ON GALLIPOLI PENINSULA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXV, Issue 10713, 4 November 1915, Page 5

ON GALLIPOLI PENINSULA.

EXPERIENCE -OF A .MASTERTO* TROOPER,

Lamco-Gorporal Ken. 'Baird. of Master ton, wliio, wia.s invalided liom<> fov •tho ilW'Tliochra, • has. an . iiifcp-rcstinjr story to tell of his experiences. iflo was for ton weeks 011 the. GaliipoH Peninsula, during which timw* ho had most exciting Nat -the trying was his exp«'*k-neo on U'° memorable occasion when Captain Camerfon, Troopers Tas. Smith - Huglios, Grace, Scales, and otkn's of tho 9th Wellington Regiment wore Willed. The Turks had been driven out of a trench'a mile or two in front of tlf3 British lines, and ninety men of the 9th Regiment wore dosp-a tehed to hold tli 0 t'vnch, which was uarliriw and without oomniumcat : ons. They were .surrounsled by tho. Turks, and completely cut off. For tw.mtveiigbt hours they held on, expecting every moment that they would be annihilated. Lance-Corporal Baird occupied a positton ibet-W;>en iCaptn.'u Cameron and Trooper- Tas. Smiith, when these bravo fellows foil. It was an awful time, as relief was almost impossible. On tho second jiight.a searchlight from tho warslvps playc<l 'on tho trench, and then shells wciro poured ion to tho Turks with remarkable accuracy. -Ultimately * relief force reached tlio.trench, and tho iremnant of the ninety effected their escape, though they were f lowed down a hill ib.v a hail of shrapnel. Lance-Corporal Baird states life On C-alVflc*!! in tho summer time, is vriry trying, chiefly on account of the millions of flios. It was almost impossibly to get sleep, owing to th«> heat, Tlie food was good, including Australian frozen ancat, potatoes, onions, etc. The frozen moat, however, had to bo abandoned in consequence of tho flfrs. Lanco-C'orpar:-! Baird speaks highly of tho courage displayed .l>y Trooper "Jack" Grant, who would sit out in tho open. an<i cat his meal, quite oblivious of ibomh* and bursting shrapnol, his favojiritc ilonm.rk being, "If w 0 are not caught, by this one, w*e might be by the next." Tho heroism of Capi.im Cameron, Trooper Tas. Smith, and the rest of the !Wa\r,vv'i.pa borys, was sublime. Trooper Youlo, of Masterton. was one of tho ninety who woro cut off by tho Turks. "I had been .smoking his cigarettes ulj day," .said Lanco-Qonporal Baiird, "and fin tho. evening, when ho took Tas. Smith'" place, J. asked bun for another. Ho looked at m.e, but when I told him it would. probably be tho last, he could not resist. Thut night ,T shall novo;*' forget."