VALLEY OF DEAD AND WOUNDED.

Wanganui Herald, Volume L, Issue 14745, 26 October 1915, Page 6

VALLEY OF DEAD AND WOUNDED.

A WANGANUI BOY’S EXPERIENCESSIX LEFT OUT OF HIS PLATOON. Mr and Mrs J. Cottcrill have received the following letter from their son, Jim, who is returning home invalided; — Mono House, Cairo, September 2. Dear Father and Mother,— A few lines to let you know how 1 am ' getting on; my wound has healed up, i but my cars are troubling me. I hiu o ; been getting treated for them, and the | doctor says they won’t be right for a 1 few days yet. I have had a ringing in my ears ever since I got wounded. At first I did not take much notice, but they began to ache, and what with the ring- i mg and aching I could not sleep, so I 1 had to get tiie doctor to look at them. ] He is getting a special instrument to tix I them up. There are hundreds of fellows suiter with their ears after coming out of the firing line ; a lot of them go quite deaf, but mine will be all right, us 1 can hear well enough. 1 did not tell you that about six weeks ago when 1 was in the trenches, a bomb burst close to my head, the concussion knocked me flying; I could not hear for about an hour, and then there was a ringing in my ears for several days; lucky 1 did not get hit with a piece of the bomb. So 1 suppose my ears are feeling the same i-ffects, only a bit worse this time. But we get good attention here, and I will be right in a few days. 1 am having a good time here, sight-seeing, etc., in Cairo. Times are lively, and the Reinforcements going to the front generally have a bust up before they go, and sometimes they play the devil, and turn the city upside down. The Arabs are a source of worry, trying to sell us things ; they keep on pestering vou, and they won’t go away. Now tire soldiers always carry a stick with them, and the Arabs know too much to come within striking distance; they also beat you at every turn, but we are beginning to know them now. Now that my wound has healed up, 1 will try and give you an account of our experiences.

GETTING OUT OF THE FIRING LINE.

When I got hit and came to my senses again, an officer told rad to get away and get my wound done up. I took ray equipment off and started to go the same way as we carao up' in the morning, but another officer told me I would have to go into a gully to the left, as the wounded were being picked off by •snipers in trying to get over the ridge to the headquarters, so I took the officer’s advice and went into the gully on the left. All this time bullets were flying in all directions, and shells were bursting all round us. I had SOME NARROW ESC.APES FROM SHELLS, but you get to know shrapnel after belli g ten weeks amongst it. Every time I heard a shell coming I would duck to (over, and lay flat, then up, and on a few more yards, then down again, as another was coming, and so on till I got to the gully. As I was going down to the gully, a couple of ‘'Tommies” (Kitchener's New Army) were just passing mo with shovels and picks, going up to the firing line, when a bullet dropped both of thorn dead.. I think it must have been the same bullet that killed both of them. A little later a shell hurst about ten yards from me, and killed and wounded about ten of our chaps, hut at last we got into the gulllv, and we were safe for a time. It was hell getting out. of the bring hue. You never knew when your turn would come next. Well, after we got into this gully 'which belonged to the Turks the day before) wo made our way down to try and get, onto the beach and get our wounds done up. After travelling down the gully for about a/mile and a half, wo RAN INTO SOME TERKISH SNIPERS.

By this time there Kero about 100 of us wounded collected in this gully '• ' We had to duck back for shelter. Some of the hoys got wounded over attain. After making several attempts to gel out, wo decided wo would have to stop under cover in the gully till it got dark, - so we made the best of it, and did one another’s wounds up. We had no tucker, haying emptied our tucker hugs the day before, but we found a water spring which proved a godsend, and saved many a wounded man's life that dav. We were DYING OF THIRST, not having water for about 1(> hours. At first we wore frightened to drink, thinking the Turks bad poisoned it. but after talking it over, I decided to give it a go. It was lovely water, and 1 could not taste any poison in it. so we drank to our hearts’ content. All this time wounded were collecting in the gully. Bv dark there were' BETWEEN FOUR AND FIVE HUNDRED WOUNDED THERE.

The battle was raging just above us all the time, a terrible din. Some of the wounded were in a terrible state. All of us who had the use of both hands fixed them up as best we could. Then darkness came. All the wounded that emild walk or hobble climbed over tho ndge to get to the dressing station on the beach, bullets pinging all round us. Some of the poor devils got hit again, but most of us got over the ridge all right. We wandered down to the beach, which was about two miles away. As we were going down wo passed over hundreds of our dead mates, and there were

also thousands of reinforcements going ] up (including the Alb Reinforcements), j most of them never to come hack again. j Well, wo got to the dressing station about 12 o’clock. There were hundreds of wounded there CUTTING- THEIR WOUNDS DRESSED. We got our wounds dressed about 2 in the morning. We also got biscuits, bullv beef, and tea, which we rushed at like starving men. We laid on the beach and had a sleep, after which we went down to get on the hospital ships, but there were stick crowds that we did not get on till 12 o’clock on Monday night, so we laid in shelters till at last a boat took us. Wo left early on Tuesday, August Kith, for Alexandria, leaving the boom of the guns behind for a while. We were on tin* hospital ship the Devanha For four days, being treated well. There were 800 WOUNDED ABOARD. t't course quite a lot of then: died on the way. After reaching Alexandria we were put on ambulance trains to Cairo, then by motor ambulance to lipsnitab So here I am after the roughest time 1 have ever gone through. That day in the gully I will never forget. I saw a list of tlie killed ami wounded yesterday, It was enough to make you cry. Everybody you seemed to know was killed or wounded. There are ONLY SIX SOI ND MEN LEFT out of my platoon. Our battalion went into battle 820 strong; 113 answered the roll call after they came out of the bring line ; 300 are wounded, .the rest art' killed and missing, so you can guess what a hot corner it was. Thev all suffered almost as bad as wo did—Otago, Auckland, ai\d Canterbury. Then there were the Australians, Gurkhas (Indians), the Gloucester and new Welsh (Kitchener’s first Army), who suffered very heavily The battle that we started on Sunday August Bth, is still raging. After we left they cot driven off Hill 071, ii is cablet). Then the Australians charged again and took ibe bill again, but it has been lost again. It is a TERRIBLE HARD POSITION TO HOLD. The New Zealanders were in another big battle on Saturdayand were badly cut up again. There are few New Zealanders 101 l now. Gordon Aiken, who 1 used to row with, was killed. J was speaking to him a few hours before. Tool Gill, an old Wanganui boy, was killed : be list'd to play for Pirates. Lieutenant Rain was reported killed, but he is now missing. Rojiald McGregor is wounded, doing well. Bill Diamond, an old chib male of mine, is wounded. There are a lot of Wanganui boys missing, and may not be found for weeks. I have seen the' place where |H>or Claude Dustin, Tom Prideaux, and young Graham were buried ; Clautlc'and Tom were not found for a month after. I met .Norman Bond since I have, been back. He is looking well. One strange thing about the climate here, ahliongb it is very hot, you always feel hungry. I eat twice as much here as at borne, and get no fatter. 1 am seeing life in all its phases and its extremes, what 1 have been wanting l > see all my life, 1 am getting plenty of it now.