AT GRIPS WITH THE TURKS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 October 1915, Page 12

AT GRIPS WITH THE TURKS.

ATTACK BY MOONLIGHT. VIEW AT CLOSE QUARTERS, AUSTRALIANS' SUCCESS.

A description of a fight at Gallopoli as viewed at close quarters ia given by the correspondent of the Melbourne Argus, who writes from "Under Fire." He says:—

"I was fortunate enough to have a place, as it were, in the orchestra stalls, from which to watcli this scene of potted war—a brilliant little affair, full of d&sh and daring—and its complete success was the most pleasant feature of all. During the night 10 of our men were killed, and 70 wounded, and when daylight broke we counted 60 dead Turks out in the open. Probably twice that number had been shot below ground, and dozens of others had been bayoneted. How many of the enemy had been simply injured, however, there was no means of learning." The attack had been planned for moonrise and after describing the preliminary arrangements, the correspondent adds:

"Then there was a hint of light in the east. Almost at the same moment a red flare burst right ahead. It was the signal. There was a roar in front. A mountain appeared to spring suddenly into the air and then gracefully subside or melt away into nothingness. A second explosion followed, and almost dovetailed into a third. Then it seemed as though from the heart of the breeze, above the rattle or rifle fire and the din, came the suggestion of a cheer, and across the uncertain dimness of the flare swept a wave.

"In the wave were silhoutted heads flickering past. They were the heads of brave Australians, rushing to the kind of conflict heroes of the waged in the same region. The struggle was hand-to-hand. In 15 seconds all had disappeared into the ground. They were in the enemy's trench, 50 yards out bayoneting those who had dared to stay. There was something fascinating in watching that spot in the earth, where desperate men were breathing hard, while others died.

"The Turks had been completely taken by surprise. Their hesitation was but momentary, however, and almost as soon as the Australian battery on the ridge behind us had begun to hurl its 18pounder projectiles the enemy trenches were outlined with a million specks of light, as though whole battalions were busy with electric flash lamps instead of rifles. The sandbags beside our faces were beaten by the incessant thump and thud of hammer strokes, and the dust, a brown mist, was in front of our eyes.

ROAR OF BATTERIES. "On the near right a friendly mountain battery spoke for the first time. Its voice was the voice of a thunderclap. Every man in the group stiffened his back, jerked his shoulders, and felt his ears boxed violently. Then he brushed the grit from his hair and looked out at the rippling sparks of the Turkish trenches again without a word. The enemy's high explosive shells were now searching up and down, and bombs hurled themselves into tiny fragments, With the boom of a drum the sense of hearing had temporarily vanished. Every fraction of nerve energy seemed to be concentrated in the eyes. A man staggered back against the counterserap of the adjoining firing position, holding his wrist. The hand was on the ground. We had not heard the bomb explode, though it was less than 6ft away.

"Two soldiers were carried from the loopholes on the other side, with their eyes shut and spots of crimson on their temples. A bomb crashed behind with a kind of elastic bang, and another followed immediately. We coughed in the dirt. The bombs had been intended for the mountain gunners, but had fallen short. A devil's tattoo was being beaten on the sandbags. The air seemed as thick with bullets as locusts in a Victorian pest season. How any single man could pass through that zone and live was beyond imagaination; but thoy had passed, for a messenger brought the few brief words, 'Trench tak«n; position favourable.'

THE AIR TORN TO PIECES. "There was a smashing roar, and the leader stumbled back for a moment. Before moving on again lie turned to say, 'You never want to get a shell closer than that and expect to live.' I was as wet as any bather from perspiration. A moment afterwards the air was torn to pieces again with a deafening crash. An unseen hand punched me in the abdomen, while another filled my open shirt with several pounds of earth and stones The major doubled up for an instant and the spun round. Then he tumpled intu a recess in the wall. "Don't expect anything warmer than this in the war," he said when his breath came back. There were only two of ns now, so the major went back into the danger zone again to find out the reason. It was something less than two minutes before he returned, but I had done a week's thinking. The missing man had gone another way, and was safe.

A GUN FROM NEW ZEALAND. "In the shelter of a three-sided dugout, with two of our Australian guns hurling clods of dirt at us from the front, and shrapnel bursting to the song of bullets in the valley, the major explained what had taken place. There had been a trench in front of the line from which is was believed the Turka were sapping, so West Australian miners set out to best them with such good effect that it was possible to blow in three of our galleries long before the enemy expected.

"The attack had been planned for just before moonrise, and our men intended to hang on. It all sounded very simple and matter of fact, and so did the official statement next,day, though every detail was set out with scrupulous accuracy. While we were waiting a shell burst at the open sido of the dug-out, and the marks on a piece of the metal indicated that it had been fired by a gun which the Turkish Government had purchased from New Zealand some years before. It was a strange coincidence, and I kept the fragment as a souvenir.

"The counter-attack by the enemy in the light of the full moon was a poor thing in comparison with the Australians' dash, although the bullets whistled just us freely and rather mora bombs shook the earth."