THE FIGHTING AT THE DARDANELLES.

Northern Advocate, 21 July 1915, Page 1

THE FIGHTING AT THE DARDANELLES.

A DARING NEW ZEALANDER

SWIMS TO BULAIR AND LIGHTS

FLARES

(By Malcolm Ross, Official War Correspondent with the New Zealand

Forces)

Ist June

One of the most extraordinary and daring feats in the war has been accomplished by a young New Zealander, who, however, is not serving with the New Zealand Forces. Many people in the Dominion will remember "Tiny" Freyberg, who, as a schoolboy, was a champion swimmer. He is now a full-blown major, has been wounded three times, and has been twice mentioned i.i despatches. He was evidently born to be a soldier. Some time ago he went out to Mexico and of-. fered his services to Huerta. Huerta did not want him, so he went and fought with Villa on the opposite side. Returning to England he joined the Naval Brigade; fought at Antwerp; was wounded, received his captaincy, and was mentioned ia despatches. Afterwards he came out with the Brigade to the Dardanelles. When an attack was about tj be delivered further down the Peninsula, it became necessary lo make a demonstration opposite the Bulair lines, so that reinforcements would not be sent from that quarter. It was decided to despatch three boatloads, qf men ashore to light flares on the beach, so as to draw the fire of the enemy in the Bulair lines, and engage their attention while the marines landed at Cape Helles. Freyberg was to command the landing party. He, however, pointed out to Major-General Paris that this meant sacrificing the lives of the men, not one of whom would be likely to return alive, and he suggested that he, himself, should be allowed to perform the mission by swimming ashore. It was therefore arranged that on the 24th April he was to go in the destroyer Kennet and make a reconnaissance.

DROPPED INTO THE SEA. This was done, the destroyer being fired at by the Tvirkish field batteries and maxims. On the following evening three cutters and two picket boats were loaded with men as if for a night landing:","and Freyberg,-hav-ing had his skin painted khaki, got into the Kennet, which was. to drop him in the sea about half a mile from the shore. By this time night had fallen, but there was faint moonlight. In the, uncertain light it was not easy to judge distance, and young Freyberg found that he was in for a swim of two milos, with three oil flares and two Holmes' lights, which he carried in a waterproof bag, with sufficient air In it to support the weight in the water. He also carried, attached to a belt round his waist, a small revolver, and a sheath knife. He was put into the water some time alter midnight, and he judged that it took him an hour and a half to swim ashore. He had to dodge the ordinary landing-place, where there was barbed-wire entanglements, and landed on a rugged bit of beach.

CRAWLED INLAND. From there he crawled inland for a quarter of a mile to a place where on the previous day he had noticed some trenches. They proved to be dummy trenches, and he could hear the Turks talking and see them striking matches to light their ( cigarettes in the lines higher up. 1 The water had been bitterly cold, ' and he now felt symptoms of cramp, ; so he crawled back to the beach, lit one of his flares, and dived back into the sea. The alarm was at once given in the Turkish trenches, and firing commenced. He swam furI ther along the beach, landed again, and lit a second flare. He repeated the performance a third time still further along the shore, the Kennet meantime having opened fire over the other lights with her 12----pounders and maxims. Having safely accomplished his mission, Major Freyberg started to swim hack on a line due south, as arranged, steering by a compass on his wrist, to a spot where it had been arranged the Kennet would pick him up. A3IONG THE SHARKS. The Ken'net, however, was not there and he had to float about for nearly an hour. The day before they had seen a shark following the destroyer —several of these brutes having nodoubt been attracted by the dead bodies from the transport Manitou, which met her fate in thes e waters — and when a great porpoise rose behind him about half way across, he admits that he got an awful fright. After floating around for about an hoar, and all firing haviug by that time cease:'., he started to swim in the direction in which he thought the Kennet might ■be, and, presently, in answer to his "cooees," the destroyer came along and picked him up. This uncertain floating around In the dark—the moon having gone down—was the worst part of the whole adventure. Subsequently Major Freyberg was sent for by the General, who thanked him, and told him he would hear more about his very plucky action.

In the fighting at Antwerp young Freyberg was wounded in the right arm, and after this last adventure be was twice wounded at Cape Helles while leading his men. One bullot entered his forearm and came o'U near the elbow, severing the medial nerve. He was also hit in the leg. BACK TO THE FROXT. Such was his story, quite modestly told. When I saw him he had lost the use of his left hand, but he was off back to the Dardanelles by the fi rst steamer. In company with him \va3 "Sammy" Chrystal, whom recent Christ's College boys will well remember. Chrystal was out in Africa somewhere when the war broke out, but he promptly threw up his job, joined tha Naval 'Brigade, and came out to the Dardanelles. He also was wounded at Cape Helles. By nil the ordinary laws of direction the bullet should have gone through his stomach, but it cut a track from one side right round the front of his body, and came out at the other side. Chrystal also was convalescent and was again en route to the Dardanelles to look for more fighting. It wa3 in this same "show that young Lieu;. Asquith, the son of the Prime Minieter of England, was wounded while fighting under Major Freyberg, the young New Zealander. Colonel Richardson — formerly Master-Gunner Richardson, in Wellington—is the D.A.Q.M.G-. of the Brigade, and has done splendid work. He has proved himself a clever organiser. He, also, has been mentioned in despatches, and his promotion has been rapid.