WOUNDED FIVE TIMES

Otago Witness, Issue 3201, 21 July 1915, Page 84

WOUNDED FIVE TIMES

HAIL OF BULLETS. A GALLANT RESCUE. CHRISTCHURCH, July 15. Lieutenant Macfarlane, of Auckland (a, son of Mr J. B. Macfarlane, of Christchurch), had a particularly sensational experience. Ho was shot no loss than five times during the eight days fighting at Sari Bair. Though included amongst the most serious cases brought back by the Willochra, he has made considerable progress on the voyage. His statement is an interesting one. “The story of those first days’ fighting has already been told,” he said. “It was fortunate that the men had gone through a fairly lengthy period of training, for vve had not been long in action realising that a soldier needs to bo physically fit. Wo had to go night after night without sleep. At night time it was bitterly cold, and the strain was very great indeed. On the day which proved such a fateful one for mo instructions came at 10 o’clock in the morning that we were to advance from the main firing trench and push ahead as . far as possible. The shelter we had spent the night in was a sex>arato trench, with two linos of trenches ahead. At the given time wo climbed out of our shelters, and lost no time in making for the next line of trenches. The fire we encountered was comparatively light, and having gained our first objective, we had a short spell. Our next effort was made under a hotter fire, but we got through all right, only a couple of men being hit. It just rained bullets. We had by this time reached the main fire trench, and the hardest task lay ahead. Word came through for the company to advance, and at the word the men * sprang forward in groat style. Then we got it hot; in fact, it just rained bullets all round us. It was grand to see the way those boys behaved under such a heavy fire. For 500 yards, despite a murderous fire, we kept advancing. It was then that they got me. First, a bullet caught me in the face. Next I got a bullet through the right arm, which smashed the bone. A third shot found its way through the fleshy part of the back, below the left shoulder blade. I received that little lot all within the space of five minutes. “ One's first sensation on being shot is not the least like what one would expect. The bullet lands with the violence of a blow from a sledge hammer. It leaves a numb feeling, but does not begin to hurt for an hour or more; in fact, you got the idea that it is not so bad after all, and flatter yourself that you can keep going. The second shot brought me down, however, and for the rest of the day I lay where I fell. Bullets continued- to whizz all round me, and I felt certain that a chance shot would surely finish me. The shots fell round mo so thickly that it was for all the world like min hilling on water. While prostrate on the ground I was again shot twice, bullets striking each wrist, and my cap was knocked clean off my head by a bullet, which went right through it. My clothes were also cut about by bullets in several places, and into the hours that I spent under that hail of lead were crowded all the experiences of a life time. I had quite given up all hope of getting out of it alive. “ For nine solid hours I was lying there without shelter and without attention to my wounds. Then some of the boys took their lives in their hands, and came to, my assistance. One brave fellow got me on my feet, but by that time I was weak from loss of blood, and I have not a very clear recollection of what followed. Ultimately I got back to the beach, and my wounds were attended to. I have had a pretty bad time, but I have made wonderful progress, and its good to be home again—really good.”