ON GALLIPOLI.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1915, Page 6

ON GALLIPOLI.

ENEMY OUNS ON ANZAC. '! A VAEIETY IN SHELLS.

(From Malcolm Ross, Official Correspond- j ent of the N.Z. Forces). j Anzae, July 1. For some few days there lias been j persistent shelling of the Anzac position j by a variety of enemy guns, and recent- , ly a 4-inch gun has opened on us from , a new position in the south. It fires from south of Gaba Tepe on a range of , GOOD yards. The shells come very fast, some with a shrapnel charge and others bursting the shell into fragments with a high explosive. Then there is the gun which shells us from the di-ection of the village of Anafarta on our left flank. Here there are two or three field guns filing at a range of 5600 yards. They are 15-pounders, and their shells when coming give you plenty of warning, so that you generally have plenty of time to duck for cover. This gun has been far more damage than any of the other ;■;(■!-. because it cannot be located in wry difficult terrain in which it and it is impossible to sileii'.i' if. Tiuri- are, away beyond our left ila-nl;. a 10l ol low ridges, behind any one of which it might be hidden, and soiircliu;;/ tor it at present would be simply a waste of ammunition. -Sometimes this moves round more to the north. From the south in the early days of the occupation of Anzac they used to get one or two big shells from the Asiatic sitl.-—slle'ls of about S inches—and an 11-ineh shell also fell ir: the bay quite close in. None of these heavy gentlemen have, however, been making their appearance for some weeks past. They probably come from the guns of the Goeben. One portion of our left can be got in enfilade by the Anafarta guns; also heavy guns from behind Hill 971 and the summit of SariBair in a north-easterly .direction from a range of 4500 yards; and also by French "seventy-fives" in the vicinity of Battleship Hill, a subsidiary - peak on the range (hree-quarti-i" of the way to Hill 971. These l-Y.-m h guns have been engaged by our howitzers. With the exception of the Anafarta guns—which cannot be located —and the heavy guns, it only requires a very few rounds from our batteries to make the enemy guns cease fire. The Turks, spurred on by the Germans, however, are very energetic in shifting their guns, - and display a great deal of ingenuity in their methods. The result is that we generally get shelled two or three times a day, and often lose a few men. We, however, must maintain ' our iposition. The Turks have a wide field in which to operate, and never stand being shelled in return. Under siic'h circumstances they He low, or clear out, and, for fear of discovery, they never lire at night. One of our positions is shelled bv a little mountain gun from a point, blank range, of from GOO to 1000 yards. We reply by howitzer fire, one round of which usually shuts the little fellow up. There are similar guns to these on Johnston's Jolly and Lonely Fine to the South, quite close to our fire trenches. The Turks have quite a lot of gun emplacements, and our gunners never know from which one they are going to fire. Somewhere in the Olive Grove there to the south is a field gun and at least one heavy howitzer which the Australians engage. The Kilid-Bahr guns are 9000 yards from us. A walk round our position is a revelation oi the wonderful ingenuity of our Engineers and the enormous amount of work done by our men in trench-dig-ging. In places there is a perfect maze of trenches. Even the "oldest inhabitants''—men who have been in residence at Anzac for nine weeks—are apt to lose their way in them when seeking a particular observation post or a particular gun. By devious ways we walked in the narrow trenches to the observation post of a battery which was going to fire. Through the narrow, well-prote:ted and well-screened peep-hole we could see just beyond our own lines and the Turkish trenches a scrub shelter, about whicfi, earlier in the day, some Turks had been se<-n This had been chrisieued by the Australians "The Mi-mi." The battery opened fire, the first shot going high ami a little to t'he right. Corrections were duly made by the man in the observation post, and presently a well-di-rected shot planted right into the Mimi, and it went up in a cloud of dust. It is all very wonderful this indirect fire, because the man who is doing the actual firing sees nothing of what he is firing at. While we were watching one of our howitzers firing a 100-pound shell, also opened fire. We could see its shell from start to finish of the great arc it described. It grounded near the Mi-mi and sent a eloud of earth and smoke into the air. The Turkish guns replied with shrapnel and bursting shell. This shooting over, wa went by tortuous ways to another post. Here we were under fire and had to be careful. The Turkish trenches were but 200 yards away, and a head shown above the parapet was almost sure to be hit. Even as we observed the bullets were hitting the sandbags a couple of feet away from our heads. From some of these vantage points the views were so wonderfully beautiful that one could not help gazing in admiration in momentary forgetfulness of the bullets that were whistling past or hitting the protecting sand-bags. The bosky dells and glades of the Peninsula stretch- . Ed north and south and east. Westward were headlands jutting into the sea with silvery, curving beaches in between; and still farther westward Imbros and Samothrace in the glorious calm blue of the Saros Sea. THE MAORIS ARRIVE. A UNIQUE -SCENE. Imbros, July 6. At an early hour on the morning of Saturday, July 3, the Maoris arrived from Malta, and landed in the dark on the little pier at Anzac, It was rough, and the disembarkation was difficult, but the Maoris took it all very quietly, and there was no mishap. That afternoon the General paid them a formal visit. After a mile walk we came upon them digging their bivouac in an amphitheatre, surrounded by steep fantastic cliffs of marl and water-worn stone—the debris of some ancient river or lake bed. Hundreds were busy with pick and shovel, working amidst the scrub-covered knolls to get their "dug-outs" ready before nightfall. Close behind us two swarthy young warriors, who thought they had hit upon a good spot for their habitation, dug into a corpse—a ghastly reminder of the fierce fighting that went on in this place when our men, after

