CHARGE ON A TRENCH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16097, 10 December 1915, Page 8

CHARGE ON A TRENCH.

. AUCKLANDER'S EXPERIENCE. WOUNDED IN THE THIGH. A FIERCE ENCOUNTER. s An account of how ha came to bo t wounded at Gallipoli on August 8 is given 3 by Trooper Stevenson Bagnall, of the Ora, Auckland, Mounted Rifles, a son of Mrs. ' Albert Bagnall, of Heme Bay, in a letter written from a London hospital li "My regiment and the Wellington Mounted Regiment had been holding tne i 3 trenches fortnight about, with two Aus- , , tralian Light Horse Regiments—the Bin , , and the 9th. Just prior to the new | 7 landing on August 9 we had been in Rest 5 Gully, but on the night of Thursday the * 6th moved out along with the other - New Zealand units to the north of . our old position. The Otago Mounteds during their stay in the peninsula ' had been holding No. 2 outpost here, 1 about a mile along the coast. At 1 dusk we moved out from No. 2 out- - post to a position held by the Turks, 9 about four hundred yards due east. The 8 destroyers shelled the position for half-an- " hour, ceasing fire at 9-30 p.m., and turning off the searchlights from the position, 1 the signal for us, who had been gradually ' working our way up to the enemy's l trench, to charge. i "We got within 10 to 15 yards without detection, and with a wild hurrah scrambled up to the parapet and down into 1 the Turkish trench. I and another were 1 on the right, and after jumping into the 5 trench and clearing it for about fifteen ) yards we struck a bomb-proof shelter ■ with about half-a-dozen Turks in it. Of i course, it was pitch dark, and we were t armed with bayonets only, strict orders > having been issued not to use or even > load any ammunition until daylight. > Another mate, Trooper Finn, of Papa- . kura, got his bayonet fixed into a Turk, 1 and another Turk grabbed his rifle. I > came in on his right to assist him, and - managed to get one thrust in, and had > just withdrawn the bayonet to have 1 another thrust, when one of the Turks ! fired point blank and bowled us both ' over with one shot. The charge passed fc through Finn right thigh into my left. ' It was apparently an explosive, and I bad several wounds, the largest about as big 'as a half-crown. Part of the bullet was taken out on the ship on which I came , to England ; the rest of the fragments | were removed on Friday last. I am in , hones of being able to get about as good j as ever in a few weeks. On the ship we . had 3000 wounded." _ I r Trooper Bagnall was at last advices in » the Epsom Convalescent Camp. Surrey, r England, and expected to shortly return > to the front. i " ! MAORIS AT THE FRONT. i i i » _— 1 LIFE ON A TRANSPORT. Sympathetic reference to the work of ' the Maoris in connection with the wax was made by the Anglican Bishop of ' Auckland, Dr. A- W. Averfll, on the occasion of the prize-giving at St. Stephen's School for Maori Boys yesterday afternoon. Dr. Averill said he had received a letter from Archdeacon H. A. Hawkins, who 5 went with the Maoris in the first Maori reinforcements. The letter, which was ! written at sea, read as follows" I thought- you would like to know bow ' things are going on, especially 'with onr v boys, and you will be glad to know they ' are all well and perfectly happy. We ' are now in hotter weather, and H is getting hotter every day. A pair of shorts and a thin shirt and belt is our only ' covering. The boys are jolly all the day long. They take part in wrestling and boxing, ana never seem to have an 1 idle moment. They start their first ' parade at 5.30 a.m., and some work is 1 being done all day until 4.30 p.m. ; but j as soon as they are off duty, instead of lying about, as one would expect, they are playing at all sorts of strenuous games ' until lights out at 9 p.m. We have pro- ■ vided plenty of literature, through the 1 kindness of the Auckland Patriotic Committee and the Lady Liverpool Committee, and a number of games, such as halms, - draughts, cards, dominoes, etc. "Owing to the fact that there are not many on board for a big ship like thisnearly doable the number could be taken if necessary men have enough room to move about, whilst the sleeping quarters are good and the food excellent. At Albany we had nearly a day. The boys i t did not get ashore at night, but on the following morning they had about a seven miles' route march, and nearly an hour off to amuse themselves and do shopping. In only one case did a Maori come back much the worse for drink. In fact, they behaved themselves like gentlemen. "Perhaps the most pleasing thing about the trip is the excellent way th* Maori and pakeha are getting en together. One has a lot to do as official censornearly , 2000 letters were censored for the Albany mail— so one has some little inner knowledge of things. The pakehas have the very highest appreciation of the Maori boys, and they are an unfailing source of interest to them. " On Sundays we have church parade in English and Maori" at 10 a.m., followed immediately afterwards by a celebration of the Holy Communion. It is quite impossible to get an earlier celebration, as decks and messrooms are being cleaned from 5 a-m. onwards. I have divided the communicants into three groupsEuropeans with an English celebration. Maori communicants of " A '* company in Maori, and communicants of "B" company in Maori. There is a short form of evensong daily at 4.45 n.m. on deck. " Yesterday, Sunday, aTiernoon the band made its first public appearance, and gave a very good programme. We shall now have it pretty often, and it helps to keep things bright and cheerful on board. Concerts," of course, are frequent. The officers are giving one this week to the men. Poor men !" Bishop Averill said the St. Stephen's School had done its part in sending Maori boys to the war. The country was now getting some return for what it had done for the Maoris. He thought the Maoris were to be very highly commended for being so ready to come forward at this crisis and take (heir place beside the soldiers of the Empire. They had done their duty nobry and would continue to do so. The present attitude of the Maoris was in consequence of the treatment which they had received in the past.