Item 02: From Australia to Gallipoli, ca. 1916 / Dudley V. Walford - Page 49

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[Page 49]

warships searched the valleys and trenches by a series of continuous and heavy bombardments. At 5 p.m. our men leaped from the trenches simultaneously, and dashed across the open amidst a hail of shell and rifle bullets.

Barb wire entanglements were encountered. and.This caused a temporary check in our advance, but the difficulty was surmounted, and men forced their way ahead until they reached the Turk's trenches, which were cleverly covered with heavy beams & at first it seemed that our men would not be able to enter the trenches, but parties of mengot together & lifted the beams from their sockets.

One by one our men leaped down through these openings and hand to hand fighting of a furious nature took place. Thus our men captured the Lone Pine trenches. They held on desperately, and resisted all the violent counter attacks of the Turks with wonderful skill and determination.

Frontal attacks were also made at Pope's Hill by the First Light Horse Regiment, and at Walker's Ridge by regiments from the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. Both these attacks proved a failure after several determined attacks had been launched.

All these attacks at Lone Pine, Walker's Ridge, and Popes Hill helped to draw reinforcements to these localities, and they materially helped to minimise the opposition in our main enterprise at Suvla Bay and the Sari Bair mountains . …………….

After reaching the main saps leading to Anzac Pier we saw our howitzers situated along the roadside, firing in the direction of the Turkish trenches which opposed our no. 3 outpost. Our destroyers were also firing in the same direction, and the place was beautifully lit up by our star shells which sparkled brilliantly. We next turned half right and marched

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