THE WOUNDED IN MALTA.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 147, 22 June 1915, Page 2

THE WOUNDED IN MALTA.

MOSTLY KEG INJURIES.

• . LAUQATORY INTIWSPAPER r gpt * COMMENTS. According to the '-Daily Malta Chronicle" most uf the Australians have been wounded in the legs. The journal, commenting upon the arrival of the firs?, ship load o) wouiHled Australians at Malta, s-ays.:—-\\ c were brought yesterday (:3rd Alaj-; into immediate touch with the war in the sphere of it nearest to u-i. A thouiiund or more of the ivoumled in the fierce struggle for posM '" 1 "" of the western portion of the J'cninsnln ~( (iallipoli were conveyed h.tli.cr. \\\. had been eagerly waiting fur the i-oiuing of the .-hip. so that ail possible might be done here for the stricken men who had fought so w< , !!, and have been j>raised for their gallantry by the King and his people in all countries. Our interest in the Australians will onduiv. We do not know if only Australians were brought to .Malta yesterday, but certainly most of the u-numloil tlmt landed were men who had livi-il under the Southern Cross. Moreover, (heir looks and their costumes I spoke u£ Australia. But what gallant ft'lluH* thrj are. wounded though they |l"-; who could believe that many of .them have several bullets in them? They I bad been in the front of the fljrht sonic ten d.iys h£o, on Sunday morning. In'■eetl. theirs was the plnce of honour, as of g-.!o.iU-.st danger. Nothing could re>i*< their onslaught when they set foot ""■ slH)r '' »"d eouhj ehnrge ' with the loayonet at t , - foe. It was deadly, but glntro!,.,. work—the work they did. In vie uncertain light of the new moon, just tour hours after midnight, they got into their little boats and were pulled towards the land. Their Turkish and <r«>rinan opponents did not jierceive tr.ora until they were 300 yds of the land. '/hen a hail of bullets" fell on them. Sheila hurst in all directions. But the Australians had a task to do. whatever it cost. They did it! Those that fell only s'tirreil to great exertion those that stood. There was no wavering. The. little boats got to land somehow, nml the men jumped ashore. Other landing ( parties are said to have got five miles I into the ftallipoli Peninsula before their iidvauee was seriously disputed; the had to fight from the first for every inch of ground they gained. Their opponents greatly outnumbered them, and they were strongly entrenched. It is believed, indeed, that they had been waiting in the trenches for several months, and they had nil the ranges form long experience. What they had little exjiericnce of was a length of cold steel: they could not ntand that; and tliev stole away—those that could. GENERAL HEALTH POOD. The same paper, referring to the condition of the wounded, states:—"Their general health is good. We heard two of them complaining that they would have been able to light again, despite bullets in them, had they only been left at the Dardanelles for a fortnight or so! Nothing can dempt the spirits of such men - the blood of young nations is coursing in them. They are proud of their country and proud of their motherland, in defence of which they were prepared to give their lives. Many. alas. who camr to light for England and the empire will never look on the Southern Cross again! Rut the sacrifice they have made of themselves will not lio forgotten. Australia gains life by their death!"