LANDING AT GALLIPOLI

Evening Star, Issue 15907, 13 September 1915, Page 10

LANDING AT GALLIPOLI

-' ' , (Continued from Saturday's issue.) .' ,* . —lncapable of Description.— . The scene on the beach thoroughfare •* , is, incapable of description, and only a moving picture film could do justice to it. Here are a group of Indians . . jwith. their mules being loaded up with cases of provisions just landed from a barge, further on a number of Australians are in swimming, and splashing and yelling as if they were on the Manly Beach ■holiday-making, then along come a string of New Zealanders, each with two cans of water ,for their camp —most of the water comes from Malta and Alexandria by 'boat, and only a. certain quantity is served,out each day—while further on a draft ''of reinforcements have just come aehoTe, and are sitting on their packs .waiting to be marched to their quarters. Mingled with all these gronps are men sitting chatting, smoking, and laughing, while here and there you will see a fellow reading a: paper or letter,, or mending some part of his clothing. I must ask my reader .to please understand that these men were not all-in regulation uniform. The costume varied according to the fancy _of the wearer. Some were .in Tiding pants and military grey shirts, others again were in denims, cut short to the knee, while the popular dress appeared to be a pair of underpants cut down, with singlet to match—the whole made a very comic-opera scene which once seen could never be forgotten. After receiving our loads we were marched back to camp and given a spell, whiGh in most cases took the form of going to sleep, for the heat was terrific, and seemed to take all the energy out of a man.. "Most of us were under the impression that the flies in Egypt were bad, but here there axe more of them, and they are the most intrusive brand. of fly ever hatched. They make life one long cuss; they get into your eyes and nose, and when waved away turn round and come back again, and so on all day long, till in sheer desperation you give it up and let them hold the fort. At 6 o'clock we were told that we were going into the trenches, and, of course, we were dead keen to get going and take our place in the firing line, and we did not have long to wait. As the position we were going to occupy was an outlying one, we had to curb our impatience till darkness set in, as it would have been dangerous to move out in daylight. But everything comes to him who waits, and eventually we were formed up on the beach, and with rifles ■ loaded marched out of camp. Our track led along the beach, arid soon the order came " Open out and bend low," and you may be sure we bent low. The reason of this was that the snipers in the hills could reach this part of the beach, and . this evening they had evidently marked our departure, as very soon the bullets commenced to spit over our heads and' plough up all around us. After —Passing the Danger Zone—we breathed more freely, and took things i bit easy, and this continued till we came to the foot of a hill, on top of which were the trenches we weie to occupy for 24 hours. The hill took some climbing, but eventually we arrived at the top, safe ■ and sound, although somewhat blown ; after our struggle. You must remember tnat we had rifle and bandolier and full £n^ S 7 lt !- Ufi '- d had not yet got hardened to tihis infantry work; but we are I i, n rT Mck °*y, and scale hi.ls like Highlanders. Our duty was to man the outpost and relieve the Canterbury men who had just done their 24 hours' duty As it was dark when we \l g a TiPS. trenches were like, and also the lay of the country which the outpost a ontS- *&&% °' clock oKlera ™™ along that the C.Y;C. were goimr to attack the Turkish trenches in front of our tot** 1 ' We Were on *<> .acconn to fire; but if any Turks came our way to use ae bayonet on them. Ifc W Z • mocnbgfct night, and as I happened to «* on sentry when the attack CoW* 6 * Ba l the Whole Proceeding 2L e 5 the para P et & the dim moonlight. a long procession of men were to be seen working their way up a J™ wate rC o Ur3 e to the ■ left of the outpS then they disappeared into the night T ■ waited expectant for the next movelnthe game. I had not long to wait, for ye™ soon came the crackl! of Turkishrifle? sentry had evidently caught sight of something suspicious and fired and a armed his comrades, but soon the firiS ■ it down then ceased altogether 0 tfte? f 6 a - aCk , h l d DOt fceen discfveS: th?X a T, W o fc ? f L aboufc an K during which the Canterbury men had evidently fursftf P S-\ f ° fi r the a Wa heavy burst of Turkish firing was heard, and tnTr ™fc a W i ld f* ll -* 3 om feUows'made their rush, and sweeping over the opposition took the trenches at the bayonet point and rooted the Turks out Tho cleared and took up another prepared position about half a mile away P and opened fire on the trenches they had £2 . vacated.. The whole attack was brouS off with great suddenness and the S -Turks Were Evidently Surprised.Uur casualties were very slight, but the enemy lost a number of men° R e infor Ce ments soon arrived from the WeCZ ' S eds ' and P 6 . ca P tured trenches were heavily manned in preparation for a counter-attack; but tie Turks had evid • entljr had. enough for one night and lav low m their new position. When davliS came we saw that the output wewSe occupying was on the extreme left of «2 S» Jit*** S™* 011 and commanded a big stretch of fjat country, extending from 6 hed rfght °«t t° a salt la™ about three miles away, and was a ££' tion of great importance. This hifl T originally a Turkish fort and had been built for the purpose of re sisting a Greek landing during one of S 6f A ° umeloUs war * and Ld been captured by our troops during the land da y,P assed uneventfully. We £ n T *^ als ' Ble P fc ' and kept guard £ll T* milltary manner < a «d murder will out) swore lustily at the heat, which was, excessive, and our old enemiesthe flies which were as persistent as ever in their assaults. But the excitement was to come. Lat6 the 3ftem t^VnSi^e %ThTZ n t s t*° Shell -° Ur P°^ion, r anS fire but Tth expenence of shrapnel pre, but as the cover was good and w«' took no risks no casualties octurred °n our ranks, although some of the fellow™ had narrow escapes from stray bullets The Turks were bursting their shells riit see the, fellows crawl into any old hole when the whistle of an approach?™ shell was heard, and then tosee the heals bob "P again- after the explosion to waft for the next shot. The bombardment con-«h^f-n TI 6" Bhooting, which prevented us from prepanng our eyenmg meal, and, in fact most of the fellows went on with their cooW as r if nothing were Opining Truly, famihanty breeSs contemptf Whra darkness set in we waited expectant for our.relief as,we ; were all tired out not having had practically any sleep for over 48 hours since we had left peaceful old Lemnos. At last the —Relieving Squadron Arrived,— and with packs up we moved out, slipping tripping, and stumbling down the hill we came,_ and moving off in single file and stooping low when we came to the snipIng area, we arrived back at camp. Not . troubling to look .for odgings the majority of us just rolled up m our overcoats, and with a pack for a pillow and mother earth for a spring mattress we slept the sleep of tired troopers. But our troubles were not all over. After we had left the outpost the Turks had attacked in force and the officer in charge being obliged to send to headquarters for reinforcements, troops from 6th Squadron were hastily called out and sent back to the post They had not got far from camp when' they were discovered and fired on, and, when trying to make their* way up the hill to enter, the fire became so heavy that it was impossible to move and every-' body took the best cover they, could and ! • waited to see what would , turn up. ' Luckily the officer in charge of the troop summed up the situation and forbearing to return the fire, as that would have disclosed" our position to the enemy, managed ,' 'to withdraw his men and get them into the fort bv another and less dangerous

