TURKISH RIGHT FLANK. ENDANGERED

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 16 July 1915, Page 5

TURKISH RIGHT FLANK. ENDANGERED

DISSENSIONS IN THE ARMY. LONDON, July IS. Mr. AshmeacL Bartlett telegraphs: The successful- advance of- our left wing- Juiie 28tB~"seems to have seri- , ougly. alarji*s4' the «nen?yj and . caused i him grave anxiety for the safety of his right flank. ; i v*u Having brought up fresh troops, -ofr whom some are,,law Asian levies, he has been counter-a'ttacking vigorously e,ver, since, making.' the ; most desperate efforts to recover the. lost^trenches. Enver Pasha came' from Constanti- ' nople to the faithful to fresh exertions, and a, s;reat. banner has been hoisted at Achi Baba symbolical of his., arrival; • \r i T,here ar.e ; , also, dissensions in the, 'Turlush camp, for generals .on the spot hadj gained; of the futility trenched British, and opposed any tpmpts._to recoyer the lost ground, arguing that it was better to await our fresh But Enver Pasha . insisted 'upon a general attack along the whole line. ... .- ; . ; . . . .

It is reported that thirty fresh, bat--talians. were engaged.-in tJris, mpve. The enemy we're particularly. severely han.dled:On. our left wing, being caught between, our. field, guns.and, howitzers; arid 'the" enfilading**fire of the destroyers. r In iact the'enemy's, massed advances simply fadedj away, before pur artillery and accurate infantry fire. In. our centre and right wing the' Turks on occasion sapped up close arid fought ori more even terms, but in not i a single instance were they able to maintain a lodgment in our trenches. ■. Their artillery was inactive on the '2Bth, but it apparently received fresh supplies,' and. fired largely during the last three days, but,the., fire was without effect. The Asiatic batteries were also active, and our troops had a hot time at the beach and at Lancashire Landing, but we were top well dug in to suffer except from direct hits. Our are, loud in their praises of the extreme gallantey and indifference to death shown hy the Turkish, infantry. ; Superlative as he. proved himself in defence, the Turk's method of attack is crude and wasteful. He does not possess the scientific knowledge for carrying out an attack like our infantry, supr ported by artillery. The Turk is clever I at- sapping and in the use of bombs., of 1 which he possesses a large supply, but when he atterhpts to carry positions at the bayonet point he is invariably beaten with, enormous loss. Before the attack he masses several battalions in natural features of the ground under cover, and hidden, from view. Then the

mass surges forward in irregular formation, slowly and-, without apparent enthusiasm. Our artillery, with early information of the concentrations, break up the gatherings before they have a chance of leaving cover. Sometimes a few of the bravest and most determined reach our. parapets, only to be shot down. The_ majority scatter, leaving snipers in broken ground, who cause most of our casualties. The. net result, of, the; Turkish efforts has been, Lap, enprrnous number of the enemy tilled and wounded during the last-week. All along our line the dead are lying-., in -hundreds, while thousands of -wounded have gone to Constantinople.

From our standpoint Enver Pasha's intervention j has been -a.. happy inspiration, but his .'activity > irp.y possibly, be only temporary. " He has _ taken the opportunity, of, von. Sanders's, wound.: _ to try Ms own of.driving ~\ us.'into the sea. The Turkish recklessness in throwing away, thousands of .lives points to .their, having unlimited •'troops , on, the Peninsula. In "fact, it. would .sepni that we are fighting the. whole' Turkish arnjy which has been withdrawn, from, •elsewhere and concentrated, in Thrace and Gallipoli. From captured orders it is ey.ident.thav the Turkish commanders are, worried, uy the facility with we have taken trenches in the, last, two advances, and drastic steps, have, been, taken to. prevent a repetition of it- The men are strictly forbidden to retire, and. the, officers are ordered to shoot theni if,they do. Any officer, refusing. to shoot nien will be shot himself. Meanwhile the Turks have constructed four new lines' of trenches of great strength in frohkof our ieft.-wingj whilst "men are digging all round AchS Baba and Krithia.