the first landing, were getting their 1 grip on this bit of the Peninsula. It 1 was the Maoris' first experience of the ] grim Tealities of war, and, needless to i say, there was a sudden cessation of i digging in that particular quarter, i During the forenoon the Maoris' had : their "first experience of shells being i fired over them; but these were aimed i at Anzac beach, and burst half a mil* away. The General called a halt in the digging, and the bronzed warriors crowded round him while 'he stood on a little knoll amidst the olive trees and the 1 stunted prickly oak, and made them a brief address. "Officers and men of the Maori Contingent," he said, "I am glad that the hope I expressed to you when I last saw you in Cairo, that you should come and serve with us in the field, has been realised. I promised you that I would do all I could to get you with this division so that you might join in battle with your comrades of the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Infantry. Your comrades, who have for some weeks now been fighting on the Peninsula, have covered themselves and the name of Hew Zealand with glory. They have fought valiantly in the face of very heavy casualties and in every way have proved themselves efficient and brave soldiers. And now upon you Maoris a very great responsibility rests. Not only have you to prove yourselves worthy to fight with your British comrades, but you have also to prove yourselves worthy descendants of your ancestors, and worthy, also, of the glorious military traditions of . your race. You have to follow in the footsteps of your great chiefs whose names we in New Zealand know so well. Your race has always been distinguished for its bravery and for its martial ardor, and the people of New Zealand will look to you to prove that those qualities have in no way diminished. In a very short time you will be called upon to meet the enemy, and when you do so I believe you will prove yourselves absolutely as brave and valiant as your forefathers before you and your comrades whom you have now joined. lam very proud to have you under my command, and I wish you all the best of fortune in the fight that lies before you.'' At the conclusion of this stirring address, the whole assemblage of Maoris responded with their war dance. It was indeed a strange scene. As the weird cries of the rythmic beating of the feet i upon the Turkish soil ceased, the mind ranged back a few thousand years, and - conjured up visions of the Armadas that i have sailed these seas and the armie» that have traversed these lands. The I ghosts of the great dead seem to rise ■ again and march before us—Xerxes and . Alexander, liector and Helen, Achilles i and Lysander, with many more famous i in song and story. And now the comi ing of the Maori! , Behind us, just beyond the Peninsula, . is the narrow strait across which the i Per si.-: n general built his bridge of I boats so that his army might cross from one continent to another. There, too, tiie Greek fleet, with infinite patience, lay for nine years, a bulwark to the host ashore. Where Xerxes built his bridge of boats to cross an army, our enemies are contemplating the spreading of a net of steel to stop our submarines. And now this new Armada, with its great battleships, its thundering guns, its submarines and waterplanes, and its balloon ship, comes upon the scene. And with it an army i from the greatest Empire the world has known.

Across the narrow strait the other day we saw Ohanak atop of the buried Abydos, in (lames—lit by a ship's s2iell which traversed the whole Peninsula and the straits as well!