route, fortunately without loosing a man. All day Saturday (May 29th) the Turks continued to shell the captured trenches, and the outpost and the \ troops were having' a trying time, as their water, supply (which they had taken with them) was running short and the ammunition was also giving out; but .during the day volunteers managed to get through to camp, and, after running the gauntlet of the snipers, oucceeded in getting back to the outpost with supplies of water, food, and cartridges. After consideration it was decided by the " heads " to —Evacuate the Turkish-Trenches—-captured by the C.Y.C., and it then became a question of withdrawing' the men in occupation with as little loss as.possible. So on Sunday night the troops in camp were again marched out to the outpost, and after being subjected to a heavy fire from snipers, during which we had some of bur men wounded, we managed to get into the outpost, and relieved the worn-out men, who had been fighting all Saturday night and Sunday, and, unfortunately, had lost some men during that period. True to the traditions of ; the British Army, the wounded were first removed, from the .trenches held by the C.Y.C. and Wellington "Monnteds,"' and then the men remaining made the best of their way to the outpost which we were occupying, and which they succeeded in doing without any further loss of life. Right here I wish "to add my little bit to the praise which everybody unstintingly gives to the Ambulance Corps attached to the New Zealanders. This fine body of men go out, very often under fire, to rescue and bring in wounded, and after climbing hills, scraping through trenches, and stumrling down the sides of scrubby, water worn gullies, bring the wounded man into the hospital, where he is bandaged and attended to prior to being put on to a hospital ship and sent to one of the various ba?r-s to be patched' up and returned to his regiment to take his place with his pals. Now, to resume our story : Ths Turks continued to attack the captured trenches, and at last evidently decided to rush tVem and recapture them. The C.Y.C. held them off till they were within a hundred yards of them, and th°n they slipped out and made foT our trenches. With loud 6houts of "Allah! Allah!" the Turks came on, and we could hear the tcw they made shaking hands with themselves when they found the trenches empty. This win evidently decided them to have a slap at us and

—Sweep Us Into the Sea, — 60, screwing up their courage, and making a_ terrible din, they advanced on our position, and you may be sure we were ready for them. It is no use saying we were as cool as cucumbers. On the contrary, we were all keen for them to come on, and awaited impatiently for the assault. At last it came, arid holding our fire till we could see them distinctly, we prepared to give them a hot reception. On they came, not in British charging style, btit in groups of eight or ten men, or maybe more, and then we let them have it, firing' as fast ac to could work the bolt of the rifie. This seemed to discourage "Herr Turk," end they Btarted to drop under our fire, and would have cleared, but their officers evidently straightened them up, and this time they made a determined attempt to get to grips, which just suited us, as we were full of fight. Their rush carried them up to the edge of the ramparts, and then our rifles spoke, and that was enough. The moonlight 6hining on. the row of gleaming fixed bayonets all ready for any 'that did manage to get in evident!} got on their nerves, and throwing away their rifles they cleared like frightened rabbits. Our fellows were all onfor following them up, but the orders were to "stand fast," and we had to content ourselves with firing at any Turk we could rr-.anage to see trying to join his fellows. You may be sure that not many of us 6lept much, for the rest of the night, and when daylight came we could see dead Turks scattered here and there all along the front of the position they had attacked. Some 50 or 60 of the enemy had taken refuge in a hollow in the gully, and as the light grew stronger they endeavored to get away to their own trenches. To do this they had to cross a cleared patch, and that was bur opportunity, and as first one ar.d then another would make a rush w© would open fire, and man after man would go down. This —Sounds Very Murderous,— but the game we are now on is war, and we thought of our slaughtered pals who had fallen during the attack on the beach, and hardened our hearts. Our casualties were luckily very light, although the C.Y.C. and Wellington men had lost pretty heavily during the fight. We took it pretty easy during the day, as we were all well dona with our exertions of the night before, and were not at all sorry when our relief arrived in the evening and we returned to our camp. Monday was devoted to digging bivouacs, or "bivys," as the boys call them, and making ourselves as comfortable as possible; but the heat and the flies made things uncomfortable On Tuesday wo were ordered to occupy No. 1 outpost, which is situated between the camp and No. 2 kind of halfway nouse or buffer between the furthermost post and our eventful happened during the night. We had evidently impressed the Turks with our quality, and they did not feel inclined to have another shot at us. When we returned to camp at night we were ordered to shoulder our packs and proceed out to No. 2 outpost again, which we did under a heavy machine-gun fire from the Turkish trenches on the top of the cliffs; but our luck stood to us, and we arrived safe and sound. When we arrived we found that the 12th Squadron" had preceded us, and now the regiment has come together again, and our duty is to hold No. 2 outpost, as this will be an important position when our troops move up the peninsula and start to put the pressu.e on "Mr Turk." - Much has been written of " dugouts " and " bivouacs," and a few words in explanation may not be amiss. As we are camped on a hillside which can be reached by Turkish shell fire we, of course, have to

—Protect Ourselves—from loss by living in "dug-outs," and they are constructed in this manner: A hole is sunk in the ground about three or four feet deep, and then the back is hollowed, out for about another three feet, leaving a roof, over the top of which is piled scrub, and on top of that earth, so that no shot will penetrate into the "dugout." The next move is to hollow out a ledge about two feet long by. one foot high and two feet broad, to hold little possessions. Then two pegs aro fitted into the earth to hold the rifle, and the house is complete. Most of the fellows stretch an oilsheet over the top to keep out the sun and the occasional rain which comes along, and you would be surprised how comfy these little "homes away from home" can be made. Our duty is to hold this outpost against all-comers, and the work now is practically garrison duty—viz., a certain section will go into the trenches for 48 hours, while the remainder do the work about the camp, such as digging trenches and various routine work. Then they will take their share of the trenches, and so on. During the dav wo often see the various aircraft scouting over the country, and very graceful they look—just like a huge bird," and rising and falling at the aviator's will! Although practically cut off from the world, we still manage to keep in touch with current events, as Headquarters issues a ' Gazette' every day, which is posted up, and keeps us acquainted with what is doing outside. Oi course, we have our busy days and our slack time. Sometimes the shells will be bursting about us all day, and the rifle bullets whistling and dropping everywhere, and at other times the place looks just like .a big picnic camp. At night we can see the flashes of the big guns from the warships a-; they bombard the Turkish positions, and then the racket will start, and the rifle fire will run along the trenches for miles; but it takes more than this to keep us awake, and I have often slept through a lombardment. and 1 known nothing about it till the next mornI ing. And here I, must ask you in your I mind's, eye to picture us, a few mUes 1 south of Little Anafarta Bay, keeping j watch and ward at No. 2 outpost.