THE GALIANT FIFTHS

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 249, 20 October 1915, Page 3

THE GALIANT FIFTHS

PIOW THEY WENT INTO ACTION

THE SCENE: AT MUDROS

Some very interesting details coA rering the experiences of the sth ■Reinforcements, and other matters connected Avith the Turkish campaign,

are contained in a letter from Corporal W. J. Hill '.formerly of theEven;ng Post staff), AA rho was Ayounded and sent to London, but is now Avell enough to be back in Egypt. "Our reinforcements spent .only ten days in Egypt," he says, "but I saw enough in those ten days to satisfy me that all the New Zealanders are angels in comparison with the denizens of "Cairo, Avhich is about the loveliest sink of depravity in the Avhole Avide Avorld. They bundled us out to Zeitoun at about forty hours' notice, and Aye only remained at Alexandria about eighteen hours, leaving subsequently in a dirty tub named Saturma, for Lemnos. There were 2700.0f us on board, and the trip occupied two and a-half days. Submarines were reported in the vicinity, and a squad oi men Avith loaded rifles were kept on duty all the time. But entry into Mudros more than made up for the discomfort of the trip. The harbor is oval-shaped, and "in size about half as big us Wellington. When Aye arrived there were about 240 ships of all shapes and sizes at anchor in the fairway, there being no wharves or quay*.' . AYe steamed right through this mass of shipping, and the reception Aye receiA'ed from the crews, arid the troops on board absolutely beggars description. First avc passed the Aquitania, the largest steamer in the world, croAvded with 7500 troops. Then we scraped past the battleship Swiftsuro, and doA\n the line Aye went—battleships (English and French) on both port and starboard side, hospital ships, transports, colliers, traders all round us, all crowded with soldiers and sailors anxious to honor the latest Ncav Zealanders. I can tell yon it made one forget . the discomfort— made one I'ealise the wonderful spirit of the Empire, ana it certainly had the effect of heartening any waverer amongst us, if there aa-«s one on board, which 1 very much doubt* I counted 50 warships at anchor. . .\ . of transports there Avere dozens, and, counting us, there Avere 40,000 troops afloat vi that moment. On shore tents Avere evervAvhere. i

OFF TO THE FRONT.

"Tavo .days -were-spent in this harbor, and then on Saturday at 5 p.m. a big tug, the Redbreast, came alongside. . She Avas to take us to th<? front I can assure you the boys Avasted very little • time in boarding her. By C p.m. we'AA'ere outside the heads, and at 8 o'clock Aye could hear the thunder of the guns and see the flashes in the sky, which denoted that the great battle, of Avhich you haA'e read full particulars, AA-as in progress. By 12 o'clock avo Avere at anchor close to a shore which AA'as a mass of tiny pin-points of light—a shore Avhich echoed and re-echoed with the reports of rifles and machine guns. We y.'ere> at the front &% last--- and as Aye tumbled into huge lighters Aye realised this iact, f6r "splash! splash!' came the bullets into the Avater, and 'ping! ping!' AA-ent more lead, close enough to.oiu heads to make us duck down and Avish 'aa'o were at home in bed. It took us half a.n hour to'get to the shore, and fortunately no one was hit en route, though many had very lucky escapes. The first big realisation of Avhat Avar really is like canie to us as Aye stumbled across the beach, Avhich Avas just littered with Avounded men—English, French, Indian. New Zealanders, and Australians. They were all Avaiting patiently for their turn to be taken off on the boats to the hospital ship in the roadstead: Taken in conjunction with the fiendish noiss of/the guns, the Avounded had a nerve-Avracking effect upon us, but Aye Avere given very little time to think about anything, because ato Avere still two miles from our post, and Aye .had to reach it before daylight. So on avo trudged, through an opening leading to a trench/ and as avc passed a point wo Avere each banded a respirator and additional ammunition—a big box between two

