DELAY ON THE LEFT FLANK

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 251, 22 October 1915, Page 3

DELAY ON THE LEFT FLANK

NEW ZEAL ANDERS RELIEVED

FIVE HUNDRED TURKISH' PRISONERS CAPTURED.

GALLIPOLI PENINSULA, August 10th. The conclusion of my last despatch left the New Zealanders on the summit of Chunuk Bair ; iipon which, however, they seemed to hold rather a -precarious footing. Led by their Kalian* colonel, the Wellington had, in attaining this ridge under determined Turkish opposition from superior positions, brought off a feafc of arms that will live for ever in the history of the Dominion. With them, sharing the honor of the attack, were some of the Gloucester Regiment of the new armies. The men gained the crest of the ridge with a cheer. * The 'officers shook hands with each other. THE LEFT FLANK.

On the left the Australian Infantry readied the Abdil Raman Dere, below Koja Chemen Tepe, a ridge slightly to the north and eastward of the position stomed by the New Zealunders, and a little higher than the Chunuk Bair spur. They,"however, found this position very strongly held and were - met with a withering fire on their front and flanks from' both the rifle and the deadly machine-gun. In consequence of this they had. to retire upon their original line. In' the meantime a position on the north of the raaige—known as Q —was attacked by a column of the new armies in co-operation with the New Zealanders on the right and the Gurkhas in the centre. This attack was made after a heavy bombardment which we watched from 4.30 a.m. till 5.20 a.m. When-it ceased we could see the Gurkhas advancing up the steep scrub-clothed slopes. Led gallantly by their colonel, they gained the heights between. Chunuk Baiv and Q. From their vantage ground they looked down upon the surrounding country. Eastward _they beheM the- Turkish motor transport moving along the dusty roads, and, beyond that, the beautiful, but still unconquered, Dardanelles. Their officers, also shook hands on the crest of the ridge. Uufortnmitely, however, the British column Iwd been delayed, owing to the rugged nature of the country, to which they were\ quite unuseri, and the Turks, presently developing a fierce counter-attack with some unexpected shelling, forced 'the gallant little Gurkhas to retire: On the right wo could see the New Zealahders still on the crest and endeavoring to dig then.selves in under shrapnel, Maxim, and rifle fire. From dawn till eve they were strongly attacked, and as they h-ad been fighting continuously for three days and three nights they were now relieved by two battalions of British infantry about midnight. Never could men be more desirous of rest and foci and fleep than those plucky fellows, who had won the heights and held them so well. Tlie wounded, who presently began to arrive, declared that they fciid.jwussed through a veritable hell upon earth.

THE EVENING SCENE

[ That evening the scene in the I vicinity of tlie dealing station was one or enthralling interest. t From the steep knolls -above., now- dotted with dug-outs and, sandbagged .bivouacs) w> could note tho muletrains coming and going along the sap and the new beach road. Tlie "wounded were coming in—some walking, others carried by the heroic stretcher-bearors. Most were cheerful though tired, and as they limped along they had tales to tell of brave -deeds and heroic endurance. Occasionally one. heard one's own name called, arid met a friend limping in, and the most one could do was to give him a cigarette or a, drink of water—tho latter :i 'scarcer commodity almost than the. former in this arid land:

Coming in under a guard were numbers of Turkish prisoners, with an occasional German amongst them. Our men had captured a whole machine-gun section, and «i .t .'heir head was a German gunner. He was just getting his gun into action when a. Gurkha cut off his nose. Another moment and it would have been the Gurkha who would have been put out of action. The Gurkha is at his best when •" bringing in a prisoner. There is an air of conscious prido about him that is decidedly amusing, and as he looks at yon and you at him yon both smile as if there was a thorough understanding between you. Of all tlie fighting men with whom our colonials have come in contact they admire the Gurkha, the most. His sturdy build, his light quick step on the march, and, above all,. hi»s bravery and da.sh in the fight, combined with a cheeful disposition, have earned him a .unique place in the estimation of our .soldiers lighting on Galli-poli.

In this fighting we h:»ve captured between 500 and 600' prisoners. Occasionally a dozen Turkish prisoners would bo mtu'i-hecl in in charge of three or four Indians. They are a j-.trong-looking lot, and they snoai to have been .better fed in this than /in some other of their campaigns. No doubt the Germans are seeing to this very important detail. For the rest, they have a slouehy walk, with bentknees and rounded backs. In this resp«)ct they are quite unmilitaiy. They looked as if they were used to hard manual labor. They arc clad in rather thick woollen ptrmonts of varied colors of grey and khaki, and their headgear is as vtiriegatc-d a*-; their uniforms. Frequently they are badly shod. Though there is no gainsaying their bravery, they seem quite glad to be out of the firing line once they know that they arc going to be well trouu-'d. One can scarcely blame Iheni. poor devils—catspaws of Germany--when one has s-oen the toniiid-jes of high explosive shell and sTirapnel that so frequently burst about them, to say nothing of lifle and machine-gun fire. Our men bear them no ill-will—except, perhaps, in the case of the sniper, whose legitimate .-.-.ymrt, for iomo reason or other, they will not tolerate.

On the little flat below us ore r-nnv-Js of soldiers going and coming ; lin^s 'it mi le-oarts and all the other ;•.•■;!>;»p)if 1 r);ilia of me rfern \v:uT.!re. Ovr tin- nromc-nt'.irv that ends in >"il runisi P< int. lo the south of .-juvhi Ts.iv. there is a forest of nussts ,md smoking funnels, ihe result of the now I; i.flinu: We can see shr-uuu'l bursting <11 iiu* chocolate ii'1:

to the north, where the new army corps is steadily at work, but still meeting with considerable resistance. ] The.balloon that has been snoitingv for the gens had Keen hauled down. Opposite us are hi spital < ;-nv" ers, desti oyers and ■ various small craft, either at anchor or moving up and down or a cress the Gulf of Saros. jVnd behind it all is one of the most wonderful sunsets imaginable. That' such scenes should be defiled by war is a sad , commentary upon German culture and civilisation. But all night long the guns flash ar-d the bullets whistle over (•ur heads with- an eerie sound telling us that the Reaper is at our el how.' I