EPIC OF HEROISM.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 96, 24 April 1926, Page 10

EPIC OF HEROISM.

STORY OF GALLIPOLI. THE GREAT LANDING. ANZACS' SPLENDID BRAVERY. For several months after their arrival in Egypt at the end of 1914, the New Zealaiiders, together with the Australians, went through a gruelling process of training under the shadow of the Pyramids, fitting them for the great adventure in Which they were to be a part. Their first opportunity of proving their metal under fire was, however, in the Turkish raid on the Suez Canal at the beginning of February, 1915. In the engagement at Serapeum on February 3 they earned good opinions from all old campaigners by their steadiness in action. The four battalions participated in this skirmish, and the casualties among them numbered only four, one of whom, Private Ham, of Motueka, died of wounds received in action, being the first member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to give his life on the battlefield.

Weightier matters than a Turkish raid were afoot, for the Allies were planning a blow at the heart of the Ottoman Empire itself, and though that blow, when it fell, failed to achieve its primary object, it practically demobilised the flower of the Turkish army for many months, and so sapped the strength and confidence of the Turkish Empire that for the remainder of the war it was of little service to its Teuton allies gave for defensive work. In February the British and French fleets started a naval assault on the Dardanelles forts, and this bombardment was maintained with varying success for two -months, though the early hope that the passage might be forced without the assistance of a land force was dissipated after the first few weeks. Then came what Mr. Ashmead Bartlett, the famour war correspondent, called an "Epic of Heroism," in which British, Australian and New Zealand troops made of the crumbling barren hills and gullies of Gallipoli an immortal shrine to the courage, tenacity and endurance of the British race. The landing alone was a feat which thrilled ,the whole world, and the deathless exploits made the name "Anzac" a household word.

The Gaba Tepe Landing. Describing the landing on the beach north of Gaba Tepe, Mr. Bartlett wrote: "The whole operation had been timed to allow the pinnacles and boats to reach the beach just before daybreak, so that the Turks, if they had been forewarned, would not be able to see to fire before the Australians had obtained a firm foothold, and, it was hoped, good cover on the foreshore. Exactly at 4,10 a.m. three, battleships in line abreast, four cables apart, arrived about 2500 yards from the shores, which were just discernible in the gloom. VeTy slowly the twelve snakes of boats steamed past the battleships, the gunwales almost flush with'the -water, so crowded -were they with khaki figures. Every eye and every glass was fixed on that grim looking line of hills in front, so shapeless, ■yet so menacing in the gloom, the mysteries of which those in the boats, which looked so tiny and helpless, were about to solve. At.4.53 a.m. there suddenly came a very sharp burst of rifle-fire from the beach, and we knew our men were at last at grips with the enemy. I believe the sound' came as a relief to the majority, as the suspense of this long waiting had become intolerable. This fire lasted only a few minutes, and then was drowned by a faint British cheer wafted to us over the waters.

"At 5.3 a.m. the lire intensified, and we could tell, from the sound, that our men were firing. Astern, at 5.26, we saw the outline of some of the transports bringing up the remainder of the Australian and New Zealand Division. The first authentic news we received came with the return of the boats. From them we learned what had happened in those first wild moments; All the/ tows haa almost reached the beach when a party of Turks, entrenched almost on the shore, opened up a terrific fusillade from rifles and also from a Maxim. Fortunately most.of the bullets- went high, but. nevertheless, many men were hit as they sat huddled together,'4o or 50 in a boat. It was a trying moment, but the Australian volunteers rose as a man to the occasion. They waited neither for orders . nor for the boats to reach the beach, but springing out into the sea, they waded ashore, and forming some sort of a rough line, rushed straight on the flashes of the enemy's rifles. Their magazines were not even charged, so they i went in with cold steel, and I believe I am right in. saying that. the first Ottoman Turk, since the last crusade received an Anglo-Saxon bayonet in him at five minutes after five a.m. on April 25.

