THE DARDANELLES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13803, 1 October 1915, Page 6

THE DARDANELLES.

INCIDENTS OF CAMPAIGN. BRAVE AUSTRALIANS. MANY RISKS TAKEN. Further details of tho fighting on Gal lipoli m which New Zoalanders and Aus tralians are engaged came to hand b^ to-day's mail. Having beeii ousted. . from their "im pregnable positions on the coast," th<. TurKs have dug m <ioep to block tin advance of the Australians on the wes and the Allies on the south, write. "Trooper Bluefrum" ,t<> the Sydney Morn ing Hci'itld from Aiusac (..'ove. ,i>iowl\ they aro being shifteJ more by the pic, and shovel than the xifle- 'Hie tnmche: are a lew y«u*ds apart m aome places , several hundred yards apart hi utheiv And it is m the noutral zone betweei the hostile ai'mies that what the sokhc has come to describe as "stunts" tali place. Mostly they are planned and execute* under cover of darkness, for -a head can be shown abdve the trenches m da'yligh without gotting a. score iof. bullets. l>c chaps are lav more enUvprisiiig mi. l vei tuivsomo vnan the Turks, but tho \a\.U. ai*o better patrols. Tho .reason is that the Turks know the country, wear n kind of moccasin on their feet, and inovi about quite lioiselessly. With our hoav, service boots silence m impossible. !St we mostly get out early — just aftc dark — wait m ambush, and catch th. Turk when he comes our way. One fine piece of work was spoilt by j cough. Lieutenant Chatham, of the oil. Light Horse, had a troo}) out m ambusl near the Balkan gun pits, -where tin Turks were working each night. Jus when tho enemy's patrol approached om of our trooper^ felt a tickling m tin throat. He tried to swallow the tick It and couldn't. lie gulped, but tho tick ling continued aggravated. At last he stuffed* his handkerchief m his mouti. and coughed. It was only an insignifi cant little cough, but it sufficed. Tin Turkish patrol halted, and the leader m vestigated. Stealthily lie crept up. tii, he could almost touch. the crouching Aus tralian. liang^ Finish. Turk. . Patro "Imshi." . ! . ■ EXCITING ,WPHKThat was ono to us. ' But for the un fortunate cough we might have got hall a dozen. The enemy scored next time Oho of their snipers, over-bold, crept up m the scrub to within 20 yards of tin trenches of the 7th Light Horse, am! started blazing away. Our fellows coulo not get him from the trenches, no Sergt. Ducker a<nd three others volunteered k rush the Turk's "posey," 'and bring hin m, dead or alive. Cautiously they fixec. bayonets, climbed on to tlie parapet, and then dashed out. They found th< sniper's nest, but the bird had just flown. A number of empty cartridge cases bore testimony to, his activity. But the scrub was full of snipers, and as oui dashing quartette dashed, for home a hot fusillade was opened on them from the Turkish, trenches and the scrub. Duokei dashed into shelter so fast that he landed on Colonel Ryrie's back. , No. 2 sent a miniature avalanche of dust and deb.ru on top of Colonel Cox ; No. 3 landed on my pet corn and No. 4, Trooper Edgworth got a Turkish buLlet m the arm. "Maleesch." SURPRISE FOR THE ENEMY. One of our best exploits was to the •credit of Major Fled White. The general wanted 'a certain position taken iMitj occupied. Our brigade had to do it. Under cover of night a. patrol weut out, reconnoitred the. position, and formed a coverinc party for the work to come. Major White then took 150 men of the r 6th Light Horse, armed with picks and shovels, as well as their rifles, and dug a long- sap 6ft deep, right out to Harris Ridge. Then the trenches were dug, and the position occupied. TJie 6th dug like miners, and burrowed like rabbits. Next morning when Abdul awoke he beheld tho smoke of the Light Horse camp fires the hill m possession of the enemy, aaid the trenches ready made. And he wondered what had happened. Tho other morning early, Major W.indeyer, of the 7th, put his head ovor tho parapet to enjoy the panorama, and a Turkish sniper let fly, the bullet just whizzing past his ear. snipers had been heard m front of our lines, but not located. So it was, decided to drivo them off. Fifty volunteered for the job ; six were chosen, but it was found that a dozen, joined m the rush.. The Turkish patrol was" easily driven back by Sergt. Walker and his comrades, a-nd the Turks m the foremost trench were so surprised that about 50 rounds were poured -into them before they got busy. At least one was killed before their reinforcements, cam© tumbling up. Then the Australians bolted for home: and reached there without any" casualties, though the Turks blazed away like fury. That's the luck of the game.