SOLDIERS' LETTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15931, 31 May 1915, Page 4

SOLDIERS' LETTERS.

SPLENDID GUNNERS. WORK AT DARDANELLES. Excellent illustrations of the exactitude and precision of the gunners engaged on our ships of war in Oho Dardanelles arc afforded in the following letter from a naval officer :— "Wo went right inside the , minesweepers. who had been busy all the previous night clearing a passage, and landed demolition parties to blow up the forts. Very fine explosions they i.iade too, especially Sedd-el-Bahr on tlw European side, the magazine of which made a splendid pyrotechnic display. On the Asiatic sido the land at the point it low, but rises rapidly to a fine bold cliff, on top of which stands a remarkable series of nine windmills, all close together, with a large village behind called YewShehr. Wo were lying about a mile off this village, and just astern of us was one of those first-class light cruisers of ours. A seaplane had gone inland

reconnoitre, and was returning J" " Yeni-Shehr at a height of about 200011, when, just as it passed over the wm mills, some hundred or so, or jobs y more, Turkish soldiers, who were hid l or behind tho windmills, fired a volley a it. Before you had time to say toy jove' there was a deafening crash, and when'the smoke had cleared away these windmills-had been _ removed! It was an extraordinary sight. Thft i ' cruiser had sighted and hit and had completely wiped out those Turks almost before they.had had time to see the result of their shots at the seaplane.! Next day one of our battleships landed a demolition party, 100 strong, to find, and destroy, if possible, a howitzer battery reported up behind the town of Sedd-el-Bahr (quite a large town). This they did, and found six Sin howitzers quite undamaged, which they, blew up and then started to retreat to the shore. The

Turks camo swarming down upon them, so they fired' a rocket to show their exict position, and their ship opened fire on the advancing Turks who were plainly visible on the hillside. Then the party made a signal: 1 Please shell the town; it is lull of soldiers.' and for about a quarter of an hour the town vanished under a pall of smoke, red, yellow, and grey. When that at length blew out to sea, red tongues of flamo could be seen, and soon the place, fanned by a strong wind, was ablaze from end to end.'' DIED FIGHTING HARD. , From the letter of a wounded comrade the relatives of Private James Walker. Ist Manchester Regiment, have learned of tho gallant manner in which In died. The writer say*): — " Your brother Jim was shot through the head by a German while he was bayoneting another of the enemy, so you can rest contented that he did a little damage before he died. Jim accounted" for fivo men before ho went down. I saw your brother buried, and he had a military funeral as far as circumstances would allow." - THE TIDE OF BATTLE. Minor sucsessesand the light for Au'bers Ridge following the victory of Neuvo Chapelle are described by an artillery officer, who watched the operations from an observation ipost. He says :— .

"The poor old Highland Light Infantry were, attacked by masses of Germans and driven out of the trenches they had gained. .* They, however, advanced again and recaptured them after a. hot struggle.; Once more they we're driven out, and once more, with reinforcements, they captured and held them. Tho London Brigade, a fine set of sturdy fellows, fought very hard as •real Englishmen, and came quite, up to first-class standard. The Germans advanced on Neuve Chapello in close order and our men were told not to fire, until they were within 40 paces. The best progress and work was done by troops which included the Irishmen, who worked to the south, but of course these

were regular troops. The Prince of Wales came up to see our No. 2 gun firing. Firing had been continuous, but at 2.30 in tho afternoon rose in a cresccfido. Every British gun was brought to bear on the enemy more north. We were delivering a. new attack on Aubers Ridge, and just where the shrapnel appeared to be thickest our infantry could be seen advancing. They could just be made out through glasses, but soon not at all. Shells—big, small, H.E.'s, and

shrapnel—were whistling, whining, and hissing, and the air was filled with dotonations and other noises. Our .guns stopped about 4.15, and for half an hour more I got an uninterrupted view of the fight. The battle ended at about .5.15, but firing continued till late into the night. The attack, although not quite successful, was almost, and the infantry got a few more trenches and the village. It was the Aubers Ridge which we wanted, however."

MINE-SWEEPING HEROES. One of those engaged in the dangerous work 'of mine-sweeping writes'" One of our ships sweeping with us was blown up. It was a sad sight, and I shall never forget it. From the time that the — struck the mine until all was over was a minute and a-lialf, and our ship was right over where she went down in about three minutes afterwards. Wo are provided with all sorts of lifesaving apparatus, and have to go about with our life-jackets and life-collars 011 ,all day. When the — was blown up you could not have broken h;-r cabin up any smaller with a chopper." SAVING THE GUNNERS' TEA. A driver in the Royal Field Artillery writes:—"Wo drop a few shel;« over their trenches now, and, again, like a cat plays with a mouse, to see if there's any sign of life in it—just a little, not much. Wo had a narrow shave once; wo had to withdraw across an open field, a section at a time, and the shells were coming over us at the rate of the baker dozen, 13 dropping short, and then too far. We could see the German gun fire, then a whistling sound, and then a bash. Tho driver behind me _ caught a small piece on the top lip just like & pin scratch, and then our tea fell off the waggon, and one of the gunners had the hard neck to go back and pick it up." D.S.O.'s ON EVERY HAND.

Riiiema'i B. Crosby, of tho sth Liverpool Regiment, writes to his parents "We came out of the trenches after 96 hours, with practically no sleep. Tho Germans held a strong position 300 yds in front of us, and it was decided it was about time to shift them. Tho Germans kept playing the Maxim 011 anybody that moved. We did our best to snipe them oft' at the job, but it was terrible to sec the poor wounded beggars crawling for cover only to get riddled with a hail of bullets. There wore a few D.S.O.'s won that day, bringing tho wounded in. There seemed to be ballets and bursting shells everywhere. It is an exciting job; you never know when, you might stop one of those little lead pills: they are whizzing through the air day and night, even some distance from the firing-line- I think we shall beat the Germans back round here, for we are getting more big guns up every day. Even now, between our trenches and theirs, which are only 500 yds apart, there are hundreds of German bodies lying. They have been lying there for weeks and mouths and it is too dangerous to bury them,"