WHERE THE AUSTRALASIANS LANDED.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 147, 22 June 1915, Page 5

WHERE THE AUSTRALASIANS LANDED.

Tlio above skcU-li g:\ps a vivid impression of the landing of tbo Ausirnlian an.l Xe-.v Zealand troops at. Gaba Tepe. on the Gnllipoli IYninsiib. on April 2o — a date that must for ever be a memorable one in Australasian history. The sketch has been mmle frr-in a rough plan by Lieutenant Reginald L'adden. of the Western Australian Light Horse. With this plan before us, it is worth recalling portion of Mr. .\3hlnpad Bartletf- aeenunt of the. landing: "At 4.50 a.m. the enemy sbowco. nn alarm light, which flashed for 10 minutes and disappeared. Tho boats appenred almost on tiie beach. and seven destroyers glided noiselessly inshore. At 4.53 came a sharp burst of rifle tiro from the boarh. The sound relieved the prolonged suspense, which had become almost intolerable.. Tho fire lasted R few minutes, and then a faint British cheer came over the waters, telling that the first petition had been won. At 5.3 the fire was intensified, and by thp sound we could tell our men were firing. The firing lasted 25 minutes, and then died down somewhat. The boats returned, and a pinnace came alongside with two recumbent

figures on deck and a small midshipman chperfully waving his hand, with a shot throuph his stomach. Three wounded in the first burst of musketry. The honts had almost reached the beach when a party of Turks entrenched ashore ojicned a terrible fusillade with rifles and a Maxim. Fortunately mos; of the bullets I wont liish. The Australians rose to the occasion. They did not wait for orders or for the boats to reach the beach, but sprang into the sea. formed v sort of roujrh linr. and rushed the enemy's trenches. Their magazines were uncharged, so they just went in with eo'd stco!. It was. over in a minute. Tlie Turks in tlie tirst trench tither wen , bayoneted or ran away, ami the Maxim was captured. Then the Australians found themselves facing en i almost perpendicular elifl" of loose sandstone, covered with thick shTUbbciy. Somewhere about half-way up the enemy had a second trench, held, from which poured a terrible fire on ti>e troops lielow and the boats pullinjr back to the destroyers for a second landing party. Here was a tough proposition to tackle in the darkness, but those colonial* w«re practical above all else, and

went about it in a practical way. They stopped a few minutes to pull themselves together, yet rid of their packs, and charge their rifle magazines. Then this race of athletes proceeded to scale the did" without responding to the enemy's live. They lost some men, but didn't worry, and in less thau a-quarter of an hour the Turks were out of their Bteond position, and either bayoneted or fleeing. As daylight came it was seen that the landing had been effected rather further north of Gaba Tepe than originally was intended, at a point where the cliffs rise very shoer. The error was a blessing in dipguise, because there was no glacis do\vn*whieh the enemy could five, and the broken ground allorded good cover for troops once titer had passed the forty yards of (lat beach. The country in the vicinity of the landing is formidable and forbidding. To the ! sea it presents a steep front, broken into innumerable ridges, bluffs, valleys, and sandpits. Rising to a height of several huni rired feet the surface is hare, crumbly sandstone, with thick shrubfoerv about six feet in height, which is ideal for snipers, as the Australians soon found to their cost. On the other hand, the ■' Australasians proved themselves adepts at this kind .ofwarfare."^