FIGHT FOR SARI BAIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16025, 17 September 1915, Page 9

FIGHT FOR SARI BAIR.

BRILLIANT NIGHT MARCH.

GALLANT NEW ZEALANDERS.

SURPRISING THE TURKS.

An account of the brilliant charge made by the New Zealand and Australian troops at the Sari Bair Hill, generally known as Hill 971, is given by Reuters correspondent in Egypt, who writes from Alexandria under date of August 14. •'Once again," says the correspondent, " tho Australian and New Zealand troops have covered themselves with glory— time in a magnificent attack on the famous Sari Bair Hill, generally known as Hill 971. 'If only the night had been two hours longer,' said a wounded Australian officer, ' we should have had all the Turks off that hill, but when day dawned we were 600 yds distant from the foot, and the enemy rained down a merciless fire upon us, and we were forced to entrench.' " Here in Egypt we had watched fresh troops pouring in practically day after day. The camps in Alexandria extended and extended, until they stretched as far distant as Aboukir. The streets of Alexandria were almost impassable with troops, and one would witness in the Mohamed Ali Square scenes hitherto undreamt of. and full of absorbing interest. Nowhere in the world could one have seen such a kaleidiscopic picture, save, perhaps, in the actual theatre of —Australians, New Zealanders, and Maoris, the French ' piou-piou,' Senegalese, and Zouaves, Chasseurs d'Afrique, Pathans, Sikhs. Gurkhas. French, English, and American sailors, apid last but not least in numbers, the English ' Tommy.' The entente was never better exemplified than in the nightly spectacle of English and French troops arm in arm sauntering through the streets singing 'Tipperary.' Cafes and bars were thronged with hilarious troops— soldiers drawn from all parts of the Empire. Here in Egypt stood reflected the greatness and unity of the British Empire.

Cairo " A Vast Encampment." " In Cairo similar scenes were occurring. The great camps at Zeitoun and Helionolis bad become the centre of much animation bv the arrivals of fresh reinforcements from Australia and New Zealand, and the Mena Camp had been reopened for the reception of a large number of troops from Ireland. Yeomanry regiments filled the barracks, and once more Cairo took on the appearance of a vast encampment. " All this betokened the imminence of a great offensive on the GalliDoli Peninsula, and towards the end of Julv troops began to move off. The 29th Brigade of the 10th Division, with the Australian and New Zealand reinforcements and a fairly large force of Gurkhas, were sent to Anzac, which brought the strength of the force there up to about 40.000.

40,000 Men at Suvla Bay. An Australian officer told the writer that from a ridge in the Anzac zone he looked out over the sea Si Monday evening, August 2. All was calm, not a vessel was to be seen, but when morning broke. to his astonishment, the scene had greatly changed. To the north were gathered a large number of transports, and thousands and thousands of troops had been landed in the stillness and darkness rf the night at Suvla Bay. to the left of the Australian position. Men were still being rapidly pushed ashore. It is said that 40,000 troops were landed with onlv six casualties.

On Thursday, August 5. the men were told that a great concerted attack from Anzac and Suvla Bay on the hill of Sari Bair would take place that day, and each regiment was advised as to its particular objective. .

After dusk, preparations for the great attack being completed, the troops began to move off. the Gurkhas and New Zealanders leading the way at. about nine o'clock, and the Australians following soon after. The men hugged the coast for a distance of about a mile and a-lialf, till they had Sari Bair slightly on their right. Then they turned sharply inland toward the hill, which was about three miles distant.

" It was very dramatic," said a wounded officer, in giving an account of the famous night march, " marching along by the se* in the dead of night. lam sure the tlKnights of most of us turned to our homes, wondering what our fate was going to be. We knew that we had a great and enormous task ahead of us, unless, indeed, wo should succeed in surprising the enemy everywhere while the night still lasted. On we went, silently and determinedly. Eventually we left the coast and made straight for the Sari Bair hill; that is, to say, as straight as it was possible to go, for, of course, the ground is so rugged and difficult that we had. to zig-zag our way through. "

Wrong Path Taken at First " After some time, to our chagrin our guide informed us that he had missed his way, so we had to retrace our steps for some considerable distance, thereby losing valuable time. Everything depended on the greatest execution while night still lasted. Finally we struck the proper path. " It was not long before we surprised a detachment of Turks, who offered little resistance. Any that resisted were despatched with tlie bayonet. The Ghurkha was wonderfully quick, and now and again we would hear that strangle-gurgle sound that indicated that the Ghurka had got his man with the kukri. Not a shot was fired. It was all silent knife bayonet work. The use of the rifle would have given the alarm, which was to be avoided at all costs. By dawn we had reached a point some 500 yds or 600 yds from the hill. " Up to that time we had met with no serious resistance, and our casualties were very slight. It was very hard going, and our men were getting rather fatigued. We had surprised the Turk everywhere. In one case, just before dawn, we came upon a party of 150 Turks bivouacking, and they were altogether too astonished to do anything. They immediately formed up and surrendered, and they seemed pretty pleased to be out of the fighting. In another case we captured a German officer, whom we found fast asleep under a tree. The prisoners admitted that they never anticipated an attack from the direction in which it was made, and no sentries had been posted. They all looked unkempt and fatigued. "The Gurkhas fought most bravely. Rushing at the Turk, they would grip his bayonet with their left hand, or ward off the blow with their arm, and, dexterously using the kukri with the right hand, would despatch him. On my way back to the dressing station I passed several Gurkhas with bayonet wounds in their left hand or arm, but you may be sure that each had accounted for at least) three Turks.

Otago Men Capture Party of Turks. "The Otago Battalion of New Zealanders, in storming one position, reached a somewhat difficult ascent, when, to their astonishment, the Turks, who were entrenched on top, leant over and helped them up, kissing the hands of our troops as they did so. They then surrendered in a body.

"The fight for the crest on the Sari Pair Charm was very fierce indeed. The Turks were strongly entrenched, and their numerous machine-guns were well concealed in the scrub, but here again the Australians and New Zealanders were not to be denied, and, although many a brave lad was killed, the Turks were, dislodged from their strongly-held positions, and | the rest occupied, the Turks fleeing down I the opposite slope.

The gallantry and dash of the overseas troops in this fighting was beyond all praise. The 29th Brigade had come up in support, and fought side by side with the Australians for the possession of the crest. In some cases the Turkish trenches were so narrow that the British troops had all the skin rubbed off their arms in dashing through. There was continual hand-to-hand fighting. Our men speak very well of the Turk. They say that throughout he has fought most fairly, and •has shown that he beare no animosity against the Briton. There have been further instances of Turks dressing our wounded, and carrying them into our lines."