A SOLDIER’S LETTER

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 July 1915, Page 5

A SOLDIER’S LETTER

EARLY DAYS A-T DARDANELLES.

WELL-KNOWN BOXER’S EXPERIENCES.

[By Telegraph—Special to the Star.]

AUCKLAND, This Day. I fixate Alf Gault, the well-known boxer, who was wotmded at the Dardanelles, describing his experiences in a letter to his people in Auckland, says:— “I must tell you how interesting tha fighting was on the first couple of days. After not seeing the enemy all and just firing in the direction from which tha smoke of their rifles came, we entrenched and had to fight all night. The Turks were around us■ all night; 'we could hear them talking about 50 or 60 yards away,. GIVING THEM A VOLLEY. .

About twenty of us would count 1 up to three and then give them a volley.* You can bet there were a good few Turks who did not speak after these volleys. It brought hell down on us in the morning though/as they trained the rilackihe gun on our part of the trench and it did rain, I can tell you, until our machine' gunfi silenced it. We had our bayonets fixed for the “charge,” I 'which did riot come—those volleys settled them, I think. SNIPER TROUBLESOME, r “During Monday the Turks, had a sniper firing at our trench- all day, and he put six of our fellows out of actioia, killing two and wounding four. • Every time you left the trench to go and get a drink you .were sure to get a bullet, though I used to dive in and out. “GOT THEM BOTH.” ;> “Two of the enemy were trying^to‘puts a machine gun straight in front of us, but I fii'ed a couple of shots and got than* both. These were the only two that I saw fired at that were hit. “As we could not see during the night we continued fighting all the next day until 5 o’clock, when the Auckland Battalion was relieved, which meant that wo had to go and dig trenches all night. Wo only had one decent night’s sleep of eix hours during our ten days in the Dardanelles. The other men fared far worsa than I, for when I fell wounded they had to go and fight somewhere else. HEAVY CASUALTIES. “It was a great experience for us, .and you could not wish for anything hotter than our chaps have had. Young McFarlane and Ernie Cook (of Taumarunui) wer« splendid chaps. I have never met nicer. I used to be great pals with them, and we used to laugh and joke over the Ernie Cook came to mo very excitedly at Ismailia to shake hands and say goodbye, saying: ‘Alf, I am going to Gaba Tepe j i am going to the war now. ’ I never saw the poor fellow alive again, for he died shot through the head. Poor young McFarlane was killed t>y one of the shells that hit.us on the Wednesday. Two of my sparring partners on the boat hav« been in action ; one of them, Moeki, having been killed, and Jimriiie Grantham wounded. Moeki was last seen in a bayonet charge on the Sunday. IN HOSPITAL.

“What with the ten days of strenuous fighting, the excitement caused by our being under fire .during; those ten. days, and rny somewhat hurried exit from the firing line owing to a shrapnel bullet id my right arm,” continues Private Gault, “after admission to hospital in Egypt you can easily reason but that when I was compelled to return to this land of sand, heat, sun and sorrow, I did not. feel in the mood for writing a letter. Naturally, my arm. was a little sore, and I was annoyed at having to leave the remnant of my section, the remnant consisting of Syd. Dawson, Harold Hodge,, and Roy Harkins. After the splendid trip across in that fine ship, Gloucester Castle, a very fast trip in the hospital train from; Alexandria to Heliopolis and our recent rest in the Palace Hospital, and .latterly our stay at Luna Park Hospital, your' reasoning powers would also make you alive to the fact that your soldier son, whilst h« may not be making a fortune, is at tha verv least having as good a time and enjoying himself quite as well, if not better, than the next soldier in Egypt. Another important item *that tends to keep ■ tbo aforesaid body and soul together is, th» good food that I ■ have been obtaining since I returned from the battlefield, not onlv in the restaurants and hotels here, but in Zeitoun Camp. Poor old Rod Standon got wounded through the cheeka on April 25th; he was seen going down to the beach on the first Sunday after landing. He may be in ZeitOUrt Hospital or at Alexandria, but I am anxiou,s, as I am unable to get any information. ■ Epng* ing for more fighting, I will. be leaving the hospital on Monday to go to a convalescent hospital. The sooner I am back at the front the better, as the heat hero is terrific. I would far sooner die ad Gallipoli than live in Egypt. TTiave not heard any word of Rod Standon or Syd. Dawson yet; they may be at one of the Alexandria hospitals. BROTHERS ALL. “I must sav, after the way those Australians behaved, like heroes on the field and comrades in the firing line, I don b think anyone will dare mention Australia to me again with anything but praise. Our fellows think the world of them; they are men, and I do not ask more than that from anyone. lam trying to be one now, and I trust that I will succeed; If fighting goes for anything, I will do enough of that, for I am just dying to g©t> back and get even.” , i .