THE FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLI.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 4 September 1915, Page 6

THE FIGHTING ON GALLIPOLI.

IMBROS, July 13. Our fellows. are beginning to respect', the Turk, and with some reasoa too, for the Turk is playing the game in a way'that the German who dragged him into this war has never attempted to play it. His bravery, especially on the defensive, jkas also earned him the respect of the colonial soldier, who, if the war w«re finished to-morrow, would be the first to fraternise with him. Whether or not the Turk will continue to play the game remains to be seen. Those here who know him best say that he will. Another surprise to those of our army who have not kept pace with recent'developments in the Turkish Army lias been to find the Turkish trenches recently captured at Helles models of sanitary organisation. They were every whit as clean as our own. They had been systematically disinfected, and there were even receptacles for rubbish placed at intervals along them. This reform is no doubt owing to German influence in connection with the reorganisation of the Turkish Army. Should this cleanliness be general * throughout - the Turkish Army there will not be so nueh danger on either side from the dreaded cholera. Hitherto the Turkish Army has seldom, if ever, fought a war without an outbreak of cholera in its ranks. It will be a satisfaction, therefore, to people in the Overseas Dominions to know that the authorities on our side are leaving nothing to chance, but are taking every precaution to prevent any such outbreak in our army, and to minimise its effects should it appear when we make a forward move into country now occupied by the enemy. THE RELIGIOUS WAR. The Germans have failed to bring about a Holy War. The Turks nevertheless are not above having their jibe at our religion; the Crescent still holds the Cross in contempt. On Tuesday last the Turks displayed threa crosses in front of their firing trenches opposite Courtenay's Post. The first was a plain wooden one painted red from the crosspiece to the top arid on the left arm of the cross. It was promptly knocked down by rifle fire. The second cross had a conical top with" a thin cylinder placed upon it. This was not- fired upon* After a few minuses it was taken down, and replaced by one with the cress-piece painted white, and an inscrintion of some sort on the left arm of the cross. This one also was knocked down by rifle fire. The enemy lay low, and probably thought he had perpetrated a good joke in getting our soldiers to fire on the symbol ol their own religion. A SPECTACULAR CANNONADE. Saturday, the 10th July, broke the monotony of the ordinary trench warfare that had prevailed for some days. Early in the morning a, group of trawlers that had gathered off-shore between us and the hospital ship were scattered by Turkish guns that opened fire from *somewhere in the neighborhood of Gaba Tepo. The Turkish gunners made good practice and spurte of foam almost splashed the little ships, but, strange to say, tliey all escaped. Standing well off-shore, but not out of range of the Turkish fire, was one of our battleships—the Lord Nelson—with three destroyeijs waltzing gracefully about her and other destroyers and trawlers moving farther, out. Presently from the battleship's side came a great burst of golden flame, followed quickly by a rush of yellowish-brown smoke that almost hid the ship from view. For a full 2o .seconds there was no sound. Then from across the water came a loud report and a continuing lower rumble that made the earthy walls of one's d':g-ci:t tremble and bits of clay and little stones fall from the walls. This v.as the Lord Nelson with her big guns commencing a bombardment that w;.:- (:<; knock the edge off the Kilid En!:;- plateau, upon which, recently, the Turks had been making earthworks ;::kL gun emplacements. It is a long, high plateau, steep at each end, lying to the south of uv.r position ;uid a few miles south of Achi Baby. hi between is some level land that, p.-nperlv entrenched, might be diiiicult ■■> take, while the plateau itself. v\ !< its trenches, enta:iglenients, ano ~■:■: us, seem*, either from our position ,-ir (roni o ff the const, a most formidable obstacle. The military experts, however, state that both the Kilid Bahr plateau and lower ground i n between it ard Achi Baba can be commanded by our artillery once the latter eminence has been taken. In the meantime our objective was not the plateau, but merely to destroy the works on it, and generally to make things uncomfortable for the Turks working there. No doubt the enemy quickly .scuttled to their dugouts ;>nd trenches on the other side of the rkkjp. but our battle-ship, now ope;:;::^ in _o:u-jk ■■>: v.ich broadsides, sent lije big slie'lis ris^iit on to the nd;re. v.-hore tl'rv '•-;>■■: in clouds of si!!(>!:e that miu-l-ri v.jth a shower of earth and .ston.w. Mealtime a Turkish baiiery from the iroe.- and scrub on tju> lower land <-.;>'-?e<! fire on the Lord -I'I"'']'- usillg fui:r ol' six-inch shell. 11k■ si.r-11, Ml ;.;: [I;,-. ..-.a ;: ]I about the battleship, sending columns of water in the air. and at -any moment it appeared as if .she might be hit; but she went on firing her big guns at the pJateau and took no more notice of the Turkish battery than a mastiff might take of a terrier dog barking at his heels. From our position in the trenches «on one of the hills overlooking Anzac we ckmM clearly see the flashes of the guns of the Turkish battery, and presently one of the Australian batteries on our right was quickly m action against them. Meantime a Turkish battery away on our left opened on one of our positions and the Anafarta gun ("Startling Annie") sent a few of her whistling shrapnel shells into our beach The bathers scurried for shelter, all but

two swimmers some little distance off shore. These latter continued to .enjoy themselves in the warm sea though shells had been bursting almost orer them. On a pathway near the southern point a man continued to shovel earth, and near him two donkeys stdod unconcernedly in the hot sun swishing the flies away with their tails. It only wanted the placard: "When .shall we three meet again?" to complete the picture. There was no other sign of life about—men naked, half-naked, and dressed had hurried to their burrows like rabbits at the first shot from a sportsman's gun. , The Lord Nelson, having accomplished this job to her own satisfaction and our entertainment, ■ and no doubt to the pveat annoyance of the Turks, turned gracefully round, and, still accompanied by the little tornedo-destroyers on the look-out for^Otto and Fritz, as we have named ecemy submarines, hurried homewards. , Late in the afternoon a four-fun-nelled cruiser, with her accompanying destroyers. still on the look-out for submarines, m"ade her apDearance off Gaba Tepe. Farther out the strangelooking kidney-shaped balloon could be seen slowiy rising from the mother ship—also carefully Guarded—against the grey-blue haze. Th** cruiser commenced shelling, the Turks replied, the Annfarta gun opened on our beach asam, there were occasional bursts of rifle and machine gun fire from the trenches, and, as a fitting accompaniment, th« sombre dew diapason of the guns at Helles. At 6.30 p.m. the crui-" ser began to fire her guns in rapid succession. The balloon was now high above the sky-line, and an aeroplane .that had been "spotting" for us flew southwards over the Turkish position her route being dptted with the whit* pi? i? xf fo"rteen/ Turkish shrapnel shells that- burst beneath and floated-I gracefully in the gentle upper airs as the pilot un(wnp«rned}y winged lu.s way south to Helles.