WITH THE NEW ZEALAND FORCES

North Otago Times, Volume CI, Issue 13324, 26 July 1915, Page 2

WITH THE NEW ZEALAND FORCES

rßEfsil STORIES PROM THE V , TRENCHES. • , /-i- . EXPERIENCES or OTAGO MEN,-. (Bi Malcolm Ross, Officii! Conespon di'nt with the N Z Foicc't), T , < jfJNE Ith. , With, the Otago Men, <Tlm nunioioui hospitals at' Alexnn dna'wcie full of mounded, nnd» lieio it was-that one found the woist ■ rases. In Hie hospital hur.ricdlv catnblislihd,oin- v l.ho- Victoria - Qollego building, , nliont tlivfle miles out s.of i' town, I found an ,Otagn. man, Private ' McPherSoli. W" piece- .of shrapnel had ripped tilnl dnwiij Hinhnck, hut-he was linking,good piogvew, and was vpiv luighl He wild a high trlhitfo to the bravervj of'.flte -Australians.' On-one-oc: lesion he "jaw liftcen or,twenty • of' tlieiiv outvcncli in a position .right ' river thjrliill. They wont out of their trench fjOi'isiniifi distance to <do>ai,bit,.of and :wlnle - tlie-vmm:.oiil< two. oi '1 hi ce of ihfii men weie-bt over They, 'hpwevfel, took no notice of this, . and kept -on. smiling.-Some-Turks - who i were lust, over the brow of. the', hill then .Charged; with fixed/bayonets; but instead of turning and .running for the i shelter 'of their, trench 'the?whole lot. of,- them. walked: calmly backwards, fir-1 ing it the TmLi as tliev came cliaig mg on: :Not only did they do that, but i instead ;ol leaving the, two meir who i had been knocked overrfotir of the i partv gOt thcm.by ihoiarms-and. carried I (hem rljjlit into (lie trench;' • | • i In the Thick of .the. Fight, ; m - On the second Sunday, Private-Me-! Phei-son; stated, three companies .of i the Otago-Battalion charged: and took I iome Turkish trenches, but; they were I enfiladed by •n ■■ machine •-• gun.', and lost I heavily.' "Our adjutant," said Me-1 Pliersoii; " was- shot.-that-night.-'Moir, I •our second;in command, with about 00! meiu got/cut off m-that, attack, and I when we retreated- the 0,0, thought I they must have -been captured- or abso-1 lntelv slaughtered. Two days • later! Moir turnedup .with what. .was left of his company.' Tie - had "bean:-holding trenches: that-lie. had captured for •those two davs." . MeT'horsoii said lie-was'sure that | some explosive bullets were used. He, i . like everyone else, referred to the magnificent - heroism of the stretcher-1 bearers. They brought- in even the. i hopeless eases. The stall were nearly | nil Mm time under ■■fire., When he was i coming down wounded ho saw General I Godley.going up a gully where there, i was a great deal of: sniping. A lot of I ■ljifl follows, he added, got shot, going j for water. In such rough country it. i was almost impossible to get -rid oi the j snipers, '' . • ' Prnse for the Wounded. . ,i At this hospital I met a-doctor who has made a name for himself as a.bac-1 tcnologist, nnd is an authority on tropic, diseases iu Egypt, lie had come I down trom the Soudan.-to help with the first big rush of -wounded. 1-was int.ro-1 duced to limi as a New. Zealandcr. i "By. .love!" he said with hearty I spontaneity,, "your men are -splendid, fellows. I have never seen such sol- I diers. They come in here with the most. I terrible wounds, and there is never a murmur or a complaint from them, limy are trulv horoie—both.the I\ T ew /faalauders and the Australians." It was the same storv in all the other, hospitals, both in Alexandria ami Cairo, M.y own experience has been similar, I have seen wounds ot all kinds probed and-dressed, and -there has never, been a murmur from the vast (majority of, patients., The, Soudan, doctor told me ot one man—a Sergeant. McKay, from Queensland—who in three campaigns has stopped seven bullets, lie,was Ivmg wounded in the Victoria College Hospital, and it was a treat to watch the delight with wlneh he described a .bavonet, charge, into the Turkish trenches. He would close Ins eves, put, his head. baek. and conclude his description with—"Man, it was grand; I would like to be into them again?" A Convalescent Home, While in Alexandria I drove flit, lo see the convalescent home that Lady Godley has established there as the result of private, subscriptions that, she has gathered and some assistance from the Now Zealand Government. It is in an excellent situation some distance out, ol the town, and it, gets the cool sen breeze. 11l these days when tfie.thermometer mounts to 115deg. in the tents of the Oairo camps such a house forms an Ideal place in •which the-New Zealand convalescents can | rest, and recuperate for a fortnight or 11 liree weeks before going- back to the [ tiring line or to whatever fate llie gods ior llie Medical Board may send Ihem. Colonel ESson, who is doing fine work on the. Q.M.G.'s staff,-assisted-. Lady Godlev in establishing llie home nil a satisfactory., basis. It can accommodate about ,10 men. A number- of jfeople in - England have subscribed to the home,

