THE GREAT ADVENTURE

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17097, 21 February 1916, Page 3

THE GREAT ADVENTURE

ANZAC-SUVLA EVACUATION. (From MALCOLM ROSS Official War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces.) December 25. With the mud of the Gallipoli trenches still clinging to their boots, some, of the New Zealanders. who but a few days ago were in the firing-line braving shot and shell and bombs, and the bitter blasts of the Dardanelles, are once again treading thjo sands o:f Egvpt, and basking in the warm sunshine of its peaceful shies. Where the Main Force is or where it is going to it is perhaps not advisable at the moment to state. Meantime the evacuation of the AnzacSuvla /.one without the Joss ol a single man in the final operation mustbe filling the whole military world with wonder. 'Die evacuation from the Ansae position was a particularly brilliant feat, for. at Anzac, there was no harbour, and it meant getting oft from a most difficult situation, dominated' fjy iho enemy, and by way of an open shore swept by -shell fire. It in storming and holding the original position at Anzae the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps won golden laurels, they have undoubtedly added to their renown by their manner of leaving it. The operation will probably stand out in military history for all time as a triumph of strategy, secrecy and organisation. Up to this date it is unique in history. It a month ago anyone should have said we could have got off from Anzac and Suvla without loss, he would hare been scouted as a madman. Some authorities thought evacuation an impossibility. 'Others who thought it possible estimated the loss at from ten to fifteen thousand men. The greatest optimists even were prepared to hear of losses. Arrangements were made to leave behind certain held ambulances to attend to our wounded. knowing that the Red Cross men would lie well treated by the Turks. liven the Held ambulances that were to be left were safely evacuated with the rest of the troops! SAVING THE GUNS. On the night of Friday, December 10. some seventeen guns from the New Zeaiand butteries rumbled past the No. 2 Outpost, and on along the beach road to the piers at Walker's Ridge. I These little wharves constituted the I one and' onlv landing-place we possessed that could not be observed by the Turkish gunners, but they made desperate attempts to get them, and in the end almost succeeded. The observers could probably see the masts of a sunken steamer that formed a part of our "harbour," and. taking this as his line, "Beachv Bill" got a few shells almost on to the whart. Vs a general rule, he was short, and his" shells dropped harmlessly on to a point between the pier and Anzac, or plumped into the open sea. The Anzac wharf, however, came under a deadly hail of shrapnel and high explosives, and. of late, "Beachy" had inconsiderately taken it into his head to fire in the night time. That same night a number of the Australian guns were packed with tho New Zealand guns under the shelter of Walker's Ridge. During the following night a ship arrived and took away these guns. The men did not know where they were going, or what the movement meant. Gradually, we got nearly all our guns away, until, by Friday. December 17. thevo were onlv three New Zealand guns left. Two of these-were to be got off on the following night and a team of four horses left 'behind to gallop the last gun in after darkness fell on the last night. and no further oiToctive shooting was possible. Tho General in charge of our artillery was determined, as far as was humanly possible, that no effort should be spared to prevent a single New Zealand gun from ever being shown in Constantinople. OPERATIONS QUIETLY PROCEEDING. Sunday December 12. was a qnict day. General Sir A. Russell, who was in charge of our division, had a conference, with his brigadiers and principal staff officers. The proceedings were kept secret but the brigadiers were seri-ous-faced as they left the meeting, and it was evident, that momentous issues had been discussed. The weather was now fine and warm, and these would have been ideal days for the final evacuation; but the thing could not be hurried. Two field ambulances, like the Arabs silently folded their tents and stole away. The Field Cashier, with his great bundles ol ten-shilling notes—with the strange Arabic writing in black, over-printed on the red—vanished into the unknown. The all-important question now was. had the enemy got wind of our intentions, and, if so', would he attack? We wore still ready for him and had he come on oven up to the last day he would have had a very warm reception. I he men were eager to have a final "go at him. If, by any chance., he knew what, was happening he still thought discretion the better part of valour. rememberine, no douht. the disastrous ending to his former efforts in the direction of attack. The chances were that he was still in ignorance. til any case, he could never tell how many men we had in the trenches, nor what we had decided upon as our " last Ori the evening of Monday, December 13 various units and details for embarkation began to assemble on the little bit, of fill at "ear the cemetery and tho ordnance and provision depot at No 2 Outpost. As the troops wore likely to be separated from their regimental burgage lor some days, they had to carry essential articles, including rations. on the person. There bad been a bit: ef a blow during the afternoon, causing some defav to the ships, so that it was not until 11

p.m.. instead of 8 p.m., that the long column began to move into the sap leading to Williams's Pier. Meantime, along the beach night road went mule trains and carts carrying the camp baggage of various units. THE SCENE ON THE BEACH. j The scene on tho beach about tho little wooden piers, recently constructed, and one still under construction, seemed to be one of inextricable confu-j sion; but a patient and long-suffering' M.L.0., who went about with a hurricane lamp, was straightening things out all the time, resolving the seeming chaos into order. The mules, with spreading bundles, were jammed amongst men and carts laden with mulch of the paraphernalia of war along the narrow beach road, but ever the column were pushed on and on. and tho mules with carts, and those without carts, disappeared further along the beach. Meantime the long column of men with rifles and packs had arrived, and bad begun to disgorge itself from the mouth of the sap. The men were packed like matches in a box into two lighters, or, rather, on to ono lighter and a water-boat, which was all the available transport between the shore and the ships. The lighter hold just 400, the water-boat about half that number. There was no room, for sitting down, and a man breathed into his neighbour's mouth or down the back of his neck, according as he happened to bo standing. The lighter was one of the •'beetle" type, that had been used for the Suvla landing, with some space below a shrapncl-proof decking, and room on top of this decking for a considerable number. The air below, never very sweet, became almost unbearable as the dense mass of humanity was crowded into the narrow space, and began to breathe it over and over again; but the troops bore it all uncomplainingly. There was a shower of rain, and a growing moon showed her face at intervals in breaks between the scudding clouds, that came sailing across the Dardanelles and the wooded peninsula. The clouds were rather a Godsend, as they dimmed the light of the moon, and * prevented tho enemy from seeing what was afoot. The wind, fortunately, was an off-shore one. A northerly or' a south-westerly one would have made the operation an impossibility.