Storming Sheer Cliffs. __ "It was over in a minute. The Turks in this first trench were bayoneted or ran away, and a Maxim gun was captured. Then the Australians found themselves facing an almost perpendicular cliff of loose sandstone, covered with thick shrubbery, and somewhere halfway up the enemy had a second • trench, strongly held, from which they poured . a terrible fire on the troops below, and the boats pulling back to the destroyer for a second landing party. Here was a tough proposition to tackle in the darkness, but these colonial* are practical above all else, and they went about it in a practical way. They stopped a few. moments to pull themselves together, and 'to get rid of'their packs, which no •troops should carry in an • attack, and then charged their magazines. Then this race of athletes proceeded to scale the cliffs Svithout responding to the enemy's fire. They lost' some men, but did not worry, and in less than a quarter of an hour the Turks were out of their second position, either bayoneted or in full flight. " "As the light became gradually better we could see what was happening on the beach. It was then discovered that the boats had landed rather further north of Gaba Tepe than was originally intended, at a point where the sandstone cliffs rise very sheer from the water's edge. As a matter of fact, this error probably turned out a blessing in disguise, because there was no glacis down which the enemy's infantry, could fire, and the numerous bluffs, ridges, and broken ground afforded good cover to troops once they had passed the 40 or 50 yards of flat, sandy beach. The country at this part of the peninsula is an ideal one for irregular warfare, as the Aits tralians and New Zealanders were soon , to find out to.their cost. You cannot see thT^™*! of y° u ' and so brok en « ■ V**'" the enem 7' B »™ip«>™ yarlvS^v ll6 c °nceale'd within a few .' W.££££■£ f Q '*»'antry without it other hand, tbl J PC^ te tllem - 'Oh the «» Australians and New

Zealanders have proved themselves adepts at this form ■of warfare, which requires the display of great endurance in climbing over the cliffs, and offers scope for a display of that individuality which you find highly developed in these colonial volunteers.

"As soon as- it became light the enemy's sharpshooters, hidden' everywhere, simply concentrated their fire on the boats when- they got close in. At least three boats, having broken away from their tows, drifted down the coast under no control, sniped at the whole way and steadily losing men. A Day for Giants. [ "Throughout the whole of April 25 the landing of troops, stores, and munitions had to be carried out under the most galling fire, but the gallant sailors never failed their equally gallant comrades ashore. When the" sun had fully risen and the haze had disappeared, we could. see that the Australians had actually established themselves on the top of - the ridge, and were evidently trying to work their way northwards along it. The role assigned to the' Covering force was splendidly carried out up to a certain point, and a firm footing- obtained on the crest of ' the ridge| which allowed the disembarkation.. of the remainder of the force to go Oil uninterruptedly, except for the never-ceasing sniping. But then the Australians,-whose blood: was up, instead of entrenching themselves and awaiting'developments, rushed northwards { and ;eastward inland,' in search of fresh enemies to . tackle with - the bayonet.•' The .ground was so broken and •■'ill-defined-that, it was very difficut to select' a: position to entrench, especially as after the' troops had imagined they had - cleared a section they were continuously being sniped from ; all sides: /Therefore they preferred to continue' to' advance. C

"The majority of the heavy; casualties suffered during the day were from shrapnel, '-■ which swept the beach ; and the ridge on : which Australians and New Zealanders had established themselves. As" the enemy brought up reinforcements a towards' dusk his attacks I become more. andl?more and he

was supported by a powerful artillery inland, which the ships' guns were powerless to deal with. The pressure on the Australians and New Zealenders became heavier and heavier, and the line they were, occupying had to be contracted for the night. Courage of the Wounded. "A serious problem was getting away the wounded from the shore, where it was impossible to. keep them. All those who were unable to hobble to the beach had to be carried down from the hills on stretchers, then hastily dressed and carried to the boats. The' boat and beach parties never stopped working throughout the entire day and night. •The courage displayed by these wounded Australians will never be forgotten.. I have, in fact, never seen the like of these men.

"They had been .told ■to occupy the heights arid hold on, and this they had done for fifteen mortal hours, under an incessant shell fire, without the ' moral and material support of a single gun ashore, and subject the whole time to the violent counter attacks of a brave enemy, led by skilful leaders, whilst his snipers, bidden in caves and thickets and amongst the dense scrub, made a deliberate practice of picking off every officer who endeavoured to give a word of.command or to lead his men forward." ■ ,-:'■*::•; >( !■•''■".-.., Fruitless "Work. It was generally admitted afterwards that had there been sufficient trbons to follow up that great initial success of the Anzacs on April 25th, the whole history of Gallipoli would- have been changed. The Turkish position had undoubtedly been turned, they were on the run everywhere, but the Colonials had to fall back oh Gaba Tepe, and for three months following they .were practically marking' time until "the moment should be : jrqpitious. for' a. new attack... And then"came the great August offensive, in which a concerted attack was planned from Anzac and Suvla Bay on. ,the enemy's position at Sari Bair, the backbone of the lower Peninsula, and the capture of which would mean the command <of the: Dardanelles' Narrows.

"No words" (wrote Mr. E. C. Buley) "can paint the gallantry of the fighting that followed the night of August sth. August 9th saw a gallant little band of New Zealanders planting their artillery .flags on the trench that spans the summit, of Chunuk Bair, while" a little- later the Ghurkas, who had occupied a gully still further north than those penetrated by the New Zealanders, arrived on the crest of 971 itself. From that point of vantage the bold pioneers could see all they had striven for through many weary weeks of constant fighting. Away to the south-east were the forts of the Narrows. At their very feet ran the road of communication, which leads from Gallipoli town to the main Turkish position at Achi. Baba. They could see the trains of mules and the transport vehicles passing along the road. The goal of their efforts was there, in full sight.

* "Right and left, on higher crests, were the Turks in full force determined to drive them from their post of vantage. Desperately the New Zealanders hung on to what they had gained until support should come. The history of that attempt to hold a hill-top is one of the most glorious" iri all the annals of war. Some day the world will • know how 16 New-Zealanders kept a long section of trench • against a whole, host of enemies for three- hours. Eventually, for no fault of theirs, the .--New' Zealanders had to retire. They would rather have died where they "were, a good many of them did so.' - '■-.'■''

The Valley of Torment. The New Zealand wounded had an experience that is an epic of.-suffering, endured for days and-nights by over-*4OO of. these heroees- in.a.;place which they have christened the Valley of Torment. It was in a deen depression on the rugged side_of Sari Baif. The only, way in and out of the valley was from above, where the„New Zealanders.were fighting like, possessed beings for .the foothold they had-won on the crest; of Sair Bair. There the unwpunded-soldiers carried their stricken mates for-shelter from the hail of bullets while the- fight'lasted. As the : ; wounded- men came'"in .a .devoted baud of Bed Crossittlen leiit them'what aid: they could. Through-the night-.the

parched men were tortured by the sight of water being carried through the valley to the men in the firing line above them. There was none of it for them, and they did not expect any: for. they knew the necessities of warfare, and recognised that at such a time the combatant, must come first, Two dreadful days dragged by, in which the agony of their wounds was rendered hideous by the further torment of scorching heat, a terrible thirst, and swarms of, flies. At last 'the second day ended too, and evening fell with a 'cool breeze. The exhausted men heard the stealthy approach of many "men in the dark, from the safe gully that lay beyond the range. And one'of them, out of thankfulness,"began to sing the hymn: At even, ere the sun was set. The sick, O lx>rrl. around Thoe lay. Nearly all of them took up the singing, and. while they were singing a large number of soldiers appeared over the ridge, and put them all on stretchers. Then the'newcomers, some thousands in nuiriber, ranged themselves in two rows,, facing each other, the double row stretching from the crest across into the -safe gully on fhe other side. And so the wounded men of.- Now Zealand were carried out of the "A"alley of Torment."

- As everyone knows* the great effort was- not crowned by success owing to L the '■ impossibility of the troops making progress from Suvla' Bay, and the British were soon back hanging on to their precarious position on the western side of the Peninsula. Then later came the evacuation, which it will be remembered was; carried out without the loss of a single man— r surely one of- the most astonishing feats of the campaign. r Campaigners Astonished. Speaking of. the work of the New Zealand troops, throughout this costly but.. splendid failure of Gallipoli, Sir Tan Hamilton said: '*'As for the troops; the joyous alacrity with vcjixch. they faced danger, wounds, 'and death, as if they were some new form of exciting recreati6n, has astonished . mc, old "campaigner; as T am. '-*' I cannot close my report *-without - -piacing-on' record

my unbounded admiration of the work performed, and the gallantry displayed, t>y the troops and their leaders during the severe fighting involved in these operations. Though the Australian, New Zealand,'. and Indian units, had been confined to trench duty in a cramped space for some four months, and though the troops of the newarmies had only' just landed' from a sea voyage, and many "of them had not been previously under fire, I do not believe any troops in the- world could have accomplished more. All ranks vied with one another in the performance of gallant deeds, and more than worthily upheld the best traditions of the British Army."