OUSTING THE TURKS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XX, Issue 5191, 20 July 1915, Page 5

OUSTING THE TURKS.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

FROM THK ‘GULLY RAVINE.” PROGRESS RY LEFT \YIN<;. (Received this day at !).20 a.m.) London, Tli is Day. Mr Ashinond Rartlett reporhs a‘ siiceessful advance by the bit wing on • I 11 no 281li on both sides of what is miivor.'iill v known ns tin' (billy Ravine. Although our troops ninth' no efforts to advance directly up the ravine they have fallen on the enemy's trenches on cither skit’ and plant'd another mile of this valley of death in onr hands. Someone described it as “a. devil of a. place.” The description is not inaccurate. The gully varies in depth, width and security. As you pass up it. leaving the seashore towards Krilhia., if twists and turns remarkably. At one jsiiiit you mnv fwmilk in perfect security liehind a bluff; at. another you may catch a stream ol bullets from the Turkish trenches in front. The Turks know every inch, of the ground nnd formerly fired a. tremendous number of shells into the ravine, but lately there has been a. distinct decrease in the volume of fire, pointing to a shortage of .ammunition. Nevertheless, quite enough

shrapnel is bursting, especially w-hen the attack is m progress. The ravine lies between overhanging craggy hills, two hundred feet high and covered with scrub. The summer heat is almost unbearable. The sun beats down this war-worn road with pitiless severity but there is plenty of good water which is icy cold and a great boon to the crowds of perspiring thirsty soldiers under the cliffs. Hundreds of weary men back from the trenches fling themselves down to sleep indifferent to the shells bursting overhead. Occasionally a man drops from a stray bullet, yet none seeks <x>ver, the prolonged experience making all indifferent or fatalists. In the ravine you come across lonely graves marked with a cross and the name of those fallen in the earlier engagement. Every yard we progress-in the gully is narrower and'narrower. (Received this day at 10.15 a.m.) Who will ever forget the scenes witnessed in the captured trenches and in the ravine'itself the day after our infantry occupied the position-1-* With the capture of the high ground all the Turks in the ravine were killed or fled. The Turkish positions were invariably filthy and if the enemy goes through the campaign without a great epidemic he will have an undue amount of luck. All through the gully there is a litter of debris and scattered bodies half protruding from the ground in hastily-dug graves, with hundreds of rifles and bayonets, and thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammunition. We made a very big haul indeed in this last engagement. Great fires are burning at intervals and they are'avoided hv all, as they give a horrid sickly stench. These fires are burning the Turkish dead, hastily collected. It is all important to get the dead out of the wav quickly in this hot climate. BOMBARDMENT OF CAMPS A TURKISH CLAIM. Vienna. This Day. A Turkish official message says: Our bombardment of the camps at Tekeburnu and Sedd-el Bahr caused fires and explosions. RUSSIAN STUBBORNNESS. 1 I Vienna. This Day. ; Official: The battle between the Vistula and the Bug s in full swing. The-Russians are fighting with extraordinary stubbornness, and frequently band to hand before giving up positions.