THE DAILY ROUND.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 222, 17 September 1915, Page 8

THE DAILY ROUND.

SHELLING AITS BOMBING. TRENCH WARFARE AMONG THE HILLS. July 20. In my last article I gave a short description oi the position west and north of Anzac Cove defended by the NewZealand and Australian Division of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. I purpose giving now some idea of a week's doings in regard to these positions, in to far as trip present situation i. ill permit. On 13tli July two enemy mountain guns on Mortar Ridge, opposite Courtney's, opened on that post during the early morning. They were engaged by our how itzors. one shell hittiiifr the left emplacement, l ourtney's was also subjected to fire from the Turkish ■'seventyfives." At 9.1.") p.m. we carried out 9 "fire demonstration" with great success, heavy ineffective lire being drawn from the enemy's trenches in front 0 f Quinn's. One of our batteries tired some well-directed shells into the enemy's trenches. At 5.30 a.m. about 50ft in front of our trenches at Courtney's was blown up at a sap where our" miners had broken into what appeared to be a new Turkish tren:h ready for opening up. This explosion blocked up for the time being the opening from our sap into the Turkish trench. There was the usual sheiiing during the day. Here also our -fire demonstration" was a success, and drew- heav\ fire from the enemy—fire that was, of course, entirely ineffective. During the demonstration the enemy trenches Were lit Up b . v star shells from the mountain guns. . This was followed'by artillery fixe directed on "the chessboard,'' a position in which the Turks have crisscrossed the ground with trenches to such an extent as to well deserve the name The elopes on the south-west of "Bain 700," a hill beyond our position on th. left centre, were also shelled by ow guns. On the Australian side the rifl, fire drawn at night was greater that anything previously experienced on this flank. In one phoe Turks seen wit! fixed bayonets were promptly dealt wit! by the Australians. The gun fire gener -ily apparently had the effect of makinj jhe enemy all up his local reserves The rapidity of the Turkish maehin

gun fire was noticeable, and the Tapidity with which their field guns were directed on positions was remarked upon. Within three minutes of the Australians opening fire the first Turkish shell was dropped on Holly Kidge, and from 250 to 300 shells fell near the trenches occupied by the 3rd Infantry Brigade. This shelling, however, was resp..*ible for only a very few casualties. i On 14th July Cotirtney'B Post -«ras severely shelled by an enemy 5.7-inch gun hidden in the direction of Hill 971, but the damage done to the trenches was soon repaired. There were, naturally, a few casualties. The Turks also suffered from our shelling of one of their positions, known as -German Officers' Trench." They made great headway during the night in repairing the damage. In another section the Anaft.rta. gun dropped a few shells at odd times'during the afternoon at the foot of I'lngqe's Plateau. Throughout the night the enemy kept up sharp burets of rifle fire, an.l showed considerable uneasiness. It Is possible that several of their trenches were filled with new troop-. One of our howitzers replied to the Turkish -seventy-five," and silenced it for the time being. Til" enemy's heavy howitzer firing at Courtney's' Post was engaged by tbe Australian I'icld Batteries and the 5-inch howitzers. On the Australian side the enemy's lire was active during the night, with'occasional heavy bursts. A patrol encountered five Turks who refused to surrender. These were dropped by the Australians at close range, and the others abo appeared to haw Wen hit. Subsequently thirty or forty Turks tried to rush the Australian patrol of six, but tiie latter withdrew safely. Later, in another position, a Turkish patrol was forced to retire by heavy rifle fire.

On the. 15th .July Courtney's was shelled by a 6-inch gun from the directi.m Of Battleship Hill, to the north. One shot landcil inside the post and did some damage, hut there were no casualties At 3 p.m.. the mountain gun on Mortar Ridge- also shelled this position, and the 6-inch gun again opened, pausing some damage to the trenches on the right of ourtney's, but no casualties. There was rather more rille fire than usual from the enemy during the night. In section - there was a very quiet day, with little shelling. During the afternoon there was a great deal of sniping along the beach on the left wins from rough, scrubby country north o. Walker's Ridge. Bayonet* which haJ not been seen for some time. were noticed in the enemy trenchea oppobite the nek between » an.l 111 p.m.. indicating that new troops had been moved up. Our bomb-throwing made tho enemy mrvoii-. and they tirei a good deal at nothing in particular. Oite of ou r batteries fired at the trenches and barbedttiro entanglements on tho Turkish pwltion on Lonesome Pine. and. at the request of the O.C. — section, devoted special attention to the enemy's second trench from the front. Thirty-four rounds were tired. Our Howitzer Battery also came into action at the request of the CM. — section, firing at the Turkish ' I " trench opposite Russell's Top. This day Capt. J. S- Campbell, medical officer Bth Australian Light Horse, had both legs blown off.

