EL HANNAH AND FELAHIE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16667, 12 April 1916, Page 5

EL HANNAH AND FELAHIE.

DESCRIPTION OF THE STORMING. AFTER CAREFUL PREPARATION. .. LONDON, April 10. (Received April 11, at 8.50 p.m.) Mr Edmund Candler (with the British headquarters) thus describes the storming of Um-el-Hannah and Felahie on Wednesday and Thursday : " The preparations for the attack were most thorough; nothing was left to chance. Rains checked the advance upon El-llannah on January 21, when we advanced in the open. Since then we have been continually sapping up to the enemy's position. After the completion of 16 miles of complicated sap \york, the British firing line was within 100 yards of the Turks' first line. Bombers, cheering, crept pver the parapet at dawn. In a few seconds rifle and machine-gun fire showed that we were in the enemy's trenches, of which the entanglements had been broken down by bombardment. The first line was captured by a quick rush. The artillery then opened on the third line.

"There was no serious resistance till we searched the Felahie position, 2£ miles behind the Turkish front. Here, the communication trenches were wide artd deep, adapted for pack transport. The position was two mijes in depth, with flanking trenches thrown out north and south. The .attacking brigade came in for heavy rifle and machine-gun fire as the men wertj advancing over uncompromising flat ground. We assaulted and carried the trenches on the right of the river, and the rest of the trenches were rushed after dark, the Tunics being driven out with the bayonet. Our casualties were not heavy, considering the stubborn resistance and the nature of the ground."