A COMPARISON.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15335, 20 July 1915, Page 4

A COMPARISON.

FRANCE. GALICIA AND GALLIPOLJ.

WHAT THE COLONIALS HAVE BEEN THROUGH.

(From - Captain -C. E. Beau. Official Correspondent with the Australian Expeditionary Force.)

(Rights secured by "The Press.")

GABA TEPE, May 20. It is -'ot easy to compare the fighting in this Peninsula t<> that in Franco or Galicia, but one thin., gave tis a comparison from the first. Tho casualty lists showed at once that the fight the Australians and New Zealandcrs had been through was one of the stiffest in the war. Thc landing of tho British sit Cap.? Holies was. of course, exceptionally costly. Some of the legimonts there lost more heavily than any of our battalions probably did on thc first day of landing, but the losses in the Ist Australian Division were evenly heavy throughout the whole Division, and certainly the 2nd Australian Brigade, which made the heroic charge towards Krithia, "which I have already described, and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade, which was beside- it in that fight, and lost almost a s heavily, must have a roll of honour which very few units that had been less than a fortnight in the war could surpass. Nothing quite like that charge was seen m the whole battle, and it made the name of the Austral-, ian infantry amongst the other troops at Heilcs, one that the most famous regiments in the Army might envy. Battalions have been broken in spirit by far smaller losses, but I know of niv personal knowledge that the spirit of the Australian troops was as ii'gh after that charge as it had. ever been. Their chief louging, to-day is the same that has beset every Australian soldier since thc first day the enemy was attacked with the bayonet. A.M.C.'s BIG JOB. It is impossible even yet to state ac curately what were the losses in the Australian and New Zealand force on any of the first three days. The dressing station on the little crowded halfmoon oi" beach received such a continual sbing of wounded that no attempt could be mado' to count and check their names or numbers. Every ship's boat and horse boat that returned to the unloading transports carried its cargo of wounded men. until the captains of all except the hospital ships and some of the transports temporarily used as hospital ships could receive no more of them. Hundreds of men wore sent off in this.way of whom no record could possibly be kept. Besiue . those, th-.ro wer© many men lying oatside our lines, and, indeed, tome must h. lying thero still, of whoso fate, no one had, or will <***er have, any real knowledge. We know from Turkish officers who have met our own officers that / tbe greater part of these men did not surrender when tho Turkish lines passed them in their attack, but continued to fight on after thc Turks had passed them, although in many cases they must have boon hopelessly surrounded and cut off. It was very few. and thoso, probably, mostly wounded, that allowed themselves to bo taken prisoners. The Turks, whose official account of the fighting, published next day, was, as far as I have seen, fairly accurate, claim, I believe, to have taken about 300 Australians. They only mention two officers, a captain, and a subaltern. It was known by us that they had captured these two. They only managed to do so by means of the following trick. HOW TWO OFFICERS WERE . CAUGHT. Tt wag after dark on the first day. A battalion which had arrived during the afternoon was hanging on to a position between tho sections of tho lino which were then .jusfc beginning to civotallise as tho Australian eection and .the New Zealand section. The New Zealanders were not far away on the plateau aliove them. They themselves were in a 6inall ridge in the gully below, but as a matter of fact it was soma days before that unit knew where the nearest part of the New Zealand line to it really was. They could see th? edge of the ridge above them and a gully between. but ? looking up at that ridge, they could not say where tbo New Zealand lino vested upon it. or, indeed, whether it came within sight of them at all. Between the two, Iho gully was open to tbe Turks, who held one end of it. It was_t this point in our line, and a similar point near it, that most of the Turkish attacks wore aimed, and it was down this gully that for come day's snipers used to creep behind part of our lines. Six of these snip.r.* were afterwards killed on the gully slopes. It was here that, after dark. the. word was passed along to the commanding officer in this battalion to expect tho Indian troops on Jus flauk, and that it was desirable to join up with them. A subaltern was sent forward with n man in the battalion who could speak some Hindustani. Presently they sent word back that, a senior officer was required. Tho adjutant of the battalion was sent up. and his voice was soon heard through the <lnrk asking for the colonel to come up and speak with the Indians himself. Tho colonel was suspicious. A message passed along the line created no suspicion in the early hours of our landing, but thi. particular message did, because there were, so far as wo knew, very few Indians with us. only the mountain batteries and ten mule-drivers. The colonej went forward, but well on his guard. lie found a group cf live men standing with our officers. It v-as too dark to see their uniforms. Th«. oolono] was doubtful if they wer_ Indian- at all, though tliey were talking with our na-*tv as they stco I there. Two of the I*-.d>*iiiß auproached him, and one nreseni'y laid his baud on his arm. That was enough for the colorel. He dived over t-Br bank, on **-■* toj> of -which they were st-P-dim*. They fired at him. but he not back safely to our line*;. The Turks had the threo others fast before "■hey could move. That was Jim* the j Turks obtained their captain and Weui tenant. | MINING MEN FOT'ND. I Since then the wounded have ari rived in Alexandria and elsewhere, and I lists of them have been s?nt back to j the force. It wa, known that a larae : number of tho*? who were originally ] missing, that i-i to <ay. who were not j there when it finally became possible to | mu*ter their battalion and whose names were not recorded as killed or wounded, would" be found to have been wounded and taken off to the .hips m the early hours before correct lists were possible. The original list of missing has been greatly cut down.