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[Page 20]
The New Zealand batteries were located down on a big flat, near Fishermans Hut and were constantly shelled by the Turks but with poor results. One of our aeroplane scouts was forced to descend here owing to engine and it had hardly alighted when Turkish shell burst right underneath it, turning it completely over. The airmen escaped and got to headquarters safely.
A road ran from Fishermans Hut to the foot of Walkers Ridge but could not be used for a long time, owing to heavy sniping. The hills were eventually cleared, and it became fairly safe except for a despatch rider, who generally started about 3 p.m. and came tearing along at a stretch gallop on a fast horse. I have seen the machine gun bullets knocking up the dust all around him, and only saw him brought down once. I saw the horse rear up, and the rider tumble off, but it seems that his bridle was cut through, so he managed to stop the animal and dropped into a sap close by, eventually reaching his destination in safety. Several fine horses had been captured from the Turks and were used in these gallops.
The surrounding country was very hilly and densely covered with a thorny scrub, which afforded good cover to a sneaking bomb thrower. One got in close to our entanglements and hurled a few bombs but did no damage. The night before, a bomb came into the post further up, and four of our chaps were taken to the hospital. The country