Quite close are the now desolate plains and the ruined cities of Troy, with five thousand years of history behind them. Westward the sun waa placing a band of jewelled silver across the Saros Sea. The long promontory and pointed peaks of Imbros broke the straight horizon on the left, while nearer the bolder and steeper heights of Samothrace, recalling other scenes and the wonderful "winged victory" in the Louvre, stood boldly out against a background of splendid rolling cloud. In the foreground the sandy beach of the Peninsula swept round to where "the boat of death" lay stranded at a little promontory. Beyond that again, the masts and funnel of a sunken steamer, and, quite close, a buoy where, in face of the impotent rage of those on shore, the Triumph found her grace. Here in the shallows one saw for the first time the wine-colored sea of Homer, as if tinted with the blood of the victims of war; and in the midst of all the New Zealand General, like some Trojan leader, inciting his Antipodean soldiers to heroic deeds. As the final cadences of the haka were echoed back from the fantastic cliffs, one pondered over this strange coming of the Maori, and wondered whether his deeds would be worthy of the new Iliad. A PERIOD OF COMPARATIVE CALM. BOMBING, MINING, AND SHELLING. Gallipoli Peninsula, July 9. The week's doing have provided little for the war correspondents to write about, and it would be no use dealing, with the general situation —even if one were permitted to do so —for by the time this letter reaches New Zealand the situation in all probability will have altered materially, even if it be not completely changed. It has now been decided to establish a war correspondents' camp on one of the islands. This . change makes the work of the colonial correspondents a little more difficult, because considerable time is taken up on the journey between the island and the peninsula, and during the periods we are on the island w« may miss some important 'happening on the mainland. The chance means that wc of the Australian and New Zealand press have to establish two camps—a sort of town residence at Anzae and a country residence. SPASMODIC FIGHTING. Returning to Anzac after getting my island camp fixed up, I found that there had been a period of comparative quietude oil the peninsula. Nevertheless, there had been the usual incidents connected with trench warfare when there is no general attack and each side is content to lie low. On July 4 the enemy bombarded our position with their field guns and guns of position, firing In all between 250 and 300 shells. As the result of this bombardment we suffered no casualties, and very little damage was done to the trenches. At 9 a.m., the enemy, with a heavy gun, shelled the position at Anzac. Again on July 7 there was intermittent shelling without serious daamge. One of our howitzer batteries engages Mortar Ridge whenever the enemy guns there open fire during the day. At 6.50 [p.m., a Sin gun was firing on the Aus-

tralians from the west slopes of Battleship Hill. One of our batteries replied in the direction of the enemy gun, and it ceased firing. Numbers of our men commenced some important road and trench work. On July Ban enemy mountain gun fired on the front of Courtenay's Post without doing any damage. This day the enemy using a sling for bomb-throwing. The Australians and the New Zealanders are much better throwers than tE£ Turks. They can throw farther and their aim is surer. There is no doubt because " they are nearly all men wfho have played the game of cicket. Between 5 and 0 p.m. the garrison at Quinn's Post succeeded by bombing, in setting fire to the enemy's overhead cover in front of No. 3 subsection. To this the enemy replied, and a severe and continuous bombing engagement ensued. Some damage was done to one of our fire trenches, but this was soon repaired. J.ater in the evening the bombthrowers at Quinn's were successful in setting fire to some fifteen yards of Turkish trenches with bombs. The Turks, however, managed to keep this fire down to a certain extent, but it burned till 4.15 next morning. A ruse at Quinn's—it is eolloquiallj known a 9 "a stunt"—drew (heavy rifle and machine-gun -fire from the enemy. H.M.S. Rattlesnake did some shelling on our left, and Turks seen digging on Lonely Pine wore also shelled. On July 9, at 9.30 p.m., there was a general burst of enemy rifle fire and some shelling. There were also sharp bursts of rifle and machine-gun fiTe during the night, started by bomb-throwing on our part. There was also some good shooting at one of the Turkish positions bv H.M.S. Colne.

1 EXPLODING MINES. At noon on July 10 a 501b mine was I fired by the engineers at Quinn's, and at 1.30 p.m. a second mine was exploded. Each explosion was followed arfter a few seconds by another explosion as if a Turkish mine had been detonated in eadi case. After the second explosion fire was seen rising from the Turkish fire trench. The rest of the day passed quietly. At 9.30 p.m., a lieutenant and three men proceeded up a valley in front of Pope's and exploded seven bombs among a working party of Turks on the crest of Dead Man's KTdge. The Turks replied with a burst of fire which was taken up all along the line to the ridge opposite Courtenay's, and Quinn's, and at 3.45 a.m. a few Turks were seen in front of No. 2 sub-post crowling towards our trench. They were driven off by a bomb.

A SPECTACULAR BOMBARDMENT. KILID-BAHR PLATEAU SHELLED. Imbros, July 13.

