SUEZ CANAL FIGHT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15885, 5 April 1915, Page 7

SUEZ CANAL FIGHT.

OFFICIAL NARRATIVE.

THE POINTS ATTACKED.

NEW ZEALANDERS' SHARE.

COMPLETE REPULSE OF TURKS.

An official account of the fighting on the Sdo« ( aral on February 2, 3 and 4 has been received in Auckland. It was issued by jho headquarters staff of the infantry brigade of the New Zealand exjierhtionarv force. The account, of which the particular interest is that it states which i;i its were engaged at the various points, l: as follows: — " Kintara. — Eaily oil the morning of hru.irv 3 an attack was made on our •■nitposts, which was repulsed, the enemy r< treating leaving 15 killed and wounded Mid 40 unwounded. • Later in the day a ]Mit:.il attack was made from the southeast. hut the enemy wore stopped 1500 \ur<l« from the |K>sitioii. " El Fenian.—At HI Fenian, where the 1 .itli Rt'^'i'iifut Conn and two platoons oi the Ift Regiment Company were stationed. the enem\ made an attack at 7 a.m. A Turkish battery of four small guns oj*"ied tire on the signal station, hnding the range immediately. They hit the buildings several times. At this juncture a v. a> ship <a mo up and silenced the batteries, though she was hit three times in doing so. The action ended at 1 p.m. "Battery Post.—North of Ismailia, at the battery post, there were two platoons of the 12th, Nelson. Regiment Company. These men were not actually tired upon hut the "atterv on their left was shelled. /iter in the day this post was relieved bv two platoons of the 3rd, Auckland, Regiment Company. These platoons wero .-helled on their way out to the post, but suffered no casualties. A Day Under Shell Fire. " Ismailia Ferry. —By Ismailia Ferry Post, where the. 2nd, South Canterbury, (ompany were stationed under Major Grant »s geueral reserve, the enemy at daylight wero found to bo entrenching about half a mile to the east, lwo battalions opened fire and the enemy guns engaged two warships and our mountain artillery Though no regular attack was made, "intermittent shelling continued throughout the day. The New Zealand platoons actually saw no fighting but they were exposed to shell-fire throughout the dav Some of tin shells fired at this point f.ll within half a mile of the ground where the Auckland and Canterbury bat. talions were camped. "The shipping on Lake Timsah was subjected to shell-fire during the day and also the outskirts of Ismailia at various points. During the night of February 3, a half-hearted attack was made after which the enemy withdrew the buik of their forces to 'Kataib-el-Kheil. Attempt at Crossing Stopped. "Toussoun and Serapcum.-At daylight on February 3 the enemy were found to be close to Toussoun and Serapoum, and their guns opened fire on both posts, At the latter post, where our ships and artillery engaged the enemy, there were two platoons of the 12th, Nelson, Regiment Company, under Major Breton who took up outposts at 5 p.m. on the night of February 2, on the west bank of the canal On his right was a battery of artillery and on his left the 62nd Punjabi Infantry. All was quiet until 3.20 a.m., when heavy machine gun fire from the enemy commenced to our north. At tin time "there was no fire to the New Zeelanders' front. The Punjabis were reinforced with 30 of our men, who on arrival at once commenced opening fire at a party of Turks attempting to cross the canal m boats, which movement they effectively Hopped. At this the enemy retreated and entrenched on the eastern bank under our fire. Kelson Man's Fatal Wounds. "Many of the enemy tried to retreat, but were stopped by our fire. We were helped by enfilading fire from the,«es-of the two platoons on our right, who had the command of the enemy's trenches for * distance of 1200 yds. Tbert were three distinct attempts made to cross the canal at this point, all of which failed. " \ counter-attack by the 62nd Punjabis about mid day produced • considerable results. , " Early in the afternoon orders were received to close on the 22nd Brigade headquarters. During this movement Private Ham was severely wounded and afterwards succumbed to his wounds. "The onlv other New Zealand casualty was that of Sergt. Williams, who was slightly wounded by shrapnel. Outpost duty was resumed at 5 p.m. No more fighting took place except for persistent sniping the enemy having retired, leaving many dead and nearly 300 prisoners. Abuse oi the White Flag. On the morning of February 4, troops frcri Serapeum captured some 1 >0 of the ene nv. who were still entrenched on the (anal bank some one and a-half miles south Of Toussoun, after having been treacherously tired on, the white flag I laving been raised and signs of surrender made. ~ During the day warships as well as torpedo-boats and launches engaged the enemy and rendered valuable assistance. One of the warships was struck by two 6iri shells and had ten men wounded. Another had one man killed Military casualties (luring the day: British offi- | cers killed 1. wounded 4; British, Indian, and Egyptian rank and file killed 17, wounded 79. i • * "The enemy along the canal at all points attacked appear to muster in all some 12.000 men and at least six batteries. One 6ir< gun was located and is thought to have been silenced. "Throughout the fighting two companies ■were alwavs kept ready to leave camp at a moment's notice to reinforce any position where they might be required. The Enemy's Losses. ■•Over 500 of the enemy were buried by our troops and 652 were taken prisoners. • It is estimated the enemy must have lost at least 1500 wounded, totalling casualties of 2500 to 3500. •The enemy is now in retreat all along the line. Whether they will make another attack cannot yet be determined. "It has been ascertained that General Djemal Pasha was present during the action with a number of German officers. One Oeiman officer was killed. On February 5 messages of congratulation Mt n - received from the general officer commanding and from Lord Kitchener. ■■ Sergt. Williams's wound was so slight that he '.eft the hospital quite recovered utter five days' treatment."