finished. I got a; Turk in the* throat with the first thrust, just a.s he got me in the arm." This man also was loud in his praise of the Maoris, who, after the work of bayoneting in the Turkish trenches was finished, went plunging on through the scrubby slopes, searching the enemy bivouacs for further victims. Their losses in comparison to their numbers were considerable. Outwitting the Turk. To put the Turks off on a wrong tack, there had been for some time previously indications or another landing at Gaba Tepe, just south of the Australian position, and the Turks, utterly misled, had been furiously digging and strengthening this position. Secretly and silently large numbers of new troops had been landed and placed in special places and terraces where they could not be observed from the air. They were packed in like sardines. While the fight at Lonesome Pine was going on these troops were moved out in the darkness to our left flank. There were thousands of them, and the operation was: a difficult one, because they F had to go along a single road oh . the : beach. - This road ; had been- made -under; cover of darkriesSj and; was cunningly constructed','so" that it could not be reoognised as a road by the hostile aeroplanes/, ■"■'■..' The Plan of Action. A comprehensive plan of action had apparently been carefully thought out m connection with tlie operations on '• the left flank. The first thing to bo done was to eend a covering force, from JNos. 2 and 3 outposts, our. extreme left, to take certain hills that would have prevented the main body of the attacking, force from getting out. Those positions are what are known to us as the olcl No. 3 Pest, Table Top, Little Table Top, and Bauchop's Hill. This attack, which was to be a night one, with the bayonet only, was assigned to the, New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade and the Maoris. Another covering force was sent.,out to take Damak Selik Bair, on the extreme left, just over the Aghyl Dere, now a dry watercourse. The troops commenced to form up for this attack j about 7.30 p.m. Others began to pour out of the»ends of our long communi- 1 cation trench, and with the assistance! of guides to march slowly and silently to ihe various points of attack as- j signed them. On the left the Turks, j as at other points, were at close quar- | ters and strongly -entrenched on a series of rugged scrub-covered hills intersected with deep water-worn ravines extending from a little flat near the centre of Ocean Beach to the long curving ridge of Chumik Bair about j iPSO foet high and 2200 yards inland. Th<> whole country is most difficult and 1 pulling from the military point of 1 Hew to anyone who has uot been over it and studied it thoroughly. Maori Warriors in Action. Luticr cover of darknohs the Otago and Canterbury Mounted lniautry umc out to attack Hsiuchop's Jtlili. Juan was likely to prove a hard nut to crack. The position once gained 1 wo'cud protect the -^advance of tne In-J diu-n Brigade led by the Ghurkas on the left, while on' the other side it would protect the left Hank of .the New 'Zealand Infantry Brigade. The objective in. the- meantime of the Otago j men was a scrub-covered spur below the, higher ridge of Chunuk Bair, i named Rhododendron Spur, the Ghurkas eventually would have to fight up the steep, brushwood slopes—ideal] fighting country for them. The Axick-j land.Regiment left from No. 2 outpost a little to the south of No. I,_ and ■marched up a valley past the Fisher-j ; man's Hut Ridge. They then turned . sharp to the left, in front, of the old, is'©. 3 post, which we once held for two. or three days. It had been occupied for some.time past by a body of Turks, who were well entrenched, and the attack had to be made up a, precipitous face. The Wellington' Regiment ■had-.to gain ,a footing on-Destroyer Hill and then move up an almost prej cipitous cliff on to a little bit of level! land known,as "TableTop,'^ andjwhich, [is attached to Rhododendron Spur.; Ihe !Maoris- were ' distributed among the i foi-cb one platoon with the Otago men i attacking Bauchop's Hill, one platoon with the New Zealand Infantry attacking Table Top, the rest of the contingent being held in reserve. The men were told not to load their magazines, for this was to be a night attack, and the bayonet only had oo be used. Both officers and men had broad bands of white calico sewn on th^ir coat sleeves, and a big square patch of the same material »sewn on ihe'' backs of their coats—a necessary precaution in an attack on a dark nighty so that in the general melee in the scrub and i; the trench'ps' friend should not be bay ' onetting friend, but only the enemy. . The enemy going out on the left soon . met with riflo fire from Turks conceded in the scrub, and the, Maoris soon dashed on to the front., One or two I of the other parties had a little diffi-

