NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16808, 18 March 1915, Page 6

NOTES ON THE WAR.

ON LAND AND SEA. The Amethyst appears to have been responsible for -a very daring piece ol work in the Dardanelles, when she made a reconnaissance through tho narrows and as far as Nagara Point. This cruiser is classed >as a scout, but the scouts proper do not appear to have been proposed until 1902, the year after the Amethyst and Topaze first figured in tho construction programme. In the autumn of 1902 the Admiralty called for tenders for the construction of four scouts, which were to be vessels of light draught, unarmouTcd, capablo of steaming 25 knots. The Amethyst was launched iu 1903. She has a displacement of 800 G tons, steams better than 23 knots, and mounts twelve 4in and eight 3 pr. guns. For a vessel of this class to take the chance of being hit by the shore batteries in a dash through the narrows both commander and met? would need uncommonly steady nerves. The purpose of the dash, of course, was to discover whether any of the permanent batteries and forts remained undamaged. The Amethyst might easily havo come to grief in a minefield, or she might have been hammered by heavy guns ashore, but happily the escaped tho mine peril and accomplished her purpose by drawing the fire of the Turkish batteries.

Perhaps the chief heroes of the Dardanelles operations are the anonymous mine-sweepers. They have had to go* in -advance of. the warships, take all the risks of shell-fire from the shore, and at the samb time run the peril of the mines. It is admitted that one of these vessels has been blown up, and the Turks say that three have been sunk. Tho loss of three would be a modest price to "pay for opening the strait, but -the probabilities are that others will bo sunk before the warships are. able to steam into the Sea of Marmora. Apparently at times the work of clearing the fairway has gone on night and day. While tho weather holds good the warships will be remaining in tho strait, keeping thehv searchlights busy, and the mine-sweepers will toil steadily ahead, "The fact that tho Amethyst was allowed to reach Nagara Point suggests that the inine-sweepei-s have already progressed be« yond Chanak Kaleh and Kilid Bahr and have cleared the way well through the narrows. The Amethyst probably did not steam right to Nagara, which is approximately four miles above Chanak Kaleh, but would approach sufficiently close to discover what bat« teries remained on both shores.

Once the fleet is able to penetrate beyond Nagara the rest of the passage through the Dardanelles should present fewer difficulties. There are bound.to bo mino-fields, and no doubt the Turks, under German direction, have been feverishly strengthening the fortifications especially on the Asiatic coast. But the strait opens out and the shores have fewer indentations, and although the hills on the Gallipoli peninsula beyond Cape rise to 800 feet, and those further in, near Pazerlik, to a thousand feet, the bluffs on the Asiatic coast are lower. There are few sites where the forts and batteries cannot be reached by direct fire, and it is very likely that the fleet will find, it easier to make tho twenty miles from Nagara to Gallipoli harbour than they have found it to progress from Chanak Kaleh to Nagara. Strong landing parties should shortly be able to lend valuable assistance, and it looks a certainty that a considerable land force will have to be employed before tho Sea of Marmora is reached.

Australian files mention that the passengers' by the Malwa, which arrived at Fremantle last week, had a most interesting trip through the Mediterranean, and a particularly impressive visit was paid to Malta. Thore jjje Malwa threaded its way carefully through the groat French and British fleets which were on their way to borahard tho Dardanelles. This was on February 14, and tho Malwa was carrying to Malta Field-Marshal Methuen, who was recently appointed to the Governorship of Malta. Such an inspiring sight will never be witnessed again. On the waters of tho grand harbour were floating every conceivable form of naval warfare, from a seaplano to the immensely tripoded Dreadnought. Tho indefatigable destroyers were in numbers, and < here and there among the great ships of war could bo seen fishing trawlers specially fitted for the work of mine-sweep-ing. Tho Malwa, herself a magnificent specimen of merchant craft, made her way through the steel walls. She passed about half a dozen French ships, the crews of which showed frantic enthusiasm. The sight was particularly thrilling when she came abreast of somo of the British vessels, for upwards of 1500 men crowded on tho decks of these ships and cheered. The guns spoke in saiute. Another fine sight was witnessed at uiuraitar, where the Malwa passed the superDreadnought Queen Elizabeth. A veritable L hieen Elizabeth she looked aa she swung to her moorings, majestic, grand looking, and crinolined with the terrible armaments of the latest super-Dreadnought. Forward two great 15-inch guns were right on top of two others of the same type, and aft wore four more Aa one passenger put it, "There she lay naked in her warlike glory. It was a sight I shall never forgfet. Gray, ominous looking, she was only suggestive of restrained might, an instant efficiencv, and great capacity tor an, nihilation. May she prove her capacity in the Dardanelles.

Hints that have been given m the cable messages of late warrant the sugeestion that the bombardment of the forts at tho entrance to the harbour of Smyrna bv Vice-Admiral R. H. Peirse's squadron "was intended to be a. preparation for the landing of a Greek expedition The statement was made last week, and i ? repeated tJjßfcgjMg , vilavet of Aidin, of which Smyrna i« • the capital, was offered to Greece as au gduceSent to her to if*J**J° Tho intention, no doubt, WM,W » Greek force should occupy the port al a base of military operations in Asia Minor and that when the settlement . Jime should come the Entente Powers would uphold the Greek c aim in occupation. Incidentally, Smyrna is selected for attack because it commands tho main line of communication between tho southern districts and the Dardanelles, and also because its possession is essential to any force operating against the Turks in tho interior. It is the most convenient port, and serves the wealthiest district The vilayet, or Government, of Aidm occupies the whole of the south-western corner of the great promontory, and .the Greeks would find it a valuable prize, even if its defence did prove expensive.

The estimate of the Geramir casualties in the fighting at Neuve Ohapelle is an astounding one. If the enemy lost 17,000 or 18,000 men in the attacks and counter-attacks, the total forco engaged can scarcely hav%beon less than three army corps, or 120,000 men, on

a front of four or five miles at the most. I That so large a proportion of tho force should bo lost is tho more remarkable, because it is represented that the Germans were on the defensive in the initial operations, and there can scarcely }iave boon more than 30 per cent of tho men in tho trenches at tho time. Evidently all tho reserves were brought into nction, and when the supporting troops failed to hold back tho British the enemy must have organised counter-at-tacks in massed formation, in which their losses would bo, of course, more •erious. The struggle extended over three days, and', even if the losses were 0s high as 10 per cent a day, the Original German force would have consulted 0f'60,000 men, from which it is apparent that the action was something more than a. mere increase of local pressure. Clearly the British had organised a big special attack, and it is equally clear that the Germans were not without knowledge that the assault was coming. The success appears all the greater and more in the light of the new information. It looks as if the attack had been cleverly planned and executed with marked skill and' dash. Xrontal attacks on fortified trenches have proved to be appallingly difficult and costlv, but in this engagement an important position was carried by direct assault, and one can only suppose that the success was due primarily to a clever feint. From the reports it appears that attacks were developed north and south of Neuve Ohapelle, but principally to the north, and while this movement was holding the attention of the Germans tho main assault was delivered against Neuve Ohapelle; with tho result that the whole position fell into British hands. Subsequently the Germans made heroic effort® to recover the lost ground, but tho British defence was as soUd as their attack had been brilliant. Altogether, the affair looks to have been a most satisfactory piece of work.