Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-07-11
ENORMOUS TASK
SET FOR ALLIES
Taking Constantinople Is Not
Proving to Be Any Mill
tary Parade.
FIGHTING IS DESPERATE
Turks, Under German Leader
ship, Are Courageous and
Formidable Soldiers.
FIGHTING IS DESPERATE

PARIS, July lo.--Thc diary OF
French soldier. made public here to-
day. gives some particulars showing
tho cnormi,y OF the task the British
and French have tackled al the Oar
Ianelles The following are extracts:
18th May-1he cannon recommends
their thunder. II is not only the voice
Of the marvellous seVcnty-hve. but also
that Of the 1Oj and 80. Thanks TO
them. NC haze been able to stop the
Turkish offensive. Since the coming
Of our rc-cnforccments. their attacks
in the evening and by night have never
ceased They have conducted them
with unparalleled energy. So the Eng
lish. who had failed TO take the village
Of Krithia. have for the momen, made
no further attempt 10 do so. our own
lines have advanced very little in
these past days To-day. however. we
have carried two successive trenches.
The fleet. since tho Goliath was tor
pcdoed. advances only with the great
est precaution. our airmcn are also
active. but those of the Turks are no
less so. They have tried to mark
down our batteries and to land bombs
on our base.
our losses. without doubt, have been
considerable. bu, those of the Turks
have been frirhtful. They have left up
10 the present more than 200 men on
the ground. our guns make OF them
veritable hccatombs
18th May-Wc have progressed 200
meters We arc before Kri,hia We
go now 10 the ridge which dominates
the Bay of Morto. oil the strait
10Th May-We nave again made
progress by several hundreds OF
meters Since the arrival of new re-
endorsements our situation has been
ameiiorated. our mark is always
Achi- Baba, but We are more and more
sensible that there are many difficult
ties 10 vanaush before we take il y
Turkish officer who had been made a
prisoner said the other day: You may
arrive perhaps at Constantinople bu,
you will not take Achi- Bahia
CONFIDENT THEY WILL.
CAPTURE: ACHI-BABA
That seems n bit of a paradox. We
shall take Achi Bahia: but first we shall
nave 10 carry small hillock. which
is more to the right and is nearer To
the sea. once we were in occupation
OF tina, point. but We had TO abandon
II. think that we may take il again
today or tomorrow. Our heavy ar
tilery could then act more e!licacious-
~ against tchl- f1t ba l'S"N.
The English are always before
kri,hia. bu, they have OF been abb,
TO occupy il yet. Thcs have advanced
against IL on the left. and inflicted
serious losses on the enemy.
All day We have been bombarded by
the famous movable. battery OF In
Tepe. II is true that il makes more
noise than it does harm. The guns Of
.Achi-B aba have for their objective our
heavy artillery, but our batteries are
narvelously concealed. and have dencd
all their shells.
This morning there was a new bonn
h.,rdment froDi the Asiatic side n little
~ advance Of Iioum ka!ch. by three
OF our warships. one OF them was
slightly hit by "A Turkish shell but no
great damage was done.
2lst May-This morning magnif-
cent bombardmcnt was carried on
from the Asiatic side. above Koum
kaleh. and a little below Erenkoui. by
three of our warships. The Turkish
batteries of Achi- ia ba and OF Tchanak
fired without ceasine. They wounded
several OF our men. shell fell on our
depot OF munitions. but without doing
any serious damage. Two caissons
only blew up. our airmcn have been
more and more active. Thanks to their
observations. our guns have destroyed
two howitzers at Bahia. Accord
ing to the observations of the aviators,
the Turks have not much in the way
of reserves. and have put all that they
possess in munitions and men on the
peninsula. If we should pierce their
front. the game would he won for us.
our line is sensibly the same AT the
same time, the English appear TO have
progressed on the side towards the
Gulf OF Saros and Boulair.
Truly, one was Il little too much
given TO consider the expedition TO the
East AS a sort of military promenade
One heard on ali sides that the Turkish
army was completely exhausted by two
years OF Balkan wars. and that it lack ed
munitions. The truth is all the other
way.
The army that we have before lis
comprises at least seven corps. II is
still led by nearly 5000 German officers
and noncommissioned officers These
latter have completely reorganiZed the
army administration. Munitions abound
The aviation corps is we'll trained and
displays great activity. The troops
camped AT Seddul-Bahr have been able
TO take note OF the precision with which
the guns of In Tep and Achi-Baba arc
handled.
TURK is FORMIDABLE
WHEN HE IS WELL LED
The Turkish soldier is courageous
and formidable when he. is we'll led.
Inferior to the. French soldier for the
offensive. he is certainly equal to him
in the defensive. The German instruc-
tors. besides, have been able i'm n
marvellous way to awaken and to ex-
plot the fanaticism of the Mussulman |
Perhaps. also, we have counted too
much on the aid of the fleet.
Esd May-Yesterday we intended to
take general offensive against the
Turkish positions. We were to have
commenced towards noon, after the
action Of the artillery, but about IL |
o'clock the Turks suddenly commenced
an attack on our right wing towards |