THE AGE ,

Friday June 18, 1915

THE ATTACK ON KRITHIA,
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A GALLANT CHARGE
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VICTORIANS UNDER HOT FIRE.
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TURKISH TRENCHES CLEARED.
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COMMANDING OFFICERS BRAVERY.
[From The Age Special Correspondent. ]
LEMNOS , 10 th May.
When the second attack was made on the village of Krithia and Achi Baba, or Tree
Hill, which lies at the southern extremity of Gallipoli Peninsula, a fortnight
after the troops landed, the Victorian brigade, under Colonel McCay, and the New
Zealand brigade, under Colonel Johnston, were transferred from the Gaba Tepe fr
ont to this new situation, which was developing rapidly. On 4 th May British and
Indian troops, with French soldiers, who were on the inside of the straits, had
already advanced up the peninsula from Cape Hellas and Sedd el Bahr, after meet
ing fearful opposition. Krithia, which lies at the foot of Tree Hill, had been b
urned several times, and was nothing but a heap of ruins.
Australians Glorious Part.
The village is now in our hands, and in taking it the Australian troops played a
glorious part with the New Zealanders and French, who regained their old positi
on. It is the story of a charge sustained over the whole front for 1000 metres i
n the face of a withering fire of shell and bullets. Hard handled as the brigade
had been in the first week of the fighting in this second great action it had l
ost none of its daring and dash.
Transport Work at Night.
Colonel McCay, of the Third (Victorian) Brigade, and the New Zealand infantry, u
nder Colonel Johnston, had orders to secretly embark on the 5 th for a destinati
on unknown.
The troops left the trenches at dusk, and in absolute silence made their way to
Brighton pier, where lighters were waiting to take them off to mine sweepers, tu
gboats and destroyers in readiness to receive them. At 8 o clock pinnaces and tugs
began to tow the lighters with the silent troops aboard out to the destroyers.
Two hours later the men were disembarking on either side of the headland at Sedd
el Bahr. When day broke on the 6 th they were safely in bivouac half a mile fro
m the shore, and some four miles behind the firing line. Silent only as long as
there was necessity for silence, the troops soon showed they were eager for the
new attack.
The country was very different from that they had just left. It was quite open,
with isolated clumps of trees and very little scrub. The brambles and heavy sand
to which the troops had grown accustomed were absent. It was evident they were
in the midst of a considerable camp, which they had noticed on landing. A landin
g stage had been made by running ashore an old tramp streamer and sinking her, e
ngineers having stripped her decks, and then cleverly built her into a wharf.
All day the men rested. On the 7 th they moved up, passing the guns, dug in and
hardly visible, to within a mile and a half of the firing line. Here they were e
xposed to a fearful shell fire from the Turkish guns. They dug in all that day, an
d finished only when darkness came on. At midnight they began to move forward, a
nd next morning began a general attack all along the line.
The Shelling of Krithia and Tree Hill.
On the previous evening the war ships and the French and British guns on the pen
insula had commenced a terrible bombardment of the village of Krithia , where th
e Turks were entrenched, and of their positions around the front of Achi Baba. L
yddite was dropping among the houses, and soon the village was in flames. The Fr
ench seventy-fives were putting fifteen shots a minute over the Turkish trenches,
searching for their guns. The enemy was replying with furious bursts of firing.
During the night the fire slackened, but in the morning it recommenced. Every av
ailable gun and the number ran into hundreds was directed on the village and the Tur
kish position ahead.
Australians Great Charge.
Under cover of this fire the troops commenced their great charge. The Turkish bu
llets came like a flood, one officer said to me; it was just one continuous stream,
another said. The Turks did not fire so much shrapnel as on the day of our landi
ng. But now that the khakee line could be dimly seen in the smoke they trained m
achine guns on them and concentrated their rifle fire. The line of the Allies wa
s stretched across the whole of the peninsula. The French, supported by the war
ships, were threatening the hill on the right, and they looked as if they would
sweep into the village from that side or around the base of the hill. In the cen
tre were the Australians, and on the left the New Zealanders, supported by Briti
sh and Indian regiments.
Seeking for Cover.
The sixth and seventh battalions were sent ahead while the fifth and eight were
held as supports. There was no chance of firing at the enemy. Each man, besides
his rifle, had to carry an entrenching tool a pick or a shovel. Our troops sought
what cover they could in the beds of the creeks, and kept on steadily moving for
ward with fixed bayonets. The firing line was pouring bullets on the hill some d
istance away. The Australians found the first trenches filled with Indian troops
, evidently in reserve. As our lads came on at the double across that zone of de
ath some halted here and there for a breather before advancing again. The Indian
s signalled to them to keep down as they ran, but there was little chance of run
ning low and fast as well, and men were dropping in dozens. It was noticeable th
at the Turkish fire was low men who fell were hit principally in the legs and feet
.
Describing the next trench reached, one of the Fifth Infantry said: We went on up a
creek for a bit and then over a rise, and came on some more trenches. They were
filled with English Tommies and wounded, and there was no room for us. They sen
t us on with a cheer, and at length we had to take a spell lying in the open. We
were almost up to the original line now, and the Turks were getting back to the
village. I ran on, puffed, and found I was doing little more than walking. I go
t about 20 yards beyond the deserted Turkish trenches, when a bullet got me and
I dropped. Fancy all that rush and never firing a blooming shot. Though we were
not supposed at first to be in the front, most of us managed to get up there.
New Zealanders Advance.
The Canterbury and Auckland battalions were in the leading line of the New Zeala
nders, with the Wellington men on the extreme left, their flank resting on the b
each. They were supported by British troops, with the Otago regiment in reserve.