On the llHh duly further repairs were made to the trenches at Courtney'* Post. At 7.30 p.m. the enemy was heard working underground at some distance from our mines. The euemy 5.7 gun again opened fire in the evening, but the shells appeared to fall into Steele's Post, occupied by the Australians. A Turkish bomb, apparently thrown from a mortar, landed on the left of Pope's Hill, but did not explode. Heavy bombing took place at Quinn's between 5.30 and 6.30 a.m. The enemy were heard digging within a few feet of the —— tunnel, in sap No. —. so a charge of was fired to disturb their proceedings. A Turkish gun from the Chocolate Hills shelled our support trenches at the north-west of Russell's Top. damaging the parapets but inflicting only two casualties. On the 17th duly, in the early morning, there was constant bombing at Quinn's. In the evening the enemy 5.7-lnch fired a few shots into Courtney's Poet. There were no casualties from this -helling, but slight damage was done to the trenches. In the evening a mine was successfully exploded in front of No. Post at Quinn's. At Quinn's our people also bombed the enemy and drew short bursts of rifle fire. At 7.30 p.m. the mountain guns fired three shells into a Turkish machine-gun emplacement on "Baby 700." a high point on the left flank. Our Mountain Batteries have been doing excellent work. On ISth duly the enemy mountain gun shelled Courtney's, hut did no damage. The engineers exploded a mine in that post which exposed a Turkish trench not hitherto located. From N. section a body of enemy infantry, estimated at about a battalion, was seen manoeuvring about the chocolate Hills, and another party—about one company—was seen niarr-liin.j from Kutchuk Anafarta to T'ivuk Anafarta villages to tlie north ca-t of ,>ur position. Mounted Turkish troops were also seen patrolling in a northerly dirertion. In Anzac Cove a Taube liew lower than usual over the position, dropping two bombs, one of which exploded, but did no damage. This bomb, which burst near its base, was pyramidal in form, and made of bronze. It was stated to he the same type as was recently in-ed in the C.crman raid on London. On the Sunday morning one of our aeroplanes scouted high over tin Turkish position at the back of Anzac (,)\p. An enemy pun on two occasions burst shrapnel under licr. but she was iiiu.il too high to be hit by these gun« We had the usual shelling of the beach and a mortar dropped a few 11-in shells into our gully. Tlie shell was a round one. Apparently both mortar and shell were of .in old pattern, but tbe shell had ! evidently been refilled with a high explosive, for it burst wiUi a loud report, and j chunks of blackened iron were thrown [about. One fragment went through the roof of a dugout, but the occupant, who I was sitting outside only three or four I yards away, escaped injury. The exploding of these shells made a disconI certing noise, but they hit no one, and I did no damage. Some of the bathers on | the beach were not so fortunate in the shelling from the other grape, but the moment the shellinr- ceased tiie bathing was resumed.. Bathing is.a..great factot in the health of tlie Arin-v Corps, and ii |no doubt worth all the risk. I To-day. Monday, 10th duly, we car | hear the booming of the-guns nt Aehi jßaba. Opposite our bay the balloon if up. and a cruiser and two monitors art planting shells from their heavy t, um ' on to the mainland at long range. Thm • day by day and night by night we dr our daily round. There are rumours o ■ | a new Turkish army of 100,000 men mak ing a final effort to drive us into tin ! T a ;- I™ ri 3 the tim< *» of the religion, | festival of Ramazan—a favourable tim ( II to play upon the fanatical feelings of th« • Turks. We are all hoping they wil 3 attack.