THE BIGGEST BATTLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 14 July 1915, Page 5

THE BIGGEST BATTLE

TURKS SUFFER. STAGGERING LOSSES. TERRIBLE CARNAGE. LONDON', July 13. The "Daily Chronicle's" conresponident aib Leanixos, telegraphing on tlie lltih, says the heaviest fighting since the Al•iies lauded .began fete, in 'darkness, on ■Tuesday, and. lasted) well init-o "Wiedtniesday. 'lt resulted in a swin'g.'forward of the southern line by five fuirlongs, with staggering losses ito it' Tie eriemy, estimated art, 7000 killed and 1 15,C00 wounded. The Australians andf New Zealamdiers also, played a. pant. The victory marks a definite stage of the initial work of encircling Achi Bab a-, which is aiiow one <xf ithe strongest fartiresses in the world. For socmia lititle time the Turks Iliad abanldooiedi 'th-e offensive, but they resuin- ■ etd it under somewihiat remarkable circumstances towards the eaid of the first week of July. A lucky shell from a. Turkfish battery •blew np a ismall French aninrun i tit® dlepot .about the same time that the CaaMiaige was torpedoed*. The sight from; i (the enemy's lin'es of these incidents, combined! with glowing accounts of German 1 victories elsewhere, pnt fresih heart initio the Turks 'and impelled them to depart from itihe more discreet waiting policy. : The fact <thaiti Ithe Allies' enlLioje line was resting in l comparative tranquility ' inspired the Turks with the belief that < the Allies were short of amxmu nitrio<n, and therefore itihey proceeded) to drive them, j into the sea. A searchlight detected j I ihea\*y masses of enemy troops moving [ from beyond' Achi B-a-ba towardtei the Turkish lines, with the object of attackfnlg th© French. The latter were warned, and their artillery was quickly reinfoi'ced' until a perfect wall of heavy and light guns was in position. The British Territorials, the Indians, andf the Naval Brigade were also on ithe alert in) the event of the attack being directed them also. Aai interval of oppressive silence was I suddenly broken by ai tremendous burst j of" Tnriklisih 'shells * and shrapnel on the French front, accomipamied from the | straits by the guns of the Goeben, which pounded our rigfcjb with 11-inch shells. Many diiid not burst. aind! were apparently of Turkish manufacture. The lhail of shells lasted an hour. Then a .great solid mass of Turks burst to the attack. On. they came, the silence being ■unbroken 1 save by tlheir shouts, until Ibhey ■reached to within 60 yards. Then: welT-placedl machine guims poured in l devastation, Twenlty ithcaisand' rifles also spoke, and 'the big guns flared/ arid lighted the lurid stoene ait intervals. With fine bravery the Turks came on., n>ot hesifatimg in this inferno of death. Ini ai terribly cut np condi'tion they reached' the enltaJniglemenitsi, only to find! that their artillery 'had not demolished' .the wire. The slaughter here was terrible, yet at • J three ncirits tire enemy managed to invade ithe French tremiches, and even succeeded! ini tuOTiina: some of the French weapons tw the defenders.. Bnfc the second, French line .hurled- itself instantly on the foe.

"We -were so closely mixed' up," said a French sold'ier, "thalb, it was almost impossible to 'use the bayotteij and we had to clear the way simply by pushing the Turks ba'ck .into the trenches, where we fell upon them, running our bayonets into their solid mass. We rushed! forwaii'dj and the Turkb, badly supported, fletdi. Into their struggling* masses our maxims poured streaks of death, mowing! them down 'ini. heaps.'' Meanwhile the Niavai Brigade sufetarned a iportion; of the aiUtack. They turned 'their machine gums otn the wreck, the ■attackers' ships' searchlights illuniinatiii'g t'he ghastly serene atndi iprovidting a ghostly taa-ge'ti for our deadly guns and rifles.

The field soon presented an appalling spectacle. Soldiers' who fought itm. the fiercest fights ini France and Flanders sickened ait the awful sight the tw'ili.g'hifc presented. The bodies were lying four •and five deep in all ipositionis. 2>len were mixed up ini the entanglements, while many .stood erect, propped! up against amasses of sftlridke'ni comrades. Farther and fam'ther amid, yells and groans the battered! rabble retreated, followed by relentless death. The sight was so terrible that many of our men could nidti fire, so much did the horrible vision of slaughter make them tremble. At last the poor remnant of the Turks reached the shelter of their trenches on the slopes of Adhi Baba. Tbrougho-ulb the momiiinig our warships harried the Turklish positions. The Australians and New Zealandersi in .the Sari Baiir region threw out a wedge of attack as though to threaten the Turkish con> muniicalbions.

This aliarmed! the enemy, who began to wdthdinaw. k Meanwhile the headquarters of the enieimy was attacked by aeroplanes, dropping ai score of bombs. A fiber a boivb of artillery our count-er-lattack was launched). We rushed, across the death-strewn area, with difficulty,- so thickly was it. covered, with bodies'. o<ur bombardment in many plaices obliterated the entrenchmenits. The melinite, shells, were terribly effective. We easily cani-ied the first trenches, and then our second line, put the Turks tp headlong flight,. The enemy's gun® were active, and Ithrew 7000 shells in> two hours. The Tunks hurled! theim selves seven! times against our new lines, but were driven) off with heavy losses. The British left awning smartly forward and threw (the demoralised enemy out of two additional' lines. Our losses were comparatrivefly light. ,