New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-09-21
Dead So Thick on Narrow
Field Armistice Became
Imperative.
SIR IAN HAMILTON
PRAISES ENEMIES
Gives No Support to Reports
That Morale of Turks Has
Been Shaken.

and French through the summer kept
at grips with the Turks In Gallipoli, with
terrible losses on both sides in the
arid, congested area, where the gain
or loss Of a few yards OF trenches
measured the tide of battle and the
dead lay so thick that a temporary
armistice was imperative. Is related by
General Sir Ian Hamilton, commander
Of the British forces, in dispatch TO
Lord Kitchener, made public in London
this evening.
Covering the fghting In tho Dsrda-
nelles from May to July l, the &C
count sheds little light on the general
military situation. being mainly note
worthy as a soldiers description Of
what tho contenders endured. Indi-
rectly, il pays a tribute to the gal
lantry and fighting qualities Of the
Turks. General Hamilton gives no sup
port to the numerous newspaper re
ports that the morale of the Turks has
been shaken.
Allies Mix Troops.
Going back to May 3, soon after the
Allies obtained their first footing on
the peninsula, General Hamilton re-
lates how the commanders, hard
pressed for reinforcements. found II
necessary to mix the French and
British troops "to an extent even OF
the French on our right having a
British battalion holding their own
most extreme right"
Followed then three days OF terrible
fighting. with Krithia as the objective.
The German leaders of the Turks
were quick to realize the advantage
the attackers had gained.
"The steady advance Of the British
says the general. could be followed
by the sparkle of bayonets until the
long lines entered smoke clouds. The
French at first made no move. Then,
their drums beating and bugles sound
inc the charge, they suddenly darted
forward in a stream Of skirmishers,
which seemed for a moment TO cover
the whole southern face Of the ridge Of
Kereves Dere.
Against these the Turkish gunners
turned their heaviest pieces, and as
the leading groups stormed the first
Turkish redoubt- In black bursts high
explosive shells blotted out both as
sa.lants and assailed.
French Supports Charge.
"The trial was too severe for he
Senegalese tirailleurs. They recoiled;
they rallied. Another rush forward;
another repulse. Then a small sup
porting column OF French soldiers was
seen silhouetted against the sky as
they charged upward along the crest OF
kereves DeTe.
"Not until next morning did any re-
liable detail come Of what had hap
pened The net result of the three
days fighting had been gain Of 600
wards on the right of the British and
Zoo on the left and in the centre. The
French captured all the ground in front
Of Farm Zimmerman, as well as the
redoubt," General Hamilton continues,
"and by cOunter-attack after counter
attack tried TO wrest away the trenches
they had lost.
"Everywhere our assailants were re-
pulsed" says the account, land now
for the first time ! felt that we had
planted fairly firm foothold upon the
point of Gallipoli Peninsula"
This was on May 10, and General
Hamilton was able to relieve some of
the exhausted men on the firing line
after eighteen days and nights Of un-
interrupted fighting.
During this breathing space says
General Hamilton, 81 realized that we
had now nearly reached the limit of
what could be attained, mingling in
iniative with surprise. The enemy was
as much in possession of my numbers
and dispositions as | was of his first
line of defence. The opposing fronts
stretched parallel from the sea to the
strait, and there was little scope left
for tactics which would bring fresh
battalons against the lines Of un-
broken barbed wire. Siege warfare was
soon bound TO supersede maneuvre
battles in the open"
Violent Assault by Turks.
In preparation for this, the British
commander tells Of how he divided the
front into four sections, then describes
the ftful fighting up to May 10, when
the Turks made q most violent assault
on the British positions with forces
estimated at 10000, under command of
the German Field Marshal Limsn Won
Sanders himself. But the British held
firm, leaving upward Of 5000 Turks
dead within open view Of the trenches.
"The next four days." the account
says, were chiefly remarkable for car
rying through negotiations for the sus-
pension OF arms, which actually took
place on May "a.
ION the goth Of May white flags with
red crescents, began to dot the Turkish
lines. Presently a Turkish staff officer
and two medical officers met British
officer between the lines. An informal
srmistice was reached, and stretcher
parties on both sides began collecting
the wounded.
Meanwhile II was observed that col
umns were on the march In the valley
up which the Turks were accustomed
TO bring reinforcements. As evening
drew on the enemy's concentration con-
tinued, and a message was sent stating
that no clearing of the dead and wound
ed could be allowed during the night.
The stretcher parties fell back, and i'm
mediately firing broke out"
Enemy Driven Back.
1t did not profit the Turks, General
Hamilton asserts, as the British guns
drove them back. But as the Turks
were anxious TO bury their dead, and as
human sentiment and medical sicence
were In favor of the removal of the
dead and wounded, arrangements with
representative Of Essad Pacha were
finally effected.
The negotiations resulted In sus-
pension OF arms from 1880 a. m. to 1880
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS