Trooper Bluegum at the Dardanelles: Descriptive Narratives of the More Desperate Engagements on the Gallipoli PeninsulaHogue, Oliver
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Trooper Bluegum at the Dardanelles: Descriptive Narratives of the More Desperate Engagements on the Gallipoli Peninsula
Hogue, Oliver
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Turkey -- Gallipoli Peninsula; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, Australian
I don't know how long it lasted, but suddenly our guns ceased, and
on the instant our gallant infantry sprang from their trenches and
charged straight ahead. They were over our parapets and well on their
way before the Turks could realize it. Then rifles and machine-guns
started a murderous fusillade, while the guns in the background sent
a hail of shrapnel. Thick and fast fell the attackers. One marvels
how any escaped that hell of fire. But, fortunately, only a small
percentage of the Turks are marksmen. The German machine-gunners,
however, were very deadly, and the enfilading fire from Pine Ridge
increased in volume and effectiveness and the trail to Lonesome Pine
was strewn with khaki figures. Our Light Horse on the right had all
their crack shots picking off the Turks on Pine Ridge, while our field
guns in Hughes's battery at point-blank range helped to keep the
enfilading fire from this quarter down to a minimum.
Meanwhile the Firsts had almost reached their goal. They were checked
for a space by the barbed wire; but hacking their way through they
scaled the enemy's parapets, tore aside the overhead cover, leaped
into the trenches, and then, free from the murderous cross-fire of
machine-guns, they resolutely set to work with the bayonet to finish
the job. Since the days of Plevna the Turk has been reckoned second to
no soldiers in the world behind the trenches and parapets. I am not in
a position to dispute this, but I do claim that in the open or with the
bayonet the Turk is not a match for the Australians. Right along the
trenches and saps the Firsts fought their way, bayoneting every Turk or
German who did not immediately throw down his rifle. Here and there the
defenders made some resistance, and little knots of them would rally
for a minute or two. But the Firsts flew at them like eagle-hawks, and
a neat bit of bayonet work settled the Turks for good and all.
As to the part played by the Light Horse Brigades in the general scheme
of attack, it fell to General Ryrie's Second Brigade to hold the right
of the line opposite Gaba Tepe. We made minor demonstrations against
the enemy, cleaned out a few of his trenches, kept his snipers very
much in subjection, mined and counter-mined, and blew up Abdul's tunnel
just when he thought he was going to do the same to us. Also, we kept
each day a fresh squadron in Lonesome Pine to assist in defending
against the Turkish counter-attacks. Our losses had not been great,
considering the slaughter all along the line. Since landing we had had
just over 600 casualties, of whom 105 were killed; also we had had
several hundred sent sick to hospital.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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