Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 - 1950), Saturday 31 July 1915, page 4


A Li¥erp@®S fB@y T©iis si Very

Our Kangaroo Feather Wearers. Best Shots on the World.

Walter Shaw a Liverpool lad, writing to Mr. Bert Arnold, of Macquarie-street, in, a decidedly cheerful way, from the Convalescent Home, Helounan: — 'I'm getting all right again. I wrote to you from the Hospital Ship, but I was told the let tors wore all destroyed. We had a bad time the Sunday we landed, shrapnel and bullets flying everywhere. Some of our poor fellows never got a foot on land.

They were killed and wounded in tho boats. Some boats were sunk and, good swimmers drowned before they could get their packs off their backs, and sank like stones without a chance. There is 85 lbs weight in a full pack,- with 250 rounds of ball cartridges and three days rations. That's what we all landed with. Then we had an awful steep climb, and were just about knocked out by the time we got to the top, so we dropped our packs and got to the Turks quick and lively, and that was the end of the packs, for we never saw them again. We drove the Turks back and took their trenches with the bayonet. The

GUNNER F. A. WILLIAMS. Gunner W. A. Williams, wounded at the Dardanelles. He left with the No. 3. Battery 1st Brigade Australian Field Artillery and is the youngest son of Mr. E. Williams, Blaxcell-atroot, Grnnvillo, and 25 years of age. Prior to enlisting he was employed at the EVeleigh workshops.

'PEETTY PARBAMATTA' '— Maccruaric-street View, showing the Methodist C!i urcli and the Elictric Company's Wires.

Turks won't stand and fight, although their bayonets are three or four inches longer than ours. I haven't had a chance to color my bayonet with Turkey red yet, but hope to when I get back to the front again. We had very hard work for the first fortnight, fighting and digging tren-ches day and night, for the Turks trenches were very poor ones. But are we down-hearted? No! Do we like the trenches? Yes! I have to laugh! One English Tommy told me that it was easy to tell the Queenslanders by the Kangaroo feathers in their hats! Queensland L.H. wear Emu feathers. Our trenches are now about 10 foot deep, with ledges to get on when shooting. We must have them deep for the shrapnel, and they now have to lob them right into the trenches before they can do any harm. You ought to see the Turks' Black John-son shell lob. I saw one hit the side of a hill and it carried half the hill with it. You could have put a four roomed cottage almost in the hole it made. They don't get many of these into our trenches. Saw one hit. It blew the trench to pieces. Some of the Turks' trenches are only a few yards off in places and in others from 100 to 150 yards away; but we are sap-ping towards them and they to us, so when we meet things will hum. We do not see the Turks at all or show ourselves, but we watch to see a rifle poke through a loop hole and then we have a go, for there must be a Turk behind the rifle, and he is lucky if he can draw back, for we can put a bullet through the holes every time. The Turks are not so good at shooting as our fellows, taking them all round, but they have got the best shots in the world as snipers. They hit every time they shoot. We are not troubled with them much now, as they don't last long, for some of our boys spot them and it's good bye. At first the Turks played dirty tricks, holding up white flags and coming out of their trenches, and when we would show ourselves they would turn their machine guns and rifles on us, but the next time they tried this joke we shot them down for their trouble. They came out with, stretchers one day. We thought they had a wounded man on it, but it was a machine gun, so we put a volley into them and got the gun as well. By the way, one of the English Tommies made a discovery. He said the Australians can talk better English than the Indian troops! Indeed! Some Turkish admitted that the German officers made them shoot our woundod men on the Sunday we landed, for we went too far and had to re-treat. Tho German officers watched the Turks doing horrible things on their or-ders. They thought perhaps they could frighten us with the cruel ways they treated our men. If we can get a mob of them to stand and fight instead of

running we'll give them some of their own back. The German officers drive the Turks on, and if they try to turn back they, shoot them down. The Germans are a game lot of officers and come right up to our trenches at night and give orders to cease fire as Indian troops were advancing to-wards us; but it was the Turks instead, and they soon found out that no Indians were on the opposite side of us. When the navy bombarded the hill in front of

