THE LANDING AT THE DARDANELLES

New Zealand Tablet, 28 October 1915, Page 23

THE LANDING AT THE DARDANELLES

A PRIEST'S THRILLING EXPERIENCES. In the course of a letter from Gallipoli, dated 22/6/15, the Rev. ; J. Fahey, chaplain, who was formerly a. student at Mount Melleray, writes as follows to a friend in Ireland: ■ The brigade to which I am attached as chaplain left Egypt on the Ist of March for an unknown destination. In a few days we were landed and took possession of the Turkish island of Lemnos. Seven weeks later, on the 21st April, a huge fleet of troopships and warships left Lemnos after dark, and towards midnight anchored under the lee of Imbros, some miles from the : . Peninsula. Anglo-French troops were to land at the southern end, whilst the Australian and New Zealand . troops were to effect ~ a landing fifteen miles.north, on the western side, at a place called Gaba Tepe. The Anglo-French met with fierce opposition. A ship was beached to serve as a jetty, but it was a failure, as it only became a target for the Turks' fire. The men had to cut their way to shore through barbed wire stretching out into the water. They succeeded in landing, and have now pushed the Turks backward five or six miles. "We can see and hear the battle from our trenches. They lost very heavily in the landing, especially the Dublin Fusiliers. Their chaplain, Father Finn was wounded in the boat, but insisted on coming ashore, and while attending a dying soldier was riddled by a machine gun. Our landing took place further north at the same time. My brigade was selected,for the honorable and perilous task of landing party to seize the position and make it secure for the landing of the main body. Chaplains were ordered not to land until the following day, when the position would be safe.

Facing Fire.

However, I disregarded orders and sneaked off with the men, and it was fortunate for many a dying man that I was ashore that morning. Had I known the inferno I was rushing into I believe I should have remained behind. We embarked on destroyer and torpedo boats from the troopships, and steamed slowly towards the shore. Each destroyer carried four hundred men and had six large rowing boats in tow, in which we were to pull ashore. As we approached within a quarter of a mile of the shore everything was very peaceful. Not a word was heard among the men, not a sound except the faint throbbing of the engines. Everybody was waiting in intense expectation of what would happen next. It was 4.30 a.m., and there was a faint glimmer of dawn in the eastern sky. The destroyer next to us began to man her boats, and suddenly an inferno broke loose from the shore.

Hail of Bullets.

Such a fearful hail of bullets from rifle, machinegun, and shrapnel as passes all imagination ! It was appalling. There was no cover. We were packed so closely together that one bullet would wound or kill three men; and we could not hit back, for the enemy was invisible. The bullets were dancing off the funnels and upper part of the destroyers. The order was given us to man the boats, and we tumbled in as fast as possible and pushed off for the shore. It was only three hundred yards away, but to me it seemed miles, a,nd to have taken hours to reach. There was dreadful "slaughter in the boats. I could see only what was happening in my own. First the ‘cox’ was shot; then an oarsman fell dead across my feet; then a bullet came through the boat and grazed the puttee on my .leg; then another of the men collapsed without a sound, and we knew that he was dead, and so on. It was horrible. After what seemed endless hours, the boat touched bottom about twenty yards from the beach. As I jumped up to get out a bullet went through the sleeve of my jacket and caught a lad behind me. A shrapnel splashed a man’s brains over me. Another

caught the gunwale of the boat between my knees as I was getting out and nearly blinded me with splinters. • ' In the Water.

I was pushed from behind and fell into about four feet of water. I went promptly to the bottom, and being loaded with a pack, three days’ rations, a water bottle, and an overcoat, : I found the utmost difficulty in rising; I almost thought I had been shot. I never realised till then how difficult it is to walk quickly through water dressed. I got on the beach exhausted, and had to lie down amongst the falling bullets to get my breath. I had made up my mind by this time that I had but a poor chance qf getting through the morning alive. Anyhow, I picked up a flat stone and held it in front of my head, and it was fortunate I did so, because a bullet that would have brained me glanced harmlessly off it. I moved forward then to where the tide had made a little bank along the shore. All the soldiers carry a small entrenching tool, but, being a non-combatant, I had none. I tore up the sand with my bare fingers, and made a little shelter in front of me. I never felt so small in all my life. I felt as if I could squeeze myself into a thimble. I must also admit that I felt a little cowardly, but it was only for a few minutes.- The lad on my left, not feeling safe, raised himself a little and began to dig with his entrenching tool. He was shot through the heart. The man on the other side of me got a bullet in the thigh, and was in great pain. I pulled him towards me, and lying flat as I was, cut his trousers open and put. on a dressing. I had a look around then and saw all the other boats landing. They were suffering just as much as our boats had suffered.

The Beach Strewn with Dead.

The beach was strewn with dead and wounded. Two boats landed about fifty yards from where I was. They held fifty soldiers each, but only twenty cam© ashore altogether. They cam© under the fir© of a maxim gun, which can rattle off about 600 shots per minute. But these twenty had their revenge: they captured the gun and bayoneted every man of the crew. So far only a few minutes had elapsed from the time we left the destroyer, and as there was a good number of men ashore the order was given: * Fix bayonets and charge !’ The hills up which our men charged rise abruptly from the shore for about five hundred feet. They are very rugged and broken, and covered with a dense scrub, giving good cover to the enemy. They drove the Turks back from trench to trench and line to line, the latter firing as they retreated. It was splendid to see the tide of battle surge up and up the hill, until by eight o’clock the summit was captured by our brave fellows. But they were not satisfied. They had the enemy on the run, and cleared them for about three miles inland, or half-way across the Peninsula. At mid-day the Turks were reinforced, and began to push our troops back, but reinforcements arriving also for us, we were able to hold the position.

A Busy Day.

It was the busiest day I ever spent. I was running about all day over the hills behind the firing line, absolving and administering Extreme Unction to dying Catholics, bandaging wounds, putting improvised splints on broken limbs, carrying water to the wounded, and acting even as stretcher-bearer. I was the only priest ashore for two days. I have heard confessions in all kinds of weird places, with the shrapnels bursting overhead and bullets whizzing around. I go along the trenches every day in case anyone might want to see me. It is all so strange and uncanny. Passing along the trenches, a soldier with his rifle through a loophole and one eye on the enemy may call me to hear his confession; while it is being done the bullets are plopping into the sandbags of the parapet a few inches away. Only yesterday a poor fellow was taken from my side by a shell, and all w© found of him afterwards were fragments collected in the scrub. War is abominable. You have no idea of what an awful thing shell fire is. - I have seen strong men become gibbering idiots

as the result of a shell bursting, hear them and tearing men to pieces. Yet they were untouched. It will shake the -strongest nerves. Good Luck. I have had several narrow escapes—so many, in fact, that I wonder why I am still alive. I had four bullets in my pack, one through a jam tin, out of which I was eating, which spoiled the jam and made me very wild; one through my water bottle; one through a tobacco tin in my pocket; one took the epaulette off my tunic, and once I had nineteen shrapnel bullets through a waterproof sheet on which I was lying only a few minutes previously. I have lost count of the shells that nearly accounted for me; I hardly expect to get through the buiness alive, but seeing that I have been lucky so far, I may. A few minutes ago a Turkish aeroplane passed over our heads and dropped a bomb about twenty yards from where I am. It killed a man- him to pieces and covered me in stones and dirt, and nearly spoiled this precious letter. I hope to be able to visit dear old Melleray when the war is over.