One donor gave £3O and, another £IOO, Lady -'Godley,' who wears; the-nmform 1 of a Red Ciors nurse, lives in the home, and.takes.charge of all-the arra'ngemeuts, wjiioli seem to be excellent. ... On a balcony upstairs, two , young . men were paying draughts, and a tiiird was watching them, One had been'hit in the fdnt, another through the leg above t,he knee, and the third through the s'hoiilder.- Their names w6ra Corporal Pike, Private Paslce,' and Private I-owry. The. corporal, wlio belonged to- ■ the Wellington Infantry, said his lot,: landed on t.lie Monday morning, about.' i o'clock; They were held in reserve nil the Monday, but were Rifled up as supports, but the shrapnel serif, tliern. down, again that same night, after.two hours' work,. On the Tuesday morning' they moved: up: on the' extreme right;and the' West Coast'Company-and two platoons of B, Company,.'tooVa. hill and held J it. in conjunction' with the left flank of .the Australians,. This-height-was: aboui 400 feot. sheer up.'lt was in climbing it, that thoy lost most, of their men. The Turks, were.on top of the.hill "'hen they igot. there; but thoy .drove them out at the'point of:tlie bayonet, It. was just a blind, luad bjit-'the Turks had' to quit . AH that afternoon they were fightiug and digging in.' "On one occasion tlio enemy charged a number of our fellows," said the 1 corporal. " and they had to retire for, A time. Then we. made a eounter-at-.. tack and drove tliein right off the hill. For two or tlirec hours the position Ins 111 st hanging in"the balance, 1 l)iitheld it. We were foi' four days like tint 'until we dug,right in." On, the luP'lixy-night,-' the Turks'' attacked, .. blomng/ .English bugle calls iii an , amusing mamicr. ..They were,..however, repulsed, and for ten davs : the coloniais , held the position. Then yomig Pike got hit in the.-foot and had to be taken down to the beach. . Corporal Pike mentioned ',- two very: ■ plucky ,incidents, that/came under his owii iiotice.i Hales,' in ?{o.;2 f was working, a machine gun, .when -, it jammed. ~ Lieut. Bryant then went'up, got tlfe : gun.going at/a critical'time/ and; • worked it himself, Ho (Pike) also saw . Corporal r(who ,had:been air Imperial beigeantmajoi) canving wounded out under,heavy lire. ' The Valley of Death. 1 ening to Suicide] /'The 'Valley' of 'Death,'"'this 'officer I

aye'-n go', it : , f V9■ stilr-'.i'nther; n 11undorf • taking to, get up fhore,-nrnV'thcCsfonetf; '' of -the .'dead.' 'tleseHp,t,io'nT Thp siupeis ( lind eojtamh leyiod* ft, iikyy W way up" to 0116 position', The route had/ , however, lieon Inndc Aafei;, thairifori- . ginnlly, vfas 'by tho >* of : ti'h vi*rsesfi n; C ei;ta in. , j>)nc .S ®I-. still pnits di' the idutc ' some 25 yards ncross where yon-Wo 1 told' to "wait 'till ' tlio "const was .clear," and llioii do n dash across for all you. .were- worth. He himself had seen' OJie: very :: stately brigade-- staff, officer, Vhn hail never'been' linotvil 'to , hurry, doing a sprint, over a 28.'yard 1 stretch as if lie were 0111, to break a record, The"Mt 'time my friend wen I ■ iup he was jwn'rnod' as lie got. to oii'6 t;mv ncr, of the* danger. "You'd hptter lip careful, sir," a mait.said to.him, "(lie : siiipei's lifl'yo been pretty; busy to-day; they've just got{tiv", of us,-';. Sure - enoiigli, ;n 'littlevfttytlier'onpiiiiy -friend saw.-'j the. five—two "dead and three; wounded, The Turks us Fighters. ; .' The; Turkish • gun h ae'd or di 11 g f; to- th is ' tftnfgoofijv-nnd'them^^ : cellent,:poiigh sopie of their- howitzer' amniunifiiin .did not explode, and-at ;tliis -,timje..%tliey seemed-to 1 be: using.- . it; rather t spsiritigly. Eor. tlieir small .arms • ftnd';'t^^field .gUris they appealed-'to ; have point'ofjsome of tho shells, there was a little inscription tin 'Arabic:—" To - the; (•iiemies.'fof Turkey." ■ When 1 the men 1 were,' well '.established in the trenches on' tiie heights they >were really safer than they'would be on the beach; One day ,a crowd of Australians.came-flown for a spell from the. fighting' to do :. a little road-making. . They, said the . .beach was. just.;as bad. as the trenches, ? with tho rond-making throitn in, and tliey asked ; to -be sent/back!. It was;- : however, .not an .uncommon sight -to see -some, of 'the Australians and New • Zealanders" enjoying a swim in the sea with tlfe shfapne]-.: actually - bursting. ; , above; them. ■ The men were. ■ well -fed; and teaeh/mari; : seemedbetter .pleased doing - his' own' .'bit of.' cooking'than when he ; was in a comfortable camp ciirsingi; tliif regimenal; cook'! .' fhey got'byiway of luxuries'tobaco'o, nrlittle : -rum, iind.bflcon,-The;latter.;was a.substitute, for butter. AH the .water.had to be, taken ashore, ' in ' lighters nhd' conveyed to the men in their .\tloug- , 'outs and in the. trenches. ; ; I '. '■