MAXIMS IN ACTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11482, 2 September 1915, Page 4

MAXIMS IN ACTION.

I «_ , j HCT WORK ON GALL PDLK | WORRYING THE 'iUR:;S. j \ A Marring description of t»he> part I jplaycrl by the mae'iim -j.-.un .mvikju h'< j 1 ( tfuC lighting on Gallipoli ix ;/.ii< ii bv th. x j o<OT-e>;jondent of a Melbourne news- ! paper," who has been gr.int-.d ! permission by G-nier'al sriir lan IJunii!- | ton 10 the fighting j.t. elo.*» tjuarK'l's. Everything on fcallinoli happen-* on a Sunday, ho writes. This part ion - lar l-ia.hhat.ji was bright and _uarm—\sin- vetnuod to bo on!v ;i- stone's throw I o Y .»r iiu' water I'V r days it had been I f-usp€<'i(xl that the Turks ronml Oumn s Post had been irjdnstrionsiy driving tunnels towards the Australasian trenches, and in order 4 to avoid th" inconvenience of an untimely upheaval of the earth in the .vicinity arrangements had been made- to send out an infantry brigade to interrupt the enemy at their burro wing, -so that the conneci lions of the sap could be destroyed, i The duty assigned to the machine-guns was to force the Turks in the advanved trenches to keop their heads down while the in en worked in the open. There is nothing liko squirting bullets up and down a sector to encourage men to stay underground. URGENT CALL . I OR HELP. In accordance with th© eternal perversity of things_ the particular Victorian Maxim section in which I had an interest was ordered to wnit until it was wanted. " Aren't we stiff!" remarked a freckled-faced, ginger-head-ed young farner from Go ovarii bat, who had' never handled anything more dangerous than a hai'row before enlisting " It's no joke sitting down here and counting the rounds while everyone else has a go." Just then, however, a " red." message was haiid'd to the officer in charge by a breathless courier The crimson form theoretically is urgent, but to a section that had neen instructed thirteen times in fourteen davs by red message to do nothing more dramatic th an' ching-e position, the circumstance brought- no thrills. This one. however, was different. You could read it in the oomma rider's face as he passed the slip to his sergeant. The actual words were "Relievo gun in 1 b 124, all speed." When he heard the news the man from Goorarpbat lifted the Maxim on to his shoulder , j and started off at a trot. He had determined to have first- shot. The run at "1 b 154 " v,-a.'i found to be lim T un<i bad'y- 't could cnlv be pterpurded to lire bursts at intervals, and single shots. MACHINE-GUN AT WORK. The position was on a. short, sharp ridge, and in approaching it the gunners had to mane'their way along a path not more than three feet, wide, with a sheer wall of earth on one side and a steep drop for 100 ft in front. A false step meant rolling to the bottom of the valley, which already was the resting-place of many unburied Turkish dead. In an instant the Victorian gun was on its tripod, and the man i from Goorambat had such a grip on the handles that .there was no option but to let him have first turn. For a few seconds he huuehed' his shoulders about his ears, holding the controls before his face like a motor driver on a speed trial, and then there came a " R-r-r-r-ip!" that raised a dust storm 600 yds away. The man looked up with a pleased smile. " Was that mine?" he asked like a surprised' child, and the sergeant-major, with the fighter's jaw, answered simply: /'Let her hum I For the next few minutes all other sound was engulfed in the buzzing and purring of the machine. The spluttering was not continuous. There would be a string of six shots, then a second's interval, a dozen more, another pause, and a third torrent of bullets. All the time the freckled farmer was holding feverishly to the handles, trying with every ounce of his concentrated energy to prevent/ the Maxim's tail from wagging the sights out of line. The gun seemed at every shot to try to wriggle itself free from the grip of its controller, to endeavour to shake him off. as it swept steadily right and left. There were half a dozen other Australian Maxims nearby, but all were well hidden from us, exceot one which had been planted on the ed'ge of a communication trench, with a wall of sandbags in front. The man from Goorambat glanced carelessly back at it as he handed over to the next man. The terrible vibration and muscular efforts had brought diamonds of perspiration to his forehead, and his thumbs were tired from pressing th© controls. SAVING A GUN. Just then the 18-pounders roared behind, and the ground covered by tne uiaoliine-guns commenced to assume tiie appearance of a furrowed field. One wmuU party of /lurks about this tame had succeeded in getting out of tiie tiencliea somewhere, but they did not run very far. The Maxim fairly effervosced with vitality, and men fell to the ground as if they had tripped over a:i invisible wire. The soldier who was firing kept his gun silent for an instant in order to satisfy himself that tho dropp.ng of these men to the time of his bursts of fire was not a mere coincidence. For that brief space the human mass remained intact. Then he ,touched the fire lever once more, and every man toppled over except one, who* stood as if in the act of running, propped up by his dead comrades. All the time the enemy machine gunners were searching likely spots for the opposing weapons. They discovered the barricade _of sar.dbags on the top of the communication trench. In an instant two enemy machines that had apparently held • back their fire before began to concentrate attention on this position. The ' bullets patte-ed on the sandbags in an unbroken hail. They were cut open, and the contents ran out in cascades. AH the t'mc the gunners behind were working f'*ve.r : shly. Then the gun was exposed altogether, and one man could . be seen sticking doggedly to the grips. A moment afterwards he put his right hand to his face and fell backwards. The bursts of firing stopped. Six bullets had th-ough the brave fel- < low's clenched teeth, and had escaped !bv his chfek. Even in his trouble, however, the man did not forget the snn. Reeru-ering from the first shock. li<> stmsreded to h : s feet. It is a point of honour with the sections n r ver in nriv circumstances to l°nve an efF°etiv« Max'm behind, and this, man hfH -->ll the b"~t traditions of his kind. Without he=dtat''on he crept forward to wh"re the woanon wa« st-'ll r,how-e-ed with bulMs. n™d. sr'nhbin,-,- t'->» hnvyol ; n Tus roMed trimrmhnn+lv down the slope into the communication trench.