ATTACK ON DARDANELLES.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 6379, 8 May 1915, Page 5

ATTACK ON DARDANELLES.

LANDING OF TROOPS.

Splendid Skill and Leadership.

Rec May 7, 10 30 pm London, May 7 Mr Aslimead Bartlett, the cc respondent, was üboird the warship with jive hundred Australians who formed the covering party for the landing at Gabatepe. He says it required splendid skill, organisation and leadership to get the huge armada under weigh from Aludros Bay without accidents. Tho warships aud transports were divided into rive divisions, and never before has an attempt been made to land so large a force in the face of a well-prepared enemy. At two o'clock "on. April2_ tbe flagship of the division, conveying the Australians, passed down the long lane of slowly moving transports amid tremendous cheering, being played out of the Bay by the French warships. Admiral's Proclamation. . At four o'clock the ship's company and troops assembled on deck to hear tH(? Admiral's proclamation to the combined forces. This was followed by the last service before the battle, wherein the chaplain uttered prayers for victory. At dusk all lights were ordered out aud the troops rested for the ordeal at dawn. The night was beautifully calm and hy one o'clock in the.morn-, ing the ships reached their rendezvous. Five miles from the landing place the soldi.rs were aroused and aemd with the last hot meal. Australasians Confident. The Australasians who were about to go into action for the first time under trying circumstances were cheerful and quietly confluent, and there was no sign of nervous excitement. -: As the moon waned the boats were swung out. The Australians received their last instiuctions aud the men began to disembark on an unknown shore iu a strauge land. Each boat, iu charge of a midshipman, was loaded with great rapidity in absolute silence without a hitch. The covering force was towed co shore by , the ship's pinnaces. ': More of Australia's brigade was carded aboard the destroyers, which ? were to go close in shore as soon as •tliecovering force lauded The Start for Shore. ~' Afc three o'clock it was quite <'ark and a -tart was made shorewards. There wad suppressed excitement as to whether the enemy vvps surprised *'ft alert.--■At four o'clock three battleships abreast arrived 2500 yards from the shore. The guos were manned and \h searchlight a were ready. Very slowly the boats in tow moved iuV«hore, each edged towards each other juoi'der to reach the beach four cables apart. Tho battleships moved , slowly in afcer them uutil the waters shallowed.

. The Enemy's Alarm. " Every eye was fixed on the grim . -' W of the hills iu front of the meuaci H gloom. Not a sound was heard ; flora light was seen and it seemed as - "tlieeuemy were surprised. In our I jl^'vy state thc stars were often rais- • !%sen for lights ashore. Dawn was ; , %>idly breaking- and at 4.50 the ;, ?my .showed their alarm by a light . Wr Hashed for ten miuutes and " f «en disappeared. The boats appeared to bo almost on the beach and jwsoveu destroyers glided noiseles--

; ; Burst of Rifle Fire. ■At 17)Z came the sharp burst of [We nre trom the beach. The sound «f»Tcd the proiouged suspeuse which JW become almost intolerable. The Wasted a few minutes aud a faint Wjtttli cheer came over the waters, WWg.that, the first British position warwou. V tf' 5,30 t{ie was iuteusitied and J^ue sound we could tell it was our 'J? riie firing lasted 25 minutes l tlleu died down somewhat, can i s retun,«l *wd «- phiuaoe : tt«e alongside with two recumbeut . fljea on her deck aud a imali mid--fc_l n» who was cheerful and waving %u j alH ,ou 8h aliot. through" the "iiH-> ,J-!n' fjl; me" were bounded a i HI«« brsthui ;L uf musketry.

The boats had almost reached the beach when a party o. Turks entrenched ashore opened a terrible fusilade with rifles and Maxims. Fortunately most of the bullets went high. Trenches Captured. The Australians did not wait for orders or for the boats to reach the beach, but sprang into the sea, formed a sort of rough line, and rushed the enemy's trenches. Their magazines were uncharged so they just went in with cold steel. The rash was oyer in a minute. The Turks in the first trench were either bayoneted or ran away, aud the Maxims were captured. The Australians found themselves facing an almost perpendicular cliff. Halfway up-the enemy had a s°cond tiench, strongly held, from which they poured a terrible fire on the troop3 below.

The pulling back to the destroyers for a second lauding party was a tough proposition to tackle in the darkness.

The colonials stopped a few minutes to pull themselves together and get rid of their packs. They charged their magazines and proceeded to scale the cliff without responding to. the enemy's fire. They lost some men bub did not worry.

In less than a quarter of an hour the Turks were out of their second position either bayoneted or fleeing.

Rugged Country.

A3 daylight came it was "seen that the landing hrd been effected rather further north of Gabatepe than* was originally intended at a point where the cliffs rise very sheer. This was a blessing in disguise because there were no glacies down which the enemy could fire and the broken ground afforded good cover. Once the troops pass :d forty yards of flit on the beach the country in the vicinity of the Iml ng was formidable and foi bidding to the sea, presenting a steep front broken into innumerable ridges and bluff valleys and sand spits rising to a height of several hundred feet, tha surface being, bare, 'ihe country con sisted of crumbling sandstone, covered with thick shrubbery about six feet in hieight. Sharpshooters 1 Toll. The locality was idr.al for snipers, as the Australasians soon found out; to their cost. On the other hand the Australasians proved themselves adepts at this kind of warfare. In the early part of the day heavy casualties wero suffered in the boats conveying the troops from the destroy er.j—tugs and transports. The enemy's sharpshooters were hiddon everywhere and concentrated their fire on the boats when close in_ At least ttwee boats broke away from their tow and drifted down the coast, out of control, and were at>iped at the whole way, steadily losing their men. A Galling Fire. The work of dieembarkment pro ceeded mechanically under a point blank fire. Th_ moment the boats touchel the beach the troops jumped ashore and doubled for cove •, but the gallant boat crews had to pull in and out under a galling fire from hundreds of points.

All through April 25th this went on, the troops, ammunition and stores being thuß lauded. When daylight ca aie the warships endeavoured to give support by a heavy fire from their secondary armaments, but not knowing the enemy's positions the support was more moral than real.