The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-08-29

never expected 10 redcH the sHOTe
alive. There was only one anxiety
among the men--to reach the shore
and rush the Turks with the bayonet.
After what seemed like endless hours
the boat touched bottom about 20
yards from the beach. As / jumped
up to get out bullet went through
the sleeve Of my jacket and caught
the lad behind me. A. shrapnel
splashed mans brains over me. An
other caught the gunwhale Of the
boat between my knees az ! was get
ting out and nearly blinded me with
splinters. l was pushed from behind
and fell into about four feet of water.
went promptly to the bottom, and
being loaded with pack, 3 days ra-
tions, water bottle and an overcoat,
found the utmost difficulty in rising.
almost thought had been shot.
never realized till then how difficult
1t is to walk quickly through water
fully dressed. I got on the beach ex-
hausted and had to lie down amongst
the falling bullets to get my breath.
| ! had made up my mind by this time
that had but poor chance of get
ting through the morning alive. Any
how | picked UP flat stone and held
1t in front of my head and 1t was for
tunate did so because bullet that
would have Drained me glanced HARM
lessly off 1t. l moved forward then to
where the tide had made a little bank
along the shore. All the soldiers car
ry small entrenching tool. but be-
ing a non combatant i had none.
tore up the sand with my bare fin
gers and made little shelter in front
of me- l never felt so small in all my
life. / felt as If could squeeze my
self into a thimble. / must also ad-
nit that j felt a little cowardly, but
it was only for few moments The
lad on my left, not feeling safe, rails
ed himself 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.
pulled him towards me, and lying flat
as was cut his trousers open and put
a dressing on. Every soldier carries
a little bottle of iodine and field
dressing which can be applied in a
flew minutes. 4 had a look around
then and saw all the other boats land
ing They were suffering just as much
as our boats had suffered. The beach
was strewn with dead and wounded.
Two boats landed about so yards from
where l was They held so soldiers
each, but only 30 came ashore alto
gether. They came under the fire of
a Maxim gun which can rattle off
about 600 shots per minute. But
these 20 had their revenge, they cap
tured 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 to fix bayonets and charge.
! could hear the click of the bayonets
fitting on to the rifles and then in the
semi darkness our men gave a wild
Australian cheer and rushed the hill.
Poor fellows. Had they seen it in
broad daylight they would never have
attempted it. Military experts say
that 1t is one of the most famous
charges in history. 1t Is almost in
credible that they could have dug out
the Turks from such an impregnable
position in so short time. My first
impulse was to grab a rifle and bay
onet and go with them. The cheering
and yelling would do your heart good
ridge l saw so many wounded and
dying that had to turn my attention
to them. Every soldier wears around
his neck an aluminium disc on which
is stamped his name, regiment and
religion. so that all priest has to do
is to open tunic and see his disc. The
hills our men charged rise abruptly
from the shore for about 500 feet. They
arc very IuSBtu anu bIoheIl anu Gov
cred 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 Our men never fired until
1t was daylight, but they used the cold
steel with great effect. The Turks,
as we have often seen since. do not
relish the bayonet. 1t was splendid to
see the tide of battle surge up and
up the hill until by 5 o'clock the sum-
nit was captured by our brave fell
lows. But they were not satisfied.
They had the enemy on the run and
cleared them for about three miles in
land or half way across the peninsula
At midday the Turks were reinforced
and began to push our troops back,
but achievements arriving also for
us, We were able to hold the position.
All day troops were landing. Ar
tillery was rushed ashore and dragged
up the hills by the men. Jetties were
the wounded were col
lected and attended to and put on
board the hospital ship waiting out at
sea. 1T was the busiest day I ever
spent. was running about all day |
over the hills behind the firing line,
absolving and administering extreme