THE GALLIPOLI FIGHT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12707, 31 July 1919, Page 4

THE GALLIPOLI FIGHT.

ENEMY DOCTORS’ OPINIONS turkey defeated in bpite op WITHDRAWAL. (By E. R. PEACOCK in Melbourne “ Herald.”) ln T 400,000 killed and died of maladies, there is no doubt the i Galliooli cama. great victory for the Allies. IN otwithstancling the withdrawal Turkey was defeated.” Such is the united opinion of a number of doctors who served with the enemy army on the Peninsula against the British forces. The armistice terms compelling demobilisawon enabled these officers to return to their homes and they are new practising their _ profession in hospitals and privately m Smyrna. is a Gxeek. speaks good itnghsh, and has the reputation of belug an exceptionally skilful surgeon. Other equally capable and reliable men desired tor various reasons that their names should not he mentioned. Some of them were on the Peninsula’from the beginning, and left soon after the evacuation., others were there right up to the termination of hostilities- During our interview conversation was general and statements made were corroborated by one another. DEFENCE ILL-PREPARED. . There m no doubt had there been a joint _ military and naval operation at the time ’of the first bombardment in Jebvuary, 1915, the result would have beeii successful,, and the Dardanelles would have been forced,” said one officer. Although an attack was expected, the defence was ill-prepared. The bombardment resulted in very heavy casualties, both killed and wounded, while the Turkish facilities for dealing with the wounded were altogether inadequate-

The Tillages and coasts generally Were previously occupied principally by Greeks, who were regarded as disloyal, and believed to be supplying information to the Allies. These people were compelled to leave their homes, and were deported inland- Erankoi, Kritliia, Maidos and . Anafarta were Instances where whole, communities were expelled from settlements and forced to wander away from the scene of activities. The men were pressed into labour corps, unarmed, without pay or adequate food or clothing. The women and children were left to dt> the best they could for themselves. The condition of these people was pitiable in the extreme, large numbers dying by the roadside from sheer exhaustion. The bombardment shattered the houses, and the Turks looted them, so that at Erenkoi, Krithia, Maidos and. other villages, there was not a habitable house left. THE FIRST BOMBARDMENT. After the first bombardment there was great activity displayed in erecting defences along tho coast, and making preparations to avoid any future surpriso, so that when the landing took place the Turks had been confident no permanent footing" could bo secured. They were greatly astonished at the successful manner in which the landing was made. They fought furiously and desperately to prevent occupation by the attacking force. In the face of this success against overwhelming difficulties of the landing parties and tho appalling destructive fire of the Navy, the Turks had grave doubts whether they would ho able to hold the Peninsula. Enormous reinforcements of troops were called for and' supplied, but they were shattered and destroyed in a terrible manner by the shells and bombs.

The officers who discussed the subject , with me were connected with throe prini.cipal hospitals, at Aga Dere, Bogali and j Yalova respectively. _ Asked if they had 1 many Australians in tbeir hospitals, j there was not one who had ever attended a single Australian. There had never been many Australian wounded taken prisoners. The fighting had been too keen and batter for that. A few British, but not many. The condition of their own sick and wounded was awful. In the early days there j was some wounded as the result of close combat, hut most of the casualties which reached the hospitals were caused by the naval big guns shells, aeroplane and hand-bombing. Several plans ware discussed by the Turkish military officers and! attempts made to drive the invading force into the sea, but each failed disastrously for tho Turks. At the same time, their reserves were so great that when the invaders advanced a little and took fresh positions, the Turks were able by force of numbers to sacrifice mors men and recover the lost ground. TURKS SUFFER TERRIBLY. Tho hospital accommodation of the Turks and facilities for dealing with the sick and wounded wer© sadly deficient; the patient© suffered terribly. There was an entire Jack of transportation, stretchers or means of getting the badly wounded to the hospitals, consequently very many poor fellows died whore they were hit, who might have been saved had there been ordinary means for dealing with them. Abnormal sickness was prevalent throughout the whole campaign. The medical cases were even more nunieij ous than the surgical. Malaria, pneuI monia, rheumatism, typhus, fever,scurvy, dysentery, were present practically all the time. An outbreak of cholera occurred, but this was fortunnately overcome and suppressed. The sickness was terrible, resulting from malnutrition, ladt of clothing, unhealthy general conditions, want of proper means ■to treat maladies, and lack of needful nourishment. The Turk can live ojjd fight on very little, but he did not get that little- The bad bread, olives and Deans he got were not sufficient, the consequence being terrible Buffering and extraordinary mortality. No one here knew accurately tho full number of the losses, but official sources declared' them to be approximately half a million dead! from wounds and sickness, probably in equal proportions. EVACUATION WAS A RELIEF, The doctors could not say that the Turks contemplated retiring” before we evacuated. They, still had large numbers of men and very strong defensive positions, but they were greatly relieved when the evacuation took place. It had been a disastrous campaign for the Turk. The cream of his army was absolutely wiped! out, and hundreds of thousands more held up from being used in any field of actionIn the opinion of tho Turks, the retreat was very cleverly carried out. Not a man was left .behind, no horses nor any guns. The food and stores left were a great boon and lasted for more than a year. The medical comforts, beds (of which there were about 400), blankets, clothes, and buildings or barracks for soldiers. These were all quickly appropriated. After the evacuation the number of armed troops was reduced to about 70,000, who were employed in strengthening the defences against any possible further attack. There were also some 10.000 to 15,000 Christians. Greeks and Armenians, unarmed forced labor corps, employed under Turkish soldiers in road making and other similar work. The Austrian Emperor contemplated paying a visit to the battlefied, and great preparations were made to enable him to see everything of interest. The intended visit was never madeNO DESECRATION OP GRAVES. Dr ■ Nicolaides was asked if he had seen the graves of Australians or New Zealanders desecrated by being dug up. He was very definite in his statement. “ No, I never saw any bodies disturbed. The Turks are very reverent towards the dead. Before a man is dead they will do anything, take everything from him, let him jdio or kill him but

I when dead they are yary meverenfr andl do not disturb his body." ! _ This agrees with the indignant protest of the Turkish General Mustapha Kemal Pasha, who declared, "It ia | against, the Turk's religion to interfere i with a dead body, and a Turk- will not ! accept or wear anything-that he knows has belonged to a dead man," _ ; j The Greeks do not have any such ! scruples, for if the relatives of a dead person are not able to buy the ground right out wherein a person is buried, m some places the body is after a time P u § "Pj the bones removed and stored m cellars or otherwise disposed of. One of the doctors said that he had seen, graves which had' been dug up to get j valuables from the dead, but he could j nob say by whom this was done. , | WAS XASTDING PLAGE THE BEST?; Commenting generally on ihe'cam- | paign the general opinion among tha doctors seemed to be, that the landing could have been made with less loss, and better ultimate success, had it taken place at Exsemil, at thVhead ot i the Peninsula, above the Bulair line.' The work of the Navy was a theme of universal admiration. The sinking; of the Barbarosa (with loss of all hands—-' more than 1000—not a soul being saved), by naval fire across the Peninsula was referred to. In other places shells exploded over or among large bodies or men, and wrought terrific havoc, so that whole divisions had to be reconstructed. The effect of these terrific bombardments was demoralisina in the last degree. Summarising the views: There was good strategy in attacking on the Peninsula. The attackers were magnificently brave men. The lighting.wit of the fiercest description, and the retreats wenr cleverly executed, the actual result being an enormous death-roll of Turks, and a very large uo here incapable of being It was the conviction of these men inside, the lines that" S5 X tary power of Turkey was crustied and destroyed on the Galiippli Peninsula/ '