THE DARDANELLES.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15464, 17 December 1915, Page 7

THE DARDANELLES.

A SEPARATE PEACE

REPORTED MOVE IX TURKEY

GERMAN TROOPS NOT WANTED

(By Cable.—Pre«« Association.—Copyrights (Received December 16th, 6.20 p.m.) ROME. December" 15. Advices from Constantinople state that the general movement in favour of a separate peace is encouraged by some Turkish Ministers, including Talaat Bey. The prospect of the arrival of a German army is viewed with disfavour, particularly by those- Turkish officers and soldiers who have had experience of German methods. TURKEY'S STRENGTH. POSSIBLY 1,000,000 MEN. LONDON, December 15. In the House of Commons Mr H. J. Tennant, in to ply to a question, said it was estimated that 650,000 Turks were in the field, and the number might be increased in certain circumstances td 1,000,000. AUSTRALIAN TROOPS IN EGYPT. NEW COMMANDER APPOINTED. (Received December 16th. 8.50 p.m.) MELBOURNE. December 16Colonel G. Irving, Chief of the General Staff, has been appointed to the command of the Australian troops in Egypt. A NEW APPOINTMENT. MELBOURNE. December IG. Lieutenant-Colonel Sir N. Moore has been appointed temporary BrigadierGeneral commanding the Australian and New Zealand troops in the United Kingdom. MAORI REINFORCEMENTS. (rnnss association* telegrams.) WELLINGTON. December 16. The Hon. J. Allen has been informed by-cablegram troin Egypt that the Maori reinforcements have not yet left Egypt. HOSTILE ARABS PUNISHED. A BRITISH S FCC ESS. (Received December ICth, 8.50 p.m.) CAIRO. December lb'. A British force under Colonel Gordon on December 3 *)tli encountered the hos- ! tile Arabs, twenty-four miles west <>f j Matrah. The Arabs were armed with | 1200 rifles and machine-guns. They I vigorously attacked, but were driven ! hack with heavy loss. The British, j whose looses wciv only four men killed, sub.-equcntly returned to Matrah. | i 2 TO INVADE EGYPT. | i PREPARATIONS IN ! PALESTINE. j JERUSALEM AN ARMED CAMP. I j ROME, December 15. An 'English missionary in Syria ■ reports that important preparations rue being made in .Jerusalem and j Jaffa for the expedition to Egypt under I the German general von Trusomor. A ] double railway line has l>ecn constructed j from Damascus to Jerusalem and from J Ghaza. some distance beyond the an- j cient frontier of Turkey and Egypt, to the Isthmus of Suez. One hundred thousand soldiers arc garrisoning Jerusalem, which liar, been transformed into I

an armed camp, and they are strongly entrenched. '1 tie convents have lxv» converted into hospitals with TurooGcnnan staffs. The inhabitants are under strict supervision. Seventy thousand Turks. The remnants of the unsuccessful raiders en the Canal, are now camped at Ghaza. There is a shortage of rifle* for the new forces, end one hundred men are training with the same rifle. Only four old cuns are available for training tho artillery. l"Timcs" ar.d "siycincr Sun" Strvic** ) LONDON, December 13. Colonel Uepington writes: "The temporary misfortunes we an 1 suffering are entirely of our own contriving It was i.ot the Germans who compelled u.s to send a military expedition to the .Dardanelles, to plunge into the deserts of Mesopotamia in blissful ignorance ;if what awaited us there, or to immure ourselves in the Salonjen trap. It was tho higher direction of the war in London that .h> involved us and wasted half a million men. tarnished the glory of our arms, and half-ruined our prestige. Nevertheless, the position is sound. The exasperation against England, which is the keynote of every Gorman discourse, i< due to tho fact that we have brought the German plans to nought. There is a strong probability of a German endeavour in the West to recover the lost initiative, and appearances point to an attack upon Egypt "» •January. «hen the Uejgrade-Sotia railway will be repaired. Four .German Army Corps may then join nn with 350.000 Turks. Vigour and derision are indispensable for the Miecossful defence of Egypt, ar.d the main line of communications with the East."

WOUNDED IN ENGLAND

N.Z. WAR CONTINGENT

ASSOCIATION,

-A SPLENDID RECORD OF

SERVICE

LONDON, December 1-5. At a meeting of the New Zealand War Contingent Association the Hon. Thomas Mackenzie, High Commissioner, who occupied the chair, stated that £2!),oOO had been subscribed, including subscriptions from the New Zealand Shipping Company of £1000, and the Shaw. Savill and Albion Company of £500, which had just been received. Mr Mackenzie stated that there were ISGQi) wounded New Zealnndcr.c now in Britain, and twenty-six had died. Ho honed they would erect a monument at Walton-on-Thames to theirimemory. Two hundred beds were being added to the hospital at Walton, which had proved an unqualified success. When the King and Queen visited the institution they confessed their utmost gratification with the arrangements. Princo Louis of Battenberg had also expressed his satisfaction, adding that he had always tho kindliest feeling for New Zealand, owing to tho Dominion's kindness to his son.

Tho War Office was also ento concentrate tho rest of the New Zealande.rs in a singlo hospital, thus removing the possibility of loneliness. The convalescent home's at Brighton. Woodcoto Park; and Epsom, had proved great .successes. Two New Zealanders who had Inst limbs had been sent to Queen Mary's Hospital at Roehampton. Provision had also been made for the entertainment of those on furlough. The Association bad provided tho troops with tobacco, shuvinc outfits, and "clothing where necessary, and £500 had been sent to the American Ambassador for New Zealand prisoners in Constantinople. The sailors on board H.M.S. New Zealand had not been forgotten at Christmas. Tho Association required funds to carry on tho work. Mr Mackenzie pafd a tribute to the invaluable services rendered by Lord Plunket and Ladv Islington.

THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES.

AWFUL RECORD OF

SAVAGERY.

ONE MILLION PEOPLE PERISH

LONDON, December 15. Lord Bryce, in a letter to tho "Daily Telegraph/' states that a competent authority estimates that one million Armenians have perished in tho Turkish massacres.

Further details show that five thousand peoplo wore literally driven to death under the lash. "Thero have been awful caso 8 of pillage, murder, outrage, starvation, and girl stealing. In one caso two hundred Armenians were taken in truck.-* to a river bank, and each truck-load shot. In other eases Armenian men were half strioped and tied together, and taken away, while tho women and girls "ere distributed among the Turkish villages, tho Turks scrutinising them and choosing whom they wanted. A wealthy resident saw his wife and three daughters taken awa\\ whereupon he became a raving lunatic. °

One eyewitness says:—"l counted twenty-one women and children iu a hospital lying on the floor from 6hcer exhaustion. Three children were moribund, and half of the remainder wero likely to die. Two children wero forcibly separated from their mother, and one was left to lie on the damp ground and died. The mother strayed on to the railway line and had her leg practically amputated, and i s now demented. The sufferings of the people are too horrible and awful to describe."