THE SIGNALLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15975, 21 July 1915, Page 4

THE SIGNALLERS.

NEWS FROM LIEUT. COOK.

FEW CASUALTIES

An interesting letter'was received yesterday by Mrs. C. E Cooke, of Victoria Avenue, itemuera, from her son, Lieutenant C. Darwin Cooke, of the Divisional Signalling Company, whose headquarters are. at Ajii<"c Cove. The letter is dated June 3.

'" 1 know what, an anxious time you must be having just now," he wrote, " as 1 hear our list of killed and wounded has been published in New Zealand. 1 wish it were possible for you to see me now writing this in my dug-out. I am sitting on my bed witlh a block of wood for a writing-desk. If it were not for the awful noise of rifle fire, with an occasional heavy gun going off, you would never dream we were at war. We are really very comfortable, having plenty to eat, and, in fact, want for nothing. " That first day was awful, and how any of us got through it I don't know. It is nothing now, and it is only bad luck if any of our signal company get hit. The only wounded so far are Easter, Baxter, and Melville. All have light flesh wounds.

" More nurses are badly wanted. As I write this the roar of great naval guns is almost deafening. They started about an hour ago shelling a very strong position. " I saw one of the most awful sights the other day. The battleship Triumph was anchored about a mile off our beach, and was torpedoed by a German submarine. She heeled over and sank in about fifteen minutes. It was a terrible sight, and gave us some idea of what a submarine can do-

" Our mails often stay on land here for days waiting for a chance steamer. There is a wait at Lemnos and another at Alexandria.

" You would love to see the Indian troops at work. They are grand. Their mountain battery is splendid, and is doing good work." Lieutenant Cooke mentions that the following were well and happy: —Sapper Francis Hardie Bedford, son of Dr. Bedford. Barney Carpenter, of Remuera, Robbie A. Steele, of Crickiewood, iiernuera, and Melville Hopkins, son of Mrs. R. H. Hopkins, of Springfield, Manukau Road, Epsom.

AN ARMISTICE. SCENE FROM GABA TEPE. TURKS" VAIN ATTACKS. SHELLING INEFFECTUAL. "We have been hero now four weeks yesterday, and in many ways are enjoying ourselves immensely." writes Corporal Leslie Hogwood, Divisional Signal Service, in a letter to his mother, from Gaba Tepe, dated May 25. " The country here is hilly, rising just here sheer from the beach up to some hundreds of feet. The view from the hills is glorious. Outside in the offing lie our warships and sometimes as many as 50 troopships and storeships. Beyond them lie Embros and other islands, blue in the distance. Far to the south the coast stretches, with headland after headland jutting out into the vivid blue of the sea. Somewhere down there our other forces are fighting their wav up towards us. Here and there are cultivated flats, vividly green amongst the dull shrubcovered hills, while scattered patches of scarlet, flaming amidst the green, show a field of poppies in bloom. "On occasions like to-day, when there is little firing, it seems far too peaceful to be as it is, the scene of grim fighting-To-day there is an armistice from 7.30 a.m. till 4.30 p.m., and there is absolutely no firing. Twice lately the Turks have advanced in force, but with most disastrous results to themselves. There are at present something like 3000 of them lying dead outside our trenches. They seem to have tired of this and lately have been very quiet.

The Noise from the Guns. " During their attacks the noise is tremendous, especially near the trenches. The crackle of rifle fire alone is deafening, but above the rifle fire and the rattle of the machine guns, come the noise of our own batteries and the scream of the shells as they pass overhead, and still louder comes the burst of the enemy's shrapnel above. Added to this there are the heavy boom of the navy guns and the occasional burst of a big shell from the enemy's big guns. The noise of these big shells is great, but they do very little harm ; in fact, their shelling on the whole is very ineffectual. Sometimes they shell our positions all day, and manage to 'kill' only a few tins of biscuits on the barges that are bringing stores from the ships. A Comfortable " Dug-out." " I wish you could see the little ' dugout ' in which I am writing. It is fairly comfortable, about 9ft by 6ft, and high enough to stand up in at one end. Corporal Claude Battin and myself have spent much time in making it comfortable. It is rainproof, and we have shelves made from boxes to keep our food on. Our fireplace is an old 71b meat tin, and cooks very well. Ham fried on this in mess tins, together with fried biscuits, is a dish not to be despised, especially when one has appetites like we have at present. Our food here is excellent. We get bully beef, bacon, ham, biscuits, potatoes, lentils, dried vegetables, plenty of tea and sugar, limejuice, rum twice a week to keep out the cold, and 2oz of tobacco to smoke. Money we have not and want not. You can scarcely imagine how we all look for the mail." WANTS OF THE TROOPS. LIST FROM THE TRENCHES. Attention has been drawn recently to the difficulties experienced by soldiers in obtaining stationery, and several instances have been given of the ingenious substitutes employed in the absence of paper and envelopes. By the last mail Mr. E. Mossman, Arney Road, Remuera, received a letter from his son, Private A. B. Mossman, 4th, Waikato, Squadron, and both paper and envelope have now made a trip to Turkey and back. The letter was written on the back of a Lands Department map, which Mr. Mossman had used to explain a matter of interest to his son, and this was enclosed in part of the envelope originally used. "Paper is more scarce than gold," says Corporal Leslie Hogwood, Divisional Signal Service. "We get those active service postcards issued to us occasionally, but no writing paper." Corporal Hogwood gives the following list of articles " sometimes hard to obtain " which he says would be appreciated :—Toothpaste, envelopes and writing paper, chocolate, which must be specially packed for the tropics, an occasional half-dozen handkerchiefs, and a pair of socks. "If the war lasts much longer," he remarks, " those things will be very hard to obtain, and the only way of get- [ ting them will he from Home."

"PUT UP A GREAT FIGHT." LANCE-CORPORAL NORTHCROFT'S DEATH. " We are having most perfect summer weather here." Private Arthur Hannah, 3rd. Auckland. Mounted Rifles, wrote on May 31. "Plenty of sea-bathing and the open-air life are making everyone in excellent condition. "We are quite used to trenches and firing-line now." he continues. " Strange that soldiers should spend so much time mi learning to stand up straight— we find that half the. business consists of bobbing down. I suppose, you already know thaT poor old Harry Northcroft was killed. I was close by him. He was a grand fellow and high-respected by all. He put up a great fight, and his people may well be proud of him."-