OTHER ACCOUNTS.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 13757, 21 April 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

OTHER ACCOUNTS.

Private W. H. Tunhicliffe, in a letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Iyo. Tunmclifie. of Wakefield, gives the following account of the Suez Canal fight, in which the New Zealand Infantry took part:—"Nos. 9 and 10 platoons 12th Nelson Company were sent to the Canal. No. 9 formed number one piquet. At 3 a.m. the enemy opened fire with several machine guns and heavy rifle fire. They then launched boats and attempted to cross the Canal, but were repulsed with heavy loss. Brisk fighting continued until daylight. No. 9 stood to arms and lined trenches at 4 a.m. From daylight until about. 8 a.m. we were busy sniping at the- enemy, who were entrenching themselves on our left. W«? were then reinforced by a number of the 62nd Punjabis, while a number of the 92nd Punjabis crossed the canal on our right and carried out a flank attack, which was not very successful, although the enemy's casualties were fairly heavy. The Punjabis were then withdrawn... Previous to this our artillery got the range of a line of the enemy's supports, and practically an nihilated them. They then shelled the sandhills on our left, and stirred up the enemy considerably. As they rushed from cover in close order our rifle fire played havoc with them. At 9 a.m. the enemy's artillery commenced upon our trenches and the wood in our rear in search of our artillery. A British gunboat patrolled the Canal all day, and did some good work. Sniping continued till dark. After dark very little firing took place, and next morning we fired a few shots only and then returned to camp. The Indians again crossed the Canal and finished off the work. Previous to this, at 7 a.m., H.M.S. Swiftsure patrolled the canal and shelled all trenches on the enemy's side. The man in the crow's-nest was sniped at and killed. An airship -was overhead during the greater part of the battle. Turkish losses killed and wounded, 2400; prisoners, 500 men and three machine guns. British casualties : Killed, 2 officers and 13 men ; wounded, 58 men; New Zealanders, 1 killed and 1 wounded. Twelve thousand Turks took part in this engagement, Later: It is now estimated that considerably over 20,000 Turks were engaged." Private T. Robb, who is with the main New Zealand Expeditionary Force, in a letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. Robb, of Nelson, describes" the Suez Canal fight, in which the Turkish losses were estimated at 3000. He says the first shot was fired by the New Zealanders at 3.15 a.m. on the morning of Wednesday. February 3rd. The Turks had a machine gun going strongly for a long time, but luckily not on them. "We only got rifle fire | from the enemy, and they were doing I some very bad shooting. Our chaps were doing some very good work. During the night the Turks brought up boats, which they brought across the desert from Constantinople, and I launched them oh the canal Then the fun commenced in real earnest. The j Tommies' batteries got to work, and it i was a treat to watch the shells burstjing right over Turkish lines with-deadly ! effect. One shell burst near the end 'of the line, where there were between 300 and 400 men, each about two or three paces apart. Then one fell in the Centre, and another on the right, and of the whole line there was only one man left, and he made for home. It was not safe for a Turk Jo put his head'up airy where within range, without a big , chance of getting two or three pieces of lead into it. You would see one jump up, and go to run into another trench, and he would only get about three steps, when over he would go. The enemy started firing their shells about 7 or 8 a.m., but they did not do much serious damage. As far as we were concerned they only wounded one man—our Sergeant-Major —-he was wounded in the upper arm by a cap of a, shell. We had a very lively time for a few hours. . Several boat loads of Turks tried to cross the canal, but very few got to the bank, as most of them were shot before they could get out. We had some very narrow escapes. Indian troops were with us, and they are very fine chaps to be with. I gave a hand to tie up a bullet wound in the forearm of an English officer with the Indians, it was the only job I got. As we were leaving, our position, one of the chaps of the.loth platoon (Ham) got a bullet in-the neck, and? has since died of the wound. I did. not see him, as the Indian S.B. got him. The 9th and 10th platoons of C Company were in the thickest of the fighting, and are mostly Nelson and Motueka boys. The officers in charge of the troops spoke very highly of our shooting. The Indians captured a number rf prisoners, one of whom was a German officer. Most of the prisoners" were in rags, and if they had boots thejr: wer«- in a horrible; state" of repair. One of our chap's was blown o"t of:his trench by a shell: into an-: other- trench, and never "got a scratch., (It will be remembered that Lieutenant Saunters mentioned this incident ia a

letter we published some time back.) Just before dark on the 3rd we saw three dark lines approaching across the desert, and we fully expected another attack, and were quite disappointed when daylight came to find there was nothing doing-., for us, although the Indian infantry went across the canal, and had a lively engagement. On Sunday morning avo buried Private Ham. : Our company attended, and the bugles \ blew the Last Post over his grave." Later Private Robb mentions that most of the Turkish prisoners were suffering, from thirst and hunger They only received one large biscuit for four days' rations, but it contained some very nourishing substance. Their water bottles were very small.