culty in following the exact line of •route. . Apart from these incidents the plans laid down worked out well, and the New Zealanders did all that was asked of them. Punctually at 9 p.m. a destroyer, standing close in, flashed a' strong searchlight on ; the -land and beganVto I fire on the Turkish trenches for 10 minutes. Then there was another 10 minutes' bombardment. The .firing was so close that the pungent smell of the propelling powder was wafted onshore by the light sea breeze. Our men charged into the Turkish I trenches with great olnn, bayoneting right and left. Trench after trench was cleared, and many ol' the Turks i broke and ran. Of these a number i were bayoneted, and when daylight I came others were either shot or taken prisoner. Few escaped. One could only follow the fight from the flash and rattle of' the Turkish rifles, the cheering of our men, and the wild shouts of the Maoris. Once their 1 blood was up the Maoris fought magnificently. Charging into the Turkish ' trencheS they were more than a match i for evpn the- hefty Turk. who. for the ■ first time in history. listened to the wild cries of the Ngapuhi and other i fnmous tribes resounding- among tho hills and dales of Sari Bair. 'By dawn the-positions sought for'hwj been-won, i and' nt n moderate 'sacrifice,' ronsirtorrne; the difficulty of tho onp'.'ntmn'.Ttut there vwas! still sterner work ahead./ " ,* Th« Forcfe on the Lift " W mg. I The force which New .Zealand General had at his disposal tor the operations was -a strong one, and one that was largely representative of the Empire. While the initial attack was going on, the assaulting columns of tho New Zealand Infantry Brigade moved —partly along the communication trench and partly- along the new beach road—and entered three ravines. The Wellington Regiment ,on the right went up the Sazli Beit Dere, and the remainder of this force moved up the Gharlik Dere, the objective of this column being Rhododendron Ridge ? a predominant feature of the San Bair Ranges. Tho left assaulting column moved further to the north and entered the Arghyl pore. The advance of" tho assaulting columns commenced at 10 p.m. on Friday, and the heads of the columns ] soon met with oppo&ition, which necesIsitated picketing the heights. It meant ) putting men on every little spur they ! reached. As already explained, the I ground over which these operations i had to be conducted was bristling with ! difficulties and conplicated contours. I During the whole of the night fighting was continuous. Our troops were i forbidden to fire. The bayonet only i was used. This plan had the great ad- > vantage that there was no danger of j our troops firing into one another. It had also this advantage: that the Turkish fire soon disclosed the positions of the enemy. Frequent cheers and the warlike cries of. tho Maoris resounded through the glens. Many Turks were killed and a large number of prisoners were taken. Our casualties also, were, large, .but -up to' J the present there has .been no opporj tunity for • making a,ny . reliable estimate. Before this -letter. reaches/New Zealand the-full tale will"be told. It says a great deal 'for the care taken ) and the secrecy observed that both tho j concentration and, the attack came as ; a great surprise to* the enemy. Many Turks wore found,asleep in their dug-, {.outs, and^in^n^x^cases, they^jy.ere jiiridressed. 'Prisoners, of whom many I were taken, afterwards admitted that they had no warning of our attack. The Daylight Work. Dawn was rapidly breaking and the long column was s,till stretched out in comparatively opeft country. Had it been caught in this position when daylight came it must have inevitably have suffered much, both from rifle, .machine-gun, and shell fire. The cbl- / umnSj however, were hurriedly enjsconsced in the numerous valleys and hollows that abound, and when light grew strong enough for the guns to shoot there was no target at which they could fire. y Meantime, however, there was a wonderful bombardment of the Turkish position in front of our old position at Walker's Ridge, Russell's Top, and the Nek. Gh?n after gun began to speak till almost every gun at sea and shore was in, action. The noise of the guns and of the bursting shells, with the continuous hard staccato of rifle- i fire, and the intermittent popping of the machine-guns, filled the hills and I dales with a war chorus polyphonus and grand. Some of the Turkish parapets were blown away in clouds of dust, and in places thetrenches themselves were? badly shattered. ; , , As daw'nVbroke we could also see that the new landing to the north of our?position had been secretly and successfully accomplished. Later in the morning we could see the. Turkish I shells bursting near the ships and the | troops on shore. The landing at such a spot was as unexpected as it was disconcerting to the enemy. The re- ' suit of this- important operation is not 'vet known here." ■'■"■''""'''■;""''. ■ '