Major Harrowell, of the Auckland battalion, describing the advance, said: The Turks
machine gun fire was sustained and deadly. We just went on and on, some of us go
ing out at every step. Quickly the reserves and supports came up and joined the
firing line, but the attack went on. I don t know for how long it seemed ages.
Courageous Officers Wounded.
In the great charge Colonel McCay, brigadier, was up among his men, urging them
to fresh efforts, reckless of his own life. If words and invective could do anyt
hing to rouse the men further, his furiously expressed opinion of the enemy shou
ld have sufficed. It is told of him that, smoking a cigar and twirling his cane,
he was keeping the troops ever on the advance, always urging his men to keep do
wn and take cover, he himself watching the enemy s wavering line ahead, and refusi
ng to take the advice which he had given to the soldiers.
In other parts of the advancing line Major Cass and Lieutenant Hastie were passi
ng from unit to unit, helping the men in a score of ways to advance. All three w
ere wounded in that glorious charge.
The wounded soldiers, who got back as best they could to the dressing stations,
recounted the terrible anguish of Colonel Bolton when he found his regiment disa
ppearing before his eyes the men seemed to melt away before that levelling hail of
bullets. It is impossible to give any description of the hardships which the wo
unded endured before reaching the shore, four miles away. Many received further
wounds as they crawled back from the firing line. In order to cope with the casu
alties doctors from war ships had been sent onshore; still they were not enough.
The Turks plan, both here and at Baba Tepe, was to keep the stream of bullets po
uring just over the top of the trenches, so that if any man tried to look out he
would be struck, but the men who were coming up into the firing line were hit m
ostly in the legs. The Turks seemed to have an almost inexhaustible supply of me
n and ammunition. It was more difficult for snipers to work in this country, but
some were found in the trees.
When the officers went down the non-coms. and men led on their parties. A Corpor
al Brester gathered up a handful of the Eighth Infantry, who were joined by some
marines, and they pushed on, holding consultations here and there as to the bes
t way to proceed. Just as the corporal reached the advanced firing line he went
down, and he is cursing now that he had his run for nothing.
The Germans try to get the Turks to come to close grips with the Allies, but the
y will not themselves face the bayonet charges. Our line of gallant men came on
on a front of fire miles without a break. The Turks remained in their trenches t
ill the leading men were within a few hundred yards. Our men were not firing just
rushing on, and they could see the Turks dodging about and scuttling along amids
t the exploding shells from our guns, which were inflicting fearful losses. We o
ccupied their deserted trenches and waited there to strengthen our line, but the
respite was all too short, and the troops again faced the fire from the trenche
s on the hill above the village and from among the ruins of the village itself.
The line reached to within 200 yards of the outskirts of Krithia, and there the
troops hastily began to entrench. The New Zealanders were threatening to get aro
und and take the village from the left. The French had already taken with magnif
icent gallantry a hill to the right of Achi Baba.
The Village Entered.
On the night of the 9 th or the 10 th, in a final grand charge, the Allies enter
ed the village. The details have not yet reached me, but the sacrifice was great
and the cost to be reckoned more than even that of the first days of fighting.
Generals in the Firing Line.
On all fronts General Birdwood has been constantly in the firing line. He takes
a rifle, and, inquiring for the enemy s trenches, sets an example to the troops. H
e has had many narrow escapes. On one occasion he, General Bridges and General W
alker were talking with Major Burgess (of Tasmania ) in a battery, when two shel
ls penetrated a gun shield, and buried themselves in the sand without bursting.
General Bridges is found in a khakee shirt with his sleeves rolled up, walking a
long the trenches or inspecting preparations for getting up supplies from the be
ach.
Colonel Rosenthal and Major Burgess were studying a plan in a dugout bombproof s
helter, when a shell crashed through and exploded, and both were wounded.
Turkish Tricks.
It is generally recognised that the enemy has some system of bonuses for the men
, for the Turks take the identification discs from our wounded and dead, and pre
sumably present these to their officers. One man we captured had forty of these
discs. The Turks are terrible plunderers; many who were taken prisoner had their
pockets full of coin.
There is every reason to believe that the Turkish losses far exceed those of the
Allies. Our gun fire, both from the ships and the field batteries, was particul
arly accurate, and shells bursting in Turkish trenches wiped out whole lines of
men. In their efforts to retake the positions we had so dearly won they sustaine
d appalling losses from our machine gun and rifle fire. Our men stand steady unt
il the Turks come within twenty yards of the trenches, and then they sweep their
lines with fierce bursts of fire. The ground in front of our trenches was thick
ly strewn with their dead. It has been impossible to bury the bodies, and the ba
ttle field is becoming horrible in the extreme. A correspondent of a neutral cou
ntry estimates the enemy s killed and wounded at 50,000. Our total losses, includi
ng those of the French troops, may be set down at 20,000 men. The enemy has cert
ainly lost 30,000, and probably 40,000. Over 60 per cent. of the Australian woun
ded will be fit to return to the firing line; in fact, a large draft is leaving
Egypt this week. The officers are hurrying back to their companies. I have traine
d them from the start, seven months ago, and I want to take them into action. I
only had a few hours of it. I know it s a terrible proposition, but that was why w
e came. Thus an officer spoke.
The Light Horse units have volunteered for service as infantry troops. It was no
t without pangs at leaving their horses that the Light Horse volunteered to go d
ismounted to the Dardanelles , but rather than wait they went eagerly, and by th
is time the first brigade, under Colonel Chauvel, has reached the trenches. They
hope that their horses will soon be sent after them.