Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1915. THE DARDANELLES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 11 May 1915, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 11, 1915. THE DARDANELLES.

THE. heroism of the British "Tommies" at'Mons, of the London. Scottish at tho Yser, and of the Canadians at Ypres, won th© admiration of the people of New Zealand, and it has been a source *, of great CQnsolation that their own troopo were not found- wanting when with their Australian brothers, they were entrusted, with 'the post of hon<Jur I at the Dardanelles. The brave deeds of j our troops will live for ever in the memory, and when sorrow for the gallant lives' that have bled , away on the shores of Gallipoli has passed, there 'will remain in the minds of the mothers who bred them, the. consolation that their sons proved worthy of the highest traditions of the race. Now that the difficulties of landing have beeri overcome,, and our troops are firmly dug in on the land, they will be ablo •to face the Turks on something like-equal conditions, and once they are able to advance t%y should have the Turks at a disadvaiir tage, for command of the sea and support of heavy gunfire from the warships will add materially to their fighting strength, and more than make up for any disparity in numbers. But the Turks are good figjiters when properly led, especially in defence of their coun*try, and the task before the Allies is not an easy one. The gallant stand made by the Turks against • the attacks of the Bulgarians in the Balkan War will be fresh in the memory, and the recovery of Adrianople after it had been ceded to the enemy will nc€ have been forgotten. The tactics of the Allies have kept the German" commanders busy, for ifc must have been impossible to tell .exactly where -the main attacks would be launched. The oiterations at Smyrna have beez} most- interesting. The ruses of the Allies have forced Von Sanders to keep some 30,000 troops in this region, whilst it is clear that the Allies did. not intend to effect a serious landing, except such as could be done without nujch loss. It is necessary to keep in mind the three mam points where troops' have been landfced. . One is Suvla, at the extremity of the peninsula of Gallipoli. immediate-! Iv to the north of the entrance' to the Dardanelles. Another is Bul.air, on the narrow neck of the p'eniiisula where the Gulf, of Saros cuts deeply into it ; . The third" is ,Enos, which lies rather ' more than thirty miles to the north-west of the Straits, close to the present frontier o€ European Turkey and Bulgaria. By occupying the'neck at- Bulair the. Allies yVould sever the land communications of tho ■ enemy garrieons in the forts with the rest of European Turkey, while from. Enos, if the - landing' force is large' enough, \yould be able to check a>ny movement from Adrianople or Constantinople for tho relief of the garrisons.