men. ARRIVAL AT NEW ZEALAND BASE. | "At daybreak we ronehed the Now i Zealand base—just a strip of level ! Vaiul between the sea and a huge cliff. Not a teat to be seen anywhea-e 4 the homes ot the ' big bugs' were the homes of Thomas Atkins. Esq.:—holes in a side of a. hill which resembles a big .colander. On the flat were piles and piles of boxes, and working amongst them at top speed were the Service Corps and the Indian Miiie Corps. "We we're told to, make ourselves comfortable where we stood. We just lay down and longed for cooling showers, clean t-heets, and comfortable beds. But soon the bullets commenced to fly about, and in a trice one of the sergeants of the B Company stopped one with his leg. That made us sit up and take notice, and wlieii- three others receiver! leaden presents in the space of five minutes we began to think how nice a big cave or a deep well would be. However, we had just to sit^and trust to luck. Not many were fatally hit. AYe saw many wounded awaiting treatment, and most of them were our own fellows —New Zealanders and Australians, .and you will be proud' to know that although many of them were wo'undeil almost unto death I did not hear a. single complaint." > a^'

UNDER FIRE. After describing the battlefield. Corporal Hill says: v "The realisation iof war came to us with an intensity almost bewildering. But you will be glad to know that the sths (I'm not boasting) behaved equally as well as their comrades oi: 'the main body. They had landed .but a few hours before, and wore now in an environment calculated to shake the nerves of almost anyone. And suddenly they were under fire with a vengeance The Turks had got wind of our advance up the gully. "Wh'zz! Bung! Shrapnel exploded right over us. " Several of the D (Otago) Company were hit, and the next sho.U depleted the ranks of the B Company Then came .\ Company's turn, but only a couple of our men were wounded ; and so it went on for s'oi'io time. Every thirty seconds the liees and shrubs were torn by the rnsliinj/, bullets, every little while someone w;is hit, but still the men kept on and on, until a friendly slope gave thorn 7ieeili?d r.ml longed-for klm'Ucm'. Here A, C, and 1) Companies dug in, and prepared for the night, while a p-M-tio-i of B Company wont on \o the trenches, where trouble en me wilh st:u-tli:i!>; suddenness Just alter nightf:l!! the Auckland Company was ordered into the support trenches. . .. To out one's head up was to court a bullet, even though night had ! fallen. To remain crouching was Ji'.most to he poisoned. So we risked both bullets ami po'soii in turn. Thank sroorlness, we didn't remain Ion;:, :'>' it was found thai. our

presenee avis unnecessary, and wo fore told to regain in shelter nnt.il ilit" •iiorniiu;;. Morning oaivio at r>nd with it an order from Msijor Hume to jro down hill, and make ourselves comfoi tahle. Just then th<> Turks made a big attack. . . . The

Turks were broakin»; through, sui'l tlu'ii y.oinoboily ca'lotl oul:: * \Vb.oro. arc thoso Now Zo^ihuulors? Sond tliem u]>!' Liout. Klli>don was .^-iitinji jn.st a low yards away from mo talking to Captain AYalliiis-'iorcl, Major Humo, ami Liout J-K'k ivn-1 ho callod out to mo—l hud suiyo-d bo.hind : ' Corporal, hurry down, :uul tWI ou\- mc>n to iix bayonot* and !>o rosidy." ... Wo :rot ;*it iho Turks soon. In one place thoro wore only iit'ty-tivo Aui-khindors, but w<> ;^\vo • lohn Turk somothiiuv to ."onionibor. Si-(>n thoy rotv<"itofl to a ridi;;o 2(X) yards away, and opemxl on us with inachipo-K'ins. Wo v.ort- Avitho-ut or-ittH'tion of any kind. and th-> bullets swopt iho liilk like hai'.*'— Corrornl Hill saw many of Ins matos go down; tlicn he was wounded him-

solf, Init tlti' wound wax not so morions. a>; it mijiiht havo boon had ho nob carried a book in his havorsavk. Ho tlion received a. lump of shrapnel in his viilo. That iinisluHi him, and b«> m;i<l»> liis way to Iho boa::'n.