Trooper Bluegum at the Dardanelles

VES-WOUNDED AUSTRALIANS-A FRENCH OFFICER'S TRIBUTE-THE PROBLEM OF THE DARDANELLES-

I have vivid recollections of a captain swearing. I have still more vivid recollections of a certain private's reminiscences. It was generally thought

ngs have a way of shaping themselves sometimes. Nobody could tell afterwards exactly how it all happened; but before the night was spent some houses had been burned down, some shots had been fired and some men had been wounded. There were some Australians, some New Zealanders, some Maoris and a few Territorials i

ing that it would be a good thing for Cairo if a few more of the "dens" were burned down. "I've been wishing for a fire among th

ack with the fire-hose. The soldiers renewed the attack and, reinforcements having arrived, captured the hose and t

ene, escorted by a squadron of Territorial Dragoons. The soldiers cooled down. The fire

rs for resenting it, and who can blame the Australians for siding with the New Zealanders, or the Territorials for assisting their Oversea brethren, when we have Mr. Asquith's own word for it that "Who touches them touches us"? Not creditable!-but human nature-British brotherhood! And high spirits, and the chafing under the monotony of camp life in Egypt! Trooper Bluegum, at

s and decorations-and there were other "signs of the zodiac" pointing to our early departure. When at last, at the "Stadium," Colonel Ryrie announced to us of the 2n

t had to be done. When we saw our fellows coming back with their wounds upon them-when we heard of what they had been through-when we listened to their story of that wonderful landing on Gallipoli on April 25, and of the

gyptian hospital! Yet they were happy. They had "done their bit." They smoked cigarettes and yarned about their experiences. I watched the slightly wounded ones marching from the train to the hospital-an unforgettable sight. Most of them were shot about the arms or scalp. Their uniforms had dried b

the whole world could possibly have done better than those magnificent Australian infantry. They performed the impossible. In the face of exploding mines and withering fire from machine guns, shrapnel and rifles, they stormed the hills and, with bloody bayonets, routed the Turks and Germans." That was a tribute the

rificed! It is well that the Great Ruler over all, Who holds us in the hollow of His hands, does not permit poor mortals to see into the future. The "forcing of

e Bouvet-was sunk. You remember the mines that came down the waters, and the shore torpedoes, and the strength of the Turkish forts, the power of the Turkish guns, erected and manned by German officers. The Navy could no

one of the warships and then came to Egypt-a lightning visit-and our forces began to move.

made. They knew exactly the hour of disembarkation and the places of landing. They learned all the Australian bugle calls and used them with telling effect. The French landed and formed up as if on parade, and the

spired panic in the Turkish trenches. Fiercely angry at the loss of several o

We smiled at first when we heard the story, and people in England and Australia read of it with amazement. But Sergeant Burne, standing over six feet high, and massively proportioned, looks quite capable of the feat. He himself tells the story in these words: "It is not a case for me to take any credit at all," he said. "I was in the platoon that landed first on the right. Our lieutenant was the first man to get ashore-and as game a man as ever faced fire. I followed him. I was ordered to take in hand a line of Turkish sharpshooters who were causing a lot of

ng the South African war. He had been living in Australia for about six years when the Great War broke out, and he was one of the first to answer the Empire's

erience," he said, "but

nd is, the spir

MacLaurin, Major F. D. Irvine and Colonel Braund. Colonel MacLaurin was in the act of warning soldiers to be certain to keep behind cover when he was shot in the head. He was hurriedly conveyed to t

er 2nd Australian Infa

x, C.B., Commanding

Harris, 5th Light

adier 1st Australian In

., O.C., 2nd Batt. 1st

Onslow-Thomp

l and maxim fire and rifles, and had repulsed several attacks by the enemy. Then a message was passed down the line for the battalion to attack and capture the guns

e first to volunteer in Sydney when war broke out. Colonel Arnott knew that Colonel Onslow Thompson was a splendid Light Horse of

ng Duntroon, jokingly wished them "plenty of wars and rapid promotion." And it seems only a few days since we were dancing and flirting in a Cairo ballroom. Now many of them lie sorely wounded at the base hospital, and several will never again hear the réveillé. But the College will not forget its firstfruits offered up so gladly for empire. Officers and men, it was all the same-they went to their death with a cheer for King and Country. I heard an Imperial officer, newly returned from Flanders, say that the 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade was the finest brigade of infantry in the whole of the allied armies. In physique they were far superior to any of the British, French, or Belgian troops. Whether this be true or not, there is no doubt that the st

the 1st Battalion boys (Lieutenant-Colonel Dobbin's command) why that was. He

ccour the wounded. The doctors were right up in the firing-line all the while. Colonel Ryan and some other doctors were attending to seri

of the service that did not suffer

efence were brilliant. Then General Godley and his New Zealanders landed and threw themselves into the fray. General Birdwood came and too