TURKISH TRENCHES CARRIED BY FIERCE RUSHES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16202, 12 April 1916, Page 7

TURKISH TRENCHES CARRIED BY FIERCE RUSHES.

MANY MILES OF SAPPING TO REACH ENEMY'S POSITION.

STUBBORN RESISTANCE OFFERED BY FELAHIEH LINES.

ENEMY FEVERISHLY PREPARING TO MEET DOUBLE ATTACK

t By Telegraph Press Associ& Jon— Copyright.

(Received April 11, 8.50 m.)

London, April 10.

The storming oil the Turkish positions at Umm-el-Henna and Felahieh last Wednesday and Thursday is described in a despatch from Mr. Gaudier, the official correspondent with the British Headquarters Staff. He states that the preparations for the attack were most thorough, and nothing was left to chance.

Bains had checked the advance to Umm-el-Henna on January 21, when we advanced in the open. Since then we have been continually gapping up to the enemy's position, and after the completion of 16 miles of complicated sap work, the British firing line was within 100 yds of the Turks' first line. ,

A bombing party, with a cheer, crept over the parapet of the British trench at dawn. In a few seconds, rifle and machine-gun fire showed we had reached the enemy's trenches, of which the entanglements had been broken down by bombardment. The first line was captured by a quick rush. Artillery then opened fire on the third line. No serious resistance was met until we searched the Felahieh position, 21 miles behind the Turkish front. Here the communication trenches were wide and deep, and adapted for pack transport. The position was two miles jn depth with flanking trenches thrown out to the north and the south. The attacking brigade was met by heavy rifle and machine-gun fire as it advanced over uncompromising flat ground. We assaulted and carried the trenches on the right bank of the river, and the rest of the trenches were rushed after dark, the Turks being cleared out •with the bayonet.

Our casualties were not heavy considering the stubborn resistance &nd the nature of the ground.

Telegrams from Constantinople state that the Turks express confidence regarding the situation in Mesopotamia. The enemy has concentrated over 100,000 men at Mosul, 220 miles north of Bagdad, and is feverishly constructing defence works. The Turks believe they will thus withstand the combined British and Russian forces.