The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1918-10-31

cOH1Ortdble. We Were-C1osc enough TO
make the roar of the cannonadlng
seem intolerably loud and could see
the bursting shells. particularly those
fro-1 the British ships.
Then we came across some Turkish
| prisoners who were sheltering I'm an
old barn, / guess Il was, and we
/ stopped for shelter and rest. They
told us that their troops were very
| tired from long fighting, but that they
had plenty Of men. They said couple
of shells had dropped about a hun
dred yards from the barn just before
we came, so we knew the batteries
were trying TO get our range and we
did not stay any longer, but went
away from there and on our road.
About 500 yards farther on we came
to ruins. and when we went inside
we found 80 or 60 of our boys cooking
and sleeping and not giving a thought
TO the shells or shrapnel. The mules
outside were banging away at the hay,
as though there never had been a war
in the world. There was no shell made
that could bulge them away from
that hay unless II hit them.
Then along came a cart making a
lot of racket. One of the fellows In 1t
had half OF his face shot away and
was all bandaged up, but he was try
ing to sing and laugh just the same
as the rest were doing. They were
Anzacs, and were pretty badly shot up.
The'word "Anzac," as you probably
know. Is made from the initials of the
Australian and New Zealand army
corps. They had regular town, called
Amaze. on the peninsula. At Suvla
bay and around Gaba Tepe the Anzacs
got further into the Turkish lines than
any other unit In the allied armies.
| They were wonderful fighters.
BY this time the Turks were making
an attack, and all you could see to
the front was one long line of smoke
and spouting earth. Then our guns
started and the noise was deafenlng.
IL was worse than I'm the turrets
aboard ship during an engagement.
My head rang for days after we left
the Dardanelles.
The Turks were getting better idea
of our range now and the shells were
falling pretty close to us, but finally
we tore In with the 14-inch navals
and ripped up three of their batteries.
In the lull that followed we made good
time and reached our front line posi-
/ tions NJ Sadd al Ilahr d,,rino tho an flor
noon.
The next morning we made our first
attack. / had had bad night of II,
thinking about Murray. and when the
time came there never was chap
more glad to charge and get chance
at the enemy with the bayonet than
l was.
We attacked according TO a program.
Time cards were issued TO the officer
of each section, so that we would work
exactly with the barrage. To be ahead
of, or behind the time card, would
mean walking into our own barrage.
The time of attack is called zero
that is, the minute when you leave
the trench. Some of the Anzacs said IL
meant when your feet got the coolest,
but l do not think they suffered very
much with trouble In the feet-not
when they were advancing. anyway.
The time card might read something
like this: First wave. zero, advance,
rapid walk. barrage 20 In 10 seconds,
take first trench. 0:20; second wave,
same as the first, pass first trench,
0:23; take second trench, 0:35. The
third wave is ordered to take the third
trench, and so on, for as many lines
as the enemy is entrenched. The other
waves might be instructed to occupy
Hin Z. II :0S, or dig In behind rock
II AS. Here. zero is understood, the
first figures standing for minutes and
the others for seconds. II might take
several hours to carry out the pro-
gram. but everything is laid out to
an exact schedule.
i was in the sixth line OF the third
wave OF attack and zero was 80
a. m. Whistles were 20 be the signal
for zero and We were TO walk to the
first line Turkish trench. AS we came
out our barrage fire would be burst
ing 90 yards ahead of us and would
lift 20 yards every 10 seconds. Our
stunt was to take advantage OF II
without walking into II.
No one man can see all Of an attack,
which may extend over miles of
ground. but during the three weeks
was In the trenches on the Gallipoli
peninsula we made four grand attacks
and many minor ones. so l know In u
general way what they are like. Each
wave is organized like the others.
First come three lines Of what you
might call grenadiers. though they are
not picked for size ~ the old kings