A RISKY JOB.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 223, 18 September 1915, Page 6

A RISKY JOB.

BUILDING ENTANGLEMENTS. IX FRONT OF THE TREXCHES. Lieutenant Oakey, Xew Zealand Engineers, in the course of a letter says: "The other night, in response to a request from Brigadier-General Russell, Xew Zealand Mounted Rille Brigade, I volunteered with a party of live sappere to put out a small section of wire entanglements. 1 can't mention the exact details owing to the Censor, but I think he will let mc mention that it was to protect about 50 yards on one flank of our position which was not then entrenched, and which ran down to a steep cliff— a sheer drop The country here is almost all of it covered with very thick scrub, and sometimes, as in this case, it provides concealment, if not cover, to a party going out at night over the parapot. You sec, the nights here are very light. Well, after a few preliminaries, we got over the parapet, and a man in the trenches reeled out "the barb wire to us from a .oil with a spindle through the centre. We were out there altogether one and a-half hours, and in the meantime our New Zealand Mounted Ritles in the trench behind us were firing high, wel] over our heads of course, to deceive the Turks. If lire ctops they get suspicious. Well. I managed to get the wire out in three lines running from the I parapet to the edge of the cliff, and I interlaced diagonally. The distance between the Turks and ourselves was from 80 to 1(H) yards; in some places, however, on the right, only ten or twelve yards separated us from the enemy. The whole of the wire was barb, no plain wire being available, so you can imagine the ! job pulling barb through scrub, etc. I .took the precaution to lit the party out with gloves, hut one or two were even torn about the face. and our clothes were in varli us stages of dilapidation • when we hail finished the joh. The | Major in cha-ge of the section of the | trench above us was getting a hit anxij ous when we got back into the trench | but the General was very pleased with I our work, a.id congratulated mc. I was particularly pleased at not losing any of I j the sappers." ON DEAD JrIAN'S RIDGE. A HALT AND A CHARGE. triy Telegraph --special to "Star.") CIIRISTCIII RCH, this day. A wounded soldier induced to give an idea of warfare painted a word picture of Dead Man's Ridge. "Well, I'll tell you what I saw of the very nasty fight- ' ing at Head Man's Ridge on the Sunday .following that on which the landing I was made," he said; "because, so far as 1 can judge, I do not think the public ' realises just how nasty thai night attack was. The li.th Australian Battalion started the attack, if 1 remember . rightly, and it was later reinforced by the Nelson and Chatham Battalion of Marines, and nlso New Zealanders. In the gully itself, where the main attack was made, there were less than 000 I Australians. the two battalions oil Marines, an.l some of the New Zea- I landers. All told the force numbered about 2,00n. The Gtago Battalion was j cut up that night coming round on j the extreme left to join the work. Not ,very many Turks were holding the ridge, ill fact, very few were seen during the work, but they had many machine guns w.-ll posted and there were many snipers about. There were 800 cusualtie-i that night, the majority being iv the gully,! so voit can see huiv stiiT the job was. Tiie" side of the gully was very steep, I and the men had to climb in single tile Up Bn old watercourse. In places there' was alM.ut six feet of solid rock, and two I men would manage to get up tins and then pull up a third. When the first men got up the head of the line was ' shot away by the Turks on top and the snipers in the gully. The line halted, and for ten minutes it refused to go on, i the reason being that the officers had ! been killed and the rii.n did not know j the plan of attack. Then came a rusn from C_uinn'- Post along the plateau. As these men broke into a run they did as they usually did. they cheered." The I line that had halted immediately got i going again, and scrambled up, and by I .love, they did scramble up, too. and; spread out into the of n in a magnificent rush, and the top of the ridge, which ' was strongly entrenched, was taken. The ] attack started at dusk, and about half an hour elapsed before the men got to the top of the ridge, but after the ridgt was taken the Turks shelled it heavily. The Kith Battalion was shelled out of part of the line, some of them buried in the trenches, nnd then the Marines came up: but in the morning the gully was 'vacated and a line of fortifications had Ito be erected on Pope's Hill The failure ,to hold Dead Man's Ridge was the cause of most of the sniping which we experienced afterwards, as it enabled the Turks to hold a gully that formed part 1 of what would have been our natural I line, and it rendered Quinn's Post the I dangerous position which it has always I been. Yes, Dead Man's Ridge is a very nasty place indeed to take. It was i given its name after this engagement." ■BRAVERY OF THE WOUNDED. AX EXTRAORDINARY INSTANCE. The following extracts have been taken from a letter received by Mrs. 1 ; Maude Pollitt, of Khyber Pass Road, from her brother, who, before he received f his wounds, was serving with the Aus- I tralian sth Light Horse. The writer at one time spent 18 weeks in the trenches at a stretch. ; I "Wo have been having a pretty lively ' time here lately," says the writer. "The enemy have become very jumpy of late. As soon as a bomb goes off they fire like ■ mad, thinking that we are advancing on ' them. You would be surprised to hear some of the tales about the boys who get wounded. I heard some tho other day. »• One poor chap got his leg blown off by a shell, and be asked his mate to take down the spare boot and see how many j cigarettes he could get for it. Another / very good one was about a German who j came up to our trenches and asked whether there were any Auckland boys among them. When he was told they were all Aucklanders he threw in a 201b P bomb, and said: 'Split that up among ! you.' You can guess how he got on. "This life in the trenches gets very tiresome, but as a man came of his own free will, he does his best, and I can tell ' you I would not miss it for worlds. r There are some ver)' nice chaps among • the boys. I lost a good mate the other f day. In an advance we made he was ' wounded in the head. One of the officers '■ was bandaging his wound when he him- ' self was shot through the spine and died t iii a few minutes. His people will be ' terribly cut up about his death, as, I t think, bo was the only son, but, you I know, we must expect it. I always write s a few lines before an engagement in caso t of accident." i