TROOPS BEING REINFORCED

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 27

TROOPS BEING REINFORCED

LONDON, October 19. The Daily Mail’s Athens correspondent states that a high military auihority characterises the reports regarding the depletion of the Dardanelles forces or the slackening of operations in order to assist the Serbians as purely fantastic. The Allies at Gallipoli are' being reinforced, and are holding the positions stubbornly. The pressure «s such that not a Turk can be released to assist Bulgaria. ENEMY SUBMARINE SUNK. SYDNEY, October 19. A transport has arrived with another batch of wounded. A.n officer aboard states that in August last, when en route from Alexandria to Lemnos, they encountered and sank an enemy submarine. , NEW ZEALAND WOUNDED. LONDON, October 18. The New Zealand convalescent soldiers are generally satisfied with their hospital treatment. Many of them, however, complain of the poor quality of the uniforms supplied on their discharge, as they consider them unsuitable if they have to spend the winter in the trenches. The War Contingent Association is supplying the men with warm underclothing. The Prince and Princess Louis of Battenburg visited and chatted with the wounded New Zealanders at Walton-on-Thames Hospital. GERMAN REPORT. LONDON, October 18. A German wireless message from Constantinople reports that the autumn equi noctial gales have begun with the utmost violence in Gallipoli, and, if they continue, the landing of troops will be impossible. A German correspondent reports that the morale of the population of Constantinople has greatly improved. All kinds of food are now arriving from Bulgaria, and prices are much cheaper. The Turkish press is now preaching the conquest of Egypt and. reawakening the Mussulmans in India. TRANSFORMATION OF THE FLEET LONDON, October 18. Mr Ashmead-Bartlett, in the Daily Telegraph, thus describes our navy’s efficient transformation of the Dardanelles fleet when the risk of losing valuable warships became too great: “It was obvious that, unless we carried the strait by a coup do main, our fleet would be unable to remain indefinitely off the coast, because hostile submarines were certain to come. “ For three weeks after the first landing the fleet was left in peace ; then trouble began. Rumours of them rippled down the Mediterranean from Gibraltar, Malta, Cape Matapan, and Smyrna, and the mighty Queen Elizabeth left for-the North Sea. Then, after the Triumph and Majestic had been sunk, the fleet retired into sheltered harbours protected by booms and nets. “ The Turks were exultant, and issued their famous manifesto to the allied troops, declaiming that their fleet had deserted them, and offering to welcome them in Constantinople. But they forgot that the old maxim of the Anglo-Saxon race is ‘ always surprised, but never beaten,’ We are never ready, but wo have marvellous talent lor improvisation, and naval brains at Home worked out a scheme to recover the command of the Mediterranean. They designed craft carrying the guns of battleships without their vulnerability to submarine attack. More rumours rippled down the Mediterranean oi strange craft being sighted making for the Levant. “The first of these craft arrived, in July. She was almost flush with the water, carrying a 9.2 in gun in her bows and a. 6in gun in her stern, “Another smaller vessel followed, carrying two brand-new 6in guns* the same as