Our fellows are. beginning to respect the Turk, and with some reason too, rar the Turk is playing the game in a way that the German who dragged him into this war has never attemped to play it. His bravery, especially on the defensive, has also earned him the respect of the colonial soldier, Ttfio, if the war weTe finished to-morrow, would be the first to fraternise with him. Whether or not the Turk will continue to play the game remains to be seen. Those here who know him best say that he will. Another surprise to those of our army who have not ke.pt pace with recent developments in the Turkish Army, has been to find the Turkish trenches recently captured at Helles models of sanitary organisation. They were every whit as clean aa oar own. They had been systematically disinfected, and there were even receptacles for rubbish placed at intervals along them. This reform is no doubt owing to German influence in connection with the reorganisation of the Turkish Army. Should this cleanliness be general throughout the Turkish Army there will not be so much danger on. either side from the dreaded cholera. THE RELIGIOUS WAR. The Germans have failed to bring about a Holy War. On the Canal the Mohammedan Indians fought the Turks, and ill Syria, if reports be true, the people welcome the sailors of the Allied fleets, and are eagerly inquiring when "the occupation" will take place. I met here the other day a man wnt. lies been chief of the police at Constantinople, and who knows the Turk thoroughly. He assured me that there would be no Holy War in this ease. "How could there be," he added, "when the Turks are fighting against mfidels with infidels on their own side!" The Turks nevertheless are not above having their jibe at our religion; the Creseent still holds the Cross in contempt. A SPECTACULAR CANNONADE. Saturday, July 10, broke the monotony of the ordinary trench warfare that had prevailed for some days. Early in the morning a group of trawlers that had gathered off-shore between us and the 'hospital ship were scattered by Turkish guns that opened fire from somewhere in the neighbourhood of Gaba Tepe. The Turkish gunners made good practice and spurts r of foam almost splashed the little ships, bu, strange to say, they all escaped. Standing well off-shore, but not out of range of the Turkish filfe, was one of our battleships—the Lord Nelson—with': three destroyers waltzing gracefully about her and other destroyers and trawlers moving farther out. Presentlyfrom the battleship's side came a great burst of golden flame, followed quickly' by a rush of yellowish-brown smoke that almost ihid the ship from view. For a full twenty-five seconds there was no sound. Then from across the water came a loud report and a continuing lower rumble that made the earthy walls of one's dug-out tremble and bits of clay and little stones fall from the walls. This was the Lord Nelson with her big guns commencing a bombardment that was to knock the edge off the Ivilid Bahr Plateau, upon whitfh, re'cently, the Turks had been making earthworks and gun emplacements. It is a long, high plateau, steep at each end, lying to the south of our position and a few miles north of Aehi Baba. In between is some level land that, properly entrenched, might be difficult to take, while the plateau itself, with its trenches, entanglements, and guns, seems, either from our position or from off the coast, a most formidable obstacle. The military experts, however, state that both the Kiliu B'ahr JMateau and lower ground in between it and Aohi Baba can be commanded by our artillery once the latter eminence has been aken. Meantime a Turkish battery from the trees and scrub on the lower land opened fire on the Lord 'Nelson, using four or six-inch shells. The shells fell in the sea all abolut the battleship, sending columns of water in the air, and a.t any moment it appeared as if she might be hit; but she went on firing her big guns at the plateau and took no more notiee of the Turkish battery than a mastiff migfht take of a terrier dog barking at his 'heels. 'From [our position in the trendies em on# of

the (hills overlooking Anzac we could clearly see the flashes of the guns of the Turkish battery, and presently one of tlie Australian batteries on our right was quickly in action against them. Meantime, a Turkish battery away on our left opened one of our positions, and the Anafarta, gun ("Startling Annie") sent a few of her whistling shrapnel shells into our beach, The bathers scurried for shelter, all but two swimmers some little distance off the shore. These latter continued to enjoy themselves in the warm sea though shells had been bursting almost over them. Late in the afternoon a four-funnelled cruiser, with her accompanying destroyers still on the look-out for submarines appeared off Gaba Tepe. Farther out the strange-looking kidneyslhaped balloon could be seen slowly rising from the mother ship—also carefully guarded —against the grey-blue haze. The cruiser' commenced shelling, the Turks replied, the Aoaairta gun opened on our beach again, there were occasional bursts of rifle and machine-gun fire from the trenches, and, as a fitting accompaniment, the somb're, deep diapason of the guns at Helios. At 6.30 p.m. the cruiser began to fire her guns in rapid succession, The balloon was now high above the sky-line, and an aeroplane that had been "spotting" for us flew souhwiards over the Turkish position, her route being dotted with the white puffs of fourteen Turkish shrapnel shells th&lj burst beneath and floated gracefully in the gentle upper airs as the pilot unconcernedly winged his way south to Hellea.