GUNNER EDWARD WEBBER, Son of Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose Webber, of Auburn. The young sailor was a gunli.yt'r on torpedo boat ATo. 30, which, witli torpedo boat No. 12, was torpedoed by ?i German submarine in the North Sea while on patrol duty off the east coast. It is supposed that all hands went down with the two ships. Gunner Webber joined tho navy when ho was 17 and was 22 years of age. How strenuous tho Hfo of the Navy men in the North Sea was indicated in a letter which his father received from the young hero, who wrote: — ' ' On patroj duty ono is not able to relax for a minute, and for tho past fortnight I bavo been unable to change my clothes. In. fact, I sleep alongside my gun at right.' Our sincere sympathies to the parents. But how proud they should bo of their sailor son!

us you could see the Turks going up in the air in pieces. Some would go as high as 30 or 40 foot, and others running for their lives. We got plenty of shooting then, either running or flying shots. The Turks are using explosive bullets. When it hits it busts, and flies into pieces, so if you are unlucky to get one of them there is not much hope for you. I have seen the bullets Hit a follow botweon the eyes and blow tho top of his head off. just the same as if you cut it with an hxo. They, aro awful bullets. They also tnko out tho other bullets and turn the blunt edge out, so that they will make a big wound whore they hit. I do not know how the Liverpool boys got on tho day we landed. I only saw Fred. Barker since we landed. The others aro scattered1 all about. The morning I got wounded, on tho 19th May, tho .Turks' made a charge all along our line of trenches at about 2.50, just beforo daylight. Thoy had crept up to within 30 or 40 yards of our trenches and woro waiting for daylight, when. wo spotted them and opened firo and got up on top of the trenches to meet their rush. Some made a rush and others

PRIVATE H. NEWHOUSE. Private H. Newhouse, 4th Battalion. C Co., 1st Brigade, 2nd Reiforcements. who on May 9th wrote to Granville stating that he had been slightly wounded in the head. Since then, however, word has been received that he was back in the trenches. Prior to enlistment he was boarding at the house of Mrs. C. Davis, Alfred-street, Granville and was employed as a cleaner in tho Clyde Loco Sheds and was a well known football player on Clyde Oval.

rushed back and we just mowed them down in rows and heaps. Some of them got within 5 or (i yards of us, and then got a feed of earth. AVe had a great time shooting them down and it lastor two hours or a little more, and there was' hardly a Turk alive who charged, for very fow got/ back to their trenches. The Turks after asked loavo to bury tlioir dead and collect the wounded. Over 4000 Turks were killed and 3000 woundod: in: that little lot. AVe only lost about 500 altogether. I stopped a bullot just over tho loft eye after all, the fun was over, and it was just on 8 a.m. when I- got it. It took all the life out of mo for tho'time being, but I am nearly ready now to have another slap at 'cm. Hope to be back in tho firing lino next week with my mates again. Tho firing line is a bettor place than here for you can have plenty of fun, and tho more you get of it the more you seem to want. There are a lot of wounded men trying to got back before they are fit. AVe were all a happy and contented lot in tho trenches, but here we aro not. AVe cannot get any leave arid cannot get any money although I' have £6 ISs coming to me. Ihavo only been off the hospital ship six days, and if I know then what I know now they would never have got me here, for I would have got on another ti copship and cleared back to the trenches. AArell, fighting Turks is a lot bettor than .running around on tho flat at Moorebank, but : when you get' hit it spoils all the fun you had. I saw Dick Ayrcs on ' the Hospital Ship. He had a

SAPPER R. J. C COWAN. Sapper E. J. C. Cowan, of Pairfiold (son of Mrs. L. D. Hill) was one of the first lo enlist, although rejected twice on account of height. He is aged 20 years and was wounded at the Dardanelles. Ho was a great worker in religious matters, Sunday School and Christian Endeavours.

bad cold or something. I don't know whethor ho is back at tho trenches or not. Must now conclude, trusting wo all havo plenty of Turkey for Christinas.'