‘ Big Lizzie’s ’ secondary armament. The Turks were probably amused after comparing her with the Queen Elizabeth, but they sang a different tune when they found that this ‘ baby ’ threw 1001 b weight of high explosives a distance of 12 miles. “ The next arrival caused a sensation, both to the enemy and the Allies. An amazing-looking object wobbled into Kephalos Harbour, apparently roundshaped, with a huge tripod across the centre of her deck. With great difficulty, steering vilely, she entered the crowded harbour, the like of her never seen before. Then her crew began to bathe; in fact, they seemed to possess the power to walk on water. “ We set off in boats to investigate, and found that below the surface her sides bulged out for 10ft, and then curved : under, forming a platform awash. In this bulge there is provision to defeat the sub- : marine. If a torpedo strikes, it will explode amid a variety of substances—which I must not mention—and the hull escapes. These, huge monitors carry two Min guns and anti-aircraft guns. Their speed is slow, but their development, is only as yet in its infancy. The monitors soon • settled down to work, and the Turks and : Huns realised that we were regaining com- | mand of the sea. j ‘'Later the Endymion and the Theseus ! arrived, fearing no submarines, as they j were protected by waistbelts hung from | their sides by stanchions and wire ropes. ; The last of the big monitors was a great success. “ This new fleet played an important part in the Suvla landing, covering the advance at Anzac, Snvla, and Cape Helles. Tha rapidity of the fleet’s transformation : was marvellous, giving an insight into the : extent of British maritime resources and ; the navy’s ability to meet a new and sudden situation.” QUESTION’S IN THE COMMONS. A STATEMENT REFUSED. LONDON, October 19. Lord Robert Cecil, Linffer-secretary for ! Foreign Affairs, in reply to Mr Outhwaite, said mat the statement by Sir O. W. Buchanan, British'Ambassador at Petrograd, that the Dardanelles operations were undertaken at Russia's request to divert Turkish troops from the Caucasus, must not be regarded as covering all the considerations involved. Lord Robert Cecil added that it would be improper for him ■ to make a statement in regard to the im- | portance attached to the Dardanelles or j any other theatre of war by any of the | Allies. j Questions of which notice was given in- ’ elude the following by Mr Joynson : ■ Whether supplies of timber and iron have j been disembarked at the Dardanelles to '•enable shelters to he erected for the : troops, and if not, what steps axe being taken to ensure the health of the troops during the winter; what is the number of cases of sickness that have been removed from the Dardanelles, and is the proportion of sick and wounded reasonable? ’ AUSTRALIAN NURSES. LONDON, October 19. Fifty Australian nurses who did most valuable work in Egypt during the early rushes of wounded are now idle in England. At one stage each nurse in Egypt tended 700 wounded. When their superior officers were recalled to Australia the nurses were invited to volunteer to come to England to establish No. 10 Australian Hospital. They have now bean six weeks in a hotel in London awaiting instructions, as No. 10 Hospital is non-existent. The nurses are sorry they ever left Egypt, where there was full scope for their labours. They fear they may be drafted into English hospitals, and they intend to appeal to Colonel Fetherston the moment he arrives. SIR lAN HAMILTON’S RECALL LONDON, October 19. The newspapers interpret Sir lan Hamil- ■ ton’s recall as a determination to install i vigour of purpose into the campaign. | The Evening News says: “ There is ] some news that even the censor cannot : suppress. General Monro’s appointment ! is in this category'. It means that the i general upon upon the whole responsibility of the Gallipoli campaign rested has been ‘ superseded despite the fact that we are still officially only a few miles from an epoch-making victory. Lord Milner’s doubts are still fresh in our memory. One of General Monro’s first duties will be to determine the grave problem of whether ; it is expedient to persist in the present ; plan of campaign.” j The Evening Standard says: ‘‘Sir lan ] Hamilton’s recall is not altogether unexpected. General Hamilton’s six months’ j command resulted in many brilliant ac- | tions, but he had not achieved his purj pose. The public would have been more | prepared for the present change if it had : not been deceived by politicians and had

been told more clearly what was happening at the Dardanelles. It may safely be presumed that Sir lan Hamilton’s report will not be published for many years, if ever. It was an extremely difficult task after the Turks had been given two months in which to prepare fortifications.” The Pall Mail Gazette says: “ The change of command is not a surprise, but there is a danger of overstating its significance. Sir lan Hamilton was confronted with stupendous difficulties, and neither he nor his heroic troops will be depreciated in the public estimation bv his failure to obtain a decisive victory/ 5

GENERAL MONRO

A SPLENDID RECORD

LONDON, October 20,

The Daily Chronicle says : “ General Monro is a striking instance of emergence of Scottish leadership. Since the war he has shown all the characteristics of first-rate generalship—instant judgment, unlimited receptiveness of ideas, imperturbability of temper, unflinching courage, a capacity for winning popularity and inspiring confidence. He went to France in command of the 2nd Division of London Territorials, and was given the command l of the 2nd Regular Division before Mons. He so distinguished himself in the retreat from the Marne fighting at Aisne that he was given command of an army corps.”

GENERAL BIRDWOOD’S REPORT,

MINERS’ UNPLEASANT EXPERI ENCE.

LONDON, October 20.

The Press Bureau states that General Bird wood reports; There is little to say of the operations above ground last week. There was considerable mining activity on both sides. The Turks fired a mine on Hill Sixty, but, unfortunately for them, it exploded beneath their own lines, causing much damage to the Turkish trench and none to ours. Elsewhere they exploded one of our trenches. The garrison had already been withdrawn, but five miners were buried, and were given up for lost. They, however, reappeared three days later, having dug themselves out. They were little the worse for their ordeal.