CHARGE OF LIGHT BRIGADE OUTDONE

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9090, 8 July 1915, Page 5

CHARGE OF LIGHT BRIGADE OUTDONE

DESPERATE INFANTRY RUSHES UNDER TERRIBLE FIRE. Special to the “Times.” MABTERTON, July 7. Corporal Russell, of Carterton, who was wounded, writes as follows concerning tho Dardanelles fighting: “Can anything .‘but death obliterate from my brain tho horror of that scene P God forbid that the like should ever be my exporicaico again. I should like to be able to write to each bereaved heart in New Zealand telling how their loved ones fell under war conditions more terribl c than have been experienced on the 'Continent, how each man responded to the commands gallantly and unhesitatingly, knowing that for the majority of them the execution of tiiose .orders meant certain death. The last rush of D Ruahino Company in some respects calls up to my mind the charge of tho Light Brigade. There were cannon, ma-chino-guns, and rifles- in front of us, snipers in a bush to tlhe right of us, snipers'on a ridge to- the loft ol us, and later even snipers, behind US. The other three, companies of the Wellington Infantry Regiment had pushed ahead in a bayonet charge, and. having lost many men required reinforcements to hold the position from which their gallant charge had dislodged the «nemy. The Ruahine Company advanced by platoons in ukirmishmg order from the rear trenches for dUU yards under continuous shrapnel fire. “Oh, the marvel of it ! The whistling and screeching of shells, their bursting over and amongst ns, and yet that steady advance just as it men were taking part in a sha.m tight. Regular troops, who witnessed that advance, were amazed at it, and paid us the tribute of saying that no body of veterans could have been more cool in carrying out such a movement under a hail of shrapnel, ihe Rualunes passed through the danger zone of bursting shells and took a. broathei in the next lino of trenches occupied by the Hampshire Regiment. two minutes was all that was allowed us in that temporary safety, and tlien w© were off at the double in platoon rushes to tho third line of trenches—unfinished for the most part berng the one from which our comrades, whom wo were bound to reinforce at all costs and at once, had made their charge to the foot of the hill, which rose up in front of the green fields in which wo were unshielded from tne view' of tho enemy well ensconced upon the hill. In these trenches was now the Essex Regiment, spectators ot our next disastrous advance. . “Can I forget it r ~ J the» to ail interests and purposes wiping out of the original Ruahine Company? Never. It is burned upon my brain. This final rush at close on 600 yards was to be made by platoons in- sectional rushes. Away went the 13th platoon in this manner. There, was a perfect hail ot bullets, and tho field every yard was swept bv that deadly outpouring of lead. Down went each section almost to a man upon that green grassy field sloping towards the hill out goal. The command went forth for the Uth platoon to rush by sections. Th e y knew what to expect, but faltered never a moment. They dashed forward, only to bo shot down. . Then the loth platoon did likewise, and then came my platoon, No. to, and mine was the first section. I we the word, and we were oft at a good rate. The air seemed to ring with the whizzing of the bullets. One might as well try to avoid bemg struck in a hailstorm of frozen pellets as try to shun those leaden pellets from front and both flanks. Half ,* tion fell ere I was hit in the loft hand. All my section and all the next ivere down directly afterwards. Worst of all, the wounded, being m the open field were in many cases riddled by bullets as they lay there, especially those who were unable to dig themselves in with their entrenching tools or bayonets. Some tried to get up and look for cover, but were at once, snot down. ■ I am told that a few of our company escaped and won through, though how they did it is hard to say.” , ■ -