WELLINGTON MOUNTEDS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19124, 19 September 1936, Page 4

WELLINGTON MOUNTEDS

NEXT WEEK'S REUNION

GEN. MELDRUM COMING

DIG GISBORNE FIXTURE

The growth of sentiment among the veterans of individual units of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force is being demonstrated more and more every year, us reunion dates swing round and draw together ever greater numbers of the men who served overseas together between 1914 and 1918,

The pull exercised by the old ties of comradeship is well exemplified in the case of the Wellington Mounted Rifle Regiment, for at the district reuraou to he held next week there will be present guests from many other parts of New Zealand, anxious- to renew old acquaintance with Wellington Mounteds of Poverty Bay and the East Coasi.

Chief among the visiting veterans will he Brigadier-General W. Meldrum, C. 8., C.M.G., D. 5.0., now Mayor of Greymouth and a mounted commander-during the Great War. Brigadier-General Meldrum was invited to Gisborne by a group of men from this district who attended the Dominion reunion of the Wellington Mounted Regiment earlier in Ihe year, and he accepted the invitation despite the amount of travelling it would involve.

Colonel A. S. Wilder, Hawke's Bay, Colonel Whyte, Palmerston North, Major J. O. Scott, Wairoa, Captain Clifton, Porangahau, Lieuts. G. Williams aud F. V. Kettle, Hawke's Bay, Lieut. N. Grant, Palmerston North, and Lieut. W. 11. Ebbett, Waikari, also have signified their intention of being present at the reunion in Gisborne on Saturday, September 26, and there will "be four carloads of "'other ranks" from Palmerston North, Dannevirke, Masterton and Hawke's Bay. Wairoa will send its own quota of four car loads, Nuhaka has guaranteed two car loads, and the East Coast will be strongly represented. Jt is anticipated I hat the attendance will reach 120. IMPORTANT HOLES When the history of the regiment is considered, it need surprise no one that the survivors of active service with the Wellington Mounteds should welcome the opportunity to get together in a unit function of the kind. As an integral part of the New Zealand Brigade, and later incorporated iu the famous Desert Column, tile regiment took part in llio Gallipoli, Egyptian and Palestine campaigns, and played its own important role in sweeping the Turks back to their Anatolia borders.

The name of the regiment is associated with the Gallipoli positions of Walker's Ridge, No. 3 Outpost, Table Top, Destroyer Ridge. Chunuk Bair, Hill 60 (Kuiajik Aghala), a.id Cheshire Ridge, alt scenes of major engagements. On August 27, 1915, in the second battle of Hill 60, the Wellington Mounteds, acting as infantry, went into action with six officers and 100 other ranks, and after terrific fighting for two days, only 17 men answered the roll call; 43 officers and men had been killed and 46 wounded.

'This hitter engagement has a special significance for Gisborne veterans of the regiment, for it was iu the second battle of Hill 60'that Chaplain-Major Grant, formerly of Gisborne, met his death while bringing succour to the wounded. Others of commissioned rank killed were Captain Taylor and Lieut. Risk, while i'lte wounded included Captains Clifton and Batchelor, and Lieuts. Wilder, jMaunsell and Kettle. A fortnight later the remnants of the regiment were evacuated to the island of Lemnos to await reinforcements, and later the regiment returned to the peninsula and held various sections of the front line trenches until the evacuation of Gallipoli in December, 1915. DESERT CAMPAIGN If was a big day for the Wellington .Mounted Rifle Regiment when, on the return to Egypt, the men were again issued with horses and resumed their original cavalry role. There followed another period of training iu the Canal Zone, and on the departure, of the New Zealand Infantry for France, the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, with two Australian Light Horse Brigades, were launched upon the early stages of the desert campaign beyond the canal. This campaign eventually took them right through Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and to Amman, a key position on the Hedjaz railway, the taking of which was one of (lie final blows to Turkish power in Palestine.

The first real fighting in the desert in which the Wellington Mounteds were engaged was at llomani, this engagement being quickly followed by others at Katia, Bir el Abd, El Arish, Maghdaba, Rata, Gaza (twice), Wadi Ghuzee, Beer shceba. Pas el Nagb, Ayum Kara, Jaffa, River Auja and Khirbet Hadrah, leading up to the capture of Jerusalem. From that city the campaign was pressed on, and further engagements took place at Jericho, the River Jordan, Amman (first attack), Es Salt, and then came the second and final attack on Amman. The New Zealand and Australian mounted regiments were officially known as the Anzac Mounted Division, but the more common title was the Desert Column, a title which the Australian author, Mr. lan L. Idriess, adopted for his fine book dealing with the campaigns, in which he himself served.

With a history of service such as this it is not surprising that former members of the Wellington Mounted Regiment should welcome the opportunity to meet at intervals, and to reminisce upon the wealth of incident which marked the desert campaign. The committee in charge of the Gisborne reunion arrangements has made, every effort to ensure that nothing essential for an enjoyable evening will be missing.